No, that’s not the latest set of ‘Death Note‘ cosplayers you see there: it’s L and Light from the new adaptation of Death Note.
Released yesterday on Twitter via Netflix’s account, the trailer and cast were released for this ill-fated movie.
You can watch the trailer below:
Shall we begin? #DeathNote pic.twitter.com/fEd12Gm32c
— Netflix (@netflix) March 22, 2017
Now, it’s clear from the get-go they’re pretty much going to erase the important Japanese context, which is pretty important for a story like ‘Death Note.’ One of the bigger problems is how they’re going to take issue with the way American prison culture as it’s pretty different than Japanese, especially when you consider how the Japanese is a lot more homogeneous and is more community-based.
When you have a culture like America, especially when you consider the racial disparities in incarcerated African-American men alone, it’s probably not the best idea to have your main character be a troubled white dude go up against a hooded black man.
It doesn’t stop there, though. They changed the name Light Yagami to … Light Turner, and then put the singular Japanese man (Overwatch) into the role of an actual white character of L’s butler. Though I guess that exchange is a perfect representation of how America generally sees what the roles should always be.
Anyway, while we’re here, let’s get reactions!
American Death Note:
Light gets caught at the end but is given a weak sentence because he's a "troubled" kid.— Patches ⭐️ (@SCpatches) March 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/amemekoutarou/status/844612619780677632
https://twitter.com/woIfboys/status/844603029126971392
https://twitter.com/gravitypriest/status/844670010484310016
I mean, if they were that determined to get a white dude for Light Yagami anyway, it should have been High School Musical era Zac Efron. pic.twitter.com/O33By7Gb1R
— Arielle Jovellanos ✨ C2E2 Table L18 (@joviellety) March 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/sourslushie/status/844575601549885440
https://twitter.com/alolagrimer/status/844589489041367040
But, of course, I’m only one person in this Internet sphere who has been burned more than once by Hollywood and Japanese cinema alike for shitty live actions. Every time a live action for an anime gets revealed, be it Japanese or American, I always ask myself: “How badly will they fuck this up?”
I ask you, readers, is this part of some great keikaku (‘plan’) to reignite the Hot Topic cosplays of days long past? Or is anime finally crossing over to mainstream North American shores to bring normies in to anime?