Death Note Review: Anime vs. Live Action (2006)

Death Note was my first anime, and still the one that has me thinking the most long after viewing it. Sure, it may be considered "entry level" to some of the more proficient anime fans, but I think that's one of the things that makes it awesome. Because you don't really need an understanding of anime or anime tropes to "get" it. Plus, it's full of twists, turns, and awesome characters. To me, that's a pretty solid TV show--anime or not.

Recently, I watched the live action adaptations of the show. No, not the awful Netflix "adaptation"--if you can even call it that, since it was SO far removed from the source material that it may as well have just been a different entity all together. And not the 2015 live action Japanese mini-series, either, which had a...weirdly hot L. I'm talking about the OG live action adaptation from Japan, released in two parts in 2006 concurrently with the anime's original run. Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami/Kira, and Ke'nichi Matsuyama as L.

It was...decent. It had some really noticeable differences from the anime which I wasn't a huge fan of, and then there were other aspects that I liked a lot and wished the anime had expounded on more.

So, here are my full thoughts:

CHARACTERS

What was great:

L. Everyone's favorite oddball detective. Character-wise, he was by far the highlight of the film. What's better about this adaptation? HE DOESN'T DIE! At least not yet...it's complicated. But we do see him solve the case and have his victory. What I loved even more than that? More character development! L's relationship with his older assistant, Watari, has always fascinated me--as it's revealed in the anime that L was an orphan and Watari was the closest thing he ever had to a parental figure. When Watari dies in the anime, we can see that L is clearly unnerved, but since L also dies shortly after, there's very little fall out. Well, Watari dies in this movie as well--but since L doesn't, we get to see his true affection for Watari: He is deeply saddened and regretful that he couldn't save him, even looks like he may shed a tear or two. It certainly added a layer of emotional depth to a character who barely shows any emotions otherwise.

Misa's backstory. Like in the anime, Misa's family was murdered by a burglar, who is then killed by Kira, which explains why she's so obsessed with him. This fact is pretty glossed over in the anime. It's mentioned, she sheds a tear, and then it's almost never brought up again. Kind of makes her character a little more emotionally hollow. However, here, we actually see a flashback of hers to this moment: Walking into her house late at night and finding her family dead, and seeing the murderer get away. We see how much it's traumatized her--to the point where hearing the word "murderer" triggers a panic attack for her at one point. It was a good choice, and definitely showed that Misa is a lot more than just a dumb blonde popstar.

What could have been better:

Matsuda. I definitely wanted to see more Matsuda. Because he is a super underrated character, and in the anime, his arc was one of my favorites: Going from being the closest thing on the task force to a Kira sympathizer, to being the person to incapacitate him in a fit of rage. In this movie, he's the dummy of the group who everyone underestimates; just as in the anime. However, in this adaptation, he has no desire to "prove" himself, kind of just lets everyone use him as the punching bag. When he fires a bullet at Light, it's not even acknowledged. While in the anime, everyone was shocked that he actually had it in him to do something so bold. I admit it, I'm a Matsuda stan, so I really wanted him to be more than just a goofy dummy in this movie, but he wasn't.

What I DID NOT Like:

Light. And sure, that's easy to say when he's easily one of the most unlikable characters in the anime, despite being the protagonist. But in the anime, Light had characteristics about him that were redeeming: If absolutely nothing else, he loved and cared for his family. His family was his one crutch holding onto his sanity. Which is why when his father was killed by the mafia in the anime, it comes as such a huge emotional blow, because we see the last fragments of Light's humanity start to diminish. Light, as he's portrayed in this film...Well, I doubt he ever had fragments of humanity to begin with, even before getting a Death Note. Why? Because he literally writes his father's name in the Death Note, claiming it is somehow for the greater good? Which is not something anime Light would ever do. He idolized his father, his father may have been the only person he ever truly did love. Anime Light may have been a narcissist with a God complex, but even he had his limits--and killing his family was absolutely off limits. Another odd one, is where he kills a girlfriend he had previous to finding the Death Note in order to prove he isn't Kira (more on that in a second)--which again, is not something anime Light would ever do. So yeah, in this version, he is just completely irredeemable. That said, Tatsuya Fujiwara was still a good choice, and worked well with what he was given, even if it wasn't the same Light we knew from the anime.

STORY

What was great:

Having something to replace the Yotsuba Arc. While I love the anime, the Yotsuba arc was easily one of the most snooze-worthy parts of the series for me. It was, however, essential to the story, as this is how the Death Note and the Shinigami powers become known to L and the police. So instead of erasing it all together, this movie used an alternative solution that didn't take up as much screen time, and in my opinion, worked just as effectively. Essentially they took the character Kiyomi Takada who was in the anime as a Kira supporter and Light's love interest--and essentially turned her into what Higuchi was for the Yotsuba arc: Someone who wants to excel in their field, and does so by eliminating their competition. Sure, it's not quite the same portrayal of Kiyomi Takada that we have in the anime, but I think using her arc in place of the lengthy Yotsuba arc was a good move, and helped move the plot along without a long goose chase.

What could have been better:

The "Light is Kira" reveal. Okay, so Light being found out as Kira in this version was radically different from the anime. And it was still pretty good. What I did like was when Light announced he was writing his father's name in the Death Note--not knowing that the Death Note had been replaced with a fake. So when his father, who heard everything, comes to meet him--it gives us that huge satisfying rush of victory that we had in the anime. Light confessed he was Kira, and he couldn't go back and undo it or say "just kidding!" His father tells him what an idiot he is, and rightfully calls him on his skewed perception of the law. In the anime, Light's father was by far the most good and moral character, so it would have been nice to see him condemn his son's behavior. And we get to see that here. However, there were still some things I would have done differently. As I said, I wanted Matsuda to have more of an arc here. Also, as far as Light's death goes, they did stay true to the manga. However, I still wasn't a fan of how it played out. It pretty much ignored the fact that all other deaths by heart attack happened instantaneously, but Light gets to have thirty seconds of monologue after having his heart attack--because I guess the Shinigami realm gives him preference since he used the Death Note? It doesn't make much sense. Is that a nitpick? Maybe. But I still felt it was worth noting.

What I did not like:

Light's pre-Misa girlfriend, Shiori. And no, it's not because the actress did a bad job or anything like that. But she was essentially pointless. She existed only so she could be sacrificed. In short, what happens is: Light orchestrates an assault between her and Naomi Misora, in which Naomi kills Shiori--all while Light is watching. His reasoning being that if he were Kira, why would he let his girlfriend die and not kill the person who was trying to kill her? Which sure, makes sense, except that--he did just that. Light/Kira is one cold-hearted snake. At the beginning of the second movie, Light attends her funeral, and then that's it. We literally never hear anything of her again. I get what the writer was trying to do, but I think there could have been other ways to go about it that didn't involve including a character who only exists to be killed. He could have still manipulated Naomi's death as he did in the anime. L could have still shown himself to Light which ensues the metaphorical chess match between the two of them. Basically, they could have done exactly what was done in the anime to get Light and L to meet in person, and nothing would have changed.

ACTING

What was great:

Matsuyama's performance of L. Not only does he look the part--kind of quirky/awkward, but endearing--but he had every single odd quirk and mannerism of L's down pat. The crouch-sit, grabbing everything with just thumb and forefinger, compulsive eating; it's all there! He manages to perfectly capture L's unique combination of arrogance and understanding. I was very nearly convinced I was actually watching a live action L, and not just an actor portraying him.

What could have been better:

The English dub. This is a problem that can easily be solved by just not watching the English dub. But, it's still worth noting, since it seems a good chunk of the clips floating around of the movies on YouTube are dubbed in English. And previewing these before watching the movie can be...well, a weird experience. What I did like was that they got the same voice actors from the anime's English dub, to do the dubbing here. Brad Swaile and Alessandro Juliani (who voice Light and L, respectively, in the anime English dub) are great voice actors, and they have nice sounding voices. However, if you watch a clip, like the one below, you will see that dubbing for a live action movie is a lot harder than dubbing for an anime. In anime, you don't have all the nuances of mouth movement, so dubbing English on top of it comes off looking slightly more natural. Dubbing English over live action Japanese speaking actors, is going to be a lot more complicated, since in live action, you get a better sense of the movement of the Japanese language. So it's all kind of out of sync. Also to note, the voice actors don't sound nearly as enthused about their roles here, as they did in the anime. They all sound a little bored, and maybe even slightly inebriated. (Don't quote me on that, obviously I have no way of knowing if alcohol was actually involved.) And that's not me trying to slam their talent as voice actors, or even slamming the person who directed them. I'm sure they were all burned out after dubbing an entire series along with two full-length movies. It happens, I get it, I empathize. But if you're one of those people who doesn't like watching non-English movies with subtitles, you may wish to change that before watching these films.

What I did not like:

Goofy nature of some of the heart attacks. This is surely a nitpick, but some of the heart attacks were so over-acted that I actually laughed at a few of them. Not much else to really say or analyze, but it can break some of the immersion.

The Art Gallery scene. This is the aforementioned scene in the first movie where Light orchestrates his plan to kill off his girlfriend so he can prove he's not Kira. And it was so...emotionless. As I said before, Shiori has the magical ability of only showing up when the plot needs her to, so we don't really develop any kind of emotional bond with her. When she is with Light, their interactions seem stilted and awkward. And yeah, I get it, Light is a narcissist so it's difficult, if not, impossible, for him to have any real sense of romantic love. But he doesn't even do a good job of faking it. Honestly, I was surprised this girl didn't just leave him, because he looked so uninterested in her and anything she did. When she gets shot and killed, Light's reaction is over dramatic crocodile tears and a half-hearted kiss. How anyone in the movie's universe was fooled by that display is a mystery that not even L could solve.

OVERALL OPINION

I wouldn't say these two movies were "just as good as" the anime. However, as far as adaptations go, they got a lot of it right, and at least tried to stay true to the characters, while also taking some creative liberties. Some of those worked, some of them didn't. It's far from Oscar-worthy material, but if you're a fan of the anime, I do think it's still worth checking them out!