It’s been a couple of weeks now since Netflix dropped its
U.S. Death Note film. The reception has
been about what you’d expect. Save for
my more kind than it probably deserved review (see here: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/death-note-2017.html)
the critical and fan backlash has been borderline Dragonball Evolution
worthy. I also got the feeling that some
who read my review thought I was being too fair. So I sat and thought about it and came to a
decision this week. While I do stand by
some of my thoughts in my review, I decided to turn this weeks Top 5 to focusing
on the Top 5 Ways the Japanese Death Note Films Are Superior to the Netflix
Film. I know, many of them should be
obvious but I wanted it set in stone here that I do think that the two part
adaptation from 2006 is superior in just about everyway and continues to be one
of the gold standards in Live Action Anime Cinema, right next to Rurouni
Kenshin. For prep this week, I even
turned to some very close friends of mine to get their thoughts to try and make
this a bit more entertaining. So, Maria,
Johnnie, Lauren and Laurence, this one’s for you guys. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and
helping me put this list together.
#5-Misa: The Cute Idol of Death, Not Wannabe Lex Luthor
I’ll admit this right here: Misa Misa is not my most
favorite character in Death Note, in fact I cant see why Light put up with her
for so long (the sex can only be but so good).
HOWEVER, it isn’t lost on me how much of a star Death Note’s Lolita Idol
is to the Anime community. In the
Japanese films, she’s actually a lot better than she was in the Anime (to me
anyway). Maybe it was because they toned
down the ditziness without sacrificing her innocence. Maybe it was because her actress was really
cute. Maybe it was because when she told
Light she loved him, no matter what, at the end, I believed her. While I did like Mia’s bad girl attitude, ill
agree, it was not what fans wanted to see.
Goth not giving a crap girls are a staple of CW/Freeform Teen Dramas and
while Misa may dress the Gothic Lolita, she’s anything but. Making Mia almost the true Kira at the end
felt like a betrayal to many fans, but we’ll get more to that when we get to
Light himself in a couple of entries. At
the end of the day though, Japanese Film Misa wins hands down.
#4-The Music
This is a personal choice for me. The Death Note Duology is scored by Japanese
composer Kenji Kawaii. You’ve heard his
music in a lot of Anime productions, mostly Mamoru Oshii projects like
Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell and Avalon.
While the Japanese score wasn’t as serene and contemplative (because
Death Note wasn’t an existential Oshii film), it was one of his more upbeat and
fast paced scores with dark undertones.
And while it is weird to hear two Red Hot Chili Peppers songs at the end
of both movies (plus a Lenny Kravitz one at the end of the L spin off), Dani
California and Snow are songs I can no longer hear without thinking of Death
Note, they just fit. The Netflix film
boasts a low techno score from Atticus Ross, who did the soundtracks for The Social
Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
While that score is ok, the addition pop music seems forced. Some of the choices, like one of my personal
favorites, “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun, just seem out of place and echo
more that this is less of a Death Note element than it is a trope you’d see on
Dark Archie, Dammit I mean Riverdale, or some other teen drama that isn’t Death
Note (or even Twilight now that I think about it, ew).
#3-Ryuk-isms
One of the few things most fans can praise the Netflix
film for is this: Willem Dafoe killed it as Ryuk. The mans voice just screams con man Death God
and every word out of his mouth stole the show.
However, the character himself was not quite up to snuff. The Japanese films gave us more of the Ryuk
we saw in the Anime, one who would freak out when he realized he couldn’t eat
Apples in Lights house if the whole place was bugged. As my friends pointed out, he also does
handstands in the Anime when he goes through withdrawl but that also doesn’t happen
in the Japanese film but neither does the Netflix film. Ryuk is the observer, laughing it up as
everything unfolds. The Netflix version
seems the same on the surface but spouts out far more exposition than either of
his Japanese counterparts. He looks
terrifying for sure but feels less integral to the plot than the Japanese film,
which found clever ways to keep him involved, especially during the bus
shooting sequence when Light tricked a gunman into seeing him. It’s funny, my sister told me once that Ryuk
could have been cut from the Netflix film entirely and nothing would be lost on
the story, I kind of agree. But then
again, Willem Dafoe…damn Ryuk was a role he was born to play.
#2-Light Yagami would Death Note Light Turner in a (ahem)
heartbeat
I can make arguments for L, Mia, even Light’s Dad, when
it comes to how some characters were portrayed in the Netflix film. Light, however, there is no excuse. As I said in my review, the Light in the
Netflix movie is the exact opposite of his Japanese counterpart, much like Mia
to Misa. He lacks Japanese Light’s
conviction, ruthlessness and general air of superiority. This isn’t a kid who could match wits with L,
much less avoid detection for so long while building up his legend to become a
God. Instead we have a guy with the
haircut of Quicksilver from Avengers: Age of Ultron, whining when things go to
far and how “We’re not the good guys anymore”.
So yeah, Tatsuya Fujiwara stands head and shoulders above Nat
Wolff. In the 2006 films, Light is much
close to his Anime inspiration: handsome, intelligent, a determined attitude
and a man who is two steps ahead of everyone around him, even L at times. While he does lack some of the over the top
moments from the Anime Light, Fujiwara still looks, sounds and gives off an air
of a guy who could bring put the world on notice. He’s the kind of actor who is perfect for
roles in Live Action Anime films, he’s also played Shishio in the Rurouni
Kenshin sequels and Nanahara in the Battle Royale films. Netflix Light is a pretender who would
probably only be allowed to live by Japanese Light just to see how much he can
really screw up before he finally writes his name down in the Death Note.
#1-Potato Chips: Light Yagami Should Always Approve
Ok, in the Japanese films, there is no “I’ll take a
potato chip…AND EAT IT!!!” moment like in the Anime. However, AT LEAST THE CONSUME CHIPS ARE
THERE!!!! The Netflix film strays pretty
far from the story that inspired it many times but this was one complaint my
friends could not ignore and brought it up multiple times in discussions. Yeah, you know as over the top and silly as
the Netflix film was, it could have gotten away with Light Turner tearing into
a potato chip in the move over the top, erratic way possible (he did freak out
a lot like a wuss). I can forgive the
Japanese films for not having a similar scene cause they were rightfully
serious but still, we got to see Light eating chips while writing names down on
Death Note paper, true to the source material.
Hell, L even breaks out his own bag of chips at the end of the first
film to set up a pretty cool cliffhanger when he meets Light face to face for
the first time. They aren’t a totally
essential component to telling the Death Note story. But Lights favorite flavor of chips are a
tiny little easter egg of fun that fans enjoy seeing. Yet Netflix was so busy telling a generic
psychological horror story with…what did Cat Grant from Supergirl call it, “A
diverse yet unthreatening cast of a CW show”, that they forgot that fans would
be the ones to be the final judges for them on this venture. I gave them a very light (no pun intended)
pass for a couple of entertaining moments.
Everyone else, I’ll let their words stand because at the end of the day,
they can take their potato chips AND EAT THEM…because they know Death Note far
better than the Netflix production ever will.
If you want to read my full thoughts on the two part Live
Action Japanese Adaptation, check them out here
Death Note-http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/death-note.html
And here
Death Note 2: The Last Name-http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/death-note-2-last-name.html
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