Saturday, August 26, 2017

Your guide to live-action Death Note films

The Netflix live-action film adaptation of Death Note has arrived and before you sulk around that this film is just another fine example of how Americans ruin the good of anime in the same way what Dragonball Evolution and Ghost in the Shell did to others, whatever that is, let's take a quick reference on the live-action horror films inspired from the cult classic manga.


  • The live-action Death Note films, shown in 2006, were split into two films. The first one went out in the first half of 2006 with the second half, titled Death Note: The Last Name, on the second half of that year. Let's start with the first half of the Death Note film, where it stars Tatsuya Fujiwara as the protagonist Light Yagami and Kenichi Matsuyama as antagonist L. Light, an honor student whose father is part of law enforcement, is aware of the rampant rise of criminal activities across Japan until one fateful day, he picked up an ominous notebook called the Death Note. Sealing his fate with a Shinigami (death god) Ryuk, Light's rise of power as the fearsome Kira caught the attention of L and the other law enforcement agencies, thus the deadly battle of the brains commences.
  • Death Note: The Last Name, the continuation of the previous film, was launched in the second half of 2006 and in addition of Tatsuya Fujiwara and Kenichi Matsuyama reprising their roles as Light and L, among many others, it introduces Erika Toda as Misa Amane, another Death Note user. The sequel packs more plot twists than the original and the endgame is quite a shocker to behold, making it an enjoyable film to watch it over and over again.
  • L: Change the World, serves as the epilogue of the second Death Note film when it strike cinemas in the first quarter of 2008. Following L's decisive victory against Kira, which led to sacrificing his own life to plot Kira's downfall, the legendary detective only has a few days left to live and while L spends his last days on earth, he faces against a group of eco-terrorists and an old ally who crossed the line while protecting the two children who holds the key to salvation.
  • Last 2016, in celebration of the Death Note films' 10th year, a rather unnecessary sequel went out to honor such occasion. Titled Death Note: -Light up the New World-, this film is a decisive battle between a cyber-terrorist who follows the footsteps of Kira and a detective who bears the same name as L's assumed name in the past.
  • And now, here we are. Present day. Death Note returns as an Americanized live-action film available exclusively on Netflix. It stars Nat Wolff as Light Turner, Keith Stanfield as L, Margaret Qualley as Mia Sutton, and Willem Dafoe as the voice of Ryuk, among many others. Feel free to sulk around about this film but once you watched it, expect the things that you saw on the film that will make you relate in today's times.

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