WARNING! There are major spoilers for the Death Note manga and anime ahead.
Summary
- Death Note musical adaptations vary in success: American edition faltered, Japanese edition thrived.
- Changes in Death Note musical: Light’s intentions shift to justice, more depth added to character.
- English version of Death Note musical concept album finally released in UK after lack of interest in US.
Japan is no stranger to stage plays and musical adaptations of popular anime. Attack on Titan, Haikyuu, and Pokémon are a short list of musicals beloved by the fans of the anime they’re adapted from. Some anime musicals have their fandoms apart from the anime they’re adapted from, like the Sailor Moon musical franchise, or the game they’re adapted from in the case of the Ace Attorney musicals made by the infamous Takarazuka all-women’s stage troupes. However, one contender with an interesting history has emerged in this musical adaptation trend: Death Note.
The popular supernatural horror anime is world-renowned, but the American musical edition faltered before it could see the stage. The English concept album, however, was partially released and a few songs went viral on TikTok over the past few years. The Japanese edition of the Death Note musical, however, was immensely successful and will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this upcoming April. The history of both of these musicals ending in opposites, similar to Light and L themselves, is something worth exploring in today’s article.
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How Accurate Is The Musical?
Where Were Liberties Taken and What Was Cut
In both iterations of the musical, it’s apparent that the entire second half of the plot is cut short. This is likely due to the poor reception of the anime adaptations and the manga’s attempts at filling the shoes after the beloved character L’s arc ended; Mellow and Year were never as popular, and the story is often touted as rushed once L dies. The anime and manga both feature L dying halfway through Light’s reign of terror, with just as much content with L as there is without. In the musical, L commits suicide after having his name written in the Death Note only moments before Ryuk kills Light Yagami with the same Death Note, during the second to last scene in the musical. Light Yagami does still die the same as he did in the manga, with Ryuk contemplating the same lack of satisfaction with the ending.
Another major difference completely changes the Death Note musical. In the anime and the manga, Light’s initial intentions are focused on quelling the crime rates around the world that are skyrocketing during the time of the story. The musical’s version of Light Yagami, however, focuses on justice. He believes that law and justice are two different concepts, and what is “right”, which he believes is finding justice for all victims, isn’t what aligns with what is socially acceptable as law and order.
He mentions living in a broken system where lawyers being paid off to get the rich free where the poor suffer under false allegations or go broke trying to defend their own innocence. He also talks about greedy corporations profiting from their workers’ suffering, and claims “what good is law that can’t punish those who break it?”. In this way, Light has significantly more depth than he initially has in the anime and manga.
Why Didn’t The English Version of the Soundtrack Get Released?
And Why Is It Finally Released Now?
The English concept album was recorded in December 2014, with a star-studded cast. One such star included Light Yagami’s actor, who was Jeremy Jordan, a Broadway legend known for some of the most popular musicals of the modern era, such as Newsies, and who plays Lucifer Morningstar in the animated series Hazbin Hotel. However, despite the quality of the concept album, it was unable to secure the means to bring the English version of the musical onto the stage due to lack of interest in the American musical community. It was considered too “out there”; horror musicals have historically been hard to get off the ground, both on and off Broadway. The American Psycho musical has a notably rocky history in its attempts to hit the stage. The most successful horror musicals at the time being Sweeny Todd, Phantom of the Opera, and Little Shop of Horrors.
However, times have slowly been changing. As the Japanese, and the Korean, editions of the Death Note musical became more successful year after year, in May 2023, an English version of the musical was finally going to happen… in the UK. Subsequently, an official cast recording was announced in October 2023 with the new cast. Some of the stars included in this revival are Adam Pascal playing Ryuk, with the actor best known as Roger Davis in the original Broadway cast for Rent as well as its movie adaptation, and Aimie Atkinson playing Rem, who is best known for her role as Kathrine Howard in the glam rock musical Six.
