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NEWS: Live-Action Death Note Film's Producer Responds to Whitewashing Controversy

So why was everyone outraged when the live action Akira was going to change the setting to New York and cast Kristen Stewart

It was a problem with Ghost in the Shell.

This is a non-issue.

Digimonlover101 wrote:

So when Japan used asain actors for the live action black butler does that mean it's asain washing? I won't be watching the live action death note anyways since it seems to be different from the original and none of the actors look like the characters they're supposed to be.

Main difference is stuff like Black Butler and FMA are originally Japanese works made by Japanese people. Its not like that one Spider-Man toku where Peter Parker suddenly became an Asian guy with a robot.

For one, the actual source of the Death Note is that a shinigami is in the human world and drops his Death Note. Why would a shinigami be in America? Is that shinigami going be be given a big robe and scythe and be called a grim reaper? Isn't there only one Grim Reaper in western lore, whereas a key factor in Death Note is the existence of multiple shinigami meaning multiple Death Notes?

But as far as the US Death Note movie goes, I have these feelings every time the subject comes up: I really wish they would have just made this into an entirely new Death Note story, a spin-off of the original series, so they didn't have to carry over any of the Japanese and Light vs. L baggage. Pretty much Ryuk would have been the only character coming back from the original and dropped the Death Note on to some new kid in America and they'd even have some references to the original Kira from Japan. But whatever, I'll check this out eventually anyway for curiosity's sake.

I find it a bit unbelievable to me they couldn't find a single Asian American actor that didn't speak "perfect English."

I'm still waiting for someone to tell why this """"""controversy"""""" affects the pacing, plot, story, characters, writing and directing that makes this adaptation, that you have not watched, bad in any way, shape or form.

Don't you think we should be worried more about that and how is gonna represent Death Note instead of the f******g casting for an adaptation that has an entirely different setting? Does it really matter?

Lord Oink wrote:

Isn't saying its not whitewashing because its a retelling in America mean its just, uh, cultural appropriation then? Taking another culture's idea and using it yourself, or whatever?

Well, the Japanese "culturally appropriated" American comic culture first.
So TAKE THAT, Japan?

spoiler[ Cultural appropriation is not a thing ]

I'm not really sure how it's a non issue. For one, the actual source of the Death Note is that a shinigami is in the human world and drops his Death Note. Why would a shinigami be in America? Is that shinigami going be be given a big robe and scythe and be called a grim reaper? Isn't there only one Grim Reaper in western lore, whereas a key factor in Death Note is the existence of multiple shinigami meaning multiple Death Notes?

Death Note is ultimately a (supernatural) crime thriller. These get foreign adaptions ALL the time.
The Korean Old Boy is based on a manga, the Oscar Winning The Departed adapted the Chinese Infernal Affairs and Reservoir Dogs takes cues from the ending to the Chinese City on Fire. All of these changed their cultural norms in a sensible way and i frankly don´t get what´s so special about Death Note that it needs a Tokyo setting. Make Seattle believable and i am game. The end.
Akira, GitS or Grave of the Fireflies are of course build differently but only a madmen would meddle with the setting there... sigh. Don´t f##k up Akira WB. I believe in you, maybe.

Masi Oka, another of the film's producers, previously defended the casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in November, though he said the staff was conscious of the issue. "Our casting directors did an extensive search to get Asian actors," he said, "But we couldn't find the right person, the actors we did go to didn't speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten."

ninjamitsuki wrote:

It was a problem with Ghost in the Shell. This is a non-issue.

Odd. I recall Ghost in the Shell having an actual Japanese actor speaking Japanese and requiring that the audience read English subtitles. Somehow I doubt that Death Note will have that. Will it even have any Japanese actors at all? Who knows.

I'm not really sure how it's a non issue. For one, the actual source of the Death Note is that a shinigami is in the human world and drops his Death Note. Why would a shinigami be in America? Is that shinigami going be be given a big robe and scythe and be called a grim reaper? Isn't there only one Grim Reaper in western lore, whereas a key factor in Death Note is the existence of multiple shinigami meaning multiple Death Notes?

If this really is a case of Americanizing the story, then some of the changes they made do make sense.

Light being a white male kinda works because Light as a character is suppose to be from an affluent part of American society. He has access to wealth and power, and that makes him all the more scarier when he goes on his crusade for "justice". (Though right now Light looks like a emo kid who'd watch Death Note rather than star in it, but I'll hold back on judgement for now until I see it)

L in this version works because he's not suppose to seem like a genius detective; he looks like an outcast, a weirdo. This version of L (from the promotional stuff so far) looks like he fits the bill, but we won't know until there's more to see. All I can say is that themes such as race and class could be a big part of this adaptation...

Still, I'm more concerned with what's going to be changed within the story. While Death Note has a universal appeal, there are nuances in there that work more for a Japanese audience than an American one. What are we going to lose with this adaptation, and what will we gain? It's too early to tell right now.

Quote:

Masi Oka, another of the film's producers, previously defended the casting in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in November, though he said the staff was conscious of the issue. "Our casting directors did an extensive search to get Asian actors," he said, "But we couldn't find the right person, the actors we did go to didn't speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten."

I call bullshit on this statement. There was an Asian actor named, Edward Zo, who was rejected for the role of Light and they told him they weren't looking Asian actors, plus his English was fine.
I'm totally fine with changing the races of characters since this is an American movie, but I don't accept people rejecting others or not even giving them a chance to audition based on race. That's not okay.

Cultural appropriation is also ABSOLUTELY a thing. If you're taking parts of someone's culture and using it without understanding how it's important, or what it means to that culture, it's disrespectful as all hell.

that in Japan, but the shinigami is directly based on the grim reaper and other similar beings from European folklore.

Quote:

Saying 'whitewashing' is also somewhat offensive... one of our three leads is African-American," Lee added, referencing Keith Stanfield's role as L.

This made me laugh for some reason.

Light being a white male kinda works because Light as a character is suppose to be from an affluent part of American society. He has access to wealth and power,

So why was everyone outraged when the live action Akira was going to change the setting to New York and cast Kristen Stewart as Kei but changing the setting for Death Note is apparently acceptable for anime fans?