By Emily Reuben Netflix’s new Death Note movie has been receiving poor reviews (from top critics and Byte staff ) and a lot of negative feedback on social media; however it is unlikely that many are surprised at the negative reception. Fans of anime are used to live-action flops by now. With horrendous anime adaptions like the 2015 Attack on Titan movie in Japan and awful American examples like 2009’s Dragon Ball Evolution, the transition from an animated twenty minute episode to feature length live-action film has proven time and time again to result in failure. But why? Japanese anime adaptions can be just as subpar (i.e. Attack on Titan) as American versions, but why do American film adaptations of anime series tend to be spectacularly bad? Case in point, Death Note. That’s right, Adam Wingard’s Death Note. I will understand if you leave the page now. Based on the trailer alone, I think it is apparent that this version of Death Note is vastly different from the original featuring a different tone, character portrayal, and environment. So with the differences between Death Note and the anime series in mind, at what point do the Japanese customs, humor, ideologies, and culture found in anime become lost in translation when remaking a work for an American audience? Furthermore, can the cultural norms woven into Japanese narratives be effectively recrafted and reframed for western viewers? Furthermore, what about changes in filmmaking such as cinematography, music choice, and casting? Five films have been created in Japan that are based on the original manga and subsequent anime series that have been met with either positive or mixed reviews whereas the Netflix version has been received with overwhelmingly negative reviews. What makes these Japanese films less problematic than the American film?

How to adapt anime

Detective Conan Pokémon Death Note Naruto Attack on Titan Tokyo Ghoul Monster Fruits Basket Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga Death Note

Turner vs Yagami; West vs East

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Let's talk about whitewashing

Death Note Japanese response to Scarlett Johansson’s character in Ghost in the Shell seemed relatively positive

“You know, there was a great Youtube video where someone asked when Scar Jo was announced...a bunch of people in Japan if they cared about it, and they don’t because Asian representation is not a problem in Japanese films because they’re predominately cast with Japanese people. I think whitewashing is particular to America in a lot of ways where the Asian American experience is not represented in any major media...so it’s always funny where they try and get like ‘oh the real Asians over there have given us their blessing’. And that’s an extremely disingenuous and, at worst, insidious way of diminishing charges of whitewashing.”

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