It is only when Light’s own father, James (Shea Whigham), a police officer, starts investigating Kira, joined by mysterious independent superdetective ‘L’ (Keith Stanfeld) and his assistant/mentor, Watari (Paul Nakauchi), that Light starts questioning the ethics of his own actions. Once this has been explained to Light by Ryuk, the apple-eating demon of death (voiced by Willem Dafoe) associated with the book, and tested, with rapidly fatal consequences, on a school bully, Light shows the book to gothic schoolmate Mia Sutton (Margaret Qualley), and together they set about remotely murdering criminals around the world under the guise of vengeful god ‘Kira’ (Japanglish for ‘Killer’). At his feet from out of the sky falls the Death Note, a book that grants its keeper supernatural powers to kill, in a prescribed, highly detailed and often convoluted manner, anyone whose name is written onto its pages. Teen protagonist Light Yagami is now Light Turner (Nat Wolff), a smart high school senior from Seattle, who, after his mother is run down and killed by a gangster’s vehicle, dreams of doing right and making the world a better place. It keeps the same essential premise, and many of the characters, from Ohba’s original to tell a story that is broadly similar in outline, but different enough in its details to keep even the most fervent Desu Noto otaku on their toes. Now, finally, it’s here, directed by Adam Wingard (You’re Next, The Guest, Blair Witch) and distributed exclusively by Netflix. Meanwhile, since 2007, many film companies have expressed interest in importing this all-Japanese material to the US, with, at various times, Shane Black and Gus van Sant rumoured to be helming. This was followed by an anime for television (2006-7), and a trilogy of live-action films (2006-8), with a fourth film added in 2016, as well as a novelisation, a live-action television drama, a ‘New Generation’ miniseries, and a number of videogame spinoffs. It started as a manga series, Desu Noto (2003-6), written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Yakeshi Obata. Read our interview with director Adam Wingard here.ĭeath comes to us all in the end, but the wait for the American version of Death Note has been particularly long and twisted. Watch Death Note online in the UK: Netflix UK
Cast: Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Keith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi, Shea Whigham, Willem Dafoe, Masi Oka