What do you think about Netflix's Live-Action Death Note?

1. Japanese people think we're sad and hilarious for giving a crap about the fact they cast white people.

2. This is an American adaptation of a manga/anime/live action film series. Why do they need to cast Asians or Asian Americans in the role? I see that people are mostly only angry about Kira being cast as white but no one is getting really antsy about L being cast as a black man. I mean...I totally get why that is but its still hilarious to see. I have a feeling if they decided to cast everyone with black actors if people would bother with that line of criticism (probably not).

3. This isn't going to be a straight 1:1 adaptation of the source material. You have an anime for that and you also have Japan's two live action films for that as well. I think those films are...OK, but they aren't amazing. If you want to consume this thing in its best state then you want to read the manga and then watch the anime...or at least watch the anime.

4. I think this looks fine and I refuse to judge it based on the internet's, specifically Twitter and "woke" people's, outrage meter...which is always set to "Freak Out About Everything In the Saddest Way Possible". Maybe the film will be trash...maybe it will be great...I'll judge it for myself when I see it.

5. Culturally, there's a lot of Japanese high school, and life, in Death Note and that does not translate to American society/high school life. There's a ton of stuff that would make it more appropriate to be changed since it is taking place in America. Not to mention this is a film and not a series, they are going to have to cut a lot of deeper story stuff out. Just look at how rushed and awkward the live action Japanese films are in comparison.

@golguin Or perhaps they know there's an anime and live action versions already easily accessible by people? Why make it the exact same film only in English? This always really confuses me about people and adaptations. Just like when people get upset that film remakes aren't 1:1 but with a new cast.

Japanese live action adaptations of anime are universally terrible. Give us Yanks a chance to fuck up some anime. Who knows we might surprise ya.

When will they learn that live action anime doesn't work.

@cmblasko: not universally true. Samurai X live action films are good.

When I first saw the teaser, my main problem was actually real petty. White Light looked like, well, a creepy serial killer. Light is supposed to be hot and inconspicuous looking. Watching the full trailer, he looks a little better, but I have my reservations.

Whitewashing: now this is a low bar take here, but, here it is: at least the good guy's black. Too frequently a Japanese story being reinterpreted in an American setting means everybody gets a lot paler, when there are plenty of more races than white people in America. You can have the story take place in America and cast any race for any role. That's what's great about America! So I'm glad that the good guy isn't just another white dude.

The main character is a white dude, but given how I described Light in my first paragraph and race politics here in the land of freedom, I can actually kind of buy the argument that in an American setting, the pretty boy wunderkind that no one would ever suspect of murder should probably be a white boy.

Otherwise, my primary complaints with the setting change are ones of world building. "Light" is an odd choice for a first name for a character whose family is probably vaguely European. And why is he called Kira? He was called Kira in Japan because the killings started in Japan, it sounds like English word "Killer" and it's an actual Japanese name. Does Light Turner start off killing Japanese criminals? I know that they can't not call him Kira, but it's one of those things where changing the setting makes some of the details make less sense.

Will probably watch it for Willem Dafoe, and to see if they hit the anime edgelord aesthetic of my youth.

Edit: Also hey, since, we're chatting, how about some speculation? I'll spoiler tag since I'll be talking ending stuff from the manga/anime

Looks like it's going to do its own thing, rather than follow the original. I think that's great, but the trailer doesn't really interest me in the least bit. The only thing I hope they do is end it like the manga, and not like the anime.

I am gonna follow Jeff on this one.

I just hope Adam Wingard adds a kickass soundtrack like he did for You're Next and The Guest.

That cover of the Dwight Tilley Band's Looking For the Magic from MTG is used so effectively well in You're Next. After watching The Guest I had the song Anthonio (Berlin Breakdown Version) by Annie stuck in my head for weeks. Oh both those are awesome movies and if you haven't seen them shame on you!

@bartok: I still need to watch You're Next. The Guest is one of the most underrated thrillers in the last decade, at least. Made me a Dan Stevens and Adam Wingard fan for life.

I think it's one of the most overrated anime to ever exist. Flimsy premise, a few good bits in the middle, terrible ending. It's not the worst thing ever, but it really doesn't deserve the accolades heaped upon it. I shall not be enduring any remakes.

This looks like trash. Death Note's great to read, but it's way too slow-paced and convoluted to adapt into even an anime because it takes ages for actors to speak all of the internal monologues and lectures about how the different cat-and-mouse ploys work. Somehow I suspect this movie is going to be a very, very bare-bones "thriller" that substitutes action scenes for the layers of psychological intrigue and clever tricks from the manga. The fact that the trailer shows L running around dressed like a Zucotti Park protester and Light punching out bullies and almost falling from a collapsing Ferris Wheel does not inspire confidence.

I'm also really not sold on the casting. Light looks like he fell out of a My Chemical Romance music video. I think you can make his character work in a westernized setting, but you should go for the "blueblood, all American scholar-athlete" archetype, not a guy who looks like he lurks around the portapotties at Warped Tour. I can understand wanting to make him a little bit creepy, but if they were gonna do that, they just should have hired Remi Malek.

Also, all of the names are going to seem insane in an American context. An American named "Light"? "Kira"?

There's going to be a screening tonight at Comic-Con. It'll be interesting to see the reactions to it.

Or not. :|