So, can we talk about how these are the pictures included with the interview of the stars of the Death Note Musical? Also, Urai Kenji’s impressive poker face
Kenji Urai version.
Lyrics and my translations under the cut!
Feel free to do whatever you want with everything.
Feel free to improve the translations!
This might be confusing if you’re not familiar with the changes made in the musical. Just ask if you’re confused!
Okay, sorry about this in advance, I just have to share with someone or I’m gonna explode from a serious case of the feels. Lawlight-non-shippers, look away or not, it’s pretty platonic
So, I discovered that I’d overlooked and not heard an entire line of song 21, and when I added it the lyrics MAKE more SENSE. And also open up for some meta!
So okay. At the very end, Light tells L to hurry up an die, right? Because:
Light:
お前が死ねば / omae ga shineba / If only you die
待ち望んだ日々が / machi nozonda hibi ga / All those days I longed for
L:
終わるだろう / owaru darô / Will surely be over
Light:
始まる / hajimaru / Will begin
And when L sings that, he is referring back to
L:
まだ見えないか / mada mienai ka / Can you still not see
何が残るかを / nani ga nokoru ka o / what is left?
虚しいだけだ / munashii dake da / There’s only emptyness
ゲームが終わる時 / gêmu ga owaru toki / when the game is over
So while Light thinks what will make him happy is for L to die so he can win, and then create his utopia and rule as a god, L is saying that what Light really wanted all along was a challenge, someone on his level, and that when the game ends he is going to go back to being bored and frustrated again.
And if we look back to the song Light sings right after picking up the Death Note, this is what he sings:
待ち望んできた / machi nozonde kita / (I’ve been longing for this)
自分のすべてを / jibun no subete o / My entire being has been longing for this
ぶつける価値があるもの / butsukeru kachi ga aru mono / Running into something of value
So even if Light mistunderstands at the time and until his very death, thinking that the power of the Death Note and with it the ability to “change the world” is what is going to end his boredom (which I have personally always thought was a much larger factor in why he chooses to use the Death Note than his sense of justice was), in reality the thing that really excites him is being able to play the game of cat and mouse with L. At least according to L in the musical, and come on, he is the world’s three greatest detectives. And the mirroring of the lyrics, aaaaah.
sorry not sorry I’ve been shipping this since 2008 get off my lawn
Now all the songs are translated, which was the only thing I set out to do. Which means I’m kind of out of material, as I knew I would be.
I guess I could try to transcribe and translate the dialogue parts in the songs where I haven’t already done so?
I also have the theatre program, would anyone be interested in seing scans and possibly translations of that as well? (For all I know it’s already all over the internet, so maybe it would be unnecessary?)
Other than that, remember, no matter how dead this blog might look in the future I’m always down for talking about Death Note and/or musicals and/or Japanese!
Thank you very much for posting ALL of the songs PLUS translation??!! wow! <3
No problem! I spent all of last year in Japan studying Japanese, so all of it was mostly done for selfish study purposes, but sharing (and thus feeling like you’re doing it for others as well) is great motivation, so!
Which reminds me, most of the time I’m pretty happy with my translations and feel like they’re fairly accurate (although sometimes a bit clunky, since I prioritate staying close to the Japanese over poetic merit, in case people wanna use it to learn), but there were some instances where I was a bit very confused (Japanese can be weird, yo), so I’m sure there’s room for improvement. So Japanese-knowing people out there, if you spot a glaring mistake, let me know!
Also, when I went through some of them I found places where I’d suddenly forgotten about the romaji or where the formatting had fucked up, but I fix it as I notice it. (I was kind of rushing it)
So thanks everyone for being patient and for your kind words of encouragement!
Death Note The Musical Original Cast Recording Masterpost (Urai Kenji version)
01. オーバーチュア- Overture
02. 正義はどこに - Seigi wa doko ni - Where is the justice?
03. 哀れな人間 - aware na ningen - Pitiful Humans
04. デスノート - desunôto - The Death Note
05. キラ - Kira
06. 恋する覚悟 - koi suru kakugo - Ready To Love
07. 私のヒーロー - watashi no hîrô - My Hero
08. ゲームの始まり - gêmu no hajimari - The Game Begins
09. 一線を越えるな - issen o koeru na - Don’t Cross That Line
10. 秘密と嘘 - himitsu to uso - Secrets and Lies
11. 正義はどこに リプライズ - seigi wa doko ni ripuraizu - Where is the Justice (reprise)
12. 残酷な夢 - zankoku na yume - A Cruel Dream
13. 死のゲーム - shi no gêmu - A Game of Death
14. 秘密のメッセージ - himitsu no messêji - A Secret Message
15. 揺るがぬ真実 - yuruganu shinjitsu - The Unshakable Truth
16. 残酷な夢リプライズ - zankoku na yume ripuraizu - A Cruel Dream (reprise)
17. 名誉にかけて - meiyo ni kakete - With Honor
18. ヤツの中へ - yatsu no naka e - Inside Of Him
19. 命の価値 - inochi no kachi - The Value Of Life
20. 愚かな愛 - oroka na ai - Foolish Love
21. 最期の時 - saigo no toki - Last Moments
22. レクイエム -rekuiemu - Requiem
Can you tell me how the musical is different from the anime and manga please? I havent had the time to catch up on the musical
Of course! It’s been more than two months since I saw it, so at if held at gunpoint I wouldn’t swear that I remember everything 100% correctly, but here we go:
First, here’s the English synopsis they handed out to foreigners at the theatre:
DEATH NOTE THE MUSICALSynopsis
Light Yagami is a brilliant high school senior who resents the criminal justice system’s inability to prosecute and imprison criminals. The opportunity to take matters into his own hands comes when he discovers a “Death Note” on a Tokyo Street. The notebook has the ability to kill anyone whose name is written in it.The Death Note’s owner us a Death God names Ryuk, who dropped it in the hope a human would pick it up and use it. Ryuk tells Light he did so because he was bored and thought it would be entertaining to watch what a human did with this power. Light tells Ryuk of his plan to exterminate all the criminals in the world, until only people whom he has judged to be good remain. Once he finishes creating this “perfect world” he intends to rule over it as a god. He shows Ryuk the many websites that have begun to pop up honoring and extolling the mysterious force that is killing the world’s most dangerous criminals. Soon, the inexplicable deaths of criminals catch the attention of police, INTERPOL, and the world-famous (but never-been-seen) detective “L”. L stages a fake public appearance, sacrificing the life of an inmate, to gain some clues and quickly deduces that the serial killer, now publicly known as “Kira”, is located in Tokyo and can kill people by supernatural means.A cat and mouse game ensues as the brilliant detective tries to apprehend the serial killer and the master-mind serial killer tries to find the identity of the detective. (Light needs to know the real name of someone in order to kill them.)Soon, another Death Note is dropped and picked up by a model/singer names Misa Misa. Her only interest in it is to help her find “Kira” so she can thank him for killing the criminal who murdered her parents. Along with this Death Note comes another Death God named Rem, who becomes infatuated with Misa. With Rem’s help, Misa finds Light, with whom she falls in love. Light uses Misa (and her love for him) to help him discover L’s identity. But L soon unmasks Misa as the “Second Kira” and takes her into custody. Rem becomes enthralled with Misa’s love for Light and finds herself having similar feelings for Misa. Light uses this to trap Rem into killing L as the only way to save Misa. Since a Death God is not allowed to save a human, Rem dies the moment she reveals L’s true identity to Light. In the end, Light is able to kill L and believes he is now free to reign, unimpeded, over his utopia. But, Ryuk begins to find Light’s behavior tedious and decides to kill him for no other reason than boredom.
Huh. That’s actually the first time I’ve read through it, I didn’t bother with it at the theatre. Well, as you can see, it’s super basic and doesn’t say too much about any differences apart from cutting the entire second arc (Near and Mello), but I’m actually pleasantly surprised that they acknowledged Rem’s undying lesbian love for Misa. Shinigami representation!
Well, let’s start with cut characters:
Watari
Naomi Misora
All the policemen are nameless, so they’re kind of cut?
Sakura TV people
Yotsuba corp. + Aber and Wedy
Everyone introduced after L’s death (Mello, Near, Mikami, Takada, etc)
Then cut story lines:
No cameras in Light’s room. NO POTATO CHIP MASTERPLAN. (imagine what a song that could have been!)
No bus hijacking. He kills Raye Penber (who I can’t recall if was actually named that) at Shibuya station.
Light is never imprisoned, and thus never loses his memories. He also never really works with the police, L just approaches him at the university campus, first during the speech and then for the tennis match. No handcuffs.
Now for changed/shortened story lines:
Sayu is a big fan of Misa, and drags Light with her to his show, where Misa (who at this point doesn’t have a Death Note) dedicates a song to her hero Kira. Misa later writes a secret message into her new hit song, which Sayu also shows to Light. This allows for Light and Misa to meet at the Shibuya crossing.
When Light and Misa meet, he tests her eye power by having her kill a detective that is shadowing him, if I remember correctly?
Misa shows up at the university campus after the tennis match, let’s Light know that she’s seen L’s name, but is arrested before she can tell him what it is
Misa only takes the eye deal once
They added lots of humor with the shinigami (mostly Ryuk), by having him constantly talking to Light when Light is having conversations and stuff like that.
The deaths of L and Light, obviously. They did include the warehouse, though!
Then things that were included and/or pretty similar:
The Lind L. Tailor scene
The “I am L” at the university entrance ceremony (here said before the speech and not after, so that Light can sing about it in the speech song)
The tennis match (which was done brilliantly, with a rotating stage so that the one who’s singing was always in front, and with their hitting the invisible ball adding aggression to their lines in the song)
L calling Light his first friend (here after the tennis match, where they sing about killing each other, but you know)
L stealing Misa’s phone, and Light calling it (also after the tennis match)
Ryuk’s love for apples, of course
A scene where most of the policemen quit the case due to fear for their own and their families safety, and only a handful remains, after which they get to meet L
L’s sweet tooth (seriously, he ate so much)
L’s bad posture (he had to sing in so many awful positions, so much kudos!)
Misa’s death note previously belonging to a shinigami who died for love, and Rem telling her about that
ALSO, so, so, SO much symbolism in all the choreography, haaahAnd even though L and Light didn’t physically have that many scenes together, they were almost always sharing the stage, even though they were each in their respective rooms.
And very clever uses of the stage, like having the pages of the Death Note projected on the back wall, so you can see it slowly become filled with names while Light’s singing is getting more and more intense as he is corrupted.Or like having all the words and numbers on L’s computer fly around him almost like stars in a galaxy as his mind is racing.
...That’s all I can think of for now, that I haven’t mentioned already. Haaah, I wish I could see it again.
You're awesome!'!! Could you tell us what happens when they sing "last moment"(21)?🍓
Sure! I didn’t quite get everything they said, but I think I got the gist of it. Spoilers for the musical ending ahead (would anyone even care about that?)
Lyrics and my translations under the cut!
Feel free to do whatever you want with everything.
Feel free to improve the translations!
“When Love Comes” in the demo. Haaah Rem, such a cinnamon roll
She sings this while caressing Misa’s restrained body when she is in confinement, and right before she gives Light L’s name.
レム / Rem
助けてやりたい
tasukete yaritai
I want help
この子の願いに
kono ko no negai ni
With this child’s wish
手を貸してやりたい
te o kashite yaritai
I want to lend a hand
何度も自分に
nan do mo jibun ni
なぜかと聞いた
naze ka to kiita
Countless times I’ve asked myself why
答えは見つからない
kotae wa mitsukaranai
The answer is still not found
ただこの子の絶望や
tada kono ko no zetsubô ya
嘆きや傷みを遠ざけたい
nageki ya itami o toozaketai
Only that I want to keep this child’s despair, grief and pain away
この子は愛のために
kono ko wa ai no tame ni
すべて擲つ子だ
subete nageutsu ko da
This child is one who will throw away everything for the sake of love
深い闇の中で
fukai yami no nake de
In the deep darkness
揺れる たった一つの光だ
yureru tatta hitotsu no hikari da
one single wavering light
この子が貫く
kono ko ga tsuranuku
This child’s faithful
無防備な愛は
mubôbi na ai wa
defenceless love
愚かで不可解だ
oroka de fukakai da
is foolish and baffling
だがこの愛を
da ga kono ai o
与えられたら
atae raretara
But if granted this love
誰もが貪るだろう
dare mo ga musaboru darô
surely anyone would covet it
むごい摂理に晒されて
mugoi setsuri ni sarasarete
Being exposed to a cruel providence
与え尽くし この子が死ぬのなら
atae tsukushi kono ko ga shinu no nara
I’ll give anything if this child is going to die
せめて救い出して
semete sukuidashite
At the very least I want to free her
夢を見せてやりたい
yume o misete yaritai
and show her her dreams
それがすぐに消え去る
sore ga sugu ni kiesaru
They will vanish soon
ほんの束の間の夢だとしても
hon no tsuka no ma no yume da to shite mo
Despite being merely the dream of a brief moment
この身体が砂になろうと
kono karada ga suna ni narô to
That this body will turn to sand
消え去ろうと
kiesarô to
that it will disappear
どうでもいいことだ
dô de mo ii koto da
does not matter
すべてできることなら
subete dekiru koto nara
I’ll do anything I can
あげる 何も残さず
ageru nanimo nokosazu
Give without having anything remain
Lyrics and my translations under the cut!
Feel free to do whatever you want with everything.
Feel free to improve the translations!
“Honorbound And Bound By Honesty” in the demo.
Poor papa Yagami, maybe if you’d have been home from time to time you would have caught on to the fact that your son is super cray-cray
総一郎 / Sôichirô
馬鹿な疑い 晴らしてみせる
baka na utagai harashite miseru
I’ll clear away this foolish suspicion
この手でキラをつかまえてやる
kono te de Kira o tsukamaete yaru
I’ll arrest Kira with my own hands
心優しい我が息子
kokoro yasashii waga musuko
My tender-hearted son
誰より正しい子だ
dare yori tadashii ko da
is a more lawful child than anyone else
名誉傷つける言いがかり
meiyo kizutsukeru iigakari
These false accusations wounding his honor
裏付けのない歪む推理
urazuke no nai yugamu suiri
Unsubstansiated warped reasoning
だがこの目が愛ゆえに
da ga kono me ga ai yue ni
濁ってならば
nigotte naraba
But if these eyes are blinded by love
もしもあの子が
moshi mo ano ko ga
If that boy
キラだとしたら
Kira da to shitara
is acting as Kira
貫けるのか 正義を
tsuranukeru no ka seigo o
will I be able to carry out justice?
あの子の嘘が
ano ko no uso ga
If that boy’s lies
この胸を撃ち抜いたら
kono mune o uchi nuitara
Pierce through this chest
何を馬鹿な あの子は違う
nani o baka na ano ko wa chigau
What’s this foolishness, that boy is not like that
人殺しの怪物じゃない
hitogoroshi no kaibutsu ja nai
He’s not a monster murderer
心優しい その素直
kokoro yasashii sono sunao
That honest tender-heartedness
私に見せてくれ
watashi ni misete kure
Let me see it
誰より正しい子だ
dare yori tadashii ko da
A boy more lawful than anyone
家族を愛する子だ
kazoku o ai suru ko da
A boy who loves his family
Is there a place online where we can watch the musical? Also can we still buy the Death Note musical CD?? Thanks!!
You can absolutely buy the CDs! At Japanese Amazon (amazon.co.jp) you can change the language to English, and they ship internationally. Kenji Urai version here and Hayato Kakizawa version here. CDs are crazy expensive in Japan compared to other places, though.
As for watching, I don’t think so. Probably not? Often they film live shows so you can buy DVDs later, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that they did that with this one, sadly. Other than the various promo/digest videos on youtube. For some reason, Ryuk and Rem’s song about humanity (aware na ningen) has been filmed in it’s entirety and uploaded by a japanese theatre channel. It’s here.
Other than that, here’s a video from their rehearsals, which gives an okay idea of how some scenes would end up looking (despite the actors not wearing costumes or having a proper stage). It starts with “desu nôto”, goes on to “koi no kakugo”, then to “shi no gêmu” (”Stalemate”), then “oraka na ai” (”When Love Comes”), and ends with the reprise of “seigi wa doko ni”.
Then there’s of course Horipro’s (the company producing the musical) own “digest video”, which is here.
Here’s another video from the dressing rehearsal. There’s a bit of overlap between those two videos, but this one has L’s TV broadcast.
Then there’s of course the Korean production. Here’s a highlight video. (With tennis!)
Here’s a short video from a Korean news segment, I think? More tennis!
Here’s another Horipro video, which is basically just short clips from when they took the pictures used for the posters and in the program.
Here’s a video from the presentation show in november, when they unveiled the musical. Here are the two Lights singing the entire Death Note song (“desu nôto”) from that same event.
Also, here’s a 14 minutes long interview with the two Lights and L, no subtitles, but they’re in costume.
Plus possibly a couple more, if you dig deep enough?
That’s the best I can do, really. Hope you haven’t seen all those videos already!
Only four three songs left, I just need some foods I’m dying
03. 哀れな人間 - Miserable Humans (Ryuk and Rem about the human world (”Only human” in the demo)
17. 名誉にかけて - With Honor (Soichiro about Light (”Honorbound and bound by honesty” in the demo)
20. 愚かな愛 - Foolish love ( Rem sings to Misa before dying (”When Love comes” in the demo))
22. レクイエム - Requem (ensamble)
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