News about Death Note

Samhain/Halloween Present from Me

28/10/2014

Annals of Fear II eBook

It will be Samhain on October 31st, or Hallowe'en for those of you who aren't Pagans.

In my It Matters series that meant strange happenings in Aberystwyth. I thought some of you may wish to indulge in some Mello, Matt and other Wammy kid scary stuff.

So I jumped it ahead of the queue and turned Annals of Fear II into an eBook and PDF file. You can download them here.

However, Calibre updated its software, so the old covers have disappeared and a raft of new ones are in its place. I've been back over those converted into eBooks already and inserted the new covers for them too. In case anyone wanted to keep the old ones, they're also in there. You may just have to alter the file names from 'oldcover' to simply 'cover'.

I also noticed that I'd got All the Way Here written without spaces in the title, so sorted that out too.

In short, here are the eBook and PDFs currently available, with the rest very slowly following:

It Matters I: My Own Way
It Matters II: It Matters
It Matters III: All the Way Here
It Matters IV: Poisoned Rationality

Big gap of not yet done...

It Matters IX: Annals of Fear II

Dragon Ball Z Plagiarism in Death Note Tunes?

28/10/2014

Don't look at me! That's the question currently being asked by Gretnablue over on Observation Desk. Go and have a listen to see if you agree.

Dog Days: Apocalyptic Mello and Matt Fan Fiction by ShinigamiMailJeevas

27/10/2014

Death Note Dog Days

I remember when I began writing my fan fiction, there was only one or two other stories in the Mello/Matt section on AFF. I dominated the place with my sudden output, yet still left it with the index running to barely two pages.

Then ShinigamiMailJeevas kicked in. She's still there. Eight pages worth of short M/M fan fiction tales have been filled with her talented type.

I thought that I'd read most of what she'd written, but it seems that I was wrong. Last night, Orangepunch referenced Dog Days in conversation with me. I blinked at her in confusion, "What?"

She was shocked, "You've never read Dog Days?!" Her tone made it clear that I was the only Death Note fan in the world to have missed the boat on this one. Remedying that situation was clearly the way forward.

The next twenty minutes were spent lost in a bleak world, torn asunder by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It was one of the most refreshingly different Mello and Matt fan fiction stories that I had read in a long time.

You probably read it back in 2011. If you didn't, then I strongly recommend you check it out now. (With all due warnings about adult content, this being Adult Fan Fiction and all.) It's ShinigamiMailJeevas at her best.

Anyone got any other amazing Mello and Matt fan fiction which we may have missed along the way?

Death Note Characters - 'Borderline Fully-Fledged Villains' All, According to Obata

23/10/2014

Light Yagami Death Note

Anime News Network is running an interview with Takeshi Obata, wherein he mentions Death Note.

Reporter Katriel Paige caught up with him at New York Comic Con to ask questions, including one about how difficult it was to capture the 'cat and mouse' thinking processes visually in the Death Note manga.

After an intervention from editor Koji Yoshida to say that was surely more to do with Tsugumi Obha than Takeshi Obata, the artist did answer the question. He replied,

... in Death Note, a lot of the characters are borderline full-fledged villains, so it was important to capture those manipulative facial expressions so it looked like they were thinking diabolically, just because their faces looked manipulative.
Interview: Takeshi Obata, Anime News Network, October 22nd 2014

So many of the Death Note characters are 'borderline fully-fledged villains'. Anyone got any thoughts on that? Personally I think it's fair comment!

Takeshi Obata Talks About Death Note at New York ComicCon 2014

17/10/2014

Guest Blogger Orangepunch brings us a round-up of all the Death Note news and gossip from Takeshi Obata's appearance at New York ComicCon 2014.

Takeshi Obata at New York ComicCon 2014

The New York ComicCon was held from October 9 through October 12th in New York City, and Takeshi Obata was invited to host two different question and answer panels.

Both had crowds of people wanting to participate, many of whom had to be turned away after the room had filled.

On top of the two Q and A panels, Obata had two signings in which the few lucky fans who were able to get one of the few tickets to attend before they sold out were able to meet Obata, and get something signed by him.

For those who missed out, one fan recorded the panel and posted it to YouTube for fans to watch. (Skip to the below to view it.)

During the panels, Obata discussed his art in his past and present manga and answered questions about his art style, what it was like to work on manga like Death Note, Bakuman, and his others, and how he designed certain characters.

He ended by doing a live drawing of Ryuk and L from Death Note.

Obata and Death Note Related Announcements Released at NYCC

“…He made playing Go look exciting. And then he made a person writing in a book look cool. And then he made people drawing pictures look amazing. He is a legend in the manga industry, and probably the reason you’re at this panel. Introducing the one, the only: Takeshi Obata!”

The Shonen Jump panel had many announcements for their fans, including several exciting ones for Death Note Fans.

A new program from Shonen Jump called Jump Start - which will release internationally the first three chapters of every new series simultaneous with them coming out in Japan - hopes to identify what fans abroad my be interested in reading.

At the same time, they are also launching Jump Back, which will highlight classic hits from Shonen Jump manga. October's focus is upon Death Note! We will have lots of free previews and fun things to see that are Death Note related on their website.

As previously highlighted on Death Note News, the panel also announced that Viz Manga is having a big sale on all manga related to Obata and they are also running a sweepstakes to win exclusive posters and manga signed by Obata. Check out the website to enter.

Takeshi Obata Discussing his Art and Working on Death Note

Death Note is undeniably Obata’s first and greatest success in manga so far. There’s no doubt that the brilliant artistic minds of Ohba and Obata were meant to work together.

We have all our thanks for this pair meeting up due to the editor of Death Note, Koji Yoshida. Yoshida was familiar with Obata’s art style, and after first meeting with Ohba and seeing Death Note, he had a feeling Obata’s “Gothic aesthetic” would make him a good artist for the story.

Obata talked about what it was like when he first met Ohba, and described him as mysterious and cool, and remembers thinking, 'Yeah, he seems like the kind of person I’d be able to come up with a story like this.'

Takeshi Obata at Shonen Jump panel NYComicCon 2014

New York ComicCon: Takeshi Obata on Drawing Death Note

Obata’s inspirations for Death Note characters initially came from Ohba’s writing. But, he also drew inspiration from the personality he seemed to get from them.

He described L as weird, eccentric, and strange, yet still cool, and those attributes really intrigued him, so he really wanted that to come across in the drawing of the character as well.

When Obata went about drawing and designing the character of Ryuk, he wanted a true representation of a shinigami, but he also to have fun with it. As he first drew Ryuk, he decided it would be fun to make his costume look like someone who was trying to wear “high fashion for the Milan collection.” And because he gave Ryuk a human face, the artist commented that it was important to pay attention to “not make him too scary or too cute.“

Obata said that, in the end, his design for Ryuk ended up strongly influencing the personality of the character when Ohba wrote him. And this is true across the board.

Of course the initial written design of a character by Ohba influenced how Obata brought them to life in a drawing, but the details, quirks, traits that Obata put into the drawings of characters then influenced how Ohba went on to write them and their behavior in the manga. I think it is interesting how the duo came to work together so perfectly; not only ended up with a captivating story, but characters who were so real, interesting, and had so much personality and depth that it left readers obsessed, to the point where we are still talking about them over a decade on.

Death Note Editor Koji Yoshida Talks about Takeshi Obata

NYC Comic Con 2014 Takeshi Obata and Koji Yoshida

As with any artist, you have to know that the things in their lives which affect and influence them will eventually make it into their art, even if only subtly.

A particularly cute moment from the panel is when it was pointed out during questions about character design that Yoshida, the editor of Death Note, eventually made his way into one of Obata’s later works - Bakuman. The character himself was even named Yoshida!

When Obata was asked how he came up for the design of Yoshida-san, Obata turned and looked at his former editor sitting beside him, and the crowd attending the panel erupted in laughter. Obata commented, “That’s how I see him in real life.”

Yoshida seemed to disagree, declaring that he didn’t actually look much like the character. Though he was impressed with Obata’s ability to bring that character to life.

The editor mentioned that several years back, when they were working on Death Note together, he used to wear a square watch every day. Even though they no longer worked together when Obata was doing Bakuman, Yoshida did notice that his namesake character sported a wristwatch exactly like the one he used to wear.

He believes that it’s Obata’s ability to remember and include such small details like that, which makes him so good at depicting people.

The Artistic Link Between Death Note and Sherlock Holmes

Considering that, I was entirely amused when the crowd had a chance to pose questions and one person asked who Obata’s heroes are. Obata described his first heroes being the characters of manga he read when he was a child. He named Sherlock Holmes, because of “how he would solve the most unbelievable mysteries.”

Death Note is described in the panel as Obata’s first global hit. I think it is great that Obata, as a manga artist, declares Sherlock Holmes as one of his first and standing heroes. When you consider how much it must have influenced him in every moment he was working on Death Note, you can really see how he was able to bring each and every character, no matter how minor, to life on the pages.

Ready to watch it all for yourself? Spot the Takeshi Obata's live drawing of Ryuk and then L, which you can watch in the video (starting at 4:00 and 8:33 in the YouTube videos linked below).

With much thanks to Orangepunch for writing this report for us! If you'd like to guest blog here, just ask. Assuming it's relevant and interesting, I'll probably say yes.

Japanese Death Note Android Game Reviewed

15/10/2014

Android Death Note game screenshot

For those of you conversant in Japanese - and indeed in Japan to download the game in the first place - there's been a review with notes posted about the Death Note Escape Game for smartphones.

Ukulele has added step by step instructions to the iPhone App Bank store, though the version placed was the free one for Android.

Poisoned Rationality (Remastered) Now in the He Moves Me Differently Library

12/10/2014

I should have done this ages ago, when I was first asked. Sorry! But better late than never.

You will find the remastered version of Poisoned Rationality in the He Moves Me Differently library, under 2010 Post Kira Era.

It's the same as the free eBook telling, that I introduced in July. Check out that blog entry, if you have no idea what's going on here.

And apologies for it taking me two months - since M asked - to get this in the library.

MRSJeevas fan-fiction Mello Matt library

Death Note the Musical Shinigami Unveiled - Tokyo Actor Kotaro Yoshida Cast as Ryuk

11/10/2014

Kotaro Yoshida Death Note Ryuk actor (Musical)

Death Note Musical actor Kotaro Yoshida as Ryuk.

No Death God mask, but plenty of dark make-up, for Kotaro Yoshida's portayal of apple loving Ryuk in Death Note the Musical.

At 55 years old, Kotaro is a veteran theatrical, movie and television actor, though his stage performances usually tend towards Shakespeare rather than shinigamis. He's played the lead in Titus Andronicus, Othello, Anthony and Cleopatra and Henry IV, while supporting roles in various Shakespearian productions make up the majority of his acting credits.

When it's not Shakespeare, the classics abound in his theatrical resume - be that dramatic plays like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Clockwork Orange, or musicals such as Blood Brothers.

We always knew that Death Note was something special, but viewed from the context of Kotaro Yoshida's CV, the story becomes a classic by default!

But just in case you thought it was all centuries old lovey stuff with our new Ryuk, then here he is on guitar, with a (presumably) spontaneous recital of Radiohead's No Surprises in a restaurant.

Kotaro Yoshida was born in Tokyo on January 14th 1959. He was inspired to become an actor while still in High School, after being encouraged - as part of his studies - to watch a troupe perform Twelfth Night.

His love of Shakespearian productions continued throughout his time at Sophia University. Upon graduation, he joined Shiki Theatrical Company in order to indulge that passion. The group were well known for staging the Bard's plays.

From there, he became part of Japan's Shakespeare Theatre troupe - which did precisely what it says on the tin - where the actor was generally credited under his alternative stage name Yoshida HaganeTaro.

Within nine years, he was a recognised Heisei showman. The accolades poured in, some as part of the company, but others were personal. In 1998, Kotaro received the 6th Yomiuri Theatre Award for Excellence for his performance in Merchant of Venice at the Tokyo Globe Theatre. In 2001, it was his starring role in Hamlet which added the 36th Kinokuniya Theatre Award to his trophy cabinet.

By 1997, Kotaro had formed his own Shakespearian theatrical company - Troupe AUN - with fellow showman Kurita Yoshihiro. Here he was able to direct, as well as act in, the productions. As Yoshida HaganeTaro, he remains the president of Troupe AUN.

He is currently touring Japan in a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

Julius Caesar Japanese production

Poster for Julius Caesar, directed by Yukio Ninagawa.

Though Kotaro's acting credits include television and movie roles, none have been quite as illustrious as in his theatrical career. His casting as Ryuk in Death Note the Musical will do little to reverse that trend, though it is likely to become his most famous performance amongst the like of us.

I wonder what his take is on apples...?

Viz Media Competition for US Death Note Fans

10/10/2014

Viz Media Death Note promotion

With Takeshi Obata now in the USA, Viz Media have launched a promotion of his works.

Between October 6th and 31st 2014, prices are slashed on Death Note, Bakuman, All You Need is Kill, Hikaru No Go and RAL Ω GRAD. Just visit the Viz Media Obata webpage to take advantage of these deals - and to register your email for the Takeshi Obata competition.

Up for grabs are:

signed copies of Death Note and All You Need is Kill manga
signed Death Note poster
digital editions of Bakuman, Hikaru No Go and RAL Ω GRAD

Entrants in the sweepstake must be thirteen years or over, and have to be within the USA. In fact the rest of the world can't even see the webpage! We get redirected to the Viz Media iTunes site instead.

Also ComiXology have launched sales on all their Takeshi Obata titles. Though again this is ONLY for US customers. The rest of the globe get a blank screen. (If you're wondering how I know what they're seeing in the US: have proxy - see what I damn well want to online with or without the permission of US retailers, thank you very much.)

Enjoy the promotions, American people!

Musical Shinigamis in Death Note Stage Show

9/10/2014

When the story calls for two supernatural entities to take centre stage, then there's a variety of ways in which a director might go.

Death Note's shinigami pair have been illustrated (manga), animated (anime) and brought to life via CGI (live action movies). For the theatrical production of Death Note, I did wonder if audiences would be treated to an awe-inspiring puppet element a la War Horse, or something arty produced with shadows on a light board.

None of the above. For the first time ever, Death Note fans are going to see Ryuk and Rem portrayed live by actors. Cosmetics will create the requisite Death God look.

Kotaro Yoshida Ryuk actor Death Note Musical

Kotaro Yoshida as Ryuk in Death Note the Musical

Actress Rem Megumi Hamada Death Note Musical

Megumi Hamada as Rem in Death Note Musical

What do you reckon? Disappointed? Relieved? How did you envisage your all singing, all dancing shinigamis in the musical Death Note?

Death Note DVDs from Around the World

8/10/2014

Death Note DVDs

I've been working hard in the Death Note News store again, this time in the DVD section.

The first up-date being that we now have a DVD section.

All of the world's Death Note anime and live action movies have been corralled into one place. Every edition, collection, cover, package and box set within the Death Note franchise will be in there.

At least that was the plan. With the best part of two whole days occupied in reproducing pictures and hunting internationally for the links, I've still not come close to collecting them all. It'll happen. But for now, I think it's best to say that a mammoth undertaking created a great beginning, and the rest will follow in good time.

Let's break this down. We have an anime series and three live action movies. Even accounting for new voice-over dubs, employing actors to deliver dialogue translated into various languages, that shouldn't leave much scope for reproducing Death Note DVDs. Fundamentally, that's four items of content - or two box sets, one for anime and one for live action - which could be recycled around the world for each new language to be dubbed onto them.

You really would be amazed.

I've come to the conclusion that every Death Note DVD copyright holder has done nothing over the past ten years but reissue them. Constantly. Rebranding, repackaging, reformatting, adding features, chopping the content up into different slices, slapping a new cover on the front, importing versions from other countries and most of all introducing yet another version into the market.

Except India.

Apparently no moving pictures in any format has made it into India yet. Though they're certainly running rampant with the manga and novels. More versions there than you could possibly imagine. It was quite startling to move from country to country - each time staring in grim determination at another plethora of choices for your Death Note movie and anime viewing pleasure - only to arrive at the nothingness of India. Mu for Death Note anime fans.

Which did leave me pondering. I've made a note to find out why. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

Elsewhere in the world, international Death Note DVDs being made available for domestic fans continues unabated across the globe. We've obviously a great source of income with an insatiable appetite for completing collections, even if the only difference is a new pretty picture.

This fervour to feed us stuff can too easily invoke the maxim 'more haste less speed'. There's a lovely French Death Note trilogy which might tempt more US buyers, if volume one was stocked alongside two and three. I wonder if the supplier has even noticed. Probably not, as they'd have rushed to get it listed.

It's quite interesting to note what's been imported where. Not to mention bewildering and, at times, amusing. For example, Italy has a German version of an American Death Note box set. Nice and cosmopolitan there, everyone sharing and common sense prevailing. Until you notice that Germany doesn't get the German version. They're stuck with the original US one.

On the bright side, our beautiful new Death Note DVD section now reveals all such wonderful weirdness - allowing the German fandom to go shopping in Italy, and everyone else to uncover where common sense hid Death Note DVDs destined for our shelves.

Enjoy! And keep checking back, wishing me luck and watching it grow, as I hunt down every last variation to pin into the ultimate Death Note anime and movie collection. As always, I would appreciate your feedback in terms of navigability, look of the thing and anything that I messed up while adding links at 4.30 in the morning.

Death Note the Musical's Misa Amane Actress Announced - Fuka Yuduki to play Second Kira!

7/10/2014

Fuka Yuduki as Misa in Death Note Musical

Misa Amane played by Fuka Yuduki

You are looking at the face of Misa Misa, as she will be known to theatre audiences in Tokyo and Seoul. Does Fuka Yuduki match the Misa Amane imagined by you through all those Death Note manga chapters?

Actress Fuka Yuduki has already blogged about landing the role of Misa in Death Note the Musical. Unfortunately I'm relying upon the vagaries of Google Translate to learn what she said.

From what I could glean, she's going for high octave 'cute', but also aiming to bring out Misa's 'will' and 'feelings' in her performance. Fuka views Misa as someone who feels 'with all one's heart the light'. Or should that be Light? Apparently Fuka is only now reading Death Note for the first time. She found it to be 'interesting'.

However the translation is extremely scrambled, so if anyone can check the original Japanese, that would be fabulous. Thanks!

Fuka Yuduki did share two more photographs of herself as Misa Amane though.

Death Note Musical Japan Misa Amane

Death Note Musical's Misa Misa
From Fuka Yuduki's blog

Death Note actress Fuka Yuduki (Musical) Misa Misa

Fuka Yuduki as Misa Amane
From Fuka Yuduki's blog

Misa Amane actress Fuka Yuduki has just turned eighteen. She was born in Hokkaido, Japan, on September 8th 1996.

Fuka's big break came in 2012, after winning the Special Jury Prize in the 37th HoriPro Talent Scout Caravan. HoriPro - a top talent agency in Japan - held open auditions for females aged 12-20. They were looking for a 'Super Idol', a young lady who could sing, act and dance, along with 'inner beauty and the strength to give dreams to people'.

Then just fifteen years old, Fuka fitted the bill quite nicely. HoriPro gave her the opportunity to work with their own coaches, while adding the up and coming star to their books.

Here's Fuka in a promotional clip presented by HoriPro on YouTube. I can certainly picture her bringing Misa Amane to life!

Fuka Yuduki is now quite at home in musicals produced for Japan's main theatre circuit. Her diary is already looking quite full before the actress gets anywhere near to the Death Note stage show.

In 2013, Fuka took the lead role in Peter Pan - the 10th actress to do so, since the Broadway Musical began its Japanese run in 1981.

A lot of tough acts to follow! Yet there was plenty of critical acclaim during Fuka Yuduki's Peter Pan tenure in that high profile performance.

The company recently announced that she will continue in the role for the 2014 season too. In July/August, Peter Pan returns for its 34th year as an widely anticipated, established fixture within Japan's theatrical calendar.

Theatre goers can catch Fuka Yuduki in another musical stage production too.

She is currently rehearsing the role of Chloe in Alice in Wonderland. Performances begin at Tokyo's Aoyama Theatre on November 5th 2014, before moving on to the Umeda Arts Theatre in Osaka and Chunichi Theatre in Nagoya, for show dates in December.

Then perhaps she will be able to squeeze in the time to portray Misa Amane in Death Note the Musical!

Watch her in action as Peter Pan - performing a song during a public appearance - to see how that might work out. Could Fuka Yuduki be Misa Misa for you? Leave a comment below to let us know!

Fuka Yuduki Peter Pan

Fuka Yuduki as Peter Pan.

Takeshi Obata - US Schedule October 2014

6/10/2014

For the first time ever, Death Note manga artist Takeshi Obata will be making public appearances in the USA. So where might you be able to catch him?

All of Takeshi Obata's US appearances will be in New York City. When and where is listed below.

Takeshi Obata USA 2014

Thursday October 9th 2014

6pm-6.45pm - New York Comic Con, Room 1A10, Javits Convention Center. Takeshi will be part of Viz Media's panel: The Future of Shonen Jump. The rest of the panel is made up of Weekly Shonen Jump's US editors, all discussing what people can expect from the publication in the future.

7.30pm - New York Comic Con, Javits Convention Center.
During the evening, Takeshi will be stationed at a table ready to autograph an exclusive signing board. Please note that this involves a strict ticket system.

You will NEED to visit the Viz Media booth (#1944) at 1pm or 4.30pm - no queuing until 15 mins prior to each slot - wherein you'll be given tickets and your shikishi signing board on a first come, first served basis. Sounds like a bit of a mission, so good luck!

Friday October 10th 2014

5pm-5.45pm - New York Comic Con, Room 1A10, Javits Convention Center. Takeshi will star in his own panel entltled Weekly Shonen Jump Presents: Takeshi Obata, Artist for Death Note and All You Need Is Kill. Joined by his editor Koji Yoshida, the discussion will be about how Takeshi began as an artist in the manga industry, and his long history as one of its most respected talents.

8.30pm-9.30pm - Kinokuniya Book Store, 1073, Avenue of the Americas.
Takeshi Obata signing session as part of New York Super Week. You will need to secure a (free) Super Week ticket in advance, available here.

All ticket holders will receive an already autographed shikishi signing board. Takeshi will only additionally sign that board OR books purchased - at the time - from the store itself.

Saturday October 11th 2014

6pm-7pm - Barnes & Noble, Tribeca, 97 Warren St.
Takeshi Obata autograph session for New York Super Week. Different venue, but otherwise the same set up as at Kinokuniya. Please read that and be prepared!

That's all so far, though this will be updated if extra US Takeshi Obata events do pop up. In the meantime, discover more about Obata himself and skim through the latest Takeshi Obata news, so you will feel all knowledgeable and up-to-date about Death Note's artist before you're face to face with him.

And if you do meet him, please, please do report back here. We're all living vicariously through you!

Takeshi Obata and Nisio Isin One-Shot Reunion

3/10/2014

Jump Square December 2014

RKD-EK9, a one-shot manga, will feature in the December 2014 edition of Jump Square. The duo behind it are both well known to the Death Note fandom.

Takeshi Obata famously illustrated Death Note too, while Nisio Isin (aka
NisiOisiN), penned the spin off novel Another Note.

As yet, there are no further details about RKD-EK9. I guess we'll find out more when the issue reaches our stores on November 4th 2014.

(With thanks to Logan for the heads up here.)