It’s worse than the American Dragon Ball.
Let me list for you, all the ways that it is bad. Spoilers, obviously.
By the way, I know these original/american screenshots I’m doing already exist, but I’m using screenshots from the actual movie - not of the actors from other non-movie sources.
In the original, Light’s primary characteristic, the pillar of his character, is JUSTICE. He wants a world filled with only kind, honest people. He is inspired by his father, and they have a mutual respect for each other. He genuinely has no interest in money or romance at all - making the world a better place, before and after the Death Note, is the pillar of his character.
In this new one, Light is a CHEATER, a horn dog, and is drama-time with his dad. The very first scene of him is doing someone else’s math homework for money. Simultaneously, he’s watching girl’s cheerleading practice because he’s in love with one of the cheer leaders. He is basically the opposite of himself in that very first scene. He has a terrible home life - he has no sister, his mother was killed in a car wreck, and he and his dad constantly fight. Oh, and he has blond highlights. WTF?
Much like Light, Mi(s)a is basically the opposite of herself. In the original, Misa is absolutely in love with Light and she’ll do anything for him. She cut her life in half for him - twice. She cares about Light’s mission because her family was killed by an un-punished criminal, until Light punished him. She’s adorable, a model, and gothic lolita.
Mia, however, is a cheerleader (?!), dark hair instead of blond, has NO backstory at all, and doesn’t appear to genuinely love Light at all. She writes Lights name in the Death Note to make HIM give it to HER. Misa would never do that! In fact, Mia is more like Light, and Light is more like Misa in this version!
In the original, L (and also Watari) are English. He is always collected and he doesn’t FIGHT people, he outsmarts them. Traps them by their own actions. Many people rooted for him over the main character, Light. Although I was a Light supporter, I really enjoyed the Japanese live-action movies where L was the winner. I also read L: Change the World and enjoyed it. He is genuinely an awesome character.
In this one, we’re lead to believe he’s smart, but we don’t see that many smart actions from him. He has deductions that, in this story, make no sense. More than anything, the scene where he learns Watari is dead and snaps, steals a gun and a police car, and goes running to kill Light, is completely ridiculous. L would not do that. Also what’s with their clothes? The original L is always dressed in jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt. But American L looks like he’s going as a Ninja for Halloween and couldn’t get his mom to buy him a costume.
Ryuk isn’t a big player in this movie, but he wasn’t done well, either. Like pretty much all the others, his motivations are wrong. In the original, he drops it in the human world randomly because he’s bored. That’s it. In this one, he deliberately drops it for Light, although I don’t think it’s ever explained why, and later he says Light could give it to someone else “or better yet, give it back to me.” If you wanted it back, why did you give it to Light in the first place...? Also, he’s flying around spreading the Death Note all over the human world. Light is NOT the first (human) owner of the Note.
I basically already complained about Soichiro (/James) - we’re lead to believe that he and Light fight constantly, which is not their character. I appreciate that they tried to include his weakness of adhering to the law 100%, where Light disagrees with that. Maybe they were trying too hard to make you notice that characteristic, that it completely took over everything else? Soichiro’s wife was killed in a car wreck, but the law couldn’t bring the killer to justice. He’s sad, but it doesn’t eat him up because the law is the law. But Light won’t stand for that.
I liked that Watari was Japanese, but why wasn’t L? In the original, L and Watari were both English, while Light and Misa were Japanese. So in this one, Light and Misa are American, so Watari was made Japanese. That’s fun, but if we’re doing that, then why isn’t L also made Japanese?
I’m including the Note as a character because it is also very different. The original only had a few rules - 12, I think? But this one has ninety-six. In the original, anyone that touched the Note could see Ryuk. Not this time. The name written with no cause of death is a heart attack. This time it’s “dealer’s choice” (being Ryuk for some reason??). This one’s from out of left field: a person’s name can be written, be controlled for 2 days, then the page can be burned and the person will live. But you can only burn a page once! Oh, and names written in the Death Note don’t necessarily die. There are two idiotic scenes, where Light is reading what was already written in the Note (because it came with stuff written in it from other humans....), and he notices a line “Don’t trust Ryuk”. Layer, Ryuk says anyone that’s tried to write his name in the book has only gotten as far as two letters. Well, no, your name is in there. You should be dead. From what I recall in the original, a Shinigami can’t be killed by having his name written, anyway. But here, Ryuk leads us to believe that he can. But his name is in it. So he’s not. But he should be based on this movie’s rules.
I’m basically going to just do bullet points here of all of the that-wouldn’t-happens or contradictions from this movie. They’re roughly in order.
As stated earlier, Light wants a world free from dishonest people and has no care at all for money. So he would never sell others homework. This is purely ridiculous.
No. As I mentioned above, Light’s motivation is Justice, not romance. Originally, Misa came to him because she was given her own note by Rem, she took the Shinigami eyes, and was able to find him. He kept her around because she was useful. This Light has the notebook, and TELLS MIA ABOUT IT. Just because he likes her and thinks it’ll make her like him. NO. That’s too risky. Light would never do that.
Misa is an honest, adorable gothic lolita model. Not a cheerleader. I wonder if this was done to American-ize it. Cheerleaders are the ideal female in American high schools and in American movies/tv shows, so we won’t be able to identify unless she’s a cheerleader. But she wasn’t even blond, which is the stereotype. So why are they half-stereotyping here?
Mia smokes during cheerleading practice
This one is more of a hit on movies that portray american schools, but in what school can a teenager smoke in the middle of practice and a teacher isn’t going to immediately run out and expel her?!
Misa is supposed to be so fun, and cute, and dressed adorably, and have energy, and everyone loves her (eh, except Light). She stands out. Mia is generi-american-high-schooler. She’s nobody.
Light gets in a fight for Mia
Mia tries to stop some students from bullying another student, so they push her. Then Light interferes and gets punched. There was even a scene like this in the first episode of the anime where a student is being bullied for money and Light doesn’t care to interfere.
I mean, WTF. In the original, he’s the smartest student in Japan. He’s not getting detention!
Light panics when Ryuk appears
Ryuk starts coming at him like a freaking ghost, knocking over shelves and tables and blowing paper all over the classroom. Meanwhile, Light is hidden under the teacher’s desk and screaming. Originally, Ryuk just appears, Light screams, and then says “oh hey, I was expecting something like this” and is calm as a cucumber.
Ryuk makes Light use the Note
No. Light is supposed to find the Note, and gives it a test just to see. Then he goes on the crusade - solo. But here, Ryuk has to explain that it’s real, even tells him to specifically kill Kenny (I think that was the name?), and seriously has to pressure him into using it.
I think this phenomenon has two motivations: 1) Americanize. All teenagers fight with their parents, duh. We can’t identify with Light unless he thinks his dad is soo stupid. 2) To highlight what Light perceives as a weakness in his dad’s version of Justice. His wife’s killer got away, and there’s nothing he can do about it. Light wants to do something about it. Still, ridiculous.
Light kills someone on the local news
Because Light is so in love with Mia, he wants to prove to her that the Note works. So he goes to the computer, searches live crime scene, pulls up a newsfeed ON THE INTERNET of a hostage situation, and kills the suspect. In the original, this scene took place in Light’s bedroom, and he was watching the news on his T.V., which was only broadcast locally. This is how L is able to suspect Kira is located within that district. In this one, he’s watching this ON THE INTERNET. WHERE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET CAN ALSO WATCH IT. Yet L still claims he must be local to Seattle because of it. That makes no sense in this context and is a ridiculous deduction.
Light comes up with the name Kira
Originally, the people came up with the name Kira, which is the Japanese pronunciation of the English word, Killer. But in this one, Light comes up with it himself in a method so ridiculous, I have to post the screen caps
BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS LANGUAGES FROM OTHER CONTINENTS SO SNEAKY.
L makes the deduction that he needs a name and a face
I don’t remember specifically how he came up with this in the original. But I do remember he had the press conference with a criminal, pretending to be L, with the criminal’s name and face visible. He dared Kira to kill him, which he did. This confirmed Kira could kill from afar and was watching. Then the real L came on voice-over and dared Kira to kill him. But he couldn’t. This confirmed Kira needed a name and face. Oh, and it was only broadcast to a local region in Japan, so it also confirmed the region in which he lived. Triple-wammy, you’re amazing L!
But in this one... it isn’t clear how he comes up with the name/face theory. HE goes onto television, with his face partially covered (the screenshot of L above), and dares Kira to kill him. But he doesn’t. So ha ha - you need a name and face! But....that proves NOTHING. He hasn’t proved that Kira can kill from afar. He hasn’t proved that Kira is even watching. He also didn’t prove that Kira was local because everything is broadcast on the internet, anyway. So this deduction makes no sense in this context.
You may recall from the original, that Light actually did kill Soichiro. James goes on T.V., with his name and face visible. MIA wants to kill James because he’s taunting Kira. But LIGHT won’t let her. This is backwards.
Light must be Kira because he didn’t kill his dad
L has not proved that Kira can kill from afar, or what the rules are, or that he’s even watching, so this isn’t a valid deduction.
This was an amazingly clever set up in the original. In this one, Light doesn’t want to kill them. So Mia walks up behind one of them in a parking garage, tazers him, and tells him to write the other agent’s names. And he does. So clever.
No, it freaking doesn’t. First, Watari wouldn’t have shown his face on T.V. like he did. So that alone wouldn’t happen. Second, you need a name. A nickname doesn’t work. Even if Watari WAS his real name, Light doesn’t have his last name. So he still couldn’t write him in the Note and have it take effect.
Light has Watari call him using their own cell phones
Okay, seriously, you guys? Light is supposed to be a genius. L is also a genius. You’re telling me, that Light would have Watari, who is about to go missing, use his own cell phone, to call Light, on his own cell phone? And he wouldn’t think that MAYBE that’s traceable? You’re also going to tell me that when Watari goes missing, L wouldn’t have thought to trace his cell phone? That is absolutely insane. This might be the most idiotic thing in the whole movie.
Light confirms he’s Kira to L
There’s a scene where L finds Light in a cafe and accuses him of being Kira. Light’s response is basically “No, I’m not - okay, yeah I am. You can’t prove it, though”. Again, would. not. happen.
Here’s a series of quotes from the conversation from Light. He suggests to L that maybe “they” (Kira) is as ready to see the killing end as L is.
The suggests L should start helping Kira instead of hunting him.
L says criminals will beg when they’re caught for a deal. Light replies he isn’t begging, but telling L that he doesn’t understand his motivation.
Then L says “you flew too close to the sun, I’m just here to make sure you burn” and Light replies “Well, if that’s how it has to be”. Basically saying “okay, you’re on.” You don’t do that if you aren’t the one he’s trying to catch!! The whole conversation is just ridiculous.
L races off to murder Light
When L is told that Watari was killed, he steals a gun and a police car, and goes on a rampage to murder Light. This goes against what L stands for - he needs proof and makes people reveal themselves. Which he even says in the conversation I mention above. But no, he goes off on a rampage. Maybe this is American-ized again. You can’t have a climax without action. And action means someone with a gun chasing someone without a gun!
Mia and Light go to a dance
THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN ATTENDING A DANCE. I think this is an American-ized thing again. Americans can’t understand a story that takes place in high school unless they go to the dance that everyone cares about!
Look at us being sassy teenagers - tee hee we’re so cool!
Mia screws up Light’s plan
Light wrote Watari’s name, intending to burn the page if he didn’t provide him with L’s real name before his death time came up. But Mia wanted to make Light give her the notebook with the same threat, and since you can only burn one page (which the rules on this aren’t explained - is it one page per writer or one per Note? Because it seems to be neither), then Watari’s can’t be burned, so she steals it. Misa loves Light, and does everything he tells her, to the letter.
What is with that Burn rule?
We’re told that you can write a person’s name to control him using the Note, then burn the page. The person still will have done those actions, but he won’t die. But you can only burn one page. So here’s where my problem is. If it’s that one page per book can be burned, and we KNOW that Light isn’t the first owner, then why would he bank on this? That one page may have already been used. So that implies that it’s one page per owner. But that contradicts the plot above. If Light writes Watari’s name, then burns the page, Watari lives. Then if Mia writes Light’s name, then burns the page, Light will also live because it was not only written by two different people, but would also be owned by two different people when the burning takes place. So I feel like that wasn’t thoroughly thought-out
Light freaks out and gives up his plan
When L is chasing down Light, he corners him, and Light shouts out this ramble:
Light would never shout out such an obvious clue. Especially given what we know about his plan. Namely that he has no plan to kill L, and the calculus book with the page in it still exists and he won’t be there to protect it.
So, I think this comes from the final scene in the original where Light thinks he’s won, confirms that he’s Kira, and then finds out he didn’t win. The problem is that in this version, Light doesn’t think he’s won yet. He could very well be shot right then and there by L. Additionally, he’s just babbling from panic - he’s not being taken down by his own hubris. So if this is supposed to be a translation of that scene, it’s a poor one.
This one is more confusing than anything. In the beginning, Light loves Mia. He eventually discovers that she just wants the Note, so he decides to kill her and comes up with this clever-ish plan, which mostly works. I guess the confusing part is the final conversation between them where Mia takes the Note, which we already know she wants to do, but she knows that means he wrote her name in it. But he says he didn’t think it would work because he thought she loved him. But he already knows that writing the name down in the Note will mean that person dies and will do things he wouldn’t ordinarily do (as already proved with Watari trying to oust L’s identity). With the flashback explanation later, we’re lead to believe this part was totally planned out. Maybe this is meant to make him more cold-hearted, basically Mia’s killing takes the place of Soichiro’s.
A newspaper clipping proves Light is Kira
James finds a newspaper clipping about his wife’s killer in Light’s room. That newspaper clipping was supposed to be in HIS room! And the wife’s killer died. Therefore, Light is Kira. Makes. No. Sense. He’s telling me that there’s no way Light could possibly keep newspaper articles on a subject he’s interested in? Or that he could have pulled it out to read after he heard the killer had died? You’re telling me that if someone in my community dies, and my computer shows I recently read an article about that person, that I must be the killer? There is literally no connection there.
I think the big downfall, for me, is that they tried to Americanize it. And American media about high school is complete garbage. Not everyone is in love with the cheerleader. Not all parents and teenagers fight. Not all teenagers like thinking they’re bad and flipping off the camera. Not all boys just want the girl. Not all teenagers are obsessed with dances. We don’t constantly need popular songs playing to be reminded to pay attention. I don’t know if I’m being harsh because I generally don’t like American media about high school or if it’s because I’ve seen the original and was so drastically disappointed by it. I actually thought the American DragonBall was kind of fun. It was different, but clearly did have some influence from Toriyama. But in the American Death Note, the characters are completely wrong, the style is completely wrong, and the plot genuinely makes no sense. The original is about the two being so clever and constantly trying to out-smart the other. But this one has huge plot holes such that they BROKE how it used to make sense.
If you’re a big Death Note fan and really want to watch this, here’s my suggestion: get a group of other Death Note fans together, get some vodka and shot glasses, and make it a drinking game. Have the video easily pausible to take a drink and shout at the T.V. and be mad together. If you can’t watch it this way, don’t watch it at all.
