★★★★ REVIEW: Death Note: the musical in concert | London Palladium, West End 2023
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- Опубликовано: 8 июл 2024
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OHMYGOD HEY!
Earlier this week I was invited to see DEATH NOTE the musical in concert at the London Palladium in the West End.
This sold out production starred Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Dean John Wilson, Frances Mayli McCann, Adam Pascal, Aimie Atkinson, and more.
Check out today's brand new review for my thoughts on this hugely anticipated musical...
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00:00 | introduction
02:14 | what is Death Note about?
05:22 | does it work as a musical?
14:58 | how was this concert?
21:21 | how were the performances?
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#musical #deathnote #theatre 
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Believe me, us fans of Death Note are well aware of how poorly ALL female characters are constructed and developed 😔
The musical actually improved on it from the source material, but even then they're still not great.
“Naomi, you used to be a top rate FBI agent… but now you’re my fiancée”
YESSS I heard that piint im like yuup! Accurate to the manga and everything else 🥲 sad
11:28 I think that Ryuk being completely neutral IS the point of his character. He truly does not care whether Light wins or loses, he just wants entertainment.
Yes, which is why I'm not really happy with the ALternate ending they gave the show. I don't think Ryuk would ever ctuylly _kill_ Light before he died by himself, because what would be the point? In the show he implies that without L as a counterpoint, Light will be boring, but from the show we know that that is blatantly not true. I get that they needed an end here, but this just... doesn't feel right
I suppose if we go from the idea that once Light frames L as Kira he won't be using the death note except for very sparingly if at all. So to leave the book with Light wouldn't be entertaining at all anymore. So Ryuk could just take the note back, but maybe killing him is a bit of petty vengeance for Light ending the fun.
Ryuk does mention that when it came time for Light to die that he would be the one to write his name in his death note.
For your comment about “not enough deaths”, I’m not fully sure if it was like this in the English production but in the Japanese version, during Hurricane, they had a projection where names kept getting written on the background. That’s how it’d handled and I like that, it gives weight without crowding the stage.
From what I understand this was only a concert, yet still had great set design, costumes, lighting, choreography, etc- just no moving stages or screens like Broadway or the Japanese version. If it were to rise in popularity, I could see them getting a screen and including the Death Note writing
@@Phasmania I know, I just brought it up as an example of how they've done in the scene in previous productions
The reason why Misa's new single song is so clever to us DN fans is that in the manga and anime, this is a whole thing. Instead of a popstar she's a model and her sending anonymous video tapes with messages to Kira to a TV station is quite a large part of the story, cleverly condensed into one song.
The sad thing about the female characters in this show is that I actually found that the musical does a much better job than the anime regardless of if it's well written overall. The fact that Misa is being tortured is sort of just...glossed over in the show? They don't put that much weight into it. Borrowed Time was a great way to add a little extra characterization to Misa--I think in the musical there is this really twisted noble quality to Misa's character in that song with her unwillingness to betray Light.
Yeah, with the context of the source material I was mostly just extremely impressed that they managed to develop the female characters better in a fraction of the time. The musical emphasizes Misa's power as a strategist who makes a genuine dent in Light's plans and who leaves a huge emotional impact on Rem (that contrasts to Light's nonexistent impact on an indifferent Ryuk), but, unfortunately, the story's still chained to a manga that generally dismisses her as a tool or pawn for the male characters to play with.
Absolutely right. Misa’s character is so much better written in than musical than the anime. Borrowed time is one of my favorite songs in the show, it really acknowledges what she’s willing to do for Kira and Light in a way that was very understated in the anime.
Also, in the original story Light is not subtle at all, he's suspicious as hell. I think the advantage of the manga is you keep wondering if he's really being that obvious or if that's just his inner self.
As for his likeability, he is supposed to become unlikeable as the story progresses and his morality becomes more and more twisted. In the beginning he's supposed to be charming and idealistic despite of his very black-and-white view of the world, but the more he uses the notebook, the more he becomes corrupt
As an American, I would simply KILL, or use a Death Note, for the opportunity to see this production. I’ve been following it as a concept album to a Japanese production to a Korean production to a (weirdly enough) Russian production, and now to an English production, and I’m just hoping the success of it in the West End could bring it to the US!
This^
Although I can't find any Russian clips anywhere.
@@leadingblind1629if you look up “Death Note musical Russian” you can hear the live Russian renditions of the songs.
@@leadingblind1629 you can find them by keywords "тетрадь смерти мюзикл". here's a playlist with most (or maybe all) songs/concerts: ruclips.net/video/FTfTPlLneEs/видео.html
You guys are lucky enough to get most of the musicals anyway so I'm sure it won't be long. Still waiting on Beetlejuice coming to the UK after they cancelled it for covid reasons in 2020 :(
PLEASE come to the US! I was lucky enough to be able to fly all the way from California to London to see this musical. I’ve been obsessed with it since I discovered it on RUclips a few years ago, and when I heard it was playing for just a weekend I had to see it. So glad I did I loved it! And I really hope it gets big enough to come to the US, I want to see it again so bad!
I have always thought it was so interesting that Misa, for all her DEEPLY annoying faults, clearly posessed qualities that greatly endeared her to just about everyone who knew her, up to and including two different gods of death trading their very existance for hers (Light was such a next level sociopath that he was incapable of seeing that in her).
You're competely correct that Death Notes female characters are treated terribly, thats been pretty accepted for a long time in the fandom. But the shadows of character potential for Misa have always been there in the source material, they were just never explored.
I watched the 2023 Korean Death Note production with Hong Kwang-ho as Light and Kim Seung-cheol as L and it was absolutely fantastic! The tennis match in “Playing His Game” was definitely the highlight, the lighting and projections elevated everything and the athleticism on display was nothing short of impressive. If you like “Hurricane,” I recommend that you listen to the 17M views cover by Hong Kwang-Ho, who originated Light’s role in Korea and is one of the best in the (stacked!) Korean musical theater industry :D In general I find their productions criminally underrated, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Korean Chicago’s version of “We Both Reached for the Gun”!
And listen to Junsu Kim singing The Game Begins
Him and Junsu are my favorite. I wish I could see the 2023 version, but I did enjoy the original Korean one when it was on RUclips. Hong Kwang-Ho’s voice literally made me say wow out loud when he was in that Miss Saigon 25th anniversary concert
I saw the 2023 production in Seoul. It was breathtaking. Definitely agree, the tennis match is amazing. Go EunSeong & Kim Junsu were so good.
We went as my daughter is a huge Death Note fan. I'm a musical fan.
We saw the Monday night performance in London. I am seriously obsessed with this show now. Waiting for a full production and run in London.
Hong Kwang-Ho`s Hurrican is extraordinary. His transformation during the song already gives a good clue as to what will come later.
Commenting as someone who has been a fan of Death Note for about 15 years and saw the Tuesday matinee performance at the Palladium. Seeing this show was a dream come true for me, as I never thought it would ever be performed in this country. I absolutely loved the show, the soundtrack is incredible, and I’m really glad that newcomers to Death Note through the musical are loving characters like Ryuk and L too - they really stole the show! Pascal and John-Wilson were fantastic!
I completely agree with you that there is maybe just too much complex and convoluted plot that is trying to be fit in. I know they did streamline as much as they could and as best they could, but honestly I do feel that so much of the plot and the payoff of certain events are lost. E.g, in the manga/anime the whole bit where Light is finding out the identities of and eliminating the FBI agents is so interesting and suspenseful and honestly iconic, but in the musical it feels like it happens so quickly and with much less impact. Ultimately, while I loved it, I don’t really think a musical adaptation is the best format of telling the story, but again it does the best it can and achieves what it can really well!
Also, your point about the female characters being not well written is super valid! Death Note fans have been saying this for years and criticising the misogyny and how the female characters are just not given as much depth or justice as the male characters at all in the manga and anime.
And as you have said… why did they even call it a concert??? hahaha
I’m hoping it does get a West End run and I’d be looking forward to seeing what changes they make, if any.
As someone who has followed that show for years and also was a lover of the anime concerning the female characters: I think the show does a great job at making the female characters so much more interesting and important than they are in the anime. In the anime Misa really is just completely used by Light and we don't really know anything about her and her and Rem really are not there at all. In the musical they actually become their own characters and much more fleshed out. And for how complex the plot is I also in general applaud Ivan Mitchell for this book because he managed so much better than any other death note adaptation with this length to actually fit the very complex concepts of the original source material into the show.
Mickey Jo: these are not well written female characters
Every death note fan: we know
(Would still die for Rem tho)
10:31 I think that Light but doing a lot of self reflecting IS the point. He never thinks he’s in the wrong, he believes that everything that he is doing is justified.
Thank you for your review as someone who isn't as familiar with Death Note. Just to comment on a few things. To be fair to the musical version of Misa, the musical actually made me care for her more than the anime. As much as I wanted to like her she annoyed me the entire time. While in the musical I actually cared about her feelings especially when she was being tortured. So I would personally say that's an improvement on how she was written in the anime wherein she doesn't seem to understand that Light doesn't return her feelings even after he told her and how he treats her. The whole point is that Light is manipulative and would use anyone to get what he wants.
Also as someone has already pointed out - in the Japanese production (which is available here on youtube since it is a pro-shot with eng subtitles), from some of the audio I've been hearing, they trimmed down the talking scenes that are present in the Japanese production. I think this is why it feels rushed and why they put "Concert" since the main focus was on the songs (especially the ones that didn't have an official English translation). Hopefully they will put in more of the dialogue scenes in the Lyric theater run.
I'm so glad to hear your review of this show!! As both a huge fan of Death Note and musical theatre, it's been number one on my bucket list forever to see this, and being gifted opening night tickets was a dream come true!
I really appreciate seeing someone unfamiliar with the source material talk about the story critically. Unfortunately the misogyny in death note is very apparent in the manga/anime too. I love the story, but Misa and Rem had so much more potential. I was pleseantly surprised to see Lights sister playing a much bigger role than she has before though.
During opening night, like you said, there were some sound issues. Mostly just at the begining of sentences and I'm honestly suprised it didn't happen more. Surprisingly no issues during the tennis scene though! They had that spot on and it was very exciting!
Obviously the story was very condensed down, so Lights personality change feels very jarring imo! I wish it was more gradual but I understand the limitations make that hard! He's much more likable in the begining but on stage I disliked him straight away. Not sure if that's just my interpretation though
Overall, I loved this show. Ryuk and Rem were my personal high lights. So cool how they were portrayed! Misa was so fun and Mr Yagami was fantastic! I'm SO excited to see what happens with this production. After seeing my neighbour totoro and the upcoming spirited away production, I really hope there's a boom in anime/manga to stage adaptations! They work so well and are so much fun!
I've been listening to the 2015 concept album staring Jeremy Jordan since 2018. It's an unofficial concept album that sneaked its way onto RUclips through one of Wildhorn's associates but never officially released. I've downloaded it from RUclips and burned a couple CD's. And I've been a fan of the musical BEFORE RUclips influencers were reacting to the Kim Junsu singing it from the original Korean cast.
I don't know when Junsu recorded Hurricane or when RUclips reactors started to react to it. But I knew of the English Jeremy Jordan one before all these reactors.
Am I a Death Note Manga fan? Nope. I'm not an animé fan, although i do like a few animés. I'm a Wildhorn fan, and I've always wanted Wildhorn to be successful ever since Broadway critics started to bash him with the fall of Dracula -- the musical. And for almost 2 decades, Wildhorn has been working on Asian musicals, even a European musical called Artus-Excalibur, which is about King Arthur, but not in ENGLISH. It's been in St Galen Switzerland and Korea, but not England nor The United States.
Us Wildhorn fans have been left hungry waiting for the day Wildhorn will write his masterpiece for the 21st century. Dracula -- Broadway hated it. Germany loved it. The Civil War-- short lived. Bonnie and Clyde -- it did nur come out with a bang.
And I really want Death Note to become I huge. I have a feeling Broadway critics will hate it because they just hate him period. But even if that happens, I hope it proves to the world that shows are run by the fans, not the critics. Broadway critics trashed K-pop before it could even breathe. And I wush critics jobs were just not as important wgen it comes to a shows success-- except for you. You are my favorite critic, and I wish you worked for the New York Times and not Jesse Green.
I honestly believe that b&c failed because a lot of Americans hate the subjects. They are polarizing figures still, and the book wasn't a hit piece and tried to humanize them. I found some of the songs to be brilliant.
I'm so excited to see a review by you for Death Note, especially from someone who wasn't too familiar with the original source! I was a fan of the concept album and watched the Japanese production online, so I was thrilled about it becoming real. I was there on the 1st performance and you heard right, there were issues with audio at times, to be expected but glad to hear things were better during the 2nd day. I was also so thrilled to find out that it wasn't really a concert after all, this was way more than what I had hoped for! When I saw the set and especially when Ryuk and Rem showed up, then it all clicked that we were really in for something special. "Playing his game" is my absolute favourite song too! In terms of Light being less of a likable character - you got that right in the end saying that maybe that's the point, I read the manga/watched the anime and always loved that the story was written in such a masterful way that your main character ended up being so changed by the Death Note and essentially the villain of the story. I wouldn't call L a hero in this case either, as they're both so invested in this game that they don't care who ends up getting caught in it or suffers, as their ends justify their means (also both their egos are HUGE). And yes, hoping to see a future for this show here, especially with Heathers gone, as you mentioned in your recent video about it, this would be a good replacement for a younger, more word of a mouth audience!
i know its not the main theme of the video, but it was so nice to hear someone talk about jekyll and hyde again. i miss it
I'm gutted I couldn't afford to come and see it I've been obsessed with this show since hearing the concept album, it's got such promise with some work given to it. It's a very interesting adaptation of the best bits of the story with a really interesting take on Light. Hopefully I can see the next small run if not that it is given a proper production
Its sad that even on a different medium the female characters still shows as poorly written. It has been a glaring issue and one of reason why the latter half of the story plummeted.
I watched the anime after seeing the musical first. Having only just completed the anime I’ll have to say, I’m now actually impressed by how the musical was able to improve the female characters. The view on women in the anime was so appalling I couldn’t believe it was only produced less than 20 years ago. The anime didn’t give the musical a lot of female characters to work with to begin with, then they had to cut out more than half the plot to be able to squeeze the whole story into less than 2 hours which resulted in losing more female characters. But over all I didn’t feel uncomfortable with any of the female characters in the musical, while the anime gave me regular cringes.
Fan of both things checking in! You've really hit the nail on the head with all the great things about the Death Note musical and the things that could be better. The tennis match is absolutely the highlight, there's a Lot of plot to get through even with the streamlining, L is the fan-favorite for a reason (my favorite character since I was a kid), there's a bit of repetitiveness, the female characters are *painfully* 2003... good points and bad but I still love it a lot. Light vs L is absolutely the thing that makes Death Note what it is, so I'm glad that came through so clearly! Wish I could have seen this version!
PANDA NICE TO SEE YOU HERE! but yeah I agree with you misa and rem are very much a product of their their time . I also think that Light becoming unlikable is pretty normal?
@@jessawall3510 lol hi
and yeah Light is like the definition of a villain protagonist. Compelling, but awful.
@@TheLaughingPanda he’s the type of protagonist that you watch bc you want to see him and his carefully crafted house of cards go down, not because you’re rooting for him. In that way we’re kinda like ryuk, just there for entertainment.
Lemme tell you, the femle characters were already outdated in 2003. It's been a critique from the very start.
I just started the video. I have no idea what you’re going to say. I have been a huge fan of this musical three years. I’m so glad that there is finally even a concert version of this in English.
omg! They finally got an English run! I've listened to the 2015 concept album, and seen the Japanese bootleg. This remains my favourite Death Note adaption.
I saw Adam as Shakespeare on tour in Somethings Rotten and he was funny and wonderful. So much so that I didn't even realize it was him at first.
We double billed Death Note with the Love Never dies concert for maximum "Gothic infused musicals glorifying murderers with toxic romances" - I have to say, these musical 'concerts' are really upping their game in recent years.
I really loved the musical, managed to condense the story very well (mostly by cutting half of it out) and the music was brilliant. Seeing Adam Pascal in full stage chewing mode was definitely one for the musical theatre bucket list and I am definitely NOT thinking about making Aimei Atkinson's coat...
One of my favourite moments though was at the very end after the curtain call - you could see the cast through the gaps in the set just totally rocking out to the playout music. You could really tell they'd had a whale of a time on the show, and I always like to see that.
I did miss the potato chip scene though.
The moment I saw they were doing this in English got me stupidly excited. I know it had a limited run in Japan and Korea, and I just chalked it up to being one of those Anime to Stage musicals that never performs outside of the Far East. The fact that this, Totoro and soon Spirited Away are having premiers in the Western World is getting me pumped.
I'm a very casual fan (I'm actually fully watching the anime for the first time currently because of this production) & watched one of the full Japanese productions w/ subs & along with the concept recording (the only time before this we've heard the songs in English go listen to Jeremy Jordan as Light cause WOW) LOVE this musical. It's really got the pieces to be enjoyable even to those who don't know the source & that's important when selling it for future productions. At the bare minimum the show deserves an actual English cast recording but beyond that I feel may work better both there & here in the US as A TOUR! I really think bringing this to different cities for short runs is the way to go v trying to stick it on Broadway where IPs can be very hit & miss on how well they do.
Just got back from a showing! IT WAS AMAZING! The music was amazing! My favourite part is was the tennis part!
I am a fan of both musicals and Death Note. I've followed this show for years and I find ally saw it on the 2nd night.
Absolutely my favourite show I've ever seen. L is my favourite character and the actor in this version really played it well. Also Ryuk stole every scene.
I think this will become a Rocky Horror like show with the amount of cos players.
Coming to this video having just seen the first performance of the Lyric theatre run. I have been a huge fan of this musical since I found the concept album a few years ago. It was right at the point when I was just transitioning from being a big anime fan to getting into musicals and yeah this was a dream come true. When I heard they were doing a West end production I knew I HAD to go see it!!!
To me it was called a "concert" performance because it felt very much like they were just performing the songs and there wasn't much acting in-between, only adding in a few small scenes for additional context. It is an INCREDIBLY condensed version of the original story and it felt like they were doing a lot of shorthand versions of events that they could easily flesh out by adding more scenes.
Also your point about Misa's second song, I think in the concept album the idea was that that was her message to Kira? They changed "I know you're gonna love my brand new song" to "I know you're gonna love my diary." Which more closely aligns with what happens in the manga where she sends tapes to the news outlets. If the song is the message it makes sense that it's there but if she sends tapes then you're right it's a little bit useless.
Also first night at the Lyric we also had some audio issues :( idk if it was just because I was in the balcony but it felt like there were mixing issues in a lot of the songs where the backing vocals overpowered the main singers and you couldn't hear the lyrics. Also sadly some moments where mics weren't turned on in time to catch people's lines. In the tennis scene the tennis noises went over some of the lines so you couldn't hear what was being said. Also in the first half some of them were timed so strangely it didn't fit with the music at all? Idk if that was intentional but to me it felt like it interrupted the flow of the song.
Overall was very good though! I really enjoyed it and my friend who I went with also loved it! I hope it does get a full production! I would definitely love to see it again.
I saw night one and the main sound issue was not getting the mic up quickly enough, especially on supporting cast. There were times the vocals weren't clear so you weren't sure exactly what the lyrics where too but I've had that in full blown productions too.
I think it was right to be a staged concert as to me, the book feels incomplete. I feel they need a bit more dialogue between characters explaining details of what is happening. But there is very much an audience for this, the merch stand did a roaring trade and had bigger queues than any bar
And I can say I am a fan of all of the above, but my favorite is the musical. I really love the Japanese cast I've seen, and the South Korean version with Junsu Kim is something I would desperately like to see a live production of. I worship that man
Seen Junsu in Death Note last year and this year again. Which has raised my expectations for the English version of it to be really high. Hence the disappointment all throughout the show. Just a few moments have raised to the level of the Korean version. The English version is ok, don't get me wrong, but when you experienced excellence, it's difficult to accept ok.
@@niadeea jealous!!
Joaquin is a friend and was a theater colleague when he was just a kid here in the Philippines decades ago. Happy and proud for him to have a thriving career in the West End and be able to command these kind of lead roles.
Love your reviews and content, @MickeyJoTheatre
I went to the Tuesday Matinee and I have been both a fan of the anime and the musical, I have been obsessing over it for many a year.
I started to get emotional just from seeing the chair. I know I have a bias from being a fan but it adapted the story extremely well, provided excellent music (managed to meet the composer at the stage door and thank him in person) and I enjoyed it so much. It does have a better ending than the show (and is so much better than the Netflix version).
The costumes are interesting! In the japanese version they are much more abstract, here ryuk is basically a gijinka (human version of a non human character)
Personally, I would so use the Death Note to get the chance to see this production/the lyric production and am desperately hoping that the show Transfers to The Orher Palace for a full run and then have it go on both a US/UK tour so i can see it in person: I'm American and have been following the English version since i discovered the 2014 demo.
It cut me off so I had switch Accounts, I should also mention I would also hope this encourages other Anime Musicals to do English Musicals: come on, give me a Demon Slayer or Jujutsu Kaisen Musical! i love both Musicals and Anime and this my dream come true
@@ItadoriYugi1234 I would kill for an English version of the Haikyuu stages (also there are demon slayer and jujutsu kaisen musicals/stages but they’ve only been done in Japanese)
I saw the musical on the Monday night and it was so surreal to see and listen to the songs in real life I’d loved for so long. Frank wildhorn, the composer, was even sat in my row! I got to meet so many amazing people including the main cast and Ivan Menchell also! In terms of the performance I really loved Adam pascal’s Ryuk, he played the part perfectly.
I think if you’re not familiar with the original Death note some parts may be a little difficult to follow and I found the ending a bit interesting (but I understand they had to condense a whole manga down into a 2 hour performance)! The music fits scarily well and frank wildhorn did such an amazing job. I’ve followed everything death note for almost a decade now, and to see it finally premiere in the UK was so satisfying and brilliant.
Saw the Lyric production last week and I agree that the best vocal performances were Aimee as Ren and Dean as L, both really powered through their roles... Aimee has such a beautiful strong voice and looked amazing and Dean really owned the stage when he shared it with his cast members. For me Dean really brought the L character to life and was the triumph of the show. It left me wishing that there could have been some more interaction between Ren and L. I also was left wanting more of George as Ryuk, but that's no wonder as his funny and whimsical role was so much fun to watch. There were some sound issues with Joaquin as Light in that the quieter parts of his vocals could hardly be heard, but was fine in his louder parts. Having been a fan of Death Note for a long time I enjoyed the production immensely and I really hope in the future it gets a longer run in the West End.
I saddly didn't get to see this since I live in America, but I have seen some bootleg footage of opening night on tiktok and one important things I noticed is they aren't using the actual book (script), they are using a very quick cut down version
There aren't alot of videos but one was of Light and Misa's meeting to "Mortal and Fool's (Reprise)" and compared to the original Japanese proshot they rushed like hell through that scene, they interacted for like less than a minute before Rem started singing, while in the proshot they interacted for about 3 minutes and 20 seconds and got alot more character and chemistry out of the extra 2 minutes
So that is a big issue with the concert format in my opinion, other than that though it looked incredible and I really hope it gets producers interested in perhaps putting on a full production of the musical
funnily enough, Death Note got me into anime, anime fans got me into musicals and now the deathnote the musical that I've known about for a few years now is coming to my home country! EEE! now its how to explain to my mum to go see it...
I've just discovered this show and I'm obsessing about it. I had heard the opening number and that Frank Wildhorn was involved, and that was enough to sell me on watching the Japanese pro shoot. All I knew about Death Note was "write their name in the book and they die." I have fallen absolutely in love with it and I really hope it crosses the pond in the next couple years. As someone unfamiliar with the source, I felt that I understood everything well.
I see what you mean about ballad after ballad, but for me this is one of Wildhorn's best scores ever. There are usually at least a few numbers that drag for me, that lose my attention or that I want to skip on subsequent listens. (Looking at you, They Seek Him There.) There wasn't any of that musical filler for me in this one.
I do think Light being/becoming unlikeable is intentional in the script. He's a villain protagonist at least by act 2.
I'm a fan of fan of both! I saw it at the Lyric and LOVED IT SO MUCH!
And trust me us fans know about the terrible female representation (they actually improved on it in the musical)
@@indiarobertson9906I saw the lyric production as well without ever watching the anime. I liked the musical a lot but wasn’t 💯 happy as it’s lacking strong female characters. Then I went and watched the anime, oh dear what a shock: you used to be a top FBI agent but you are now my fiancée so shut the f up! 😮
Honestly in the manga light dirsnt really reflect either its just ine giant chess match between he and L. He does have a moment of question and panic when he first uses the note and decides this is what hes going to do but he turns off emotions aftrt that and sticks to his definition of good and bad.
I had no idea this was coming to london?! I heard a version starring Jeremy Jordan years ago and was obsessed, I never thought it would make it so big
As a massive fan of Death Note, I don't think anyone is going to have a problem with you criticizing the writing of the female characters.
Yeah I struggled to finish the anime for that reason.
The probability of a Frank Wildhorn musical succeeding on broadway is about the same as me finding an actual Death Note tomorrow.
Most of the songs don’t work for me, but Honor Bound has my fav lyrics of the bunch -
But if what I’m seeing, bends as light reflects
Am I blinded to what my son lacks?
I’m one of those people who’s a huge fan of both musical theatre and Death Note, so thank you so much for doing this review! I wondered how they would translate a 12 volume manga/37 episode anime into a coherent stage production, and it seems clear from your synopsis that they stuck pretty much to the first act of the story, which is widely considered to be the strongest. It would be an impossible task to capture the weight, depth, and constantly shifting moralities of the series into a couple of hours, but I love hearing that they kept core character elements intact, like Ryuk’s humor and L’s quirks.
Has there been any word on an official cast recording? Or do we know of any ‘slime tutorials’ out there? I loved the concept album but it was, alas, a concept album and omitted some of the songs.
I went to see the matinee at the london palladium and I was geniuenly so shocked at how good it was!! It was so well staged, the acting and vocals were fantastic, and the atmosphere in the auditorium was something I will never forget-- Ill be shocked if it doesnt get a full time run on the west end. I got fairly cheap seats so got light bedroom cut off from view, but honestly i didnt mind- it was still a great experience :)
One month left to the Swedish Production of Wicked 🥳🥰❗️
My Favorite musical ever❤️☺️
I am a fan of both things!!! I have always loved participating community theater all my life as well as supporting my friends in shows, but never actively seeking out professional shows to watch online or go to unless I'm preparing for an audition or finding a piece to sing, until now. I love Death Note because it was my first anime and my favorite because of how unique and thought out it is. I watched a bootleg recording of the 2015 Japanese version and have listened to the English demo soundtrack. I live in America so seeing it in person isn't an option lol. Seeing so many people coming together watching it is awesome, whether they like theather or like anime, and maybe discover a love for the other one by seeing Deathnote the musical 😆
In the original Japanese production, they mythical creatures came up from the fog from under the stage and were sort of looking down at the world. It wasn't the best effect, but it got the point across.
I love the concept album featuring jj and am hoping we get to see this in the US.
So a small recomendation. If you did not enjoy the London concert ver. then I recomend watching the Japanese production. It is a full scale musical production with eng subs and a proshot available here on youtube for free. I find it is in moments feels and looks better then the London ver.
My son when to see on same day as you and he said it was amazing and loved it
Saw the Tuesday Matinee and loved it! Been waiting for this show for 10 years! If you plan to see it again defiantly recommend watching the anime for a little more context because I agree with the fact that they could have expanded things a little more.
We had a few sound issues as well, with them not being able to focus on who sang next quick enough. But they are teasing on Instagram in a few comments about a West End transfer, so I hope it happens
6:57 Interesting, because that is exactly how the manga/anime works. Death Note is VERY melodramatic, there's a reason it's been a fave of edgy teenagers for over a decade. There's a hyper dramatic scene that's about Light eating a potato chip (or rather, A POTATO CHIP!) It's a meme how Extra DN is.
Ironically Hurricane is the only song I dont like, it should be faster and a rock song
12:55 DN is a shonen manga. female characters are usually not very developed in shonen. Also the musical covers only half of the manga, and Misa has more stuff in the latter part. But, yeah, her being obsessed with a man who dgafs about her is the point. This is a cynical story, and Light is the villain.
14:35, again, this is NOT how the story plays out in the manga. But the manga goes on for another 50 chapters! after the point where the musical ends. Stories that only adapt the L arc have this problem, bc in the original, Light WINS at this point
Man I love this show, my favourite ver is the Korean production
Adam pascal was fucking perfect casting.
I really hope it’s not just a one time show, death note is my favourite show and I love musical theatre so I’d love to see it live
Completely agree with everything said! I wonder how easy it would have been for people who are completely unfamiliar with the source material to follow the story
11:32 It does make more sense cos' that is how the Manga started actually.
Wait, they used the Unused Musical songs for this? That's really cool!
if you haven't seen it already I just watched dr semmelweis and would really recommend it! I hope you get to review it :)
As a big fan of musical theatre and anime, I’m gutted I didn’t get tickets for this, especially considering how much of a full staging it ended up being! I was significantly less interested when I thought it was more of a concert production
If you ever see a concert being put on at the Palladium it's going to have more staging than you think! Seen three there, Chess, Once and Death Note. All had way more staging than you'd think x
@schuylersnarrative3971 That's really interesting to know, thank you! I'll bear that in mind for future shows!!
Death Note megafan here (also love the channel)! It's kind of a misconception that "shinigami" are from Japanese folklore. There are creatures in Japanese lore that deal with death that are called Shinigami in some later texts, but "shin" is the word for "death" and "kami" (which is "gami" in the compound word) means god or gods, so shinigami in Death Note is literally just "God of Death." Ryuk and the other Shinigami in Death Note are actually just an extrapolation of the western Grim Reaper archetype that entered Japanese culture fairly recently (last century), and you'll see other Japanese media that uses the word explicitly for a more Grim Reaper kind of concept.
I actually listen to some of the music from this play it's really good 🖤
Here I thought this would never get a proper English production, too bad I wasn't able to see this.
I had seen the 1st show on the first night, and the tech difficulties were the main issues i think i found. I was familiar with both the anime, the original soundtrack and the Japanese production, so i found it interesting how the visuals of the production was interpreted for a western audience.
I can also understand some of the criticism you found in the show, and if i had been able to watch it again i would have been able to pay more attention/have a critical eye as i was so blown away from the power of almost all of the numbers, i had shivers all the way through 😅
The 2022-2023 Korean cast for Death Note the Musical is legend❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
I love how you highlighted the constant epic feeling of the ballads when they’re not earned - it reflects the anime so well 😂 the potato chip scene. That’s all I’m saying
This channel is too good not to subscribe, I tried to resist but couldn't 😅
I know about the original, but I haven't seen it. This looks pretty cool, so hopefully I can catch it.
Death Note is one musical where the actors probably don't want to sign the program...
I'm a lover of musical theatre and anime, so I've always wanted to watch this. But I agree with your complaints about the female characters. It's really common in anime that the female character is useless and sexualised. Of corse, it's not always the case, and I'd argue that in deathnote, it's present. However, it doesn't ruin the viewing experience of the anime. But yes it is something you see in a lot of shows that I wish would change, female characters are often not their own character and more of a compliment to another and I respect the animes where that isn't the case.
Does Ryuk do the Pen Pineapple Apple Pen song? 😂😂
Saw it yesterday at the Lyric, really enjoyed it, although had restricted view seats which I think the way they have staged it did mean I missed some significant staging (mainly the prison scenes). L (played by Carl Yan for me) was definitely my favourite character though George Maguire and Aimie Atkinson were also standouts. The only bit of the plot I really found difficult was understanding Rem’s choices, I agree it’s such a strange (and gendered) contrast to Ryuk so it made no sense to me why she would do that. Overall really enjoyed it and it was fun to go with friends who aren’t always too into musical theatre but we’re super excited about Death Note as fans of the anime and loved it! Think there is definitely a solid audience for this show and I hope we get a full run and a new cast recording.
I thought that was Munkustrap behind you in the thumbnail! 😅
It's interesting watching this review while having the knowledge of the anime and manga.
Edit: I never thought of Rem as female, I just didn't view Shinigami as gendered, does Rem use female indications of any kind in Japanese? I'm curious!
In the manga, she tells Misa she's female. The authors dropped that line in because, as you yourself observed, it really isn't obvious from the artwork!
@@mattsackman7591 Thanks for that information, I completely missed it!
In the Japanese musical Misa introduces Rem as a "female Shinigami" to Light but "not a proper woman" according to the subtitles
I've only been able to see quite a few short videos, but I've seen the proshots of the Japanese production and pieces of the Korean (as well as having seen the anime and started reading the manga).
I agree with you, it definitely works as a musical and it's amazing just how much plot they actually manage to get through. I'll Only Love You More is particularly clever if you're picking up on all of Misa's clues, but it could also be done as it was in the anime/manga.
Despite this show being originally written in English, I find the Japanese, Korean, and Russian lyrics far more poignant and I think this is the most noticeable with When Love Comes and the problems there are made worse by the vocal and acting choices/directions. Both in the concept album and in the London test run, Rem is performed with very earthy (big problem there), singer-songwriter vibes and techniques. Earth is not the element of any shinigami. The vibe is ether, not earth. The whole otherworldliness was something they had direction to really hit home on in the dub (which is one of, if not the, best English dub) and they completely lose it in both English castings of the musical. Hamada killed it in the OJC (pun absolutely intended). She's an observer, detached, dispassionate, completely of another realm that is not like earth. The whole reason she's intrigued by love in humans is because her realm doesn't really have it in any form.
I was typing more, but yikes. This would be a whole essay and this is not the time or place.
Anyway, thank you so much for your review of this show. You've got some solid ideas for tweaking it too.
I have to say, this was one musical where your video on theatre etiquette was really relevant. At the Tuesday matinee there were considerable problems with talking, screaming mid-performance, and at one point two people even got up to dance. I understand (as a Death Note fan myself) this has been a long time coming but there were serious issues with behaviour of the theatregoers. I'd like to think it was innocent and for many attendees this was probably their first theatre performance, but it did ruin the atmosphere and enjoyment at times. :(
Saw this at the Lyric. The sound was very badly balanced. The music was so loud we had to lip-read to understand what the singers were singing (apart from the top/ belted notes). The reason it was a concert is it was just the songs. If you look on youtube there is the full Japanese production proshot (with English subtitles) that has more dialogue and pace in between the songs. As a huge fan of the film, musicals and you, it felt like the plot was act 1 is film 1 and act 2 is film 2.
Will there be a “La cage” review?
In general I dont think Death Note does a good job with female characters, but within this musical where you get a really zoomed in look of the unrequited love chain from Misa to Light, and Rem to Misa, it feels sympathetic to women in a way...or maybe i just love lesbian yearning
Light becoming increasingly despicable is the entire point of the story. He embodies the adages "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," and (this one, I'm changing the wording a smidge) "Men never commit evil so vehemently as they do in the name of righteousness." I think even the misogyny in the story plays into these ideas. In Light's black and white mind, you're either useful to his ends or you're in the way. Either way, you're disposable. That being said, some biases definitely played into the writing of the original story, which is pretty damn icky, even if it does work well with the themes.
Anyway, I really hope this musical gets picked up on Broadway with a cast album release! I have been a Death Note fan since it first aired on Adult Swim back in 2008, and I've been a fan of musicals all my life. When I first saw that Death Note was getting a musical, I thought it was a silly idea, and I still definitely wanted it. Knowing that the score was done by the guy who did Jekyll & Hyde just sealed the deal for me because the concept album for that show is just ungodly phenomenal!
I don’t know if you’ve been told this yet as I have not read right through the comments. But I highly recommend the original 2 live action movies from Japan in 2006. Not only are they really good movies but they’re probably be best adaptation of the source material as they cut out everything that’s not necessary. And this show. (I’ve seen the Japanese production.). Seems to borrow a lot of cues from the live action movies
I was there for opening night. I really enjoyed the staging but the sound design really did let it down. Lots of lines were lost when switching between mics.
When talking about female characters, you forgot about Light’s sister. There was a whole additional female character.
I like that we didn’t see the deaths, it helps to make everyone detached from the deaths. The point about the death note is that it’s so passive and from a distance… that helps the audience to feel this abstraction.
Ohhhh it makes sense that the composer wrote J&H! I thought that “They're Only Human” felt like something from J&H or Sweeny Todd.
I agree Ryuk should be more active, the song with Light’s dad singing about justice in Light’s room could have done with Ryuk jumping around poking fun and trying to distract Light while his dad sings to him but instead he just stares and turns his head from Light to Light’s dad.
While the characterization is certainly not as strong as that of the male cast, I think Rem's sacrifice does highlight a notable contrast; a shinigami who's whole purpose is to take away life wanting to preserve it upon coming to care for someone. Compare that to Light who, as a human being, is expected to value life but sees Misa's as disposable if it serves as a means to an end for him. It's a bit on the nose with the implied 'who is the real monster' but it works quite well.
The answer: yes. it is fantastic. honestly idc what any critic says I've seen the japanese and korean productins and they are AMAZING
I'm a big fan of the Japanese musical. I've always felt that Ryuk kills Light less out of boredom (that's an excuse) but because of what he did to Rem.
Thanks for talking about the fact that the songs just repeat stuff we already know about. I don't know why they have all the plots happen BEFORE each song and not during the songs. It made the musical so boring. Like the songs are putting a stop to the story and you have to wait for them to end for the story to start again.
Spoiler warning for the show:
One, Light is supposed to be progressively disliked throughout the show. He represents the traditional view of good and evil, and just what might happen if that view was given enough power and say over people's lives. The idea is charming and attractive, much like the character, but it's egotistical and thirsty. So the longer Light has this power, the more we begin to resent him, which is very reflective of the traditional views of justice. Then the more we begin to choose the gray view of justice which is represented by L. The play is structured for that preference to change during the show. You proved how effective it is.
Two, as for Misa as a believable character, yeah, I agree that she is very weak. But that is where we begin to split because if you think about death note, is the concept of the show really believable? No, it's about a high schooler who gains access to a relic that has the ability to kill anyone at any time in any way. This show is a commentary about the power war of justice. Every character is symbolic of something, not intended to be a believable character. Misa is the person who falls in love with an idea because it did good... Once and only just for her. She becomes toxically committed to that idea until it consumes her and destroys her. I disagree that Rem isn't a believable character, because she is an entity that we have no hope on ever understanding, her whole plot is that she is in love with Misa, not any of the men in the show. She chosen her own life for Misa's. And honestly, I love the story between the two, it's beautifully tragic. The idea that the story is male focused is, again, a reflection of cultural views of justice.
Hope this doesn't come off with negative energy! It's exciting to hear how the show went from over here in the states! I hope one day the show will come over here and I will get the opportunity to see the show for myself!
Yeah, light is the main villain of death note. He’s an evil protagonist, we aren’t supposed to root for him
American Musical Theatre desperately needs to look to new sources of inspiration like this show
The Korean production was SPECTACULAR and was so popular that it ran in 2017, 2022, and had an encore run this year. It solves a lot of the issues you had with the UK production, from the sound of it (FBI agent death was breathtaking in the Korean version, for example) I hope the English language version gets picked up for a full production, the show really is incredible (perfect for me as a musical fan and a death note fan)
Love the original anime
I love this show, but I was there for the first ever show and I was really really put off by the sound errors, it really took me out of the show and that was a bit disappointing even with the great performers and set and material.
finally, anime musical, wee need more , not just ghibli
🙌 HAAAAAAAAAALLEEELUUUJAAAAAAAAAAH🙌
One thing I could say. Do not look to Light as a protagonist. That's the whole point. This is a story really with no protagonists
You're misunderstanding the definition of protagonist. The protagonist is the character who we are primarily following in the story, which is Light. What he *isn't* is a hero. And neither is L, who is the antagonist but not a villain (and not a hero either).