There's less than 24 hours left! Have you got your questions in yet for our three Kira voice actors? Brad Swaile, Sergio Zamora and Kim Hasper are waiting to receive them, so get in quick! Deadline is midnight today, though that's been set right over on the Pacific coast timeline, so Europeans and those over in the East, you have slightly extra time. Use it wisely. Once the countdown clock - on the right hand sidebar - hits zero, the question forms will close. The Spanish and German translators will rush into action; and three Death Note anime seiyuu will hear a ping from their inbox. Just eighteen hours and 42 mins remaining, at the time of writing. To read profiles on each Light Yagami anime voice actor and find the form to ask a question (or ten), check out the links below. Every question form is identical, and posts to the same place. It's just that the one on Kim's page has been translated into German; on Sergio's, the form is in Spanish; and on Brad's, it's in English. Just like the Death Note dubs that each man did. So go ask Kira! 18 hours and 38 mins now...
NB You can ask questions of any Light Yagami seiyuu from any of the forms, regardless of whose profile or language the form was in. Questions in English, German or Spanish are being translated appropriately for each actor on your behalf.
Some immortal words are recited in a certain way, because that's how we first heard them spoken. Light Yagami brought to life through Takeshi Obata's artwork and dialogue in our own language dragging us through the speakers into this strange, new world. But somebody had to speak those words for the first time, to make that anime meaningful to us. Unless it was Miyano Mamoru interpreting cold, blank words in a manga, never officially before made audible, then it was an actor dubbing over the top. Telling us a story in our own language; making it magical; making it real. Death Note News wanted to arrange something special to mark our inaugural community Month of... event. We bought you three of the men who wove that spell and who wore for us the voice of Light Yagami. We will be interviewing Kira. Not once, not twice, but three times. We're not talking the team of researchers and writers here taking off with some questions on your behalf. By 'we', that's you too. This is a whole fandom event and we managed something extra special for all at our Month of... launch with Light Yagami. Just as planned. What Will YOU Ask Light Yagami Voice Actors During Death Note Month of Kira? A trio of Raito actors are waiting to take questions submitted by readers here at Death Note News. From now until February 23rd 2016, you may mail in all your burning queries via our bespoke contact forms.
Huge thanks and a hearty welcome to these kind gentlemen. Three Kira actors, who will be receiving the amassed collection of all your queries, then answering them - within reason - to form three separate interviews. To be published here at a later date. Though sooner rather than later.* Kim Hasper, Brad Swaile and Sergio Zamora are here to talk about their time playing Light Yagami in the Death Note anime. They are anticipating questions about that role; their impressions of Kira, and all else directly related to Death Note Month of Light Yagami, as their contribution to our event. Additionally, we've taken the liberty of dubbing - into three different tongues - the form whereby you ask them questions. See the buttons above. It doesn't matter one which you use. Linguistics aside, they are identical and land in the same inbox. You merely get the convenience of choosing between English, German and Spanish. Moreover we prepared mini-profiles on all three Kira voice actors, attaching video clips to remind you of their great work in the role of Light Yagami. Then tagged each page with that question form, dubbed into each actor's own language. Discover the Kira of other nations; explore their profiles; ask your question of any or all, in whichever of the three linguals best suits, from whatever form is closest at the time. But first, if you could just fill in your name in the blank spaces provided upon each acting Light Yagami's page... I mean, what could possibly go wrong... [* We do ask you to bear with us in patience. These questions have to be collated, sent to the relevant actor, answered, then formatted as interviews. A fair portion also will have to pass through the eager, willing, but likely to be inundated desks of our translators. On that note, huge thanks are due to Silvia Alvarez, Madelyn Banen, Robin Bax, Jo Coburn and Lua Cruz for volunteering to undertake all the switching between languages due to occur; to Ember Hilvers and Rene Hardigree for copywriting/researching/coding; and Nia for the banner above.] Things to Note When Dealing with Kira Actors and Questions Notes written on a Light Yagami actor's page are unlikely to get you killed. Because he's an actor, not really Kira, even if he does sound like him. But being actors, unwise words aired publicly could get them sacked. Contractual obligations; clauses; NDA; things like that - too boring to contemplate until they're the bit that's used to sue you - bind the lives of actors around every role they play. It might mean that certain questions regretfully cannot be answered, thus will be quietly omitted from their response. Plus I've told them all to ignore any that are obviously trolling and/or bringing to mind scenes - probably involving L - that will never ever be unseen. This is a family friendly website. Don't hand me your plot bunnies on a plate, because I'll only nick them for my own fan-fiction. Now Kim, Brad and Sergio are here to talk about Kira - go ask them questions!
Death Note's Compelling Cat and Mouse Dynamic Once again I go back to the wise and venerable Ohba in search of answers and once again he disappoints. In an interview he was asked, “Did L have any friends?” We are told, “No. When he told Light that Light was his first friend, it was a lie. L could never have a friend, as he found humans to be a very cunning species.” I find this a very disappointing answer, as it removes the ambiguity from the relationship that makes it so compelling. As humans, we find uncertainty far more interesting than simply being told the answer. It’s why the ending of Inception - where we don’t know if the protagonist is in a dream world or not - is so frequently discussed. We don’t like being told all the answers. Characters like Hamlet stay with us because we don’t know whether or not he’s mad; that’s what makes him interesting. It allows us to continue engaging with our favourite series after we’ve watched them. The series that captures this best is the original Death Note manga and anime. Sometimes I wonder if Ohba (like George Lucas) actually understands what made his series so brilliant. I also wonder if this is what makes the Yotsuba slightly less popular than earlier parts of the series - because it removed the cat and mouse aspect of their relationship. With Light no longer an evil monster, we’re deprived of seeing him monologue about how he’s going to become 'God of the New World', as well as amazing scenes like the death of Lind. L Tailor. I’m of the opinion that the author can’t determine every reading of their work. They can give their interpretation, but it’s not the only one that’s valid. A work connects and engages with its reader on an individual level, and everyone takes something different away from it. With that in mind I want to give a brief overview of how I interpret their relationship. I reject the homosexual readings of the series. This isn’t because it bothers me in anyway (one of my favourite TV shows is Hannibal, which has extremely obvious homoerotic undertones) but simply because I view Light as asexual. To me, Light represents a single minded determination towards one goal. That’s not to say there isn’t some platonic admiration in their relationship, probably even a perverse friendship. How did Light Yagami Regard his Relationship with L? Light clearly has some respect for L. He’s actually angry when he sees Near wearing his mask, “You are far inferior to L. You have no right to be wearing a mask of L”. The last thing Light sees in the anime is L standing over him, a powerful physical representation of the influence L has over Light. Light is shown throughout the series to be someone who had spent a solitary seventeen years of life. He seems detached from his friends and never once in the series shows interest in someone outside his family, unless it benefits his goals (such as in the instances of Misa and Takeda) with one exception - L. Light is someone who has been deprived of an intellectual equal his entire life. The existence of L, someone who can keep up with him would be extremely significant to him; some form of validation that he isn’t alone. On a purely mental level Light has probably understood that there are people as smart as him out there, but I doubt he truly comprehended it before he met L. To Light, I think he viewed L as the perfect obstacle towards his ascension to 'God of the New World'. Light wanted a challenge, something to make his success more satisfying. L provided that. How did L View Light Yagami in Death Note? Did L view Light as a friend? It’s hard to say. It’s probably wise to differentiate between the manga and anime at this point. In the anime it seems to imply some form of affection towards Light, mostly during the scene where L washes Light’s feet, a fairly homoerotic action. Outside of that? Well, L is a liar and it seems probable that his comments about being Light’s 'friend' were designed to throw him off guard. But that doesn’t preclude there being some truth in them as well. A lot of what I have said about Light probably applies to L. This was undoubtedly L’s toughest case, he did lose after all. Like Light, he probably had met few people as intelligent as himself, and never interacted with them on the level he interacted with Light (Near never spoke personally to L). One of the strongest arguments in favour of their platonic (or romantic) attraction is that other versions of the story portray as it as such. In the drama they have a heart to heart where they basically scream their love for one another (whilst trying to murder each other no less). In the musical there is a similar ending I hear (though it’s more from L than Light). * Disclaimer: No respected psychiatrist or psychologist has used the term sociopath or psychopath in many years. I just like it.
There's good taste on show in Nebraska, as students are urged to watch Death Note on Netflix. Writing for The Daily Nebraskan - independent student paper for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln - journalist Wade Ronspies wrote that the Death Note anime is 'truly one of the most tense and harrowing offerings on Netflix'. This is after he dismissed anime's apparent local reputation as being just 'for nerds'. It's a fair cop this end, but is that a deserved statement throughout? And if so, do we think that's necessarily a bad thing? Nerd and proud! Assuming nerd means the same in dreary, old Blighty, as it does in the windswept plains of the USA's Nebraska. What does nerd mean to you? And does enjoying anime, and by extension Death Note, fit into that category? And more to the point, why do labels apply to our own persona based solely on what we watch, read, listen to or otherwise enjoy? And should we take notice of them, let alone take care to tag upon ourselves only those labels incurring an identification with which we might live? The sociologist in me is fighting at the bit to answer, but I'd be more interested in what you'd have to say. Ronspies finished with extolling the virtues of new experience for his student readership, 'It may be different from what you normally watch, and that’s exactly why you owe it to yourself to watch “Death Note.”'
Read more at Netflix Pick of the Week: 'Death Note' by Wade Ronspies (The Daily Nebraskan, November 18th 2015) and catch the anime Death Note at Netflix, or indeed check out our Death Note anime selection right here at Death Note News. Looking to debate Death Note with fellow political scientists and sociologists? If you're a student or associate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, you can do just that with an event scheduled for later this month. Death Note is the subject of the first in a month long analysis of anime at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Members of the prestigious university's Political and Social Science Department (Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales) will be meeting to debate aspects of the show.
Their Death Note analysis and debate event will be held on November 17th 2015, at 1pm, in the Lucio Mendieta y Núñez Room, at UNAM's campus in Mexico City. It's unclear whether members of the public are also free to attend. If you wish to participate, then contacting the faculty itself may be the way forward. If you find out - on behalf of everybody else - please do report back and we'll update this accordingly. Death Note actress Aya Hirano has left hospital after a successful operation to remove her tonsils. This following a year in which engagements have been missed due to frequent hospital stays due to chronic tonsillitis, including a recent live performance of the anime White Album. Best known to fans here as the voice of Misa Amane in the Japanese Death Note anime, Aya Hirano worried in her blog that illness and/or the procedure might irrevocably damage her voice. Later she reassured readers that removing her troublesome tonsils can only improve it. She seems now to be home and well, ready to pick up her career, starting with another live appearance at the Dai AQUAPLUS Matsuri event, on November 28th 2015, at Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan. A trio of Death Note News columnists are about to come on board, with the first being posted later on today. Yep, that's right. You wait two years for one, and three of them turn up at once! It's all very exciting. So who have we got for you? Nathaniel Overthinks Death Note The first monthly column will be penned by New Zealander Nathaniel Brown - a man who subscribes to several Schools of Thought. At least when he's applying them to Death Note. A thinker and a philosopher, Nathaniel will be leading us through some of the great theories and worldly perspectives across the range of human experience. But doing it all through the lens of Death Note characters, plot-lines and whatever else from manga, anime or live action might illuminate the angle taken. It might be Aristotle, Descartes, Confucius or whomever, depending upon the month, but what I can guarantee is that it'll be enjoyable. No Philosophy degree needed to read and contribute to the debate. Just a willingness to join with Nathaniel as he over thinks Death Note, all in the name of fun. Look for his inaugural column in an hour or two from now. Death Note Musical References with Lucas King No idea if that's what the column will ultimately be called, as this welcome to the team is very fresh, and we're yet to fine tune the details. Yet Lucas King himself is no stranger to Death Note News. He's guest blogged before and orchestrated for himself an instant fan-base, when he composed those missing Death Note themes for Matt. Lucas will be taking a wider view of the musical array in Death Note tunes - from soundtracks to tributes, across the spectrum of canon, fanon and all the rest. Probably. Like I said, it's early days yet and anything still is possible. An original composer of Death Note music himself - albeit from the fandom community - Lucas King's occasional column for Death Note News promises to be insightful, expert and downright entertaining. Find it in the future and enjoy. Death Note Tarot Tales with Tarot Mikami Talking about looking to the future, do you recall that moment in the Death Note anime when Near laid out his tarot deck and turned them over to shocking symbolism? There was Death staring straight back at us. Chilling in any context but one which habitually has a Shinigami prancing about in full view upon our screens. Also utterly erroneous in its reading, according to long-time connoisseur of these cards and Death Note fan, Tarot Mikami. Loving the play on words in that pseudonym there! 'Probably monthly', her Death Note News column will explore the genre and story through the literary device of the Fool's Journey. Along the way, you'll learn how to read tarot cards, not only with reference to Death Note - though that's how we'll come to understand it - but using any deck you care to handle. We'll also find out why Near's tarot scene was all about the imagery and nothing to do with the reading (well, who would have thought...?). Sneaky boy. Death Note Tarot Tales with Tarot Mikami will appear anon, almost certainly within the next couple of weeks. Another fabulous new insight into our favourite manga universe. Death Note anime on IMDb (Screenshot October 16th 2015) The Internet Movie Database is 25 years old and to celebrate it's released a list of the top ranked television shows for each year during that time. Death Note made the grade. The anime was the best TV show for 2006, according to IMDb, in its Top 25 TV Shows From the Last 25 Years listing based upon all-time user ratings averages. Death Note achieved an average rating of 9.0/10 with 88,175 viewers voting. For the record, the anime is also currently ranked at number 33 for the best overall television shows. That covers all time without being restricted by years - or what else was aired during that same year. Here is the full run down for IMDb's best shows on TV by year:
Any surprises there? Any that you watched, loved, hated or missed? I'm personally thrilled to spot Father Ted on there - another big favourite show of mine - plus happy to see such a strong anime presence alongside Death Note. I also really enjoyed Coupling at the time, but I'm surprised to learn it was the biggest show of that year. Follow more of the IMDb 25th anniversary lists, events and releases on its bespoke web pages for the same. Not Seen Death Note Anime Yet?
Loving the energy of this! Japanese rock band Maximum the Hormone know how to get a crowd head-banging.
By which I mean I just nearly brained myself on the desk, rocking away to the live version of Death Note theme song What's Up, People? That old familiar tune opened their set at Tokyo's Metropolitan Rock (aka MetRock), in the Windmill Field on May 24th 2015. |
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