DEATH NOTE: THE MUSICAL as Explained by a Theatre Major

Megan discusses the history of and reviews the musical adaptation of one of her first anime, as well as discussing what made the original so great.
DN: The Musical CONCEPT ALBUM:
• Video
DN: The Musical (FULL Japanese):
• Video
DN: The Musical (Japanese w/ English Songs):
• Video
No infringement intended. All video and audio used is for the purpose of commentary and review. "Death Note" is the property of Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Studio Madhouse, Shonen Jump, and others.

[@emilygracey]

The Japanese live action movies from 2006 are insanely good. The CGI isn't good, but it's the best live action version you're going to get.

[@blueeyedwitch9840]

Seconded, they're really good

[@henryemily7398]

Where can I watch them in English?

[@izzycassiopeia8450]

I love the show. I was in it too, though it was a school production. I prefer the Korean version over the Japanese, mainly because I think the actors fit the characters somewhat better(especially L). Kakizawa is the best Light of all, his potrayal of Light's death was soooo good. The desperation. I really want an English version to really come out. To be able to hear some of the songs that were not on the concept album in English would be so awesome. My favorite song(The Way Things Are) doesn't have, as far as I know, an English recording and I would love to hear it. Currently I have to listen to the Korean version. It is awesome as well, and it's not really a huge downside to me since I speak Korean and Junsu's(L) voice is to die for, it would still be fun to have it recorded in English. I mean the closest I get to an English listen to it is by watching our school preformance. And as much as I love my classmate, his voice isn't the same as any of the actors from the musical. I really want to say that for the actors who played Ryuk, it's a bigger praise to them then most of the others. Everyone deserves praise, obviously, but let me tell you. Playing Ryuk is truly exhausting. The energy that it takes is almost draining. I played Ryuk for three months in our production and I needed to take a long break after. It seems easy and my direction was simply "Just have fun and mess about". That was it. Easier said than done. It's not just to have fun, my costume weighed more than theirs, reason I say that is because mine weighed about 30 kilos in total. And running around in that, plus the heels, I felt like a giant. I wore those in order to be bigger than both L and Light. I was already quite big(175cm and 84kg), but wearing that made me feel huge. Also running around, while having dialogue at the same time(Misa and L's introduction to each other), if you ain't got stamina, good luck. The dialogue after I'm ready. I was the same as the Japanese actor, panting for air, talking to myself about Misa having wayyyy to much energy. I would do it again though if I had the chance. I agree with you on some points, the only one I would say I fully don't agree with is. I truly believe it's worth the watch. It's funny and, yes it's going pretty fast paced, but not in a way that it ruins everything.

[@amnesiacapothecary]

Wait, you did a school production of this? That's super cool! It sounds like it was in English, so I was wondering if there was any way to watch it on KZbin?

[@izzycassiopeia8450]

@@amnesiacapothecary It was in Swedish, so I don’t think so. We had the songs in English because we were to lazy to translate them. It might be on KZbin, but we didn’t upload it when we were doing it, our teachers may have uploaded it with all the others, I’m not sure. We did the show in 2017, around the second round of the Korean and Japanese versions. It was fun. Though exhausting at times. One day we preformed it three times, twice during school and one performance during the evening for the public. I was super tired afterwards as I had been in most of the costume the entire day (9-9). Sorry that it’s not on KZbin, it would have been nice to be able to rewatch it

[@magacofi]

@@izzycassiopeia8450 Ahh that's a shame, I'd have loved to watch it

[@dehistoriapisciumfish7639]

I think the opposite. Japanese L fits way better how L was in the anime both looks wise and personality wise. And Light is much more accurate in the Korean version to how Light is in the anime

[@brittanylikesmemes_]

bruh thank you for putting me on to this. Jeremy Jordan is my blorbo and I somehow NEVER KNEW ABOUT THIS. I love Jeremy Jordan and death note and I have listened to “the way it ends” like a million times in the last hour. L’s singer goes hard in that one lmaooo.

[@brittanylikesmemes_]

also- I can’t really say much about the japanese live action movies but I will throw in that the spin-off live action movie “L: Change The World” was one I always enjoyed. Not manga canon at all obviously but I would still recommend.

[@oliviastrom4197]

This needs more views and likes. It’s just very well analyzed and insightful

[@VirtualLoyalist06]

Love this analysis! The Englidh premiere is happening this August 2023 in London Palladium and i hope for more shows in the future and for it to come to Broadway soon.

[@astrogirls3376]

I saw about the London premiere! Uncanny timing! Yes, it would be awesome if it comes to New York at some point, though I don't predict it would have a very long run. It would also be nice for them to release the concept album or even a re-recording for official streaming.

[@dramalawlight]

you may not have heard much abt the 2015 live action series but i am its #1 fan i will never get over it

[@IshScout]

For the most part I feel the musical did the best it possible could to adapt the story faithfully without being double the length. Better than a lot of musical adaptations minus movies that have a similar length because things like Legally Blonde & BTTF are pretty damn dead on to their counterpart. I hope you'll revisit this next year because with the new concept recording coming out (oddly without 3 songs we have demos of but with 1 new one we don't) sung by a cast that actually performed the roles v just singing them in a booth. (a bit of shade? yes but truth. I still enjoy JJ & crew though) As far as why next year? Well all signs are pointing towards the big juicy apple for Ryuk to enjoy. After all you don't fly West End concert cast members to New York Comic Con just to chat about the past & a recording that doesn't even have a release date yet. A limited run on our side of the pond seems a lock it's just a matter of when it becomes official.

[@IshScout]

Just to add to this Frank Wildhorn just basically confirmed NY in a new interview so I feel pretty damn smart. Too bad I'll likely not be able to afford to go see the damn thing 😒

[@m.c.lizard9838]

Thanks for the insight on this musical!! Wild it like kind of started out in the US and went to Japan, had thought it was the other way around. I’d only heard ‘They’re Only Human’ starting with a Good Omens animatic and thought it was really good, only to find the first song on Death Note’s musical concept album ‘Where is the Justice’ to be a bit too ham fisted for my tastes😂 but I’m honestly glad both a concept album and musical were made! If not perfection, a lot of fun and talent seemed to have been had with the musical.

[@nightshadetq2453]

love this video as a massive death note fan and former devoted theatre kid!! I think this video does a great job of explaining the oddity of this adaptation- on my first listen of the concept album, it’s hard to recognize all of the holes and things that are glossed over, because like. in my head it felt like a supplement to the story rather than its own. but watching the musical all the way through makes it obvious! love death note and all of its weird adaptations, thanks for covering this

[@SM-BSW]

Have you seen anythingthe West End production that recently opened on the west end? Adam Pascal of Rent fame, and Aimee Atkinson from Six play the shinigami. It's gotten great reviews!

[@astrogirls3376]

I have seen some clips on TikTok and Adam Pascal as Ryuk is golden casting I didn't know I needed. Hopefully they release the full production so maybe I can make a video on that too!

[@theredrighthandproductions]

Should've reached out to Ivan Menchel. He's been very open with talking about it at least in my and a few others experiences, at least back in like. 2017/2018

[@cringetrashcan8828]

I love the Japanese live action series. There's a lot of changes but I personally think it makes it more interesting plus the changes works and that's all that matter to me.

[@FidesAla]

Great review! You should also check out the musical Frankenstein, originally from Korea. It was created at around the same time as Death Note, it just had its 10th anniversary in Korea this year. There's a DVD with Kakizawa as Victor Frankenstein, though the other DVD is also great.

[@magacofi]

It's a hard agree for me that the pacing and lack of details incredibly dampen the experience. Another true story is that this musical is for those who know the story: so that _we_ can see the key moments portrayed. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to someone who hadn't read/watched Death Note. I could follow easily follow along, but to someone new to the story all those leaps and moments skipped would make it almost unwatchable. You can follow the basics, but you won't get the nuance without filling some blanks with prior knowledge. That said, I really enjoyed the musical! I don't know whether I'm good or bad at judging acting, but to me it was pretty great overall- if with some failings here and there, I suppose. + Ryuk's actor was OWNING the role and it was awesome to watch. When he was in the background for Misa's introduction but still stole the show? checks out XD + I very much enjoyed this version of Rem. It's not a copy-paste from the manga, that's for sure, but the different interpretation still fit the character, imo, and it was done so tastefully that I wouldn't dare think of even one complaint. + I agree that Misa's much more enjoyable here. Yuzuki did a wonderful job in making her more likeable, plus the fact that she's less annoying does actual magic. I get what her role is in the original story, but that couldn't make me like her more... she's just there. So her and Rem here? well set up, well paid off, considering the time constraints. + I really liked how Teppei interpreted L, since for the most part he managed his mannerisms in a natural fashion. And that's hard since L has *so many* of those. I specially liked how he interacted with some of the props, such as the sweets, the tea, and that scene where he holds Misa's phone out to Light. I also enjoyed his performance. Those parts where he widened his eyes really reminded me of some instances where L would do that. Pretty neat. + Kakizawa I think did a good job for Light, but there were some parts where some of the choices for him to portray were a bit... out there. I won't blame him though, since I don't know if it was his decision or the director's. I really liked the scene where he dies though, he nailed that. His desperation really gave me flshabacks to the manga, it was great. The ending is another thing I really, really liked. The setting was flimsy, to say the least XD but the actual events just took me back to how I originally thought the story was going to end- or close to that. L confirming Light is Kira, but unable to do anything about it and promptly dying, although not before declaring that this was the end of Light; which makes me think was a subtle way of saying that L had a failsafe for this type of plan, probably having something to do with Watari (WHICH holy cow that's a mayor oversight that Watari wasn't in the production?? Not even with a background role like the police officers? _That's_ what's crazy but I'll still assume Watari exists...), and not just a throwaway line. L also hates losing, after all. But then Ryuk stepping in, coming full circle from the beginning with how he was just roped into a different routine, and ended being bored again. Irony at its finest, a grim reminder that Light was never the one in control here, since he wouldn't have had the last say anyway, and a poetic conclusion in and of itself. Infinitely better than L dying two thirds into the story, anyway. JAJAJAJAJA nice wrap-up!

[@lamia8312]

Funny，I get into this musical without watching the anime and reading the manga. The songs are good and I enjoy all the charaters. For me the 2017 Japanese version with Kakizawa is the best

[@magacofi]

@@lamia8312 I did say almost! 🤭 You do miss a lot of the more complicated story beats, but that doesn't mean you can't follow along with the overarching idea of the plot. I'm happy you could enjoy it in that context, and perhaps you're better off not knowing the OG Misa honestly (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠) The songs really are great, a lot of them sit comfortably in my everything-counts playlist ✨

[@silent2163]

​@@lamia8312 you should definitely watch the anime and live action now. You can't escape Death Note 😂

[@cinders.midnight]

i've never consumed anything related to DN because, for some reason, it scares me to death (no pun intended) but i stumbled upon this musical after obsessing over varian and the seven kingdoms and finding out both, varian's va and who was supposed to be hugo's (jarrod) worked together in it. the funny part? i had absolutely ZERO expectations for it and now i can't stop listening to it, the songs are stuck in my head ...and now i also have a thing for both l and misa

[@gilby2451]

I felt the pacing was as good as it could be. When you shorten something as massive as death note into a show that isn’t 5 hours long you have to make choices on what to focus on. And you need to spend most of your time on L and Light. So unfortunately some other characters like Matsuda there isn’t time for. And why plot points are so quick. Like Lights thinking from scared kid to “I’m a god” in one song. But if you listen to the hong “hurricane” it isn’t a cheerful song. The music gives you a sad feeling. Light is saying goodbye to his own humanity. He doesn’t want too but he feels it’s necessary to create a perfect world. we dont need the inner monologue like in the anime because the song gives us all the information we need to know but also the vibe and emotions we need to feel. There is a lot in the musical that isn’t out right stated but is more in between the lines in this way. Also i loved the stand in actor for light way better than the one you showed in this video. he played light perfectly and had his look down as well. We also don’t give the actor who played L enough credit. He sings high tenor notes standing in the L posture. The worst singing posture in the universe. Also we do see lights genius in how he kills the fbi agents. which in the anime was my moment where i was mind blown by lights genius. oh yeah and convincing a literal god to kill themselves for him which in my opinion is not stated enough when describing lights genius. but this video was awesome! i love this show and i hope we get a broadway version soon.

[@Wealiko10]

2015 Urai Kenji version reigns supreme to this day, the 2015 and 2017 productions had EFFORT in them and, although I was picky about a bunch of details missing from the plot at first, the musical grew on me over time and watching it again, it feels surprisingly compact and satisfactory. Like I said, EFFORT was made by everyone in that production and it shows. Now for the English production, meh, it just doesn't come even close to comparing. The cast doesn't blend together well, it's just a bunch of singers all adamant on standing out from the crowd. Overall just a disappointment, although I acknowledge that the standard was set really high by the Japanese, if they worked together musically it'd make it a lot more bearable. Also the audience treating every sentence as a one liner got really annoying real fast, it's not meant to be a parody/comedy, but I guess them shows with a laughter track playing every 5 seconds already rotted the brains of many.

[@mycobacteriem2540]

Every few months I come back to this musical and the concept album, and honestly I hope we get a new york run after hearing about the london showings. i did know about the japanese production, and i will probably piss a LOT of anime fans off by saying...it just doesn't hit. maybe it's the garbo quality of eveyrthing ive seen of it distorting sound and everything, but their voices just did not fit like the english concept album's did. I couldn't get into the music. Everything else seemed on par and nice from my previous experience with japanese stage shows, but if I couldnt get behind the vocies it just...was not fun to sit through.