Death Note (Drama)

Episode 4

If you're looking for a more faithful adaptation of the original manga story, this episode of the Death Note j-drama will please you more than the previous ones, although the little ways that it differs still matter.

The characters have changed a lot, mostly in ways that align them closer to the people they were in the original story. Light is becoming increasingly comfortable with the fact that he's a serial killer, getting more into his classic mutterings about bringing justice to the world. Unfortunately, this also means Misa is becoming more and more obsessed with meeting Light. She outright tells Rem that she only gained the shinigami eyes to find out where Kira was, so she could meet him. Misa is also characterized as stupid, not knowing what the word "paranoid" means and being more cavalier about who she kills to support Kira. Well, at least this time she's never been shown to be smart in the first place, unlike in the original story. She's also clever enough to figure out that she should be subtle about telling Light that she's the second Kira, only hinting at the color of their notebooks and pushing him to touch hers. Since Light's already her fan, that means their relationship could be more mutual than it ever was in the anime or manga, which is also a promising sign. It could also lead to some interesting tension with Light's fanboy friends if he and Misa end up together. Still, I'd like to see the show make her arc more about her, and not just how she affects others. It would feel like wasted potential to veer her back toward her anime characterization at this point.

The larger plot—at least, the first part of it—also suffers for its closeness to the anime this week. As L becomes more convinced that Kira is somehow connected to the police force, he runs surveillance on the Yagamis and another investigator's family. This takes up about half of the episode's runtime. This subplot was the source of some of the anime's most iconic images and lines. Light's potato chip bag scheme even turned into a meme. It's clear how much Tetsuro Araki's direction added to this, with its eccentric camera angles and shading that made even the most mundane actions look dramatic. The sound didn't hurt either, especially the musical score full of Gregorian chanting and slippery trombones. The music tries here, but it never goes beyond classic thriller accents. Death Note can be really hard to translate to film without the proper technique, and j-dramas just don't have the time or resources for that.

That's why the show shines more when it diverges. There's only one change of note in the episode's first half, involving the Yagami family. When Soichiro Yagami explains how pathetic he considers Kira, L confronts him with the possibility that Light-as-Kira started killing as a way to defend his dad. After all, his second victim (the first as far as the investigation knows) was the guy who tried to kill Soichiro for revenge. L makes Soichiro consider if Kira might be motivated by something more benign than he thinks. This leads to an interesting conversation between Light and his dad, where Soichiro makes it clear that he still holds Kira in contempt. This is the sort of change that might bring more depth to Death Note as a human story. I'm not saying I find Light's cause sympathetic, but digging into the psychology of Kira is interesting, and it gives fans some real food for thought. Unfortunately, that's the brightest spot in a snoozy first half.

The show does greatly improve in its second half, thankfully. J-dramas are generally a female-audience-heavy medium, and this adaptation of Death Note seems richly aware of that fact. That's just not true with what it changes, but what it keeps the same, as when Light and L finally meet in-person after L transfers to Light's school and challenges him to a tennis match.

The tennis match lacks the oomph provided by Araki's direction in the anime, but it's still very energetic and tense. What's more, the show builds the tension between the two main characters afterward when they take a shower together. Yes, you read that right: Light and L are naked in each other's presence, as L taunts Light over how he suspects him to be Kira. A big draw for female audiences to Death Note was the intense homoeroticism between its many male characters, especially between Light and L. Not only does this survive the adaptation, but this show enhances it, through how the actors look at each other and how the camera ogles both of them.

It helps that both actors have grown into their characters. Masataka Kubota continues to become more comfortable as Light. Kento Yamazaki is never going to be much like the original L, but he's created his own fun spin on the character. Ironically, the L here reminds me a lot more of the original Light, with his creepy glares and foreboding smirk. When he combines that intensity with L's signature big eyes, the effect is very unsettling. At the same time, it comes off as sincere and sweet when he asks Light to be his friend at the end. L is serious and focused, but also lonely. Yamazaki can nail many different sides of L.

This episode was a rollercoaster ride, with some of the show's best moments and dullest moments so far. It's also hewing closer to the original story, making it less interesting for those of us already intimately familiar with that version. There's still just enough difference to leave me curious, though. Even when this show is dragging, there's always a little something to pique fans' interest. Specifically: now that Light and L have met, how will a friendship play out between these two very different versions of them?

Rating: B-

Death Note (Drama) is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn.