Whelp, I was gonna have a meaningful post about Raul Esparza and personal growth today, but then the Death Note trailer dropped.
Ohhhhhh boy. It's gonna get UNCOMFORTABLE UP IN HERE.
So, Death Note was the last anime I finished before Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's about a charming, intelligent, totally sociopathic high schooler Light Yagami (yes, his real name, I suspect it doesn't translate well) that gets the power to kill anyone who he knows the name and face of.
Naturally, the police are WTF when criminals start dropping dead. Enter L (real name withheld, because he doesn't wanna die) the world's greatest detective.
There's a LOT of details I'm leaving off, like the rules, death gods, familial entanglements, love triangles, etc, but the story at it's most basic is a cat and mouse game between L and Light to discover each others identities so Light can kill L or L can catch Light.
I'm going to avoid spoilers, since the series is pretty good and you should watch/read it. It's so good, there have been a few live-action movies in Japan already.
And while this trailer looks like it's been lifted right from the anime, there are several major plot threads that were totally changed as the films went on, resulting in prequel movies, and an overall overhaul of the story. I'm not as familiar with these movies, but from my understanding, people accepted the changes and they were very successful.
Enter the American trailer.
To put it simply, people are not happy about it.
There's a lot to unpack here, and I can still do it while avoiding spoilers. First off, a LOT of people are pissed that Light is white. Also now named Turner/ The setting has been moved from Japan to America (apparently Seattle, if the space needle is any indication). I'm unfamiliar with the actor playing Light, but if he's good, that's something. Still, should have been an equally good Asian dude.
Also, L is now black. L was distinctly not-Japanese before, so I think this is causing less tension. Granted, he looks nothing like his counterpart either. People don't seem to be as mad about that, for whatever reason.
Who is the smoking cheerleader? There's only 1 major female character that I can think of offhand, and that's a 180 from her look.
Second, there seem to be some action set pieces that aren't related to the show; that whole Ferris wheel thing? No idea where that came from.
There are some things that are unchanged; the look of the notebook. The use of Kira as an alias for Light (originally derived from Japanese mispronunciation of the English word 'killer'. Not sure how that's supposed to play here). The shot of the notebook falling from the sky. The apple. All very important elements.
On the positive side, Willem Dafoe as Ryuk, the god of death that provided the killer notebook, is already being hailed as a great choice.
I'm reserving judgement until it airs, since I'm a pretty recent fan, and have only seen the show once. But, if people want a more authentic version, at least in this case it exists. Unlike some franchises...
Tomorrow, you treasure.
Ohhhhhh boy. It's gonna get UNCOMFORTABLE UP IN HERE.
So, Death Note was the last anime I finished before Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's about a charming, intelligent, totally sociopathic high schooler Light Yagami (yes, his real name, I suspect it doesn't translate well) that gets the power to kill anyone who he knows the name and face of.
This guy is a douche.
Naturally, the police are WTF when criminals start dropping dead. Enter L (real name withheld, because he doesn't wanna die) the world's greatest detective.
Our hero!
There's a LOT of details I'm leaving off, like the rules, death gods, familial entanglements, love triangles, etc, but the story at it's most basic is a cat and mouse game between L and Light to discover each others identities so Light can kill L or L can catch Light.
I'm going to avoid spoilers, since the series is pretty good and you should watch/read it. It's so good, there have been a few live-action movies in Japan already.
And while this trailer looks like it's been lifted right from the anime, there are several major plot threads that were totally changed as the films went on, resulting in prequel movies, and an overall overhaul of the story. I'm not as familiar with these movies, but from my understanding, people accepted the changes and they were very successful.
Enter the American trailer.
To put it simply, people are not happy about it.
There's a lot to unpack here, and I can still do it while avoiding spoilers. First off, a LOT of people are pissed that Light is white. Also now named Turner/ The setting has been moved from Japan to America (apparently Seattle, if the space needle is any indication). I'm unfamiliar with the actor playing Light, but if he's good, that's something. Still, should have been an equally good Asian dude.
Also, L is now black. L was distinctly not-Japanese before, so I think this is causing less tension. Granted, he looks nothing like his counterpart either. People don't seem to be as mad about that, for whatever reason.
Who is the smoking cheerleader? There's only 1 major female character that I can think of offhand, and that's a 180 from her look.
Misa. I am not a fan. You know what you did!
Second, there seem to be some action set pieces that aren't related to the show; that whole Ferris wheel thing? No idea where that came from.
There are some things that are unchanged; the look of the notebook. The use of Kira as an alias for Light (originally derived from Japanese mispronunciation of the English word 'killer'. Not sure how that's supposed to play here). The shot of the notebook falling from the sky. The apple. All very important elements.
On the positive side, Willem Dafoe as Ryuk, the god of death that provided the killer notebook, is already being hailed as a great choice.
Perfect.
I'm reserving judgement until it airs, since I'm a pretty recent fan, and have only seen the show once. But, if people want a more authentic version, at least in this case it exists. Unlike some franchises...
Just why?
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