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Subtlety Beneath the Stereotype: Is There More to Misa Amane Than Meets the Eye?

4/6/2016

8 Comments

 
Misa Amane/Death Note.
Loud and over-emotional, Death Note's Misa-Misa appears not to have been blessed with much in the brain department.

Which is a shame, when she's up against the likes of Light, L and Kiyomi Takada and playing a deathly game as Second Kira. Yet she has one up on all of them, not to mention a splattering of NPA police officers and nearly all attendant Wammy House geniuses. Misa Amane survives. Moreover, she's never positively identified as Second Kira; let alone officially arrested, tried and punished for her crimes in mass murderer.

Which is more than Light Yagami manages.

Unlike both him and super-smart Teru Mikami, Misa contrives as well to be missing from the killing line-up in the Yellow Box Warehouse.

Though twice captured by Wammy detectives, and stalked by two others, she also sidesteps being murdered (directly or inadvertently) by them. Which again is more than can be said for top of her class Ms Grace herself, Kiyomi Takada, as well as usual suspects Yagami and Mikami, and their sometime stand-in Kyosuke Higuichi.

Alone of all the Kiras, Misa Amane gets to walk free at the end.

What happens next is all of her own doing, within her own control. Whether that's the dramatic suicide of the anime or the continuing on to world stardom as an actress and model, as per the live-action Death Note movies.

Not so stupid after all then.

Death Note's Misa Achieves Dividends When She Acts

Misa Amane with evidence to prove Higuichi is Kira

Misa Amane with evidence to prove Higuichi is Kira
Whether its in retribution, career, love, favours or contribution to the Kira case, Misa Amane rarely fails to achieve any goal for which she reaches.

Nobody who ever attacked her survives long enough to gloat in their assault. Her street assailant is taken out by a Death God (Gelus); her family's murderer is initially sentenced through due legal process then killed by Kira while in prison; Soichiro Yagami threatens her with a gun - he doesn't survive a Mafia bullet later on in the tale; her torturous captor L and his carer Watari are both slaughtered by a second shinigami Rem, again on Misa's behalf; Mello and Matt both stalk her, and they are killed within weeks by Kira and/or Kira supporters; while Takada tries to take Misa's man and ends up incinerated in a lorry.

Even Light Yagami, who exploited her constantly for years, finishes the epic crawling in sobbing indignity upon the floor, crying out for Misa in his death throes.

Not all of those were of Misa's doing, nor even at her instigation, but she's certainly left with nobody alive who so much at looked at her with ill intent.

Then you get her career. As anyone who has ever set out with a dream of fame and fortune may attest, it's not easy to achieve stardom, yet Misa Amane is utterly in demand for both acting roles and modelling assignments

In the Death Note live-action movies, Misa Amane's fame is ever-growing. By the fourth, Death Note: Light Up the NEW World - to be released in October 2016 - she is at the top of her career, a Japanese idol with a firm presence in the entertainment industry; a famous name known worldwide as an actress.

During the week that Misa's introduced into Death Note manga and anime, she's on the cover of Eighteen Magazine, apparently a popular journal for the Japanese fashionatas (presumably the youthful ones).

Misa-Misa set out for fame and fortune, and got it. On her terms too, as her demands that she not kiss the main romantic male lead in one of her movies demonstrates.

In fact, as the corporate arc unfolds, Misa's work on that film shoot close by Yotsuba Tower certainly helps with the rescue of Matsuda, then later the capture of Yotsuba Kira himself.

And let's not forget that it was Misa acting unilaterally that managed to force a confession from Higuichi. That was her contribution to the Kira case. No fuss; simply done; back within an hour or two with the evidence that the men had been searching for months to secure.

Not bad for someone supposedly without any wit or two brain cells to rub together.

Nor was that the only moment wherein Misa Amane proves more resourceful and calmly able to get what she wants than all else within the Death Note plot-line.

How Clever Misa Amane Outwits Both L and Light in the Hunt for Kira

Misa Amane tracking down Light Yagami

Misa Amane tracking down Light Yagami
Half a dozen chapters pass before L narrows down his hunt for Kira to a single major suspect - Light Yagami.

Misa Amane manages the same in about a week and that's only because a few days pass between the broadcast of her tapes and the proposed meeting in Otaka.

Even unto the moment of L's death and, in passing his legacy to his Wammy House successors, through to the end of Death Note - at the staging of the Yellow Box confrontation seven years on - none of the Wammys succeed in positively gaining a confession from Light that he was indeed Kira. Nor the smoking gun evidence that would convict him of the crimes enacted in that persona.

Misa Amane pulled that one off within the same aforementioned week.

Granted she had foreknowledge of the Death Note and the handy boon of shinigami eyes at her disposal; but L and the Wammys had the entire world's political, military, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, plus experts in every field and academic discipline, ready to do their bidding, and/or the Mafia. L could also call upon criminal expertise in the shape of Aiber the Conman and Wedy the top cat burglar.

Misa Amane didn't have any of that. Therefore it was perhaps quid pro quo on such scores.

Moreover, Misa not only located Light, tracked him down to his home and got a confession to being Kira out of him, she did it all without a) Light finding out who she was and b) L knowing of her existence until she began repeatedly to be seen with Light himself.

In fact, we could go as far as to say it was only her association with Light Yagami which put Misa in the frame as Second Kira. But then again, she was only there because she insisted upon being Light's girlfriend and being openly known as such in public. The latter orchestrated entirely by Misa herself in a succession of surprise meetings outside his home, at his university and wherever else she could insert herself into his presence.

Outgunned utterly by his enforced beau, Light had neither choice nor say in the matter.

Overly Attached Girlfriend Misa Amane: Is She Really So Dependent on Light?

Stereotyped throughout the Death Note fandom as the overly dependent girlfriend from Hell, that description seems only partially correct under analysis.

Misa certainly goes after and gets what she wants in the romantic stakes. Moreover, from the onset, she'll use every manipulative trick in the book to keep her man and ensure his romantic availability is retained for herself alone.

Who can forget the chilling statement that she will kill any other woman that Light dates? Basically laying it on the line at their first meeting that he gets her or nobody. Those are her terms.
Misa will kill Light's girlfriends
In this way - however exploitative, unfair and downright psychotic it is - Misa cannot easily be cast aside. She might present herself as utterly dependent upon Light, but in reality, it's the other way around. He cannot act in some quite key situations without her Shinigami eyes; or without the usage of her Death Note and the fact of her ownership of the same.

While ostensibly Light calls all the shots, Misa gets precisely what she requires at any given time.

She wants retribution for the killing of her family, she gets it; she wants to meet Kira, she engineers it; she demands to be Light Yagami's girlfriend, she gives him no choice in the matter; she wants him to move in with her, that occurs circa the beginning of the second arc; she decides it's time to get engaged, and Misa doesn't even bother to consult with Light on that one, she tells Kiyomi Takada first instead.

Financially, Misa was a woman of independent means for years before Light Yagami secured the Kira Task Force position to consider himself the same. She was the one with the money, the prestige, the social standing and the sole occupancy of an apartment. She bought her own furniture, clothes, make-up and every other possession with her own funds, including the phone and its network charges that she presents to Light and pays for on his behalf.

Even when Light gets a job and asks Misa to stop working as per social expectation, she could (and does in the Death Note movies) return to her career at any time.

Misa Amane as the Archetypal Anime Genki Girl

Misa glomping Light Yagami
In most fan imaginings, Misa-Misa is Death Note's very energetic answer to that stalwart of anime character archetypes - the Genki Girl. She shouts, screams, rushes about, glomps, squees and generally acts like the average three year old on a profusion of E numbers. Or, indeed, E.

There's plenty of scenes to throw into the mix in support of this designation. Yet look more closely. Shouldn't that be every scene?

In reality, Misa seems to switch Genki Girl on or off, or applies attributes to a precise level, depending upon the situation and who's watching. She's like someone who's read all about Genki Girl and figured that she can pull it off, so goes for it whenever the persona will cover a multitude of personal sins and/or throw people off the scent of her actual intelligence.

Take for example her meeting the Yagami women, whilst visiting Light at home. There Misa is the epitome of maturity; a demure Japanese lady full of politeness and decorum, give or take the length of her skirt. Yet outside, alone with Light on another occasion, she glomps him with all the enthusiastic screaming passion of the Genki Girl personified, now that his mother isn't watching.

Nor does she bamboozle Yotsuba Kira Hidechi with a steady stream of relentless words. Those she chooses are articulate and leading, with adequate gaps in between for him to speak enough to condemn himself.

Meanwhile, there's absolutely nothing of the motormouth, highly animated and over-emotional Genki Girl in Misa when she's detained by L as suspected Second Kira. To be fair, she's also in a full-body straitjacket, so none of that excessively expressive movement is physically able to be on show.

Yet you get the impression it wouldn't be either.

Hidden Reserves of Strength in Misa-Misa

Misa Anime in a straitjacket
That prolonged scene in a straitjacket, effectively being tortured into submission by L, tells a lot about Misa Amane's true strength of character.

With his arms handcuffed behind his back, Light plays the game in full knowledge of his Kira-hood for a week, then gives that contextual understanding up. Within three days, he's pleading, begging, demanding to be set free, sure that he's not Kira and adamant that he's going to say so repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Misa Amane remains silent and strapped upright to a board, blind-folded, devoid of human contact beyond an electronic voice communicating through a speaker. Not a single word uttered in condemnation nor defense. Nothing whatever to make it worth her torturers' time in detaining her.

When she eventually does feel herself cracking, she finally does speak, but only to ask Rem to kill her. The words enigmatic without context to those listening on. The remainder of her days tortuously attached in that position in a state of near sensory deprivation would have been passed without knowledge of Kira nor her part in the Death Note killings. Yet she still doesn't say much nor beg as Light Yagami did.

Coming to the conclusion that she's been abducted as per her fame, Misa intelligently attempts to humanise herself and make a deal with her abductor.

L eventually has to let her go for the sake of nothing incriminating being divulged to prove her role as Second Kira, nor to use as evidence against Light. How many others could have withstood so much under torture?  Most in that position would be agreeing, admitting or issuing confessions to all and sundry, just to make the torture stop.

Misa Amane: Worldly Wise and Self-Possessed of All her Assets and Skills

Misa Amane Death Note drama
Nobody is suggesting for one instant that Death Note's Misa Amane is some unsung genius (though an interesting case might be made for that). However she certainly isn't the dim-witted, unaware character so many make her out to be.

She has drive, intelligence and self-knowledge enough to ensure that she gets what she wants, through a considered application of the attributes and tools in her personal arsenal. She can definitely identify goals, pinpoint way and devise strategies to achieve them, then action those tactics with usually astounding results.

Mostly Misa is fabulous at keeping herself under the radar by ensuring those around her think she's too stupid to understand much that is happening.

However, she proves time and again that she can read situations - and especially people - with a keen accuracy. She can be cute enough to sexually manipulate the men; childish enough to annoy or delight, but never be taken seriously enough for people not to scheme in her vicinity. She sees more than she ever lets on.

She can charm anyone, and uses that to great effect to get people waiting on her hand and foot.

However, when the occasion calls for it, Misa's intelligence shows all the above to be the veneer of an actress. Probably a psychopathic one at that, but certainly not the Genki Girl that she's studiously manufactured her self-image to be.

Do you agree?

Published as Part of

Death Note News Month of Misa
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Viz Media Turns 30 (Promises Goodies to Thank Fans) - Japanamerica Pop Culture Scholar Roland Kelts Contemplates the Impact of Three Decades of Viz

3/6/2016

3 Comments

 
Happy 30th Birthday Viz Media
This summer, Viz Media celebrates its 30th birthday firmly entrenched as North America's foremost exporter, and promoter, of Japanese manga and anime.

There will be no big party in the streets by all accounts.  Yet fans can look forward to special offers and goodies given out as a thank you for for thirty years of support. 

However, those deals currently announced are only available to indivduals attending anime conventions across the USA.  Kicking off on July 1st-4th 2016, at the Los Angeles Anime Expo, and continuing throughout the summer and autumn season.  More on all that when we know further.

What Did Viz Media Ever Do for Us Anyway?

The obvious response is that Viz Media brought us Death Note.  Game over and cause to party right there.

However, if we can broaden our horizons for just three seconds, an even greater boon may be discerned. If you're reading from a Western nation then you have a lot to thank the company for in how it's spent those decades. Viz Media is probably the reason that you're here, or have even heard of Death Note. 

Even if only indirectly, with Viz acting as the trend-setter company that inspired others elsewhere to follow its lead, bringing Japanese pop culture into your local stores.

It barely seems possible that a time existed when the words 'manga' and 'anime' weren't mainstream in the West.  That outside Japan and its immediate neighbouring states, only Eastern ex-pats, Japanese Cultural Studies students, and a scattering of literary sci-fi geeks in any nation could have told you with any certainty what such alien terms described.  Or even hazarded a decent guess.

Yet in 1986, when Seiji Horibuchi - a Japanese ex-pat from Shikoku, then living in San Francisco - mooted to friends the notion that he could interest Americans in manga, anime and other cultural mainstays from his homeland, most people laughed.  They didn't think readers in the US would go for that at all.

Though obviously the majority first had to ask him what manga and anime were, before getting on with the general amusement and cynicism. 

Three decades later, we can say with great certainty that he wiped the smile off their faces.  Seiji's efforts through Viz Media - the company he founded to make good his idea and his dream - not only made him extremely rich, it secured a place for manga, anime and all else attached in the American heart and throughout the Western world.
Seiji Horibuchi Founder of Viz Media

Viz Media founder Seiji Horibuchi

Roland Kelts Puts Viz Media's Achievements in Context

Japanamerica by Roland Kelts cover

Buy Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture
has Invaded by US
by Roland Kelts on Amazon US
Just in case you haven't already grasped the enormity of Viz Media's impact in the West, Roland Kelts is on hand to spell it out.

As an academic specialising in Japanese Cultural Studies, Kelts is an author; essayist; lecturer at Keio University, Tokyo (and the occasional TED Lecture too); journalist with regular articles and columns in such illustrious publications as Time Magazine, The New York Times, Newsweek Japan and The Guardian; and steering committee member of the Tokyo Think Tank Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation.

He also wrote the acclaimed JapanAmerica (see left), all about how Japanese manga, anime and other pop culture became so big in the USA.

In May 2016, his monthly editorial for The Japan Times was devoted to Viz Media's thirty years as the main instigator of that.

Entitled Viz's 30 Years Pack a Punch in the US (May 14th 2016), Kelts outlines how Seiji Horibuchi pulled it off - from unlikely beginnings in the 1980s through to the legacy left behind by the time he parted company with Viz Media to explore pastures new.

Comparing notes with modern day Chief Marketing Officer Brad Woods, Kelts explores how Viz Media played a key role in the changing face of manga interest and sales throughout the West; touches upon the ever-growing mainstream awareness of Japanese pop culture, and projects how that success may continue into the future.

He's rather excited about how titles like Death Note are discussed as commonplace, particularly within the glittering circles of Hollywood studios executives, telling us that, 'in all the years I’ve watched manga and anime become mainstays in American homes, I’ve never seen a moment quite like this.'
More to the point, Kelts discusses the effect of such global popularity success on the domestic market in Japan. With its shrinking population population and declining consumerism, the business opportunities at home were always limited.  The injection of worldwide capital turned out to be very timely and very welcome for the overall prosperity of that island nation.

Not bad for a notion mooted by a San Francisco hippy, which turned out to be quite a fabulous one at that.  Happy 30th birthday, Viz Media; the celebrations may run worldwide.
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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

6 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!

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Mello and Misa Make Top Five Most Stylish Anime Characters According to Yahoo

27/5/2016

3 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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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

Posted as Part of

Misa Amane Month Death Note News
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Selecta Visión Confirms Spanish Dub Death Note Blu-Ray Box Set - Catalán Too?

19/4/2016

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Selecta Visión (Death Note distributors in Spain)
Hot on the heels of the Omega Edition hitting English language stores, there's a heads up that the Spanish dub Death Note anime is getting its own Blu-Ray formatting - available from July 6th 2016.

Death Note - Box 1 (Episodios 1 A 20) - Edición Coleccionista [Blu-ray], as the box set is entitled, apparently covers only the first twenty episodes of the anime. Presumably Box 2 will finish off with the remaining seventeen.

Selecta Visión - the anime's distributors in Spain - hinted at the fact to fans during their recent tenure at Japan Weekend (Selecta Visión Confirma Las Licencias de Death Note y Assassination Classroom, report by Víctor González Valle, Region PlayStation (Feb 14th 2016)).

However there's been no official announcement as yet, beyond vague references via Twitter.

Like that on March 24th, when a fan asked if Selecta Visión would make available a Catalán version of the Death Note anime, someone from the company responded that the new Blu-Ray edition would be in Catalán. 

Though representatives at the convention suggested that it would appear in May, retailers across the board have since attached a release date of July 6th 2016.  Moreover, their attendant information uniformly names the language as being Español, not Catalán, for this Blu-Ray Spanish Death Note dub. 

Beyond that, all that we know is that Death Note Edición Coleccionista will be spread over four discs with a total running time of 500 minutes.  No word on any special features, additions nor even cover art as yet. We'll keep you posted as soon as we know anything else at all.

See Blu-Ray Death Note - Box 1 (Episodios 1 A 20) - Edición Coleccionista on Amazon Spain.

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Casting Call: Fan-Dub Auditions to Sing Death Note 'The World'

18/4/2016

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The audition site Casting Call has an opening listed for singers amongst the Death Note fandom to flex their tonsils for a cover of The World.

Vocals can be in English or Japanese and the project appears to be some kind of anime cover album or play-list.

Before anyone gets excited thinking they're going to be on an official Death Note music release - otherwise in one of the forthcoming movies - let us reiterate here that this is a fan created project.  Yet no less wonderful for that.

There's scope for another Death Note tune to be covered, if you'd prefer.  As the call out lists the opportunity to record instead the anime track of your choice.  Other tunes requiring singers include:
  • Fight Together from One Piece
  • Super Driver from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
  • Memories of You from Persona 3
  • Never More from Persona 4
  • Irony from Oreimo
  • Yowamushi na Honoo from Yowamushi Pedal
  • Let Me Hear from Parasyte
  • One Reason from Deadman Wonderland

A track from Bleach has already been cast.
Anime singers wanted on Casting Call
Deadline is May 6th 2016.  Anime vocalists may be male or female, but must own a good microphone through which to record their work.  For more information visit audition listing itself - Casting Call Club: Anime Cover Singers Needed!
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Teri Mikami Voice Actor Masaya Matsukaze Announced for CA's FanimeCon 2016

14/4/2016

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Death Note Mikami voice actor Masaya Matsukaze
It's the first time that Masaya Matsukaze has stepped foot out of Asia to meet Death Note fans before. Nevertheless Teru Mikami's original Japanese anime voice actor is going to be in the USA at the end of next month.

The Death Note seiyuu will be at FanimeCon, in San Jose, California, from May 27-30th 2016, organizers have announced.

In addition to providing the voice of Mikami in Death Note, Masaya Matsukaze may also be heard as:
  • Koyoya Ootori (Ouran High School Host Club);
  • Zoisite (Sailor Moon Crystal);
  • Gaelio Bauduin (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans);
  • Shin Hyuuga Shaingu (Code Geass: Akito the Exiled);
  • Illumi Zoldyck (HUNTER X HUNTER).

Gamers will also know him as:
  • Ryo Hazuki (Shenmue series).

If you're planning to go, please do report back if you meet him and/or catch anything Death Note related.
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Misa Amane at Animazement! North Carolina Plays Host to Aya Hirano in May, Plus Death Note Anime Producer Masao Maruyama  

11/4/2016

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Death Note actress Aya Hirano will be at North Carolinian anime convention Animazement this May, organisers have announced.

Also in attendance is Madhouse co-founder Masao Maruyama, who produced the Death Note anime.  In 2012, after more than four decades with Madhouse, he branched out on his own again, forming a new company - MAPPA (Maruyama Animation Produce Project Association).  He'll be there to talk about his experiences with both.

It was recently revealed that Hirano - Misa-Misa's original voice actress in the anime - is moving to the United States for six months to as part of her studies.  It looks like her work doesn't completely stop for that!

Animazement runs from May 27-29th, in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.  Registration is currently open for attendees, panellists and exhibitors alike. More information on the event website.

If anyone bumps into Aya Hirano and Masao Maruyama, or else hears them talk as special guests at the convention, then do please report back!  Particularly if either of them mention anything Death Note related.
Animazement Aya Hirano and Masao Maruyama

Death Note's Aya Hirano and Masao Maruyama to appear at Animazement Anime Con.
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Death Note Profile:  Who is Quillsh Wammy?

8/4/2016

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Mr Wammy (Shunji Fujimura) -  Death Note live-action movies (Japan)

Mr Wammy as played by Shunji Fujimura
in live-action Death Note films
Watari - aka Quillsh Wammy - is L's 'handler' in Death Note.  He is also the founder of the Wammy chain of orphanages, including The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans.

Also known as Wammy's House, this was the institution which raised L, Near, Mello, Matt, Beyond Birthday, Linda et al.  It is located in Winchester, England.


We first meet Mr Wammy under his guise as Watari, an anonymous figure clad from head to toe in a black leather trench coat complete with Fedora hat.  He infiltrated a meeting of Interpol, wherein representatives of the world's law enforcement agencies had convened to discuss the Kira case. Watari was carrying a laptop from which emerged the electronic voice of L to address them all.

Later, as the Kira Task Force are invited to meet L and vetted by the same, Watari appears again, this time in the suited guise of his actual self - Quillsh Wammy, benefactor of the Wammy Group chain of orphanages and the man who trained L to become a detective.

He now facilitates his ward in his work solving crimes, acting as a handler, spokesperson or kind of butler.  Noted mostly for organizing logistics of manoeuvres ordered by L; transferring the funds to pay for the same; and bringing copious amounts of cakes, sweets and other sugary things for L to consume whilst puzzling over his cases.

Elsewhere, it transpires that Wammy is a crack marksmanship, as well as highly skilled in espionage.  He made his considerable wealth as an inventor.

Killed in the line of duty, during the fight against Kira, Quillsh Wammy is remembered as a 'great man' by members of the Task Force, lauded as the same by newspaper obituaries around the world.

Yet there is a darkness that hides beneath the surface of this seemingly amenable, altruistic man.  As author Tsugumi Ohba put it, 'He's a guy who cultivates detectives for fun. That's kind of terrible, isn't it?' (How to Read: Death Note 13, pg 27).  Well, in anybody's language, that's child trafficking and rendition, at the very least.

The Names of Quillsh Wammy

Death Note's Watari is alternatively known as:
キルシュ・ワイミー
Quillsh Wammy
Quillish Wammy
Kirushu Waimī
Kirsch-Waimi

Mr Wammy
ワタリ
Watari
W
渡
真名
Wye Me
Originally, Ohba meant to call this character Shadow, as in L's shadow - a moniker with more than one inferred meaning, which fan-fiction writers would have had great fun exploring.  However Death Note's editor pooh-poohed the name, telling Ohba, 'No, no! Anything but that!'  Hence the author coming up with Watari, which he explained meant 'handler' in Japanese.

Watari's Vital Statistics

Watari Death Note anime
Hair Colour:
Grey


Height:
5' 7" (170.18cm)
Eye Colour:
Blue


Weight:
8 stone (112lbs; 50.8kg)
Occupation:
Inventor; L spokesperson; benefactor of orphanages; collector of orphans; educator

Relationship Status:
Unknown, presumed single

Key Dates for Watari

May 1st 1933:
Quillsh Wammy born
Manga
May 1st 1936:
Quillsh Wammy born
Anime
November 5th 2004:
Quillsh Wammy killed
Manga
November 5th 2007:
Quillsh Wammy killed
Anime

The Auguries of Quillsh Wammy

Taurus
Born on May 1st, astrologically Quillsh Wammy is Taurus
Rooster
Wammy's birth date of May 1st 1933 (manga) also factors into Shēngxiào. He is a Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac
Rat
However, the time-slip of the anime would have him born in 1936 instead. That means that now in the Chinese Zodiac Watari is a Rat
Blood Type B
How to Read: Death Note 13 reveals that Quillsh Wammy's blood group is B

A Versatile Fixer - The Personality of Quillsh Wammy

Death Note 13: How to Read gives us an insight into the character of Quillsh Wammy, at least insofar as his author saw him.

The older man scores highly for versatility, talent, initiative/willingness to act, motivation and emotional strength.  Not far behind are his only slightly lesser scores for creativity, social skills and intelligence.  That he doesn't reach the topmost figure for creativity is a little surprising, given that Wammy made his fortune as an inventor.  The ultimate creator, one might think, this side of actual divinity.

We do get a hint of the kind of things that Wammy invented, when he turns up in the Death Note manga with belts containing panic buttons.  Not exactly Bond's Q, but in the ballpark.

As befits a man whose wealth and life has become devoted to raising children, his pet hate is 'dirty rooms'.  Presumably plenty of those at Wammy's House. I can't quite see the like of Beyond Birthday, Mello and Near running around with a duster.

This is an attribute taken to extreme levels in the Death Note TV drama, wherein guests are sprayed with disinfection at the door.  The interior of L's headquarters is kept pristine in its cleanliness, with Watari hurrying in to exchange L's shirt should a mere splash of food stain hit upon it.  In most tellings of the Death Note story, it's also inferred that Wammy is a fabulous cook.  At least there doesn't seem to be any travelling caterer providing all that confectionery for L that his handler regularly delivers.

Though it's nowhere stated that Wammy is an Englishman, it's implied in the location of his main orphanage for the training of gifted and talented orphans - Winchester, in England.  A further clue is given in his most favourite thing in the world - Earl Grey tea.

It's never truly explained how Watari managed to become such a crack marksman either.  His sharp-shooting is such that, in the Death Note manga and anime alike, he's able to fire a bullet which blasts a gun from the hand of Yotsuba's Kyosuke Higuchi, far below him on the ground. Wammy himself hovering over the scene in a helicopter at the time.

Nor do we learn where Quillsh Wammy acquired such skill in espionage, though he puts that to good use in Death Note, infiltrating various organizations to gain or deliver information.  Not least a gathering of Interpol.

Nevertheless he passed on all this knowledge, and the thinking/morality behind it, to the children in his care.   Maybe more clues to Watari's character reside in those he raised - how they turned out and what became of them.

Complete List of Wammy Kids in Death Note Canon

Genius children taken from wherever they lived around the world and installed in Wammy's House, Winchester.  Here their 'special talents' were cultivated with a top class education, whereupon they were sent back out into the world to put those skills into practice.  All of these individuals were nurtured by Wammy - or at least had their upbringing and training overseen remotely by him, as warden Roger Ruvie took orders from above.
Wammy A
A
- Name Unknown

Committed suicide at Wammy's House
(Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Case)
Wammy E
E
- Name Unknown

Shown on L's call/mailing list
(L: Change the World)
Wammy Kid J
J
- Name Unknown

Appears only as character in
a DS Death Note game.
(L: The Prologue to Death Note)
Picture
M
- Mello (Mihael Keehl)

Joined the Mafia in a bid to catch Kira and succeed to the L title before Near did. When unsuccessful, he gave his life to help Near defeat Kira.
(Death Note manga/anime)
Wammy kid Matt (Mail Jeevas) Death Note
Letter Unknown
- Matt (Mail Jeevas)

Third ranked Wammy kid at the time of L's death. Matt ultimately stepped into the Kira case at the behest of Mello. He was gunned down and killed by Kira supporters.
(Death Note manga/anime)
Wammy R
R
- Name Unknown
Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that R is dead. (B's is the same hue.)
(L: Change the World)
Wammy kid V
V
- Name Unknown
Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that V is dead. (B's is the same hue.)
(L: Change the World)
Wammy Z
Z
- Name Unknown
Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case.
(Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)
Beyond Birthday - Death Note
B
- Beyond Birthday

Tried to lure L out with a series of grisly murders in Los Angeles; impersonated L for Naomi Misora, before setting fire to himself in a failed suicide attempt; imprisoned in LA, where he suffered a heart-attack and died (presumably killed by Kira) on January 21st 2004.
(Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)
Wammy kid F (Kazuki Namioka)
F
- Name unknown

Rescued Near from a remote village, where all were dying in a deliberate epidemic, and sent him to L. F was killed in Thailand when a US helicopter shoots down his trunk. However F was already infected with a deadly virus.
(L: Change the World)
Kimiko Kujo L Change the World
K
- Kimiko Kujo

Scientist - unleashed a deadly virus in her own bid to 'change the world' by wiping out its human population.
(L: Change the World)
Near Death Note
N
- Near (Nate River)

Mathematical genius, who de facto succeeded L at age twelve, when the latter was killed by Rem/Kira.  With clues provided by Mello's martyrdom to the cause, Near was able to finally defeat Kira in the name of himself, Mello and L, ergo Wammy's House.
(Death Note manga/anime)
Wammy P
P
- Name Unknown
Shown on L's call/mailing list
(L: Change the World)
Ryūzaki Wammy kid Death Note 2016
Letter Unknown
- Ryūzaki

Cloned from L's DNA and raised at Wammy's House as L's true successor.
(Death Note 2016)
Wammy X
X
- Name Unknown

Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case.
(Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)
Death Note Relight: Wammy kids
Random Wammy kids
as seen in Death Note: Relight (above)
and Death Note manga (left)
Wammy D
D
- Name Unknown

Shown on L's call/mailing list
(L: Change the World)
Wammy Kid G
G
- Name Unknown

Shown on L's call/mailing list
(L: Change the World)
Wammy L Death Note
L
- L Lawliet

Apparently the prototype 'special talent' Wammy orphan, for whom all the rest were raised as back-ups or successors.

At eight years old, L could beat up the other orphans in Wammy's House. He also discovered the delight in solving true crime cases, and thwarted the Winchester Mad Bomber. Beyond that he made his name as not only the world's greatest detective but, under pseudonyms, the 2nd and 3rd ranked too. 

He was killed during the Kira case.
Linda Death Note
Letter Unknown
- Linda

Became a successful artist. During the Kira case, she drew images of Near and Mello for the Japanese Task Force.
(Death Note manga/anime)
Picture
Q
- Name Unknown
Shown on L's call/mailing list
(L: Change the World)
Wammy kid T
T
- Name Unknown
Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that T is dead. (B's is the same hue.)
(L: Change the World)
Wammy Y
Y
- Name Unknown
Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case.
(Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)
Wammy children Death Note manga
Each skilled Wammy kid set loose on the world was assigned a letter by Watari.   In L: Change the World, it's stated that this only occurs with the greatest, most intelligent of the Wammy's House outcrop.  Kujo is according stunned to belatedly realise that she was afforded the letter K.

Dotted across various adaptations of canon, we've practically got the entire alphabet in Wammy Letters.  With Watari himself indicated by the Letter W, only H, I, O, S and U are missing.  However, some known Wammy alumni never divulge their letters.  We don't, for example, know which Matt was assigned, despite him being third in the Wammy House rankings.  Nor yet do we know which letter Ryūzaki will take in the forthcoming movie Death Note 2016, assuming that he takes one at all.

Meanwhile, by the end of the manga/anime Death Note stories, Near interchangeably uses both N and L.  The latter earned post-Kira.  Thus giving an insight into the fact that letters can be taken from their peers by successful rivals/successors from the same Institution.  This is a system that Wammy himself must have set up.

Along with a code of ethics that apparently accounts for serial killers, abductors, biomedical scientists bent on mass destruction and the propensity of Wammy graduates to think it proper to die - or be killed - for want of a puzzle's solution. 

The Faces of Watari

Watari Death Note manga

Quillsh Wammy Death Note manga
Watari Death Note anime

Quillsh Wammy Death Note anime
Wammy Death Note DS game

Quillsh Wammy Death Note Nintendo game
Watari Death Note Relight

Quillsh Wammy Death Note: Relight


Posted as Part of

Month of Watari Death Note News
Watari Death Note movies

Quillsh Wammy Death Note live-action movies
Watari Death Note TV 2015

Quillsh Wammy Death Note TV drama
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It's Off to Study in NYC for Misa Actress Aya Hirano - But Only for Six Months

5/4/2016

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Aya Hirano - who was the original voice actress for Misa Amane in the Death Note anime - has announced that she's leaving Japan for the USA, in order to further her education.

It's not known what she's actually studying, however Aya Hirano will be in America for the next six months - not four, as various sources erroneously reported - as per the anime Misa actress's announcement on Instagram:
Death Note Misa actress Aya Hirano going to NYC to study
Roughly translated by Death Note News' Rene Hardigree, the actress confirmed her forthcoming plan to study abroad and apologised to fans for the confusion regarding the dates of her  study leave.  Hirano was originally going for just four months, but that was recently extended to half a year away.  During that time, her position as announcer and host of Tokyo hi-IMAGINE (Japanese television show) will be undertaken by a substitute.  Namely Rena Matsui.

Good luck to her!  Though I can't help thinking that we should be a little more concerned that Death Note's Second Kira is gaining access to the Big Apple.

Shout up, Americans, if you see her there, and do pass on our love.
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Light Yagami and Other Anime Personas Promoting the Androgynous Look for Indian Men? Japanese Influence Behind 'Girly' Male Fashions ~ Hindustan Times

2/4/2016

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Light Yagami, Death Note
Genki Tanaka, aka Genking
From Kira to Genking, take a good look at the two images above.  Can you see a direct causal link between the styles exhibited by God of the New World Light Yagami there on the left and that of Genking, the fashionista gentleman in the right-hand picture?

The Hindustan Times can.  Moreover, it's citing the like of Light Yagami as the reason why current fashions for men in India are becoming ever more 'girly', or at least 'genderless'.

In an article entitled This Japanese guy and more are adopting women’s style because why not? (March 14th 2016), it was pointed out that determinedly unisex clothing is not a new thing in Asia.  Items like the ubiquitous sarong can adorn the hips of anyone without eliciting passing comment in regard to the wearer's chromosomes and anatomy.

Meanwhile ladies have been happily blurring the previous gender fashion divide for ages, as trousers become reasonable and respectable female attire.  Once such outfits were the sole preserve of men.  So why shouldn't the shift in style go the other way too?

To the Hindustan Times writer, Japanese cultural influence has helped oil the path towards increasingly androgynous wardrobe options for Indian men.  It's all come on the back of the onset of anime, which has only recently exploded as a popular entertainment genre across the nation.

Of them all, Death Note is the biggest, leading the way with the vision of Light Yagami one of the more readily recognizable Japanese anime characters.  His is the new stylish look and male fans throughout India are turning to cosmetics to ape that wide-eyed, 'feminized' look with the tussled hair.  Add into the mix the aspect of KPop idols, whose music has leap-frogged into the same arena from the rearguard of Japanese manga and anime.   No-one questions the masculinity of Korean men singing pop anthems with boyishly styled physiques and hair and make-up perfectly fixed.  A fact not missed by those viewing them openly, perhaps for the first time, as something new within Indian mainstream culture.

So is 'feminine' the new 'masculine' amidst the Indian fashion conscious?  And is Kira really to be credited with its cosmetic start?

That's where the Hindustan Times writer doesn't really make the case, continuing instead into the example of Genking - Instagram self-made star and model, now opening at the Tokyo Girls Collection catwalk - whose name on the birth certificate is Genki Tanaka.  With his flowing bleached blond locks and carefully articulated make-up, he appears more traditionally female than, well, probably half of the women reading on right now.  Yet Genking is known primarily for his fierce advocacy of 'genderless' fashions.  Wearing what pleases you, not what the label - seen or unseen - dictates is appropriate for each sex to don.

It's all very interesting, though the issues raised seem more akin to LGBT and transgender debates than touching anywhere near Death Note and Light Yagami.  Genking certainly didn't mention Kira as a guiding force in his decision to 'stop pretending' at the age of twenty.  Light Yagami didn't grow those lovely, flowing locks.

In fact, maybe I misread it, but the two hardly seem linked at all.  Thoughts?
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On This Day in Death Note: April 1st

1/4/2016

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Death Note Korean voice actor Touta Matsuda Gyeng-su Hyeon
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Viz Media Talks Death Note Omega Blu-Ray Edition at Chicago Con C2E2 2016

21/3/2016

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Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo has just finished over in the Windy City.  It ran from March 18th-20th and Techaeris's Kyle Funk was there to catch what Viz Media had in store for fans of Death Note.

Turns out there's not much that we didn't already know or could guess.

In his piece VizMedia At C2E2 2016 #C2E22016, Funk confirmed that no add on to the Death Note manga is planned now or in the future.  That should answer the regular search terms leading people to this site, asking 'when will there be a new Death Note manga?' or 'is there a sequel to Death Note?'  Nope.  Sorry.

Mostly it seemed that Viz were in Chicago bigging up the Blu-Ray Death Note Omega Edition, which was recently released.  They showed a trailer demonstrating the difference in quality between the old bog standard anime and Blu-Ray.  Which is also on their YouTube Channel, so you may see it too, alongside an extended marketing clip unboxing the Death Note Blu-Ray Omega Edition, also by Viz Media.

Death Note Omega Edition Blu-Ray Official Trailer

Unboxing Death Note Complete Series Omega Edition Blu-Ray (Viz Media)

Blu-Ray Death Note Omega Edition

For those tl;dw people: it's the entire Death Note anime in high definition Blu-Ray, all 37 episodes plus both Relights.

The Relight films have commentaries from the makers, explaining what decisions and processes had to be completed to compress the whole story into two shorter movies.

There's also a booklet, which looks like a Death Note, containing the pilot manga one-shot story featuring Taro Kigami.  The content is pretty much copied from How to Read, but the cover looks fabulous.

Talking about covers, the box containing the Blu-Ray Death Note anime discs itself has a reversible cover. You can opt for Misa adorning your collection instead of Light and L.

Those are the highlights.

Death Note Omega Edition on Blu-Ray was released on March 1st 2016. 

There's more about it in our anime and movie gift section.

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On This Day in Death Note: March 20th

20/3/2016

1 Comment

 
March 20th 1975: Manuel Campuzano Death Note Voice Actor Mexican Light Yagami born
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