thiscoldblack
Unconfirmed Member
This adaptation is sooo American. So much teenage angst. I will still give it a try, but all the main characters are represented here terribly. Why is L giving a public speech in person?
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Death Note - Official Trailer
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
jack_package_200
Banned
I appreciate his insight and cautious optimism.
DerekOfTheDykes
Member
In the original, L is an anonymous dude who is a master detective that helps solve crimes. He is only ever represented as an L on a screen with a distorted voice. He is so interested in this case that he comes out of hiding (to an extent) to work with the task force who is working to catch Kira. The only people who know what L looks like are the task force themselves.
(this is how he is represented)
He does go out in public as well to investigate Light in person but know one knows he's L in that form -- he's just a classmate at his college. We don't know for sure that he is actually known to others as L in the speech moment shown in the trailer for what it's worth.
To be fair, despite L's mystery and anonymity in-universe, in-narrative the viewer is introduced to him fairly early, sees him often, and gets to hear his internal monologue, removing any real doubt that "Ryuzaki" may not be L.
It's just worth noting that he's a letter on a screen to most in-universe, but to the viewer he's one of the characters with the most actual screen time.
Modest Mauser
Member
phew that looks even worse than I imagined
Why are people expecting it to be a one-to-one adaption of the anime/manga? It's an American retelling of the story, of course it's not going to be one-to-one. I'm interested to see how they change to story up, because the trailer still seems to have all the overall themes of Death Note still attached.
lightskintwin
Banned
Anime fans are the worst? Mixed with a history of shitty Anime Live Action Film adaptations, would be my guess.
I just don't get it. We have craptons of comic book adaptions nowadays, where they take the basic concept of the comic and do their own thing to it, with varying degrees of success. No one cares then, and anticipate it regarless But do the same thing with anime/manga, and people freak out because this version of Light isn't completely confident at the beginning, even though this different portrayal of him could lead to some interesting moments not seen in the original.
Because the adapation is seemingly missing one of the vital elements that made the original. An element that in combination with the race change could be very powerful. The rich smart good white kid versus the chaotic black dude could actually give this some racial commentary that could give a reason for this to exist. Instead we get emo wild light and his action adventures
Even though his appearance is not a mystery to the viewer, it still offers a delight knowing the mystery exists to characters in the series. Even when the "L" appears on screen after I've seen his real self, it still generates excitement.
People complain when Superman and well known characters are "out of character" and different and they are doing the same thing here. Light in the trailer is very different from the anime that goes beyond adaptation.
Permanently A
Junior Member
It doesn't have to be 1 to 1 but if you change core parts of the story then its no longer a faithful adaptation. Not that every adaptation must be a faithful adaptation, but the more you change, the more risk there is of making something shitty.
Like, in the manga Light is a completely self assured megalomaniac, so why would I want the film version to be an insecure and self-doubtful weakling?
The One Who Knocks
Member
They do, but not on the main screen. If you search for the content, click on it, and select "Trailers and More" they're all listed there:
lightskintwin
Banned
I don't think faithfully adapting something automatically means it's going to be better. Sometimes changes made are actually for the better than the source material.
For instance, changing Misa was probably always going to happen no matter who made it because despite her character working in the manga/anime, it would look terrible in a film.
Ryuk looks great but I don't sense any trace of L in the new version.
Light Turner. Yagami is no more.
The way he speaks, the way he perches and his mannerisms, it very much looks like they've captured him to me.
Permanently A
Junior Member
Sure, I'm not arguing for a purist adaptation. But the changes being made here are severe. At its crux, Death Note is an ideological battle between Light and L. Changing Light's characterization is a very, very big deal and really changes the entire dynamic of Death Note. If the movie ends with Light realizing he was the bad guy, for example, that's not Death Note at all.
He still has that god complex going on from the last line in the trailer. I feel that's the most important aspect of the character and that's still intact. It's that complex that drives him off the rails, which is hopefully still in tact here. People's main issue with Superman and Batman was that the most important aspects of their characters wasn't in BvS.
His mannerisms, love of sweets, and genius is still in tact. People seem to be taking L doing a live broadcast as the biggest character betrayal here, but for all we know that conference could be part of his plan here. A similar scene happened in the manga as well.
There's only so many things you can change before you start to lose (Or well, lose more) faith in the end product. Part of the appeal of his character was being that guy who was basically
perfect, the type of guy you'd least expect to become a serial killer. But at the same time, it makes sense that he'd have such a big ego. Also like others have said, anime adaptations have a bad track record, especially when it's a movie, so yea, people are generally always going to be negative unless proven otherwise; I'd gladly eat crow if I ended up enjoying it.
Also not everyone's a comic book fan. I myself love these superhero movies, but I don't know shit about comics, so I don't always know if a comic book character is "off". Whereas people who are familiar with Death Note, can't be surprised if they aren't receptive to the changes they've noticed. And now the recent one is reminiscent of the DCEU's Superman, where you look at what we've seen of Light so far, and you're like "This doesn't seem like the Light I know..."
lightskintwin
Banned
You may not like the changes but it's still Death Note. It seems like you defined what Death Note has to be when being adapted.
Maybe because it's not Light Yagami?
shadow_shogun
Member
They do, but not on the main screen. If you search for the content, click on it, and select "Trailers and More" they're all listed there:
lol... I thought that was emo Peter Parker for a sec there.
Those are just things he does. I can sit on my feet and eat candy, that's not a personality.
UnemployedVillain
Member
No, the most important aspect is WHY he has him god complex. Light's entire original character was being a model student, model son, super popular, privileged student and that informed every action he made. He very much had a god complex before obtaining the death note, but didn't have a true means to act on it.
What you're saying is akin to saying Spiderman and Batman are the same because they both have a sense of justice/responsibility brought on by a personal tragedy. You can't just ignore a large part of a character and claim they're still the same.
A Light that's some loner who goes on a power trip after getting the death note is NOT the same as the Light from the manga/anime/Japanese movies
lightskintwin
Banned
Hey it looks like he also got bullied in the trailer, so It seems like they're using that as part of his justification. LOL
Hence why he's Light Turner and not Light Yagami.
Permanently A
Junior Member
I guess you're right, for me Death Note is all about the characters, so the characters need to remain intact - the events and setpieces like the ferris wheel I don't care about since they aren't integral to the story. Whereas the characters are integral to the story.
There's obviously a certain threshold at which point people cannot accept changes to the original work, which is different for everybody. For me that limit is simply the characters being changed from their core values.
Not to say that this is even happening in this movie - its just that his one line opens up the possibility.
lightskintwin
Banned
Well I've said it before on here, but the premise of Death Note is so strong, you could have a book drop in any city in the world, in a completely different setting, with completely different characters, and explore completely different ideological beliefs and social themes and it all remain faithful to the spirit of Death Note.
Hell, maybe they didn't Americanize this version enough to differentiate it from the Japanese anime/manga. They changed Light and Misa to Light Turner and Mia Sutton. Perhaps they should've changed L to G. And eliminated the Shinigami and Kira references, and went with Angels of Death/Grim Reapers and some American nickname given to KIra.
Thanks, doesn't do much for pre-release discoverability of content one doesn't already know is coming though.
Regardless of this being the case, the version that the adaptation seems to be going for is the weaker story. Geeky Kid getting bullied, finds a way to pay back society for all that wronged them becomes obsessed with power...questions if they're a good person anymore..." its really played out.
A person who who thinks theyre morally just and is steadfast in that conviction is much more interesting imo.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Do they actually call him L or are people just guessing? Maybe I just missed it.
And the short time in the trailer didn't give us enough L to know what his personality is, so all we currently have to go on is his mannerisms, which are in line with the original. So to say that there isn't a trace of the original L in this new one based off this 2 minutes of footage seems off.
Fair enough. Just going off the trailer, Light is the biggest departure from his character in the original, though I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.
lightskintwin
Banned
I think the screenwriters/director felt that in a 90 minute to 2 hour movie, the loner kid getting bullied is a much simpler way to show his motivation and get down to the meat of the story. It's already a trope that people already understand.
Not to mention, I think the director is trying to tie Light to the legacy of American high school teenager mass shooters/murderers.
Mediking
Member
UnemployedVillain
Member
This is why I hate American adaptations. They always go to the laziest most overused tropes over and fucking over. GITS went through similarly stupid changes when Americanized, which the director/writer thought were so clever. These people must have serious cases of tunnel vision
lightskintwin
Banned
LOL I just think the Horror director is more interested in the supernatural and horribly depicted deaths than any deep exploration of ideological beliefs or social themes. I hope I'm wrong.
Ugh this looks terrible... Teenage angst Light? GTFO
This is a story about a kid who has everything possible going for him who lets his ego take him down a dark path. Not some bullied teen. These directors need to develop some originality in their tropes. I'll watch it but sadly I assume I'll be disappointed. Waste of Dafoe.
This is a story about a kid who has everything possible going for him who lets his ego take him down a dark path. Not some bullied teen. These directors need to develop some originality in their tropes. I'll watch it but sadly I assume I'll be disappointed. Waste of Dafoe.
At first I was like "eewww" but I'm starting to warm up to it. I'm just really hoping this "sympathetic" Light is some sort of red herring, the original manga started in the same way now that I think about it, it was so easy to side with him until you slowly realize what a sociopath he is.
This would be completely missing Light's original character. He isn't a weak kid, who gets bullied, and him using the Death Note as a scream for help. Light is a rich boy from a secure and good family, who is bored and believes to be better then anybody else. A guy, who would travel to Africa, to kill endangered elephants for fun.
lightskintwin
Banned
Obviously, but this seems to be this version of Light... Light Turner in America.
UnemployedVillain
Member
Lol, for a REALLY short amount of time. He meets Raye Penber in episode 3/chapter 5 and that's pretty much where he indisputably is revealed as a sociopath