Death Note (2006 TV series)

Death Note (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was directed by Tetsurō Araki at Madhouse and aired in Japan on Nippon Television every Wednesday (with the exception of December 20, 2006, and January 3, 2007) shortly past midnight, from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007.^[5][6] The plot of the series primarily revolves around high school student Light Yagami, who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook called a Death Note. This book causes the death of anyone whose name is written in it and is passed on to Light by the Shinigami Ryuk after he becomes bored within the Shinigami world.

A two-hour "Director's Cut" compilation television film, titled Death Note: Relight – Visions of a God, aired on Nippon Television two months after the anime series concluded.^[7] Although advertised to be the "complete conclusion", the popularity of the series inspired the release of a second TV film, titled Death Note: Relight 2 – L's Successors nearly a year later. These films respectively recap the first and second narrative parts of the series, with new scenes added in to fill in any plot holes that may have resulted from omitted footage.

Cast and characters

Production

Tetsurō Araki, the director of the anime series, said that he wished to convey aspects that "made the series interesting" instead of simply "focusing on morals or the concept of justice". Toshiki Inoue, the series writer, agreed with Araki and added that, in anime adaptations, there is a lot of importance in highlighting the aspects that are "interesting in the original". He concluded that Light's presence was "the most compelling" aspect; therefore the adaptation chronicles Light's "thoughts and actions as much as possible". Inoue noted that to best incorporate the manga's plot into the anime, he "tweak[ed] the chronology a bit" and incorporated flashbacks that appear after the openings of the episodes; he said this revealed the desired tensions. Araki said that, because in an anime the viewer cannot "turn back pages" in the manner that a manga reader can, the anime staff ensured that the show clarified details. Inoue added that the staff did not want to get involved with every single detail, so the staff selected elements to emphasize. Due to the complexity of the original manga, he described the process as "definitely delicate and a great challenge". Inoue admitted that he placed more instructions and notes in the script than usual. Araki added that because of the importance of otherwise trivial details, this commentary became crucial to the development of the series.^[8]

Araki said that when he discovered the Death Note anime project, he "literally begged" to join the production team; when he did join, he insisted that Inoue should write the scripts. Inoue added that, because he enjoyed reading the manga, he wished to use his effort.^[8]

Release

The Death Note anime television series, directed by Tetsurō Araki and animated by Madhouse, premiered on Nippon Television on October 4, 2006, and concluded on June 27, 2007, running for a total of 37 episodes.^[9] The series aired every Tuesday at 0:56, which is effectively every Wednesday at 12:56 a.m. JST.^[10] It was produced by a production committee consisting of Nippon Television, D.N. Dream Partners, VAP, Shueisha and Madhouse.^[11] In North America, the series was licensed by Viz Media for American viewers to use "Download-to-Own" and "Download-to-Rent" services while it was still airing in Japan. This release was seen as "significant because it marked the first time a well known Japanese anime property was made legally available in the United States for domestic audiences to download while the title was still airing on Japanese television".^[12] The downloadable episodes contained the original Japanese audio and English subtitles,^[13] and were made available through IGN's Windows-only Direct2Drive service.^[14] DVDs of the series have also been released,^[13] containing both an English dubbed audio track, produced by Ocean Productions, and the original Japanese audio track with optional English subtitles.^[15] Viz announced at Anime Expo 2007 that the first DVD would be released on November 20, 2007, in both regular and special editions,^[16] and also confirmed at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2007 that the first 15,000 copies of each DVD would contain collectible figures.^[17]

Death Note was originally slated to make its North American television premiere in Canada, as part of YTV's Bionix programming block, on September 7, 2007.^[18] However, the show was removed from the schedule at the last minute^[19] and the Canadian premiere was pushed back to October 26, 2007, at 10:00 p.m. Thus, it instead premiered in the United States on October 20, 2007, on Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim^[20] and reran until January 10, 2010, when the syndication license expired.^[21] The last episode premiered on YTV on July 4, 2008, and would later premiere on Adult Swim two days later. The show was removed from YTV's schedule on July 5, 2008, with its last airing being a rerun of the final episode at 1:30 a.m. EDT. Soon after, Bionix became a 2-hour block on Saturday nights.^[22] The show also streamed online for free on Adult Swim Video, with a new episode available every Saturday afternoon, on the day of its broadcast premiere.^[23] On July 26, 2017, Starz announced that they would be offering episodes of the series for their video on demand service starting on August 1 of that same year.^[24]

An animated two-hour compilation TV film titled Death Note Relight: Visions of a God (DEATH NOTE リライト・幻視する神, Desu Nōto Riraito: Genshisuru Kami) aired on Nippon Television in Japan on August 31, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. It is a recap which takes place after the series end, where a shinigami approaches Ryuk in the shinigami realm in order to learn more about the human world. Instead, Ryuk tells him of all the events leading up to the final story arc, about Light Yagami and his rival L. Originally, this special was advertised as a retelling told from Ryuk's point of view, but it does not give a different point of view from what was originally told. However, it does contains updated dialogue, as well as a few additional scenes not featured in the original series run.^[25]

Nippon Television also aired a second compilation film titled Death Note: Relight: L's Successors (DEATH NOTE リライト2 Lを継ぐ者, Desu Nōto Riraito 2: L o Tsugu Mono) on August 22, 2008. Like the first film, this compilation summarizes the second part of the anime series. Specifically, it recounted the final half of the suspenseful supernatural story, including the investigators Near and Mello's confrontations with the vigilante Kira.^[26] This version features more scene additions than the previous film and omits the mafia subplot.

Home media release

Japanese

English

Music

Five pieces of theme music are used for the series. The first opening theme, titled "The World", is performed by Nightmare. Nightmare also performed the first ending theme, "Alumina" (アルミナ, Arumina), which reappears as the ending theme in the television film Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God and as an insert in episodes 12 and 19. Both songs appear on their album The World Ruler. The second opening theme from episode 20 onwards is "What's Up, People?!" and the second ending theme is "Zetsubō Billy" (絶望ビリー, Zetsubō Birī, "Desperate Billy"), which also appears as an insert in the TV special Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God. Both themes are performed by Maximum the Hormone and appear on their album Bu-ikikaesu. The final episode's ending theme is "Coda – Death Note" by series co-composer Yoshihisa Hirano. "Misa's Song", performed by Misa's voice actress Aya Hirano, is heard as an insert for episode 25. The English version of the song is performed by the character's English voice actress, Shannon Chan-Kent.

Several soundtracks for the series have been released. The music from the anime was composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, while the CDs were also published by VAP. The first one was Death Note Original Soundtrack, which was released in Japan on December 21, 2006. It contains music from the series with the first opening and ending themes are sung by the Japanese band Nightmare in the TV size format.^[27] Death Note Original Soundtrack II was first released in Japan on March 21, 2007. It features the new opening and closing themes by Maximum the Hormone in the TV size format.^[28] The third CD, Death Note Original Soundtrack III was released on June 27, 2007. Tracks 1–21 were composed and arranged by Taniuchi, while tracks 22–28 were composed and arranged by Hirano. The album features one track sung by Aya Hirano, who was also the Japanese voice actress of Misa Amane in the anime series. Also appearing on this soundtrack is the ending theme Coda – Death Note, which can be heard at the end of the final episode of the anime as the credits are shown.^[29]

Reception

^[30]

The anime was commended by Tom S. Pepirium of IGN, who said that Death Note's "heavy serialized nature" is what "makes the show so engaging and discussion worthy".^[31] Pepirium, saying that translating Death Note is "no small task", stated that Stephen Hedley created an English dub with "nothing clunky". He added that Karl Willems, director of the dub, assembled a "stunning voice cast of professionals" with a "solid tone minus some of the cheesy yelling and screaming of other dubs".^[32] On the NPR show Fresh Air, John Powers said that Death Note is "at least as addictive as a show like Lost".^[33] Hyper wrote:

Running over thirty-seven 20 minutes episodes, the anime sticks much closer to the manga so takes a far more languid approach to storytelling, better fleshing out the fantastic characters of Light and his nemesis, L. Light in particular is one of the most layered characters to appear in anime in a long time.^[34]

Jacob Hope Chapman from Anime News Network praised Teru Mikami's role as bloody and flashy and even better than that of Near, Mello, and Misa.^[35] The Daily Telegraph's Henry St. Leger wrote, "What starts as a moral fable about the corruption of power becomes a slow-burning game of cat-and-mouse as Light is chased down by the world's greatest detective. Some droning voice acting leadens what is otherwise a brilliantly terse noir."^[36] Vulture's Maya Phillips wrote, "Beyond its deft twists and turns, Death Note also addresses questions about morality, justice, and capital punishment. All this, plus beautiful animation and well-written dialogue and plot, makes Death Note the cream of the animated crop."^[37]

The Death Note anime was one of the series to win Best TV Anime at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair.^[38] In 2009, Death Note was ranked 51st in IGN's "Top 100 Animated Series" list.^[39]

References

1. ^ "The Official Website for Death Note". Viz Media. Archived October 27, 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
2. ^ "Viz Media Announces Fall DVD Release of Death Note™ Anime Series". Viz Media. June 29, 2007. Archived July 1, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 2, 2020. – via Anime News Network it is as much a psychological thriller as it is a crime drama.
3. ^ Ellingwood, Holly (November 9, 2007). "Death Note Vol. 1 Original and Uncut (Advance Review)". Active Anime. Archived March 25, 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
4. ^ Luther, Katherine. "Death Note: Series Profile". About.com. Archived October 31, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 24, 2020. Death Note is a supernatural thriller series that zeros in on a very delicate question: is all life worth saving or are there some that we'd be better off without?
5. ^ "Nippon Television Network Program Catalogue: Animation". p. 4. Archived from the original on November 6, 2006. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
6. ^ "Death Note: backnumber story" (in Japanese). Nippon Television. Archived October 17, 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
7. ^ "Death Note TV Special to be Three-Hour Director's Cut". Anime News Network. July 12, 2007. Archived July 14, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
8. ^ Kimlinger, Carl (November 2007). "Passion and dreams". Newtype USA. 6 (11): 50–51.
9. ^ "Nippon Television Network Program Catalogue: Animation". Nippon Television. p. 17. Archived November 6, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
10. ^ "Official Death Note Anime Website" (in Japanese). Nippon Television. Archived November 9, 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
11. ^ "Official Death Note staff listing" (in Japanese). Nippon Television. Archived March 21, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
12. ^ "Viz Media Secures Landmark Agreement To Make Death Note Anime Series Available For Download". Mania Entertainment. January 10, 2007. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
13. ^ Mays, Jonathan (January 13, 2007). "Death Note Release Won't be Limited to Downloads". Anime News Network. Archived January 15, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
14. ^ Loo, Egan (May 3, 2007). "Viz to Offer Death Note Downloads via Direct2Drive". Anime News Network. Archived May 9, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 4, 2007.
15. ^ Dong, Bamboo (February 24, 2007). "New York ComicCon 2007 – Viz Media – Anime". Anime News Network. Archived February 27, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
16. ^ "Viz Media Announces Fall DVD Release of Death Note Anime Series". Viz Media. June 29, 2007. Archived July 1, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 2, 2007. – via Anime News Network
17. ^ Santos, Carlo (July 26, 2007). "Viz Media – Comic-Con International 2007". Anime News Network. Archived August 24, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
18. ^ "YTV, Discovery Kids and Treehouse Ring in September with Exciting New Series and Returning Favourites". Corus Entertainment. July 23, 2007. Archived April 11, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
19. ^ Loo, Egan (September 4, 2007). "Death Note Removed from Canada's YTV Schedule". Anime News Network. Archived October 16, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
20. ^ Loo, Egan (September 20, 2007). "Death Note Confirmed to Air on Adult Swim October 20". Anime News Network. Archived January 23, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
21. ^ Loo, Egan (January 11, 2010). "Adult Swim Loses Blood+ & Death Note, Hints at 3 New Anime". Anime News Network. Archived January 23, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
22. ^ "Press room – Press kids". Corus Entertainment – Press_Corporate. Archived March 12, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
23. ^ Loo, Egan (October 19, 2007). "Death Note's English Dub Premieres on Web, Television". Anime News Network. Archived September 29, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
24. ^ "Starz app August 2017 Movies and TV Titles Announced". ComingSoon.net. July 26, 2017. Archived July 18, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
25. ^ Loo, Egan (July 12, 2007). "Death Note TV Special to be Three-Hour Director's Cut". Anime News Network. Archived July 14, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
26. ^ Loo, Egan (July 25, 2008). "Second Death Note Special to Air on August 22 in Japan". Anime News Network. Archived June 11, 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
27. ^ "Death Note オリジナル・サウンドトラック" (in Japanese). Archived April 9, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
28. ^ "Death Note オリジナル・サウンドトラックII" (in Japanese). Archived December 3, 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
29. ^ "Death Note オリジナル・サウンドトラックIII" (in Japanese). Archived April 9, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
30. ^ "Death Note" (tv). death_note. Archived October 25, 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
31. ^ Pepirium, Tom S. (November 19, 2007). "Death Note: "Tactics" Review". IGN. Archived November 21, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
32. ^ Pepirium, Tom S. (February 27, 2008). "Death Note: "Ally" Review". IGN. Archived March 2, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
33. ^ Powers, John (April 28, 2008). "Killer Penmanship in 'Death Note'". NPR. Archived May 26, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
34. ^ "Death Note: Volume 1". Hyper. ' (173): 79. Next Media. March 2008. ISSN 1320-7458
35. ^ Chapman, Jacob Hope (January 30, 2010). "Death Note Relight 2". Anime News Network. Archived September 19, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
36. ^ Leger, Henry St (May 10, 2016). "The 5 best anime series to stream online". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived August 24, 2024 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
37. ^ Phillips, Maya (October 10, 2017). "The 10 Best Anime Shows to Watch on Netflix". Vulture. Archived February 3, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 12, 2025.
38. ^ Miller, Evan (March 19, 2007). "Results of 6th Annual Tokyo Anime Awards Announced". Anime News Network. Archived April 30, 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
39. ^ "51. Death Note". IGN. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2009.

External links

• Official anime website (in Japanese)