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All the latest information about Death Note: reports, gossip, releases, analyses, speculation and discussion.

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Manga Entertainment: Death Note Blu-Ray Anime Coming to UK in 2016!  (Meanwhile Viz Media Promotes Death Note: Omega Edition in Blogs & Illinois)

31/5/2016

10 Comments

 
Looks like the high definition, formatted blu-ray Death Note Omega Edition will be appearing in British stores later this year.

Manga Entertainment announced at MCM London Comic Con that Death Note blu-ray for the UK is on its way. The company has just secured the licence to distribute in that format to the Britons, and the description certainly matched that of Omega.

The news was simultaneously proclaimed on Twitter via its official account (see right), though fans at the convention found out first.

In both venues, the product spec was unveiled as being the entire run of thirty-seven Death Note anime episodes on blu-ray.  Included are the two re-cut movie length features Death Note Relight: Visions of a God and its sequel Relight: L's Successors.
Manga Entertainment: Death Note blu-ray Britain

Manga Entertainment: Death Note UK blu-ray
Announced on Twitter by @MangaUK, May 28th 2016
It's hard to imagine British distributors reinventing the wheel, when an English language blu-ray Death Note edition with that exact specification already exists as Omega. Available for US consumer viewers since March 1st 2016, created, packaged and promoted by Viz Media.

Talking of which, the Viz newsletter recently ran a piece reviewing precisely that Death Note blu-ray box set!

Urian Brown provides a pretty thorough synopsis of the story and what we may expect by revisiting its anime again in blu-ray.  The main event is earmarked once again as the unbelievable quality on display through blu-ray's famed high definition focus.  There's much talk of the detail in L's strawberry or Misa Amane's frills in his Viz blog entry - entitled Death Note: The Omega Edition with the tag-line Death Note finally gets the proper Blu-Ray treatment! (Viz, May 17th 2016).

Worth a read if you're wondering what all of the fuss is about.

Viz Media reps were also busy promoting its Omega Death Note blu-ray box set in Illinois last week.  The company had a booth at Anime Central 2016 convention, held from May 20th-22nd at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Fans stopping by to say hello could walk away clutching a free give-away Death Note poster.
Death Note Omega Blu-Ray Ryuk cover detail
Find Death Note Omega Edition in our own Death Note Anime Gift Store
- in fact, buy formatted blu-ray Death Note films from there too!

10 Comments

Prior to Playing Misa, Margaret Qualley Lands Part in 'Sidney Hall' and Stars in Shane Black's 'The Nice Guys'

30/5/2016

71 Comments

 
With her role as Misa Amane looming, Margaret Qualley has signed up for another part to fill the gap before filming Death Note.

She has joined the cast of Sidney Hall, a movie currently being shot in New York City.


Starring Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning, its plot revolves around the eponymous Sidney Hall, author of a book about his own generation, who then disappears without a trace.

So a little like Light Yagami then!  Who notably exhibited penmanship in a book too; the impactful contents of which could equally be read, in a fairly abstract way, as a commentary upon the world as he experienced it - rotten - and who also vanished and hasn't been seen since.

Margaret should be able to pick up some nice tips for her forthcoming performance as Misa Amane.

Meanwhile Margaret Qualley is one of the stars of another movie out right now, which also has some distinct Death Note links.

Ex-Death Note director Shane Black's The Nice Guys went on general release in the US on May 20th 2016.  It's a neo-noir, crime/mystery comedy with buddy elements too; written by Anthony Bagarozzi, who was behind one of the earliest screenplay drafts for the US live-action Death Note movie. He still retains a credit for it, though Jeremy Slater has since reworked his script.

Margaret plays Amelia Kutner in their movie - a missing woman, who demands to remain missing and even hires a heavy to ensure that continues to be the case.

Unfortunately, Amelia's implicated in the reappearance of a dead woman, now more alive than her funeral suggests that she should be.  Hence the sudden pursuit.

Finally, Margaret has the final season of The Leftovers to complete, then she'll be free to take on Misa Amane when filming begins in Vancouver, Canada, on June 22nd 2016.
The Nice Guys' Margaret Qualley, Crazy and Beautiful.

Wonder if she ever fears becoming typecast...

Posted during

Death Note Misa Month
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MCM London Comic Con Anime Karaokers Belt Out Songs from Death Note

30/5/2016

6 Comments

 
MCM London Comic Con May 2016 logo
MCM London Comic Con 2016 is currently in full swing with convention goers able to wow the crowds with Death Note theme tunes, if they so wish.

The Manga UK stage has been taken over by Anime Karaoke, which is precisely what you think it's going to be.  Punters called up into the spotlight get a choice of over 150 songs from anime across the board.

Their tuneful menu includes two helpings of Death Note music - The World and Alumina both by Nightmare, both made famous as Death Note theme songs.

Let's hope that any fan brave enough to try it knows what they are doing.  Each track has the potential to trip folk up - The World by being faster than intrepid songsters might fancy; while Alumina on the surface seems much the easier option, while being pitched an octave higher than most routinely recall.  Until it's too late and there's a microphone in their faces and expectant hordes of Londoners looking right up at them.

Good luck, brave and beautiful Death Note karaoke singers!  Ignore the cockneys and sing like Kira's coming tomorrow!

Staged at ExCeL London, May 29th 2016 is the third and final day of MCM Comic Con, but the website reports that there are still tickets left.  Anime Karaoke kicks off at 11am today.  We dare you.

6 Comments

Watch Limited Edition English Blanc et Noir by Takeshi Obata Unpacked

29/5/2016

5 Comments

 

Takeshi Obata Blanc et Noir: Unpacking the English Language Ltd Edition Version
from Death Note News on Vimeo.

This eagerly anticipated collector's book of Takeshi Obata's artwork is out and Death Note News has one!

Takeshi Obata's glorious artbook Blanc et Noir has long been available in Japan.  But only since May 2016 has an 0fficial English translation been published in the West.

Viz Media have produced a limited edition 10,000 copies of this beautifully printed tome containing highly detailed drawings by Death Note's artistic creator. 

We first heard about it last August, but have had to wait until May 3rd 2016 before getting our hands on 132 pages of exquisitely rendered Takeshi Obata artwork.  And by 'we', we really do mean that, as you can see our copy being unpacked in the video above.

The overall verdict for those who don't want to sit through 25 mins worth of inarticulate gushing?

It's surprisingly good.  Much better than anyone without any art knowledge at all expected to unpack.  Whilst being the first to cry foul on any old tacky tat foisted upon Death Note fans, Obata's Blanc et Noir made the grade. It was enchantingly impressive.

It would have to be given a price tag like that.

Blanc et Noir English language copies are limited edition and bound to become collectors' items.  We're definitely going to be handling ours with care, while also taking a long hard look at the hitherto unsuspected detail in utterly familiar Death Note art.

There are some links (right) for anyone considering grabbing one for themselves.  Or else keep an eye on our Death Note book and manga store for further ways to find and buy it.
Blanc et Noir by Takesh Obata
Buy your own collectors' copy of Blanc et Noir in English at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Alibris UK | Barnes & Noble US | Waterstones UK | WHSmith UK
5 Comments

Reader Survey: Death Note's Misa Amane Takes The Psychopath Test

27/5/2016

4 Comments

 
Psycho Misa Amane Death Note manga
We invite readers to take The Psychopath Test for Death Note's Misa Amane.  Collectively we might determine whether Second Kira was indeed suffering from psychopathy - and causing victims in their hundreds of thousands to suffer too.

This is the actual twenty-point test devised in 1975 by Bob Hare in consultation with eighty-five of the best psychopathy specialists across the world.  It's the checklist by which you - or anybody - would be subjected in the real world, if a professional had cause to believe that you were a psychopath.

Are you game to complete it on her behalf?

Misa-Misa's Psychopath Test

For each point, you must provide a score: 0 = no match in this instance; 1 = partial match for Misa-Misa; 2 = perfectly describes Misa Amane

1 Glib and Superficial Charm Card carrying psychopaths tend to be charming, beguiling and blessed with a definite gift of the gab. They aren't at all shy nor self-conscious; the rules in social etiquette regarding what may be spoken, where and to whom, simply do not apply to these people. They have transceded social norms in conversation and other forms of speech. Psychopaths could charm the birds from the trees, but that easy engagement only goes skin-deep. They know how to play you, so they do.
2 Grandiose Self-Worth You may think they're wonderful, but that's nothing compared to their view of themselves. Psychopaths simply believe themselves superior in every way; head and shoulders above any other human being, and the only one who matters. Their arrogance dismisses the needs, concerns and ideals of others at a flick. Such things can't factor, if they run contrary to the divine wishes of the psychopath's own self.
3 Need for Stimulation or
Proneness to Boredom
A bored psychopath is a dangerous entity indeed; tedium is a state to be avoided at all costs for this seeming invulnerable character (at least as regard their own self-perception). Thril-seeking, novelty, risk-taking, stimulation of all natures and forms are part and parcel of the psychopath's day. They rarely undertake or else finish to completion any task deemed tedious. Their need for excitement and/or entertainment will trample over the needs of all else present.
4 Pathological Lying It's not so much that the psychopath has to lie, but that they see no reason not to, when it achieves an end faster than the truth. This includes all elements of craftiness, cunningness, clever tricks, misinformation, right the way through to actual manipulation.
5 Conning and Manipulativeness Linked to point four, but much more focused upon actions than verbal sleight of hand. Cheating or defraud others; acting deceitful, exploitative, callous through to ruthless; using every trick in the book to have their way, control the scene or otherwise indulge in personal gain. The psychopath doesn't factor in the feelings nor suffering of anyone else wandering into their vicinity and falling prey to their wiles.
6 Lack of Remorse or Guilt Dispassionate regard towards victims (and indeed all other people not otherwise at the focus of their attention) bordering upon utter disdain. These people don't matter, so why should our psychopath feel empathy, mercy or any concern for their pain and suffering?
7 Shallow Affect Though openly exhuberent, these emotions only go skin-deep. Under the surface, there's a general dirth of feelings. Where such exist, they're shallow and limited in scope. Those feelings extended towards others tend to be cold.
8 Callousness and
Lack of Empathy
Victims aside, there is a marked lack of emotional engagement or empathetic feeling towards any other person in general. The psychopath is not only cold, superior and arrogant, but can be downright tactless too.
9 Parasitic Lifestyle Responsibilities are something which happens to other people. The psychopath is adept in persuading others to complete their tasks for them, not to mention supporting them emotionally, financially and in whatever scheme they've lately devised to assuage their boredom. The psychopath likes EVERYONE'S lives to revolve around them.
10 Poor Behavioural Controls Psychopaths cannot control their outbursts in regard to irritability, impatience, boredom, annoyance, or simply general unhappiness in the present situation. This can take the form of endless whining; hasty actions; blame/condemnation of anyone present; demands; aggression; verbal abuse; emotional abuse; temper tantrums and/or threats.
11 Promiscuous Sexual Behavior A succession of one-night stands or short, superficially felt relationships is the hallmark of the psychopath's love-life. If married, they engage in affairs willy-nilly with no remorse attached, nor the understanding of why they should experience guilt. There may also be a history of coercion in sexual acivity or else indulging in kiss and tell stories to a grandiose scale.
12 Early Behavioural Problems Prior to the age of thirteen, our psychopath will already have exhibited several unsociable, cruel or otherwise criminal behavioural trends. These include, but are not limited to: cruelty to animals; bullying; vandalism; stealing; arson; alcohol/drug/glue abuse; running away from home; truancy from school etc.
13 Lack of Realistic,
Long-Term Goals
The psychopath may promise, brag and plan, but few of their apparent heartfelt goals will come to fruition. Half the time, they're only trying to impress their audience in the present with no intention of following those dreams through into reality. Where they do attempt to realise them, persistent failure awaits, as psychopathy doesn't allow for the stamina through routine and boring tasks needful to see most plans through to the end.
14 Impulsivity Psychopath see; psychopath do... or want, or must follow, or has to have a go. You know the routine. There is little in the way of planning, evaluation, reflection or anything else, when faced with the temptation of novelty, fun or something shiny-pretty. Psychopaths are known for their foolhardy, ill-considered, risk-taking and above all spontaneous endeavours.
15 Irresponsibility Debt collectors and other inconsequential people may hammer on the door all they like, psychopaths see no gain in honouring commitments like loan repayments or securing bills with direct debits and the like. Setting those up were well below the priority mark; somewhere in the 'never to be done unless done for me' section of worldly obligations. They will equally skip out of deals; renign on contracts; hand in sub-standard work; and personal promises were forgotten a second after makng them. Psychopaths also have terrible time-keeping, being habitually late or simply absent, even if their livelihoods or other key concerns reply upon it.
16 Failure to Accept Responsibility
for Own Actions
It's anybody's fault but their own! Psychopaths take blame culture to a whole new level - relentless on the point that all fault lies with somebody else, probably the person accusing or implying fault with the psychopath. Truth becomes selectively rendered, or value judgements applied haphazardly to elements within each scenario, and if all else fails, the psychopath will reimagine truth entirely being so aggressively emphatic on the veracity of this make-believe that others will start doubting the evidence of their own recollection.
17 Many Short-Term Marital Relationships The commitment inherent in long-term relationships means nothing to the psychopath. It's not so much that such conventions are ignored, as not seen as applicable to them in the first place.
18 Juvenile Delinquency Between the ages of 13-18, the childhood behavioural difficulties swing into whole new dimensions. Those prone to animal cruelty now don't stop at killing those poor creatures; bullies take their aggression into avenues that even the most lazy school administrations can't ignore; small scale arsonists are now burning down buildings etc. All unsociable actions of the psychopath are marked by callous, ruthless, exploitative, antagonistic regard.
19 Revocation of Conditional Release Softening factors in judicial punishments start to fall by the wayside, as violations like careless behaviour, failing to appear etc puts the psychopath in contempt. Probation will turn into incarceration; sentences will extend etc.
20 Criminal Versatility The psychopath takes great pride in not being pigeon-holed as any specific type of criminal. The greater the diversity, audacity, scope and everything else that can put them in a class of their own in any given criminal underworld, is what the psychopath pursues with glee. They will turn their hand to anything because, well, the law doesn't actually apply to them, does it? Or they're justified in this instance - new world orders to create and all that.
TOTAL
DIAGNOSIS Misa Amane
Now we just have to compare what every other Death Note fan concluded whilst taking the Psychopath Test for Misa Amane.

Enter your diagnosis here, then click 'see results' to check out the overall opinion of Death Note fan psychologists thus far:

polls

Posted as Part of

Death Note Misa-Misa Month
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Mello and Misa Make Top Five Most Stylish Anime Characters According to Yahoo

27/5/2016

5 Comments

 
Misa Amane featuring in a Yahoo stylish anime characters article
Writing a fashion feature for Yahoo Style this week, Zalora considered the whole of anime past and present to produce the most fabulously attired characters in them.

The resultant '5 Anime Characters Whose Style We Want to Steal' (Yahoo, Zalora, May 23rd 2016) included no less than TWO dramatis personae from Death Note anime!  Complete with tips on how to replicate their look.

While Misa Amane topped the feature as the character selected to star in the banner, she came in a mere fourth anime-wide for overall fashion sense.  Beating her hands down was that self-confessed 'best dresser who died like a dog' Mihael Keehl, aka Mello.
Mello scored the number two spot - which should be a cause for triumph given the competition, but seems sadly par for the course for poor Mihael Keehl.  The old world's perennial runner-up.

Only it wasn't Near at number one this time.  Pipping all others to gain the accolade as most sought after anime look for viewers was Uta from Tokyo Ghoul.

The writer had this to say about Death Note Mello's fashion style:
If there is anyone who can accessorize a chocolate bar, it is definitely Death Note’s teenage delinquent, Mello.

Covered from head to toe in a faux leather vest, frayed latex pants and leather gloves, Mello is not afraid to sport religious jewellery despite being a member of an organized crime gang.

Clearly inspired by Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka, Mello’s perfect golden bob stays in place even on his worst days.
~ Zalora, Yahoo Style, May 23rd 2016

Zalora had this to say about emulating Mello's look:
How to adopt this look:  If you have long flowing tresses, this look can still work for you!

Find a faux black blouse, but be sure to wear bottoms that are not frayed at the edges. While sporting shiny leather pants might cause your legs to melt due to sunny Singapore’s humid climate, you can replace this with bottoms of any other colour, or of another material.

If a top is nowhere to be found, a black faux leather dress is always an option.
~ Zalora, Yahoo Style, May 23rd 2016
Stylish anime character Mello from Death Note
Sound about right to you?   Or do you disagree with the Yahoo writer's judgement on Top Five fashionable anime characters and/or what has been written about them?  Who would you have chosen?  And what would you have said in justification of those choices?

Read more at the original posting, including why Misa made number four and how you can copy her style too.

Posted during

Misa Misa month
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Feedback on the Matsuda's Theory Correction

27/5/2016

4 Comments

 
The reader survey held recently on Death Note News also pointed to another issue:  speculation and fact can get blurred when the theoretical is being reported alongside actual news stories.

An example was given regarding an article on Matsuda's Theory, wherein a reader had commented to state that the theory wasn't possible in one regard. Yet the piece itself was never updated to indicate this.  It has been now:
Death Note News amendment screenshot
Passage inserted into Death Note News article before Matsuda's Theory about Mello
The point in a more general sense has been taken on board and our writers are going to try to highlight precisely what is fact and what is musing personally upon a facet of Death Note canon and its wider universe.

Hopefully this satisfies the querent at this time.
4 Comments

Feedback on the Feedly Issue on Death Note News

27/5/2016

3 Comments

 
Death Note News on Feedly
As part of the recent reader survey regarding Death Note News, an issue was highlighted.  It seemed that our RSS feed didn't render well in Feedly.

Our resident geeks duly investigated and our findings confused us.

The feed apparently worked well for us (see screenshot left).  Several of us tried it on various devices and all reported back that it was working perfectly.

This was going to be a plea for more information about the issue, when a last minute sweep found it.  It's not the front page at all - which is rather pretty and now being utilized to great effect by Matti, thanks for the tip off! - it's the inner pages.

Some render extremely well.
Here's the latest Death Note News article, as seen on Feedly:
Death Note News article in Feedly
However, that only formats well if all of the elements span the whole page.  If they take up only a fraction of it like, for example, an image alongside text, then the rendering breaks down completely:
Broken rendering in Death Note News Feedly stream
We know what this issue is.  It'll stem from the time when Matti altered the CSS coding on the main website to force more room to publish the articles. There's a secondary lift from it, which she's not yet been able to find, which only to date has affected the draft article formatting.  Finding it has hitherto been on a back-burner, because that was only us inconvenienced and there were many more important things to concentrate on instead.

Now that we know it's a much wider issue, then it'll work its way back onto the priority list for site maintenance.  However, that is like finding a needle in a haystack, hence we hope you'll bear with us here.

Call this merely a heads up that the issue hasn't been forgotten and we can see what you're reporting now.  Thanks for that.
3 Comments

Why Did Misa Misa Suicide in Death Note?

25/5/2016

13 Comments

 
Misa Amane en route to die at the end of Death Note
Death Note's anime adaptation ends with the suicide of Misa Amane, Second Kira and one of the most significant driving forces behind the whole broad story.  Without her intervention, much original plot might never have happened, or been changed completely along a different course.  Yet the manga never gave her that big dramatic send off.

She wasn't even witness at the grand finale clash between Light and Near. Her creator Tsugumi Ohba dumped his character in a hotel room and forgot about her, because he self-admittedly couldn't find 'a situation to fit her in'.

It was only by the reappraisal of the manual, in Death Note 13: How to Read, that the author seemed contrite about his choices.  Ohba proffered the opinion that she probably committed suicide. Whilst also confirming that the widely believed interpretation (at the time) of the final manga scenes - that the Kira priestess was Misa reinvented as a cult leader honouring dead Light Yagami - was completely incorrect.

So why does Misa Amane commit suicide according to the mangaka mind that made her?  Because someone 'like Matsuda' 'probably let it slip' that Light was dead.  She had already long since stated - to L no less - that she couldn't contemplate living in a world without Light.  It would be too dark.

Only now does the mangaka get the brainwave that Misa might have ended her own life. Recorded in the transcript of the interview complete with pauses denoting the hesitancy of Tsugumi Ohba as inspiration hits there and then; well after the manga chapters have completed their inaugural run of publication in Weekly Shonen Jump.  He finishes weakly, 'something like that'.

It would probably be easier to accept Tsugumi Ohba's suggestion as canon, if he sounded more sure about it. But all those 'likes' and 'probablys' make it sound like he's making up stuff on the spot to answer a question and wriggle out of abandoning his character to a crowbarred plot ending.  As a dutiful storyteller, he should have found the narrative that included her too.
Death Note anime Misa Amane suicide
Tetsuro Araki certainly did. At least the director of Death Note's anime met Misa Amane halfway, marrying up that maybe plot titbit inserted rather belatedly as a footnote in the manual by Ohba.

In the anime along, we get that hauntingly beautiful, though inherently creepy journey on a metro through the vibrancy of a Tokyo sunset, and the steady drifting gait across an equally red hued bridge caught against the same deep stained tapestry of a sky in the dying of the light.

Misa's haughty, sad song lightly tinkled in notes; sentiment indelibly sounded for all that, its cadence scarring cerebrally when you know what's coming.

Misa no Uta it's called, Misa's song. A bitter-sweet irony in that bardic device of our dangerous heroine able to sing her heart's own tune, walking to the beat of her own rhythm, even as she grasps her life losses and lack of control so keenly that she is journeying into self-slaughter.
The poetic juxtaposition of circumstance echoed in her visage and attire. Misa Amane has dressed carefully for her existence's final scene. The actress has manicured her nails, painting them purple; adorning two rings to match in gleaming purple and blue/green. Her make-up is applied to perfection. No random clump of mascara on a rogue eyelash, nor lipstick mostly wiped off before you've even left your own home station, as would happen in reality. Misa-Misa's cosmetic attention has left her face as a canvas covered in a glossy mask, like a doll staring flawless and porcelain back. Not helped by the deadening of all expression in her gaze.

Her clothing is just as carefully chosen and arranged about her person. Black and white dress, with matching headband, and great white ruffles arranged just so. Beneath that topmost article, her hair remains teased into shape, styled without a strand out of place, like every lock was cemented on. Her big, clumpy platform shoes mark the precision of her gait, keeping it of necessity slow, as if she apes the slow, striding pace of the funeral director at her own final send off.

There is something of the Geisha about her, though not a single visual artifice directly apes that of those traditional entertainers. But for the general unreality of the look; woman as walking art. A canvas shell without soul inside, to be adorned for the pleasure and artistry of the thing. Which isn't to paint a disservice to the actual Geisha, who were notably vital. Particularly those with their obi worn around the front.

Misa no Uta (Misa's Song) - English Lyrics

Misa's telling us that she's already gone.  She's made herself outwardly pretty in order to smash the shell of self to smithereens.  So unflinching and perfectly rendered that she appears not pretty at all, but abnormal. An animated marionette teetering towards the edge of the Uncanny Valley.  We will not like what comes next.  Fortunately for viewers of anime, Death Note doesn't show it. Implied amidst the final credits, we see the sky turn pink and arms outstretched, she leaps. More so in imagination than ink.

So was Tsugumi Ohba right?  Was it for love of Light that Misa Amane makes this horrifically unromantic fatal plunge?  The timing would imply so. 

Misa-Misa suicides on St Valentine's Day 2011.  Choosing February 14th on which to end her life has an obvious resonance for those viewing from the West. A day in which lovers are celebrated makes this unequivocally about Light Yagami.  Fragmented sensibilities exposed therein, echoed in the lyrics that she intones so sweetly en route:
(English translation of Misa no Uta/Misa's Song)

Be mindful for God is watching.

In the dark alley, don't let go of my hand;
for if you do I know that I'll be safe.
Even if I'm far away and alone,
I can be sure you will find me there. This I know.

You draw me close for a while, so quiet.
You tell me everything.
If I forget what you say, then you come to me,
and tell me again.  Yes, you tell me once again.

But what happens when I know it all?
Then what should I do after that? What then?

Misa Amane end of Death Note
Misa Amane Death Note suicide dress detail and hand
(Original Romanji lyrics of Misa no Uta/Misa's Song)

Ki o tsukete
Kami-sama wa miteru
Kodaio yomichi wa te wo tsunaide kudasai
Hitori de tooku ni demo itsumo mitsukedashite kureru
Shitteru koto wa zenbu oshiete kureru
Watashi ga oboetenakutemo
Nando demo oshiete kureru
Demo zenbu wakatte shimattara dou sureba ii no?

However, we may be forgetting something quite important. Misa Amane is not Western.  She is born and bred Japanese, and Valentine's Day isn't marked in precisely the same way there.

February 14th is the day when Japanese women and girls vie to press their hand-made tezukuri chocolate into the hands and hearts of favoured males. If accepted, the gifter can expect to be the recipient of a small token - usually a white ribbon - on March 14th, aka White Ribbon Day.  Thereon all that remains is the marriage, mortgage, pets, 2.4 children and a lifetime in drudgery to the maintenance of the household.  But first they have to get Christmas out of the way.

It's not Valentine's Day when all romance is sought, elicited and put on show in Japan. It's Christmas Day. This is not a Christian nation.  No-one native to Tokyo is singing hymns to baby Jesus, whilst trying to square that with the pile of presents to be bought and wrapped for the kids and all out.

Instead, they're trying to snag a date.  Christmas in Japan is for couples. It's the more obvious date for Misa's sunset dive into finality.  Which should incur the supposition that this is less about Light than something else. Except for one thing.

Misa Amane was born on Xmas Day and died on Valentine's Day.  She would see that as heartbreakingly romantic, when in reality it's just heartbreaking. Nevertheless, the interconnecting of life and death in those two dates does bespoke a love issue underlying her grisly end.  Plus it's only a fortnight on from the first anniversary of her disappeared  finance's supposed death.  The sadness would naturally push up to peek at such flashpoint dates with that the biggest of all.

More imagery relating to her lost relationship with Light Yagami lies in digging deep into the fine detail of each frame moving her excruciatingly steady towards her final encounter with a far distant pavement.  Putting it all together might entrail the overall picture a little more.
Misa and Mogi hotel Death Note
Misa avoids Kira Death Note
The last time Misa sees and talks to Light is whilst lodged within the Teito Hotel (Hotel Teito, trans. Imperial).  

Prior to the Yellow Box showdown, Near arranges for Hal Lidner and Mogi to forcibly re-home Misa in a reasonably luxurious room there.  While Mogi tells Light that he's there by chose, Misa blithely announces that she is not. Yet she makes no attempt to escape, despite earlier chapters making clear her resourcefulness in such situations.  On the contrary to her spoken words, she seems quite pleased to be there.  Though whether her joyfulness is approval expressed as glee in regard to the appointment of this expensive room or rests fully (or in part) upon another underlying cause, it's never made clear.

During the two day interim just prior, it might be assumed that Light and Misa have conversed via telephone or PC, though such is never show. Then Misa is nominally set free. However, she is given the usage and run of a penthouse suite in the same hotel, and Misa's exuberance now holds no bounds.

Just before Light leaves towards the Yellow Box Warehouse and his eventual, unforeseen death, he speaks with his hyper fiancée against over the telephone. Misa Misa is beside herself with delight; rolling like a toddler around the furnishings.  In fairness, Light does tell her to stay put, while he confidently walks towards degradation and the flooring of his plans of living openly in divinity, recognized as such in all due numinous euphoria. Instead, it is Near's reality which is inserted upon the scene and Light sees eight years of careful elevation dissolve into Nothingness.  Right on the brink, or so he thought, of his Godhead coming into fruition.

Bloodied, raving, insane and disappointed to a deep soul level, Light never once turns to Misa, safely ensconced in the luxury of Teito's top floor apartment.  As far as she's concerned, he simply let her rot there, while he walked away and vanished unutterably from their common law marriage. Eight years plus of near constant cohabitation, de facto conjugation and sometime actual companionship just got thrown away.

Because, for some inexplicable reason Light's wife, mother and sister are never told of his demise.
Sunset Misa Misa death Note
The rationale is breezed over in the manga/anime as 'security' to safeguard the secrets of a highly classified case. Moreover one which is laced with international ramifications should news of Kira's illegal and ignominious kangaroo court death get out.

Not to mention local/national ones for the officers (and Near) involved, if their part in such proceedings was leaked to the press, public and Amnesty International.  Still fiercely  pro-Kira in those immediate aftermath months, Japan would be unlikely to support such vigilante dealings. Nor should be be forgotten that it disbanded one corrupt police force after World War II, then severely curtailed the liberties of its secondary, replacement force.  There's a cultural twitch regarding abuse of due process by law enforcement officers to be evoked in Japan.  Not a thing to be overlooked as YOLO.

Which means that for fear of the mob (in governments wide-world or on the street), Sayu, Sachiko and Misa have to suffer the unceasing starting and listening at any sound that might be their missing man come home. The inordinate cruelty of never knowing if he lies chained and tortured in some dark hole, or is freely wandering the Earth in rejection of their love.

There's a dark, unbending cruelty there, not lessened by the months its allowed to endure, and made considerably worse by the justifications ditched out by all concerned for such obdurate behaviour.
Misa Amane Death Note suicide sunset
Meanwhile, whatever else may or may not feature in the mix, Misa's sense of self will be eroding with every passing day of waiting, watching, hoping, imagining, knowing that someone knows something and will let her languish like this in perpetuity - her worth and sanity deemed less than whatever reason underpins such relentlessness in silence.

Also adrift will be her societal connectivity (who can empathize amongst her neighbours and peers?); her yet to be mourned loss of context for a life shared with Light and hitherto built upon dreams, aspirations/goals and actual plans (how can she gain closure and remould a future, when he could walk back in at any moment, or not, and she will never know which until she watches the door and dies a little more inside each time it remains shut); and the deadening of that fundamentally Japanese concept of her personal 'ikigai' (reason to exist?).

All this alone may well account for Misa's descent into despair enough to jump from the roof of that skyscraper.  But there's much more going on besides.

Some of it subtle, existing in the imagery alone.  You see, Teito Hotel actually existed once.  It was built, maintained and used by Allied Forces, foreign diplomats and Western business personnel in the post-WWII forcible reconstruction of Japan.  Its architecture was distinctly American, as was the service, décor, amenities and portable goods to be found inside.  By the order of General MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for/of the Allied Powers, no Japanese clientèle was permitted within. Teito served Western venture capitalists, merchant buyers and global market enterprise agents only.

There was a reason it was called the Imperial. In Japanese.

No wonder Misa was so stunned to be sitting in the Penthouse suite. She must have been sneaked past reception by Near or one of his American personnel, because no-one as Japanese as she could possibly have been there under normal circumstances.  Despite it being in Japan.

When Hotel Teito was finally sold back to Japan - under private ownership subject to the highest bidder - in 1959, the first thing that occurred was the whole edifice being razed to the ground and swept cleanly away.  Hotel Palace with its elegant Japanese designs in architecture, facilities and interiors now stands pointedly upon the spot.
Hotel Teito, Tokyo, Japan
Japan regained its sovereignty in its own domain.  Misa Amane could not. 

Memories gone, she will never know the context for the crushing aftermath and secrecy surrounding the Kira case, nor her involvement in it.  Light gone, she will never know why, how, where or when he was disappeared, nor if its even possible for him to come back.

She can never grasp those essential foundation stones for her own continuance into the future, but must remain waiting in a sort of emotional and esoteric limbo.

While practical things remain a nightmare too.

Without proof that her long-time partner is or is not dead, there will be bills continuing to come for him and maybe some accounts inaccessible without his consent readily available.
All of this psychological upheaval would take its toll upon the most steadfast mind, but Misa has twice been an owner of a Death Note. Right there in the rules it states that users will feel despair and torment as a result of their writing within those pages.  Misa killed her victims in the hundreds of thousands. It's safe to say she used more than one shinigami notebook and incurred such penalties upon her mentality from all.  It doesn't matter than her memories of mass slaughter are all gone. This isn't a memory.  It's an indelible mark in common to all human Death Note owners.

No amount of anti-depressants, Tai Chi sessions and mindfulness training are going to shift her from a despondency that she cannot trace to source. She kicked over the routes back there when she surrendered her notebook possession and shinigami eyes with it.  Misa cannot even understand why.  She'll never be able to fix it; nor can she know that.

There are other aspects too, seen in literal flashbacks - single frozen images flickering through her mind's eye, visible to the viewer too.  This is Tetsuro Araki edging his bets in blatant disregard for the Death Note rules.  Misa's memories have been washed clean, yet she still recalls numbers and names above people's heads.  

She either retains the ability to view death data upon all things living now - in which case who wouldn't go mad or want to simply make it go away by ending the life of flesh and blood sustaining it?  Or rogue, inexplicable snapshots of horrors have somehow stuck in her memory's cache.  Clues towards knowing that she was once something or someone much more, but that's gone too with no way of knowing what it was nor how to reclaim it, should she want to.
Another blow to self-esteem and the wish towards self-preservation.

Or if Misa - more clever than half of her scenes would have her being, if the other half imply things more clearly - has worked it out enough to know what she was, and perhaps who Light Yagami was too, then she'd also understand she was on the losing team.

All humans beings want the haven of acceptance.  To be within the cherubic sound of harmonious consensus all around in what you believe; and the cherished trills of affirmation from those concurring that you were right in things thought, said and done; the deep notes warming to a theme of being, totally and unshakably, a part of the great melody in the world about us, enjoying the overture resounding of, in and throughout our universe.

But Misa Amane sings alone. Her own song ineffectual, lost against a world that she can witness turning against Kira for the spectacle that's gone.
Misa Amane suicide dress Death Note
Besmirching his vision, shared by herself, with a growing number of voices raised against him in condemnation. Seeing all they'd accomplished in sacrifice and blood amounting to nothing now the new God is gone, and his dominion with him. Only the void remains now for Misa Amane, perceiving herself in isolation; visions lost in a paradigm of rising crime and wars reinstated; too making people telling her that she was wrong. Though not to her face. They didn't know, nor ever would, what she did or was.

And neither would she.  

As Misa Amane's sole song finished, she stared into the abyss; and it stared back. The last Death Note credits rolled from view and Misa-Misa jumped.

Posted as Part of

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Is There a Part for Keith Stanfield in the New American Death Note Movie?

25/5/2016

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Death Note part for Keith Stanfield?

Will Californian actor Keith Stanfield be
in Death Note US live-action film?
There's a rather persistent rumour doing the rounds that US rapper and actor Keith Stanfield is about to be offered a role in the forthcoming live-action Death Note American movie.

If so, then who will he play?

The story began circulating in early April 2106, originating at The Wrap, passed on as part of its 'closing in - Netflix to take Death Note off Warner Bros' breaking news.

We were all reporting that one at the time. It hit our feeds and sources as the biggest Death Note film related information for months, at least as pertained to the frequently stalled Western remake.

It was certainly the most shocking snippet to grace our speculative minds since Shane Black told of some untenable changes demanded by Warner Bros early on.
However, same day information linking Selma and Straight Outta Compton star Keith Stanfield with Death Note was only reported by The Wrap (Adam Wingard’s ‘Death Note’ Jumps From Warner Bros. to Netflix (Exclusive), Thom Geier, April 6th 2016). 

A tip-off had been sourced from an 'insider', but no-one at Netflix was available to take repeated calls to query its veracity.

Nor yet the second shared insight. This was that Death Note was nearing production, when Warner Bros decided to end years of dilly-dalling by pulling the rug at the 11th hour.  But that bit was obvious.  It didn't take a Wammy level genius detective to deduce its truth. This was the only scenario which could account for the studio hiring director and stars for its cast; then suddenly sitting down at the negotiation table with Netflix, now poised to secure Death Note's production rights for itself instead.

A little out of left-field and accordingly met with surprise by the Death Note fandom, with no little wide-eyed pondering upon the implications.

Most fan comments clocked by Death Note News staff on balance seemed relieved that our tale was out of that studio's hands.  Few had really trusted Warner Bros executives in the US, since Black exposed their desire to show Light Yagami muddled, angst-ridden, but fundamentally a good guy, whilst getting rid of Ryuk for Satanic overtones vis-a-vis shinigami.

Now Netflix appeared (and remains so at the time of writing) to be making the Death Note movie; and, if Thom Geier of The Wrap has it right, bringing favoured actor Keith Stanfield into the project too.  Though nothing of the sort can be verified until the ink is dry on that deal documentation.

Which leaves fans of Death Note musing upon two big burning questions for the moment:
  • Will Netlix release Death Note (US movie) in theaters/cinemas, or stream it only?
  • Who will Keith Stanfield be playing?

With Light - and Misa - already taken, the field is wide open.  It could be any Death Note character at all (though the likelihood falls dramatically regarding roles amongst female dramatis personae).  In considering it, watch Keith Stanfield in action and see if a name presents itself. Then please do comment with your suggestions.  We might be the first to call it!

Miles Ahead Trailer - Keith Stanfield Starring as Miles Davies (2016)

Has he the gravitas to be Soichiro Yagami perhaps?   Though, thinking about it, that might raise questions about whether Light (aka Nat Wolff) is really his biological son.   Aizawa?
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Heads Up for Death Note Misa Amane Community - Pinterest Misa Misa Fan Board Awaits You! Sign Up and Join in the Pinning for Second Kira Now

24/5/2016

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Death Note's Misa Amane Pinterest Community Board run by Death Note News.
 We're a little late into our event now in posting to announce this Misa Amane fan club.  But regular readers must have known  it was coming - given that every other Death Note News monthly focus thus far has prompted a similar invitation to come and join in.

The topic titles might change from month to month, but the location does not. 

We have Pinterest Community Boards dedicated to Death Note characters; fandom genres; differing adaptations; music; manga; anime; movies; cosplay; creators; academia; you name it and Sod's Law practically dictates that it'll be the only remaining aspect within the Death Note universe that none of us thought to build a board around.

Naturally, all of this includes a forum for Misa Amane fans or, if 'fan' seems too strange to speak about a genocidal maniac genki girl, those with an interest in sharing random, related things about Misa found on the internet may come too.   We already have a lively Team Misa Misa posse pinning away and hundreds more enjoying the spectacle by merely following.
All you need do is follow the board.   One of the Death Note News team will be along - hopefully shortly - in order to answer every alert with an invitation. Click yes or no, as your is your wont, then jump in and pin, pin, pin, or watch, if you chose the latter.  Every community member may invite others too, so bring your mates along for the ride.

And enjoy!

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Is Misa the Bigger Villain? Excerpt from an Essay by Serria

23/5/2016

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Reproduced with permission from an essay originally, and fully, published at DEATH NOTES: an online source for Death Note Analysis and Discussion
(links at the end)

by Serria

I've been thinking about the character Misa Amane a lot recently.

When we first met her in Death Note, and for awhile after that I admit I thought she was a cute girl. Flawed, yes, and irritatingly obsessed with Light, but she was certainly charming.

However, at a certain point in the manga I just felt like she crossed the line of what makes a person the least bit decent, and I rather despised her. When I overcame personal emotions about it (still in the process, at least), I really tried to analyze her character.

And I've come up with a resolution:  Misa Amane is a bigger villain than Light, and more ethically corrupt than Light, L, Near and Mello.

Misa Amane Death Note
I should say now that I do not think that Misa is weak-willed or spineless. I've seen her portrayed that way all the time in fanfiction but I think she's quite the contrary. She's extremely assertive (almost frighteningly so!) and I would even go so far as to say that she's selfish. She's extremely "Misa wants, Misa gets" in how she acts - and she DOES end up getting a lot of what she wants. She pressures Light into a relationship by threatening to kill his other girls and of course uses Rem's love for her as a pawn too.

The most important thing to note, and we've all noticed it - Misa freely gives up her individuality for Light's sake. Everything she does, she does for him. It is true that Misa believes that she owes something to Kira for killing her parents' murderer. But she takes this above and beyond. Once she sees him she is "in love", and therefore I'm inclined to assume that she's acting out of lust as much as admiration. She idealizes him and throws away everything else. Therefore she's putting her own dignity and humanity aside in favor of a boy. She even said that she was okay with being a pawn if she was doing it for him.

And on that note, like the 4 Geniuses, she is manipulative to boot. She's not as smart as they are, but she's not completely stupid either. First off, she clearly takes advantage of Rem. Rem is as innocent as a Shinigami could be in unconditionally loving the girl. But she is constantly spurned by Misa. At the very start of Misa's introduction, Rem tells Misa how a Shinigami dies, after making her promise not to tell. In Misa's first meeting with Light, she reveals the secret. Misa uses Rem even when her memory is wiped, to kill a man (an innocent man, if I remember right) in order to convince Higuchi that she's Kira. Rem ends up dying for Misa, and killing Watari and L along with herself. Granted there is a time gap between this scene and then part 2, but it bothered me always that we never saw her mourning Rem at all.

She completely disregards her friends. At the very start, on her first meeting with Light, she offers to kill her friend who helped her make the Kira tapes. And I think she would have done it without a second glance. Later on, it royally pissed me off when she was perfectly alright with killing L, too. She didn't even think about what it meant, it was simply that she wanted to remember his name for Light.

I would also like to mention that it's possible that Misa is responsible for more deaths than Light. I'm not certain about this, but I believe that Misa was the one with ownership of a Death Note and killing people from the time L died to Light's death...

To read more, please visit DEATH NOTES and Serria's original posting of his Light Yagami essay: Is Misa the Bigger Villain?

DEATH NOTES is an invaluable resource for those who like a bit of academia in their reading of the Death Note manga.  Largely inactive now,  its archives nevertheless contain a rich bounty of timeless essays written during the period when Death Note was first coming to the attention of international audiences and readers.  The site's essayists emanate from varying disciplines within the academe, with less formal - sometimes downright flippant - pieces interspersed for flavour.

The excerpt above was republished here with permission from DEATH NOTES' editor Jennifer Fu.

Reproduced as Part of

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Learn How to Cosplay Misa Amane from Squad Six Cosplayers Own Second Kira - Lara Sizemore

22/5/2016

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Death Note cosplayers Misa Amane by Lara and Matsuda by Justin

Squad Six Cosplayers Lara and Justin
don their Misa and Matsuda

As part of our Misa Amane Month on Death Note News, we've been tracking down those Misa-Misa cosplayers wherever they may squee.

They are coming here to share their tips, advice and anecdotes all about getting into costume as Death Note's Misa, so that you may gain insights into creating your own Second Kira cosplay.

Occasional Death Note News columnist Lara Sizemore is the founder member of Squad Six Cosplayers. 

As the name implies, she is a veteran cosplayer within numerous different genres and fandoms.

Recently this included a handmade Misa Amane costume to wear while Lara and her squad hosted a Death Note 10th Anniversary panel at Ichibancon 2016.

You are in good hands.
Misa Amane suicide dress cosplay by Lara Sizemore

Misa Amane suicide dress
cosplay by Lara Sizemore

Lara Sizemore Advises on Cosplaying Misa Amane from Death Note

Death Note cosplayers Lara Sizemore as Misa Amane and Cayanna Carma as Light Yagami

Lara cosplaying Misa Amane, with Light Yagami
cosplayed by Cayanna Carma
Have you cosplayed Misa now or in the past?
Yes - in the past

Any anecdotes about your experiences cosplaying Misa?
Dressed in a common Misa cosplay I get recognition especially from other Misa cosplayers.

However, dressed in her 'suicide dress' the only time I was recognized as Misa was during the Death Note panel I hosted.

How would you go about creating a costume for Misa Amane?
Each of Misa's outfits are precise with many details. You have to look at each individually to truly figure them out.

That's not to say you can't buy generic Gothic clothing and a blonde wig to cosplay Misa. But if you were going the extra mile to be accurate and make the outfits, her clothing is specific to her and there are many details that people overlook - from skull brooches to corset work on the backs of her dresses.

What clothing and/or props do you feel are essential Misa costume items?
Her necklaces and earrings. Misa wears her hair a few different ways (and in the manga her hair is fuller sometimes than others) but she always has specific jewelry.

Is there more to cosplaying Misa than the outfit? (Look/behaviour etc.)
You don't necessarily HAVE to act like Misa in Misa cosplay, but it's always fun to put on that bubbly personality and leap after Light cosplayers at conventions.

For me cosplaying Misa is more about the accuracy of the costume but for others it is more just because they love the character and I've even heard a lot of people say that they cosplay Death Note characters because "it's simple" but those people usually just thrift for their costumes.
What's your professional opinion about ready-made Misa outfits, such as those in the Death Note News Cosplay Store? Any other pieces in there decent enough for a Misa-Misa cosplay? (Be honest!)
I personally would never buy a Misa cosplay. I much prefer making her clothing and enjoy being able to say that I made it and it's accurate. Looking at the Death Note News store, the options are very nice and the most accurate I've seen for pre-made costumes.

last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to create their Misa cosplay from scratch?
From scratch? Make sure you pay close attention to your reference photos. Pick out every detail before you sketch it out and don't forget about her jewelry.

Cosplayers!

Would you like to have a go at answering these questions on your own behalf?

If you are a Death Note cosplayer - or indeed a cosplayer per se - and you're willing to share your tips, thoughts and advice with the fandom, then visit our cosplayer's questionnaire page to fill in the form.

Thank you in advance!

Posted as Part of

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Casting Misa Amane: Actresses Who Have Played Death Note's Misa-Misa

21/5/2016

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On a global scale, Misa-Misa has been dubbed, played and in some instances sung into life for the delight of Death Note audiences everywhere.

In honour of her monthly event on Death Note News, we have collected together the names of the twenty-one Misa Amane actresses from Death Note adaptations across the world. Who for you, amongst these ladies (and one gent), wore the face or spoke the voice of Misa the Second Kira?

Aya Hirano

Aya Hirano Misa Amane actress Death Note anime Japanese original
Voice Actress
(aka 平野 綾, Hirano Aya)
- Death Note anime Japanese original
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Japanese original
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Japanese original

Shannon Chan-Kent

Shannon Chan-Kent Misa Amane actress Death Note English dub
Voice Actress
- Death Note anime English dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God English dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors English dub

Ana Lúcia Menezes

Ana Lúcia Menezes Misa Amane actress Death Note Brazilian dub, pictured with L voice actor Sérgio Cantú
Voice Actress
(aka Ana Lúcia Grangeiro)
- Death Note anime Brazilian Portuguese dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Brazilian Portuguese dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Brazilian Portuguese dub
Pictured above with Sérgio Cantú, the actor who voiced L

Man Yi Ching

Man Yi Ching Misa Amane actress Death Note Cantonese dub
Voice Actress
(aka 程文意. Wong Zi Haan, Cing4 Man4 Ji3)
- Death Note anime Cantonese dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Cantonese dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Cantonese dub

Núria Trifol

Núria Trifol Misa Amane actress Spanish and Catalan Death Note dubs
Voice Actress
(aka Núria Trifol Segarra)
- Death Note anime Catalan AND Spanish dubs
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Catalan AND Spanish dubs
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Catalan AND Spanish dubs

Adrienne Warren

Singer Adrienne Warren Misa Amane actress Death Note the Musical
Musical Actress
- Death Note the Musical first read-through English Cast
Frank Wildhorn's NYC rehearsal

Margaret Qualley

Margaret Qualley Misa Amane actress Death Note US movie
Film Actress
- Death Note movie US

Charlyne Pestel

Charlyne Pestel Misa Amane actress Death Note French dub
Voice Actress
- Death Note anime French dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God French dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors French dub

Magdalena Turba

Magdalena Turba Misa Amane actress Death Note German dub
Voice Actress
- Death Note anime German dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God German dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors German dub

Borbála Csuha

Borbála Csuha Misa Amane actress Death Note Hungarian dub
Voice Actress
(aka Csuha Borbála, Csuha Bori, Bori Csuha)
- Death Note anime Hungarian dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Hungarian dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Hungarian dub

Germana Savo

Germana Savo Misa Amane actress Death Note Italian dub
Voice Actress
- Death Note anime Italian dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Italian dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Italian dub

Erika Toda

Erika Toda Misa Amane actress Death Note movies
Film Actress
(aka 戸田 恵梨香, Toda Erika)
- Death Note movie
- Death Note: The Last Name movie
- Death Note: Light Up the NEW World movie

Hinako Sano

Hinako Sano Misa Amane actress Death Note Television drama
Television Actress
(aka 佐野 ひなこ, Sano Hinako)
- Death Note TV drama

Fuka Yuzuki

Fuka Yuzuki Misa Amane actress Death Note the Musical Japan
Musical Actress
(aka 唯月 ふうか, Yuzuki Fuka, Fuuka Yuzuki, Yuzuki Fuuka)
- Death Note the Musical Japanese original cast member

Seo-Young Kim

Kim Seo-Young Misa Amane actress Death Note Korean dub
Voice Actress
(aka 김서영, Kim Seo-Young, Kim Seo-Yeong, Seo-Yeong Kim)
- Death Note anime Korean dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Korean dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Korean dub

Seo-Ah Jung

Seo-Ah Jung Misa Amane actress Death Note the Musical Korean dub
Musical Actress
(aka 정선아, Jung Seo-Ah, Seo-Ah Jung, Jung Seo Ah, Seo Ah Jung,
Jung Seon-Ah, Seon-Ah Jung, Jeong Seon Ah, Seon Ah Jeong,
Jeong Sun-Ah,  Sun-Ah Jeong, Jeong Sun Ah, Sun Ah Jeong,
Jung Sun-Ah, Sun-Ah Jung, Jung Sun Ah, Sun Ah Jung)

- Death Note the Musical Korean cast

Xiǎnhuì Lóng

Xiǎnhuì Lóng Misa Amane actress Death Note Mandarin dub
Voice Actress
(aka 龍顯蕙, Lóng Xiǎnhuì, Long Xianhui,
Xianhui Long, Lung4 Hin2 Wai6)

- Death Note anime Mandarin dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Mandarin dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Mandarin dub

Rebeca Gómez

Rebeca Gómez Misa Amane actress Death Note Mexican dub
Voice Actress
- Death Note anime Mexican dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Mexican dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Mexican dub

Radosław Popłonikowski

Radolaw Poplonikoski voiced Misa Amane in Death Note Polish dub
Voice Actor
(aka Popłonikowski Radosław, Radoslaw Poplonikowski)
- Death Note anime Polish dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Polish dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Polish dub
NB Polish dub was read by a single narrator

Catherine Gorokhovskaya

Catherine Gorokhovskaya Misa Amane actress Death Note Russian dub
Voice Actress
(aka Екатерина Гороховская)
- Death Note anime Russian dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Russian dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Russian dub

Hazel Hernan

Hazel Hernan Misa Amane actress Death Note Tagalog dub
Voice Actress
(aka Mary Hazel Hernan)
- Death Note anime Tagalog dub
- Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God Tagalog dub
- Death Note: Relight: L's Successors Tagalog dub

Misa-Misa Actress Birthdays in the Death Note Calendar

We will also be adding the birthdays of all Misa Amane actresses to our On This Day in Death Note calendar.  However the best of our hardened researches have failed to produce the following facts:
  • Man Yi Ching - born June 18th, but where and in what year?
  • Núria Trifol - born in Barcelona, Spain, but when?
  • Magdalena Turba - born in Berlin, Germany during 1983, but on what date?
  • Germana Savo - where and on what date was she born?
  • Kim Seo-Young - born on January 19th 1977, but where?
  • Lóng Xiǎnhuì - born in Taiwan, but when and precisely where?
  • Rebeca Gómez - where and on what date was she born?
If you could make good our omissions, please do contact us with the info. and we'll update their entries forthwith.

Thank you in advance!
Misa Amane actresses compiled by Lua Cruz and Matti

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Movie Matsuda is Back! Sota Aoyama to Reprise his Role as Tōta Matsuda in 2016 Death Note: Light Up the NEW World Live-Action Film

19/5/2016

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Tōta Matsuda actor Sota Aoyama in Death Note: Light Up the NEW World
Warner Bros Japan has confirmed that Sota Aoyama will return to play Tōta Matsuda in the latest live-action Death Note movie, due for release in October 2016.

This will be considered fantastic news by many fans, for whom he IS Matsuda in any live-action capacity.

Aoyama last wore the face of that young, irrepressibly enthusiastic and famously foolish police officer ten years ago, featuring in the cast of Death Note (2006) and Death Note: The Last Name (2006). 

The role also earned him a place in the spotlight starring in Spin-Off Matsuda - a movie short, little known outside Japan, released in conjunction with L: Change the World (2008).

It seems that this live action Matsuda is a glutton for punishment, as a decade on from all that trauma, he's pictured apparently back on the Kira Task Force taking on another six Death Note owners scattered across the world.

Though his presence could also be in a mere advisory/consultancy role.  It's impossible to tell from a couple of still photographs, issued as teasers without context (see below).

The news that Sota Aoyama is reprising his Death Note acting role comes on the back of two other announcements, similarly regarding actors familiar from the first movies.  Erika Toda is also on her way back - signing up to return to her role as Misa Amane - while Shidou Nakamura will be voicing the newer, darker, scarier CGI shingami Ryuk. All in glorious continuity of those earlier, decade old Death Note films.

Death Gods aside, Matsuda constitutes the only remaining person privy to insider information about Kira the first time around and able to share it now. It can be presumed that Ryuk won't be taking sides, finding it more amusing (and diverting) to observe the action as entertainment from the sidelines.

While in the movie timeline, Misa's memories of the whole Kira case (give or take her love for Light Yagami) were wiped at the end of the last main instalment.

Sota Aoyama's Matsuda in Death Note (2016) Movie Stills

Death Note Counter Measure Headquarters Special Team Death Note Light Up the NEW World 2016
Sota Aoyama's Tōta Matsuda is seen amongst those watching Wammy detective Ryūzaki (Sousuke Ikematsu) highlight something seemingly perturbing on a computer screen.  Also looking on, wearing varying expressions of shock and concern, are police Kira archivist, investigator and expert Tsukuru Mishima (Masahiro Higashide) and his colleague within the Death Note Countermeasure Headquarters Special Team, Shō Nanase (Mina Fujii).  Plus two others - anybody recognize the gentlemen flanking this ensemble?
Death Note Counter Measure Headquarters Special Team
Mind you, the Japanese National Police Agency's Death Note Countermeasure Headquarters Special Team seems rather more populous than its counterpart from a decade earlier, the Kira Task Force.   The new base doesn't look too shabby either, as the two pictures below may attest.  Still in that Death Note de rigour colour scheme of monochrome with a touch of red, so beloved of every version ever.
Death Note Countermeasure Headquarters Special Team
Death Note 2016 Task Force HQ desk Tsukuru Mishima
Someone's desk.  In shades of black, white and just a hint of orangey-red.  Probably belonging to one of the pair here getting all testosterone-y with each other - Ryūzaki and Tsukuru Mishima.  Actually, undoubtedly so, as one of the pictures above shows Mishima standing behind that desk, as he almost is here too.
Ryūzaki and Tsukuru Mishima Death Note Light Up the NEW World 2016 movie still
These movies stills from Death Note: Light Up the NEW World were sanctioned by Warner Bros Japan, but made it into the public eye via an intrepid Death Note fan and writer for Natalie.mu, who 'sneaked' onto set - in an undisclosed Japanese location - on May 18th 2016 and witnessed the above scenes being filmed.  In addition to managing a quick interview about the movie and their roles from the two actors seen sizing each other up in character above, Sousuke Ikematsu and Masahiro Higashide. 

Read more about that here:  映画「デスノート」対策本部に潜入、東出昌大と池松壮亮がプレッシャー語る (Natalie, May 18th 2016)  If, of course, you read Japanese or can stand Google Translate's attempt at a native transcription.  Otherwise one of our Japanese translators will hopefully be along soon to tell us all about it.
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