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comicbookgeek13 · 7 years

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How to Properly Adapt Death Note in 105 Minutes

Alright, motherfuckers, I, like every other Death Note fan, watched one of my favorite franchises get shat all over for the sake of making a lame black comedy whose only goal seemed to be shitting on the source material because Adam Wingard comes off to me as thinking it’s stupid. A lot of people have been saying that “they only had 105 minutes” and “it’s an adaption so it couldn’t have been something that pleased fans”. I’ve written an outline for how to do a Death Note movie in 105 minutes that is accessible to American audiences while pleasing fans. It sets up for a sequel, yeah, but I think Death Note’s record of success when done right means that’s not much of a risk. The goal here is to prove that even when not allowed the thirteen-hour-long episode season of a Netflix series it deserves that the material can still be dynamically entertaining because it’s just that strong. I also set out to prove that if a 21-year-old hick with no professional experience in writing can write something that functions well enough to appease both the fans I know and have shared this with and people who don’t know the material (like my middle-aged father!) then there is no reason that professionals hired by Netflix couldn’t do the same. Read my outline below the cut.

Setting:

New York City makes the most sense as a parallel to Tokyo since it is just as heavily associated with its native country outside of said country. It also allows for a rich backdrop for the movie to pull from both in terms of casting and in terms of scenery. Characters:

Light Yagami- As the surname implies, Light and his family are all Japanese-Americans played by Japanese-American actors. Light is one of the top students in the country, and the top law student at his university. He is charismatic and suave. He dresses sharp, and keeps a room that is neat but not obsessively so. He is conniving and cocky. He is obsessed with purifying the world, and will do anything it takes to accomplish this goal. He explains his complex plans to Ryuk so we, the audience, can keep up.

Sorichiro Yagami- Hardworking and dedicated, Sorichiro is one of the finest among New York’s finest. He is a believer in the justice system despite its faults. A great police captain, he is an even better father and husband. He’s the reason for Light’s being a law-student and his sense of justice.

Ryuk- The only character not in need of recasting or redesigning from the Wingard film, most of Ryuk’s alterations are characterization-based. Ryuk has an easy-come-easy-go attitude towards the events of the film. He has no investment in either Light’s success or failure as would be expected from the sort that drops a Death Note for just any human to find. Snarky, creepy, and adorable in a bulldog sort of way, Ryuk is Light’s companion for most of the film.

Misa Amane- Barely factoring into the film, Misa is a musician with a goth-lolita aesthetic who rocketed to success after starting out on YouTube as MisaMisa. Her only appearance in the film is a scene where Ryuk is watching a talk-show. She is also to be played by an Japanese-American actor.

L- The world’s greatest detective and the Holmes to Light’s Moriarty, L needs to be as interesting to the audience as Kira himself. L’s sense of justice is the cause his insomnia because it drives him to always be working cases under one alias or another. A believer in the human capacity for change, L is disturbed by Kira and his popularity, but he is also excited to encounter an opponent that’s his intellectual equal. A person with Asperger’s, L has a preference for looser clothing, hatred of socks and any similarly rough fabrics, and particular ways of sitting and holding things. He has a great fondness for any and all sweets. L’s actor needs to be an unknown with the ability to be unconventionally attractive similar to the likes of Johnny Depp or Jared Leto. His actor should be British, and should be shown some of Juliani and Stanfield’s performances in order to get a handle on the character’s way of speaking. I would like for his actor to be white since L’s design from the manga and anime is one of my favorite in fiction, but I’d have no problem casting someone of another ethnicity if their performance during an audition felt like the right fit for the role to me.

Watari- An old inventor and ex-British military sniper, Watari, like Alfred Pennyworth, is an English gentlemen’s gentlemen. His being L’s financial support and public representative makes sense seeing as he’s the one responsible for raising the eccentric detective. This doesn’t need to be explicitly stated in the film, but instead shown through small, tender moments like Watari fetching L a blanket or sweet he didn’t ask for. His real name is Quillish Wammy, though that wouldn’t be revealed in this film, and race is unimportant in the casting of his character.

The Kira Investigation Task Force- The men who stuck around following the deaths of the 50 F.B.I. agents, the Task Force are all brave souls dedicated to the arrest of Kira. Mostly serving as an everyman’s way into L’s methods and an excuse for L to explain his plans to the audience, the characterization here doesn’t have to be too strong save for Matsuda and Aizawa. *Matsuda is a rookie detective whose age allows for him to have the most open mind when it comes to Kira. He still wants Kira caught, but he sees why so many support the killer.

*Aizawa is the most skeptical about working with L. He feels the detective has a way of using people that comes from a mindset too similar to Kira’s for his liking.

The Task Force should be casted as multiracial to take advantage of NYC’s melting-pot population and give representation. They receive their original names from the manga as aliases from L upon meeting him in person as a safety precaution.

Raye Penber- The F.B.I. agent charged with pursuing Light Yagami and fiancé to Naomi Misora, Raye is a man who opposes Kira as deeply as he loves his bride-to-be. He needs to have a good chemistry with Naomi so that the audience feels his death’s impact after only a scene or two with them together. He needs to be attractive in a James Bond sort of way. His actor should be Japanese-American, and someone who is unopposed to returning for a possible prequel adapting events of Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles B.B. Murder Cases.

Naomi Misora- Equal parts loving fiancé and cunning ex-F.B.I. agent, Naomi Misora is Light’s greatest threat after L. Having resigned from the F.B.I. in hopes of pursuing a career in writing and as wife and mother, Naomi is devastated by the loss of her husband. Her pursuit of Light Yagami is fueled by her hatred for Kira’s ideology and revenge for Raye, and is ultimately what gets her killed. Her death should subtly upset L to hint at one-sided feelings for the doomed woman picked up during the briefly alluded to L.A. B.B. Murder Cases. She should be played by a Japanese-American actor who isn’t opposed to possibly returning for a prequel adapting those events down the line.

Plot:

The skeleton for the plot here is the first Japanese live-action film.

The film opens with Light Yagami , a second-year law student who feels aimless in his path to become a part of a system he sees flaws in, bored in his seat-by-the-window during one of his classes. These feelings would usually either lead to a career of cynicism or of bucking said system, but things take an unusual turn when Light sees a notebook drop out of the sky during one of his classes. After class, he picks up the notebook, called “Death Note”, and finds a list of rules written inside of the front cover.

1. The Human Whose Name is Written in This Notebook Shall Die.

2. If a Cause of Death is Not Written Within 40 Seconds of Writing a Name, The Human Will Simply Die of a Heart Attack.

3. After Writing the Cause of Death, Six Minutes are Allotted to Provide Details for Circumstances Surrounding The Death.

He assumes the notebook to be a morbid prank.

The next scene has Light discover the authenticity of its powers after writing down the name of a man holding a gas station hostage after seeing live news coverage of the event on the TV in his room. Initially horrified, Light decides to use the Death Note to clean up the world after a court case that gave a rapist a three-year prison sentence is discussed in one of his classes the next day.

The next scene is set a few days after this with Light returning home to his room to find what is apparently a demon waiting for him. The demon explains it is actually a bored god of death, or Shinigami, named Ryuk who dropped the Death Note, what is used by Shinigami to fulfill their job of killing humans, in the human world so “something interesting” would happen. He spends the rest of the film eating apples and cracking wise. Light learns only people who have touched the Death Note can see Ryuk after his sister comes in his room wanting help with her math homework.

Through a montage, we see that Light’s killing of criminals, initially only local and then international, soon garners him a following on the internet in places like Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, and 4Chan. The name Kira, based on saying “Killer” with a Japanese accent, catches on as the way his supporters refer to him online. The media calls the killings “ a strange series of heart attacks”.

The next scene shows NYPD Captain Sorichiro being called to the Commissioner’s office, and finding a well-dressed old, British man called “Watari” waiting for him alongside the commissioner. Watari explains that he represents “L”, the world’s greatest detective. The police commissioner explains that Watari is the public’s only direct line to L. Watari then pulls a laptop from his briefcase, and opens it to reveal a white screen with a black Old English style “L” in the center. A voice put through several digital filters greets the men in the room, and declares itself to be L. L tells the men of Interpol’s debate over the cause of so many criminal deaths, and that he suspects the deaths to be murders. His reasoning is that criminals being so specifically targeted makes a disease unlikely. He suspects these murders to be perpetrated by a single killer somehow since the range of the killings would take a number of people working together that would make success as unlikely as a disease. He accompanies his reasoning with charts displaying information backing him up displayed on the laptop screen. L says that he would like to work with the NYPD to assemble a 50-man task force with Sorichiro at its head because he suspects Kira may be operating out of New York City since that’s where the initial killings were located.

Next up is a scene of Light’s family greeting Light’s father, who is revealed to be Sorichiro, after he’s gotten home from work. He mentions the NYPD doing something about Kira after Light’s sister mentions her classmates talking about the killer at school. Ryuk laughs over Light’s Dad unknowingly being after him.

We then get a scene of the Task Force’s HQ being set up. L speaks to the men, again through a laptop Watari brings, commenting on their bravery and how he will be releasing a public statement against Kira.

We cut to Light watching TV in his room only for the broadcast to be interrupted by what is called a worldwide broadcast. A man named Lind L. Taylor appears on screen, and declares himself to be L. He speaks out against Kira, calling him evil and childish, and claiming he will single handedly apprehend the criminal. Light, feeling insulted by this, writes Taylor’s name in the Death Note. After Taylor dies of a heart attack, Light gloats to Ryuk, but is interrupted when the broadcast cuts to the “L screen” previously seen on the Watari’s laptop. L’s synthesized voice expresses astonishment at how well his plan worked. He addresses Kira directly as he explains that the man named Lind L. Taylor was an inmate on death row set to be executed that night who had agreed to pretend to be L in exchange for being pardoned in the event that Kira didn’t kill him during his TV appearance. L adds that the broadcast wasn’t actually a worldwide broadcast but limited to New York City. Had Taylor lived, the plan would have been implemented in different areas using different inmates. L knows Kira’s location, and that a name and face are needed for him to kill. He dares Kira to kill him without having either on the detective. Ryuk thinks this all hilarious, and Light is furious. L declares that he is justice, and the broadcast ends.

A montage of television programs discussing L’s TV appearance plays, ending with singer Misa Amane expressing her support for Kira. It’s shown that it’s Ryuk that’s been looking at these TV shows, and he turns to tell Light how badly he’s been shown up. Light tells Ryuk he’s already going to get back at L. Using his father’s username and password, Light looks at inmates convicted in cases involving rape, murder, or child molestation, and uses the Death Note to make them all write suicide notes on the walls of their cells using their own blood before committing suicide in differently specific ways that test the limitations of the Death Note.

We next have a scene of the Task Force discussing the deaths, and realizing that there is a message to L hidden in the first letter of each sentence in the notes that can only be seen when they are examined together. The message is, “L, did you know that gods of death love apples?” L says that the message isn’t the real point of these deaths, but it was to show that Kira can control people’s actions before they die.

The next scene is of Light and Ryuk walking through a park. Light’s wearing a Bluetooth headset so that he doesn’t look like a crazy person while talking to Ryuk. Ryuk tells Light that someone is following him, and is only telling him because it makes the Shinigami feel like he’s the one being watched. Ryuk says it’s been three days since this began when Light asks him.

Next is L telling the Task Force that he has F.B.I. agents tailing members of each of their families. When they express outrage, L explains that Kira has to have a connection not only to law enforcement in general but specifically the Task Force to know to access the database the NYPD keeps on inmates in relatively local prisons since no one outside of L, Watari, the commissioner, and actual members of the Task Force know that L is working with the NYPD. This quiets the discontent some, and it is totally killed when Captain Yagami expresses his support of L’s plan.

Next we have Light in his room writing names in the Death Note when Ryuk tells him that there is a simple way to figure out the name of his stalker. He explains all Shinigami have eyes capable of seeing the names and lifespans of all humans they see in order to do their job of writing names in their Death Notes, and that Light can be given this sight with no change in the appearance of his eyes in exchange for half of his remaining years of life. Light declines this offer, and tells Ryuk he already has a plan.

We then have a scene of the man tailing Light returning home to his fiancé, a woman named Naomi Misora. She’s working on a novel about a young man searching for his missing friend from college. He says he’ll be able to focus on their wedding again soon as he’ll be done with tailing the families he’s been assigned to follow Friday. Naomi asks if he thinks that any of them could be Kira, and he tells her no. He adds that she would be the better out of the two of them to ask since she was good enough to work with L when she was in the F.B.I. She dismisses him by saying she’d rather focus on writing and loving him than Kira.

Next we have Light getting on a bus to the zoo with his stalker close behind. Light spends the first few seconds of the ride with his headphones in and watching a video on his phone. This is all interrupted, though, when a man with a gun takes the bus hostage. He uses the driver’s radio to demand $10,000 from the zoo. Light looks to the seats behind him to see his stalker sitting in the seat directly behind his. Light asks him if he wants to do something about the hijacker, and the man agrees. Before they do anything, though, Light wants proof that the man isn’t working with the hijacker. After a moment’s hesitation, the man shows an F.B.I. badge revealing his name to be “Raye Penber”. Satisfied, Light says he’ll pass him a note since the hijacker’s about to turn his attention back to the passengers. Light drops the paper as he’s passing it, and the hijacker notices. After reading the paper, he points his gun at Light’s face, and asks him if he’s “Some kind of hero?!”. Before he can kill Light, though, he notices Ryuk standing in the aisle of the bus. Ryuk expresses surprise and laughs when he realizes that the paper must’ve been torn from a page in the Death Note. Panicking, the hijacker shoots at Ryuk, the bullets just passing through to break the rear window, and demands the driver stop the bus. He runs out of the bus only to be hit by a car. After the police let Light leave the scene, Ryuk asks him if the hijacker was a criminal Light wrote would do all of that in the Death Note to which Light answers yes. He adds that the incident would have always ended in his favor since he would have at least seemed “too noble” to be Kira had Penber provided some other means of proving he wasn’t working with the hijacker, but the name will allow for Light to send a message.

Next is a scene of Raye telling Naomi over breakfast that he won’t be able to go with her to meet with the priest like they’d planned . Naomi, confused, asks Raye why, but he tells her he can’t say.

Next is Raye going down to a subway to catch a 1:00 PM train heading to some arbitrary location. He is approached from behind from a disguised, hoodie-wearing-Light, who tells him that he is Kira, and that he will kill everyone around them unless he complies to his demands. Light speaks in harsh whisper to mask his voice somewhat. Raye complies, and takes the seat next to the door of the train at Light’s instruction. He takes a manila envelope containing a cheap cellphone, sheet of paper, and a pen from the luggage rack also at Light instruction. The phone rings, and Light is on the other end of the line. He tells Penber to write the names of his fellow F.B.I. agents current tailing anyone in relation to the Kira Investigation. Raye says he doesn’t know the names. He asks for Raye’s superior that is heading the team of agents, and Penber gives it to him. A few moments later, Raye receives a phone call from his superior, and is told the names of his fellow agents. Light again tells him to write down the names, and Raye does so this time. Raye is told to put the cellphone, pen, and paper back in the envelope before placing it back on the luggage rack, and that he is to get off at the train’s next stop. As all of this occurs, a narration from Light begins. “Raye Penber. Heart attack. He cancels any and all plans he has, and tells no one why. He heads to the subway for the 1:00 PM train heading for ((Insert Arbitrary Location Here)). There, he encounters the man known as Kira, and complies with the man’s demands. He gets off at the stop that comes after his compliance, and dies.” Towards the end of the narration, Raye gets off the train, turns to find a smiling-and-envelope-holding Light standing behind the now closed train doors, and die, shocked, reaching towards his killer as the train departs.

Next is Light and Ryuk exiting the subway, and entering a dirty alleyway. Light pulls out a bottle of some flammable liquid from his hoodie pocket, pours the liquid all over the envelope, and drops a match. He adds the bottle into the resulting fire, and smiles knowingly at Ryuk.

We cut to Captain Yagami informing the Task Force that all 50 of the F.B.I. agents tailing their families and the man supervising the agents have died of heart attacks. He says that, in light of this, any who wish to exit the investigation are free to do so without consequence. All but six men take this offer. Captain Yagami tells L that there are only seven of them left. L expresses disappointment while complimenting the bravery of the seven. One of the men (Aizawa) rebukes this compliment by insulting L for hiding himself from the world and keeping them at an arm’s length. L takes this to heart, and tells the men to meet him at a specific hotel in two days. The same man who rebuked L’s compliment asks why they have to do this, and Watari tells him that they are going to be meeting L.

Our next scene is of Raye Penber’s funeral with a vengeful Naomi watching her fiancé’s casket be lowered into the ground.

We then cut to the Task Force arriving in the lobby of the designated hotel to find Watari waiting for them. The old man leads them to the room where L is staying. After they enter, a man about Light’s age with pale skin, messy black hair, a white long-sleeve shirt, and baggy blue jeans comes out, and reveals himself to be L after greeting them. Each member of the Task Force gives their name in return, and L tells them that they would all be dead if he were Kira. He gives each member their corresponding manga name as an alias, and asks for them to refer to him as “Ryuzaki” from now on. He gives them a pep talk that assures them that justice will prevail in the end.

Next we cut to Naomi talking to the driver of the hijacked bus during his lunchbreak. She asks him if he saw Raye talking to anyone after showing him a picture of her fiancé. He says he saw him talking to a young guy who didn’t even flinch when the hijacker pointed a gun in his face.

We cut to Watari placing a blanket on L, who has fallen asleep in his crouching/sitting position only for the detective to be awoken by the ringing of his personal cellphone. Naomi is the one calling him, and he expresses quiet surprise after finding this out. She tells him she suspects that Light is Kira because of Raye’s death after revealing his name to him, and that she’ll be proven right if she’s found dead soon. L says he won’t be able to use her claims as proof in a court case since his personal cellphone is the only one he has that isn’t bugged. She says she knows this, but that she also knows he’ll find something that can be used in court now that he has this information. Naomi ends the phone call with a “goodbye”.

The next scene begins with L telling the Task Force he wants to bug Captain Yagami and the Commissioner’s houses. They’re understandably upset, but L explains by showing footage of Raye Penber’s death as captured by security cameras. He says his shock before dying means he recognized a person on the train, and his reaching even as he dies suggests that person was Kira. Raye was tailing members of the two families so Kira must have been among them, and killed Raye for getting too close with the deaths of the other agents being a means of covering themselves and an intimidation tactic. Sorichiro agrees to the bugging of his house under the condition that he and L be the ones to watch the feed with the others watching the commissioner’s. L accepts this condition, and says the observation will only last for two weeks.

We next have Light returning home to his room. Ryuk suggests that they play video games now that the human has come home, but Light acts as if the Shinigami isn’t there. We see L and Sorichiro watching all this and everything else in the house on various screens. After putting his school things away, Light leaves the house. He now tells Ryuk that he suspects his room has been bugged, and can’t speak to him in his house until they’re gone. When asked how he could know such a thing, Light says he’s been putting a pencil lead above the top hinge of his bedroom door as a means of preserving his privacy while away from home since he was a teenager because the lead always breaks when the door is opened. Ryuk is distressed by his apple supply being cut off, and Light is frustrated over not knowing how L could even suspect him. Ryuk asks Light just what it is he’s going to do about it, and Light smiles after a moment’s consideration.

We cut to L and a clearly haggard Captain Yagami watching the Captain’s family eat dinner. L expresses admiration for Sorichiro’s dedication to his family. Sorichiro asks why Light’s room has the most cameras, and L says Light’s intellect makes him the most likely to be Kira. On the camera feed, Light says he’s going to his room to do homework. He grabs a previously opened bag of chips, and heads for his room. He starts doing his homework, eating chips every few minutes. Downstairs, the local news reports on the apprehension of a man who’d robbed a grocery store, killing three people in the process. The man suddenly dies of a heart attack. Light’s shown no change in behavior that would allow for him to see this report. Throughout all of this it should cut between the feed and L and Sorichiro watching it. The Task Force celebrates Light and the rest of Sorichiro’s family being relieved of suspicion, and L is frustrated.

We cut to reveal Light had a piece of the Death Note, another pen, and a smartphone hidden in the bag of chips.

The next scene is Light leaving school, and none other than Naomi Misora meeting him on the way to his car. She answers his confusion by telling him her name, and that she knows he is Kira. Light calls her crazy, trying to get past her, but Misora won’t let him pass. She tells him that Raye Penber was her fiancé, and that she’ll see him exposed to avenge Raye. Light pushes past her, and drives off.

We cut to Light getting home to his room. Ryuk excitedly tells him all the cameras are gone, and Light tosses him an apple he’d been keeping in his desk drawer.

Our next scene has the Task Force arriving to L’s hotel room. L asks Captain Yagami if he’s enjoyed going home to which the Captain says yes. L begins to tell them what he thinks their next plan of action should be, but he is interrupted by his cellphone ringing. He answers to find Naomi once again waiting for him on the other end. She tells him she’s sending him a link to a video feed so that he can watch Kira confess to his crimes. L asks her just what she’s planning to do, and she tells him she’s already done what she planned to do before ending the call. L tells Watari to go to the linked feed. The feed shows Light tied to a chair, and alone in a dark room. He seems confused and scared, calling for someone to explain what’s going on. Sorichiro is horrified, and asks L what’s going on in an accusatory tone. L tells Watari to begin tracing the feed, and gives the Task Force a summation of what’s going on. They all watch as Naomi enters the dark room, apparently a warehouse given the door type. She says she knows Light is Kira, and he’s going to have to either confess or kill her like he killed Raye before she can kill him if he wants to live. Light denies her accusation, and begs to be let go. This deeply disturbs the Task Force. Naomi begins to torture Light in an attempt to get a confession. Tension builds as we wait for Watari to find the location. He finds that the feed is coming from a warehouse called “The Yellow Box” which was used as a location for mob negotiations in decades past. Sorichiro and the Task Force immediately head out.

We cut between their racing towards The Yellow Box and Naomi’s torturing Light.

Naomi pulls out a gun, aiming it at the bleeding and crying Light, saying that she is going to kill him in ten seconds if doesn’t confess or kill her first. Before she can shoot him, though, Sorichiro and the Task Force arrive, telling Naomi to drop her weapon and put her hands above her head. Naomi, apparently realizing she’s gone too far, asks Raye to forgive her and shoots herself in the head. Sorichiro unties Light, embracing him and crying over his relief for his son’s safety. He and the other Task Force members walk him out of the warehouse so that he can receive proper medical attention. Over this tender scene, Light narrates,“ Naomi Misora. Suicide. After abducting the person responsible for her fiancé’s death, she contacts those responsible for the Kira Investigation, and provides them with a way of watching as she tortures her captive in order to get him to confess to being the killer known as Kira. She threatens to kill her captive, but, upon the intervention of the police, realizes how far she’s taken her search for answers, and ends her life with a gunshot to the head.”

Our final scene starts with Light in his room, now bandaged in the areas where he was most severely injured during his interrogation. The doorbell rings, and he goes to the door to answer it. He opens the door to find L on his doorstep. The detective reveals his identity to Light, and asks to speak with Light inside. L explains to him that he wants Light to join the Task Force. He adds that he suspects Light to be Kira. He talks of how Naomi had called him before Light’s abduction, and how she’d said Light must be Kira if she were to die soon. He adds how uncharacteristically irrational she was in her final actions, and how they know Kira has the ability to control the actions of his victims before their deaths. Light counters this by saying that her fiancé’s death must have sent her over the edge, and that he would’ve just killed Naomi while she was torturing if he actually were Kira since he knew her name and face. Light then asks why L would want him on the Task Force if he suspects that Light is Kira. L lies that Light’s odds of being Kira are only 5%, and, that if he is wrong about Light being Kira, Light’s track record of successfully assisting the police in previous cases would make him a great asset in finding and arresting the real Kira. Light fakes consideration, and accepts L’s offer by shaking the detective’s hand. The film closes with Ryuk laughing and saying, “Humans are so interesting!”

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