Monstrous Musicals: Death Note: The Musical (with Jim Bevan)

Moviefan12: Frank Wildhorn is a composer who has often dabbled into the realm of horror with musicals such as Jekyll and Hyde and Dracula. From what I know of his work, he has mixed reception.

Today’s musical which fits this year’s theme of high school horror is the musical adaption of Death Note.  Let me make this clear, I do not have much familiarity with anime or magna.  The only magna I’ve read really was the first volume for a Disney Princess magna.  Now I knew of Death Note as it is one of the most popular anime and magna series.  And from what I understand,  musical adaptions of anime is quite popular over in Japan.   And this is one is rather popular overseas as well but I don’t think it really ever took off here in the States.

Now, I won’t be alone in looking at this musical as my friend, Jim Bevan who suggested this musical will be joining me in looking at it.   The cast recording we are looking at is from the New York City workshop.  Which I am excited about as Broadway legend and one  my celebrity crushes, Jeremy Jordan plays Light.  Jim, thank you for joining me.

Glad to be back for another collab, Rachel. Guess it’s only fair that I be up front as well and admit that I have hardly any experience with Death Note. I understand the premise and story beats, but that’s only from reading summaries on Wikipedia and TV Tropes. I never read the original manga; tried to get into the anime when it was first dubbed but dropped it a few episodes in. It just didn’t appeal to me.

That being said I cannot deny the impact the series has had. It’s without a doubt one of the most popular anime franchises of the 2000s. It’s had multiple spin-offs, adaptations, even a parody on The Simpsons. And for the past decade there’s been a stage show based on the work. Seems like an odd decision to make, but I’d say it worked out well. The musical is the only Death Note adaptation that I’ve been a fan of. But I’ll explain why that is once we get into the full review.

Should we summarize the plot of the original work for newcomers?

Moviefan12: Sounds good to me. Since you’re my guest, I’ll let you go ahead and start with the summarization.

Jim: You got it.

Death Note follows Light Yagami, a genius high-school student with extreme views over what constitutes justice. He envisions an ideal world where all criminals are wiped out. Light gets the chance to make this vision a reality when he receives the titular Death Note from Ryuk, a shinigami (death god) whose grown bored with his eternal existence and wants to see what fun/chaos will arise from giving his powers to a human. The Death Note will cause the name of anyone written in it to die, either from a heart attack or from a specifically detailed means.

As can be expected, Light uses his new abilities recklessly. While at first using the book to eliminate truly heinous criminals, he quickly jumps off the deep end and starts executing anyone he deems immoral in the slightest, along with law enforcement officials investigating the strange deaths. His murder spree attracts a cult of followers who refer to Light as “Kira” as he remains anonymous. This draws the attention of an enigmatic detective known as “L” who vows to uncover Kira’s identity and put an end to his killings. When Light and L cross paths, a dangerous cat-and-mouse game begins, the body count rising as each tries to remove his opponent from the game.

Moviefan12:  With this, let’s take a look at the music.   Starting with the opening number

Where Is the Justice

Yes, I am skipping the overture but imo isn’t important to the story.  This song however gives us a good insight into the righteousness of Light as he argues with his teacher about how criminals walk free.  I find this song fascinating as it asks to look at both sides.  Yes, Light is looking at the idea of justice through black and white eyes (might he be autistic hmm?).

Yet at the same time as we listen to his teacher, we know as adults that things aren’t as simple as Light wants them to be. Yet looking at the real world news and how the corrupt are constantly winning, it’s hard to not side with Light and just write the names of corrupt people down in a Death Note of our own.

Jim: Never saw Light as being autistic, but he’s definitely lacking in maturity for someone with his intelligence. And let’s be honest, almost all of us are like that when we’re teenagers. We see the world more simply, are convinced that we have a better handle on how things should be than the older generations that have failed to make things better. But then we grow up and realize that there’s actually a lot more nuance than how we envisioned things. Well, most of us grow up…

They’re Only Human

This easily the breakout song of the show.  So many YouTube musicians have covered this song. See the one by Annapantsu and Caleb Hyles. 

 

It’s not hard to see why.  It’s a great villain song as the gods, Ryuk and Rem look down on us as pesky worthless beings.  We are nothing more than playthings to these two.  This song is deliciously evil.

Jim: this is definitely one of the highlights of the piece, but I don’t really view it as a villain song. Shinigami aren’t inherently malevolent; they’re indifferent to us. It’s like the Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu mythos. These are beings with abilities so far beyond our comprehension that to them, as Ryuk sings at the start, we’re no more than ants to them. Ryuk only chooses to intervene in the human world not because of a desire to do evil but more out of curiosity to see what will happen when he shares his powers with a lesser creature. Rem has similar views, though as we’ll soon see, that dismissive attitude changes.

If I may add, while we’re just looking at the soundtrack, I want to praise the costume design for the shinigami. While it’s not that 100% faithful to how they looked in the animation, something about the simpler, more raggedy appearance gives it a certain charm. Thematically it could be seen as these death gods not caring about appearing neat and proper since they are so above it all, but it’s also evocative of old black and white horror films. I see Ryuk and I could easily envision Lon Chaney or Bela Lugosi in the role

 

Very nice

Hurricane

Moviefan12: Now, since we are looking at a demo, some songs are not included as there is a song before this one but let’s focus on this song.  This song comes after Light has started to use the Death Note and in many ways, we see the start of his obsession or addiction starting.  We already had a hint that the idea of vigilant justice that he believes in but this song looks more at the idea of his slippage so to speak.  Light is an addict and the Death Note is his drug, he thinks he’s doing good.  And in some instances, one could argue he is but when does one go too far?  That seems to be one of the questions at the heart of this series.   It’s easy to want to give in and use the Death Note.  It takes someone of pure mortality to stand against its luster.   To put it simply, he is closer to The Punisher than say Batman.

Jim: You beat me to the comparison there. Light is no different than characters like The Punisher or Dexter Morgan. He deludes himself into believing that his murderous actions are for a noble goal, but in reality he’s a sociopath who’s just happy he found a way to justify his killing. This is the first real villain song, and what makes it creepy is how it’s played. Rather than sounding ominous, deep, or foreboding, the music is surprisingly light and optimistic, almost like a princess song from a Disney musical. That dissonance drives home just how twisted Light is – he’s ecstatic that he holds the power over life and death.

Kira

Moviefan12: Man, you can just taste the taunting Ryuk is doing?  He doesn’t really care about Light’s mission.  He’s just looking for a good time and just dropped the Death Note because he was bored.  To him,  this is a form of entertainment.  This continues the theme of what we heard in “They’re Only Human”, we at best are just toys for these gods and this is a form of playing for him.  It’s a twisted sense of entertainment that delights him.

Jim: Can’t think of much to add to your analysis, except that it’s hard not to feel a little pumped up as you vicariously feel Ryuk’s enthusiasm. Guess it’s true that we all empathize with villains even a bit as long as they’re entertaining.

I’m Ready

Moviefan12: Looking at the context of this song and knowing this is a pop idol dedicating a song to Kira puts it in a quite different perspective. At first, it sounds like a poppy hit like something Whitney Houston would’ve sung and it is that but it also seems to be shedding light on the idea of idolization and how easy a trap that is fall into. It’s a tepid song with shallow lyrics but this singer is willing to giver herself over to Kira.  That is the danger of idolization and why we shouldn’t put people on pedestals.

Jim: it does have more depth than you’d initially expect from its upbeat, poppy sound. As our first introduction to Misa we get an idea that she isn’t just a shallow idol singer. She’s got some twisted views, and as is revealed throughout the story, a damaged psyche.

I’m also going to take this opportunity to say that I think Death Note would have been more interesting (at least to me) if Misa had been the first one offered the power. She has a stronger motivation for wanting to use it than Kira: her parents were murdered, and she was almost killed by an obsessive fan. Giving her the power to get revenge, which would later turn into a campaign of brutal vigilantism, could have made for a more tragic arc than Light’s. But that’s just my take.

We All Need a Hero

Moviefan12: As a younger sibling, Sayu singing this to Light hits hard.  It’s so easy as the younger sibling to ignore the flaws of our elder siblings.  Lord knows, I did that with my big sister for so long.  You can jut hear how much this young and perhaps naive girl cherishes her older brother not knowing the truth of the heinous acts he’s committed.  Uhm yeah,  this feels like it’s lifting from my life with my big sister.  She was the coolest person in my eyes and when the curtain was finally lifted to see her as just a person who made mistakes, I was devastated.  There were years i wouldn’t talk to her (don’t wanna get into it) but man, this song encapsulates the hero worship we younger siblings have.

Jim: Don’t you just love dramatic irony? I’m the oldest sibling in my family so I don’t have the same connection to it you do, though I get how it can resonate with those who look up to their older brothers and sisters. However, this song does illustrate one of the few issues I have with the musical – Sayu doesn’t have much of a presence. This is pretty much her biggest moment, and afterwards she barely gets any more time on stage. It would have been interesting to see her play a role as Light’s remaining links to morality. Have him witness how his actions affect one of the people closest to him, and possibly give him some moments of doubt. A missed opportunity, but not a deal breaker. We also get more depth into Misa’s character when she joins in the final refrain to again voice her admiration of Kira. And I love Ryuk’s little aside when Sayu talks about how heroic she considers her brother to be and he quips, “She must have you confused with someone else.”

The Game Begins

Moviefan12: Ah the introduction of L,  such an interesting character who chases down our protagonist.  This song is such a fun way to get into his mindset.  And heck, Jim and I get to talk about something we both enjoy with looking at a detective and how his brain works. It almost seems like to most L’s methods seem askew but he knows what he does gets results.   Honestly, this is just a rollicking good introduction to L.

Jim: Definitely one of the best songs in the musical. L is an eccentric character but his mastery as a detective can’t be understated, as he’s able to determine that Kira is a high schooler by the end of the piece. Plus, it shows that he’s not that much different from Light; the pursuit of justice is secondary to catching the criminal and proving his theories correct. He’s even willing to sacrifice others to test his hypothesis. From the start we see he is the perfect foil to Light – two sides of the same coin.

There Are Lines

Moviefan12:  This is an argumentative song between Light and his father.  Perhaps argumentative isn’t the right word but it again looks back at the question of how far would one gone for what they consider righteous justice.   We know how far Light is willing to go and he has a means to justify the ends mentality.  Sure, he’s putting on a facade to say he agrees with his father.  While it is not argumentative in the sense of him arguing with his father,  it is clashing their ideologies.   Light’s father as an adult has fully realized where the line steps.

A bit of a side tangent here but Jeremy Jordan has an interesting tendency to play characters who get themselves in too deep and that is the case here with Light. Weirdly while listening to this song, I couldn’t help but to think of his character of Varian from Tangled: The Series (aka Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure),  in that there we have another young teen who feels the world has gone askew yet with that character it’s more personal.

Not gonna get into spoilers but a difference between the two characters he portrays is how unlike Varian, it’s hard to root for Light as you continue to see the path he goes down.   Yes,  we can agree that his quest to obliterate evil sounds nice but again where is the line?   You say you’ll only go after criminals but who decided a teenager should be judge, jury and executioner? Hmm.

Jim: While I’m not as much a fan of Jeremy Jordan as you are, it is neat to see how many of the characters he portrays fit into a certain archetype. Aside from that, another good song demonstrating how Light’s perspective on the world clashes with that of his family. He demonstrates how manipulative he can be by quickly pretending to heed Soichiro’s words, agreeing that some lines cannot be crossed while he’s going to continue killing. There’s a small reference to the manga and anime when Light offers to help his father’s task force with their investigation, which he did to steer them away from any possible leads that might point to him as Kira. While this isn’t followed up on, I thought it was a nice homage.

Secrets and Lies

Moviefan12: This song is built on paranoia and you can just feel it. Both in the lyrics and the tempo of the song.  You listen as the characters question everything that is happening and you are awash in a wave of paranoia.  It goes back to the question of how far, are you willing to go to get what you want.

Jim: And it reinforces how similar Light and L truly are, as both sing in unison “I don’t care who gets hurt now

As long as I get one more shot.” They’ve both fallen too far into the depths of obsession. In the end, it’s all about proving their superiority. Soichiro’s verse provides a stark contrast to their views, demonstrating he’s the only one in this group retaining some sense of humanity, and as we’ll see, the only one who’ll be spared because of it.

Mortals and Fools

Moviefan12: This song has a lovely sound to it but I think that is meant as a way to lure you into the danger that is ahead. Here we have Misa begging Rem to give her the shinigami eyes.  Rem knows the dangers this presents but Misa is insistent. This is a beautiful yet tragic song.  This ties into the idea of how danger is hidden in beauty and that is what I get with this song.

Jim: A compelling duet offering two different perspectives. Rem tries to warn Misa of how foolish giving up half of her remaining lifespan would be over what could be nothing more than a passing fancy, while Misa, blinded by her delusions and obsession, insists that such a drastic sacrifice is necessary to prove her love to Kira.

While we’re mainly covering the demo soundtrack, I have to bring up the reprise that comes later after Misa and Light finally meet up. This time it’s the two Shinigami who sing it, revealing that Rem is growing to love Misa. She sees that the young pop star is being manipulated and wants to protect her, even as Ryuk warns her not to break the rules. (Putting it simply, if a shinigami uses a Death Note to protect a human rather than to end their life, they will turn to sand and essentially cease to exist)

Stalemate

Moviefan12: Again, keep in mind we are working with a demo of the cast recording and it appears this song changed a few times. We are just looking at the songs as they’re presented here. We have Misa declaring her love for Kira while at the same time, L and Light are snipping at each other. It’s a huge cat and mouse game between the two. The tension between them is built upon from the last song. The best way to describe this song is to say it’s pulsating. Less so the lyrics and more so the backing tracks which make your heart beat faster and faster as you are sitting on edge waiting for their next moves.

Jim: The song definitely has an intense energy to it. However, I don’t think it really fits the situation. Yes, the rivalry between L and Kira has been intensifying, but as this is their first meeting in the flesh, you’d expect them to be more cautious as they size each other up. This number would have benefitted from slower, more subdued music to reflect their mutual evaluations. A greater intensity would better suit the two once their game escalates, as we’ll see in the second act

I’ll Only Love You More

Moviefan12: And here is the song that was written for Kira by Misa. Maybe, it’s me but does anyone find a certain irony in we have a pop idol idolizing a vigilante.  This girl is ready to throw herself at Kira. It’s not healthy and is very parasocial. I did chortle reading Ryuk found this all amusing knowing the truth of Kira’s identity.  This is another one of those songs that outside the show would sound lovely and romantic but knowing the context, you can’t help but to want to wake her up to the truth

Jim: For those who haven’t picked up on it yet, Misa clearly isn’t well. Her obsession with Light borders on Harley Quinn/Joker levels, an analogy that only proves more accurate once she finally meets Light and begins to fall prey to his manipulations. Having watched the stage production, this number further develops Rem’s arc as we can see her slowly growing an affection for Misa.

Honor Bound

Moviefan12: Sorichio here is questioning what he knows of his son after an intense encounter with L. This song is interesting as we here have a father trying to grapple with the truth of who his son could be. Make no mistake about it, Light’s vigilante justice is a form terrorism and it’s so easy to also want to lump in the loved ones in that group of monsters or asking why didn’t they stop them. The case though is Light knows which mask to wear to hide his true intentions around his father.

Jim: a very tragic song, yet another one that highlights the musical’s flaw of giving Light minimal interactions with his family. Imagine how much more impact this would have had if we’d seen Soichiro investigating his son to try and squash L’s theories. A confrontation between father and son as Soichiro tries to get to the truth while attempting to navigate through Light’s deceptions. Again, it’s a great number, but it could have been so much more.

Playing His Game

Moviefan12: Here, we have L and Light going toe to toe in a battle of wits while playing tennis. Honestly, this song imo does a better job than Stalemate of building up the tension between these two. The tennis setting is such a great place to set this as you can hear these two going back and forth. In a weird way, this song amps the listener up so much you feel like you’re sweating listening to it.

Jim:  this is possibly the best song in the soundtrack. Unlike Stalemate, it brings the energy at a moment that truly deserves it, where Light and L have already been trying to expose the other for a while and their battle of wits is reaching its peak. They know the only way to come out ahead is to learn how their opponent operates, carefully analyzing every action the other makes to get inside their head. This isn’t a Holmes/Moriarty rivalry as neither gives away any suggestion that they have a hidden respect for their foe. Again, for both L and Light all that matters is coming out on top.

Borrowed Time

Moviefan12: Here we have another Misa song that is sung as she is being interrogated by L. As Jim has pointed out numerous times, this girl is not well. The Harley comparison Jim used earlier is apt, Harley in her early days was about Mistah J and nothing more (I prefer antihero Harley personally).  You just wanna grab this girl and tell her to get help as she continues to snap

Jim: I don’t really have much more to add here as Rachel laid it out well. This is Misa being pushed to her breaking point but still holding on to her obsession, and it’s tragic to see. I have to point out the interesting appearance of L’s interrogation setup.

Pretty blunt with the symbolism. Misa refuses to see the truth, and she’s willing to make herself a martyr.

When Love Comes

Moviefan12: Misa has reached her breaking point after days of confinement and it seems like she is slowly waking up to the truth. Also, I’ve been using the Death Note wiki get a base idea of these songs and this entry describes how Rem is trying to convince Misa to relinquish the Death Note.  I find that an interesting parallel between these two and Light/Ryuk. Rem has shown genuine care for Misa, something she has needed this whole time whereas going all the way back to They’re Only Human, Ryuk sees as toys and nothing more. The more I think about this song, the more I love it.

Jim: I love this song as well, and it’s what cemented Rem as my favorite character in the musical. Her journey from apathetic, dismissive deity to finally understanding the complexities and pain of human emotion was natural and powerful. While Misa deluded herself into believing she loved Light, Rem’s love was true. And she’s willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to show it.

The Way It Ends

Moviefan12: This song threw me when I hit play as the backing track sounds almost too peppy when compared to the lyrics.  It sounds like it is gonna be a victory song but with the way this show is going, victory doesn’t seem sustainable.  Light has to fall eventually and well right now he thinks he’s at the top so that probably explains the ironic (?) sound of the track compared to what we know is going on.

Jim: Hard to deny how catchy this is when it’s a celebration of the villain’s victory. You can feel the venom dripping as Light gloat about having outplayed L, creating this weird sensation where you’re torn between wanting to applaud him for his master stroke or throttle him for being such a manipulative bastard.

Thankfully, Light’s ego stroking is short lived. Venturing into spoilers here, but for his plan to play out, he used the Death Note to arrange for a confrontation where L would shoot him, and then he would return fire, killing the detective. Light would then frame the deceased L as the copycat Kira and use his father to join the Kira investigation squad, ensuring he could divert any suspicion away from him. But things go awry. Ryuk has grown bored with Light and chooses to end their partnership, writing the boy’s name in the Death Note so that he succumbs to his gunshot wound. Light’s final moments are spent raving about how it’s his destiny to reshape the world as Kira, only to fall on deaf ears. In the end, the sociopathic teen who thought he could use the power of a god found that he was the plaything, discarded like an old toy.

This finale abridges the conclusion of the original manga and anime where Light did join the police before finally being exposed, and I think the change worked better. For one thing it doesn’t unnecessarily drag the story out, but mainly because he conflict between Light and L was a driving factor; one cannot exist without the other. Both of them had to meet their end in the same confrontation, each a victim of his own hubris.

Requiem

Moviefan12: We’ve now reached the final song with the people of Japan paying tribute to those that have fallen while never knowing the truth of Light and Kira being one in the same. In many ways, that is for the best.  This show leaves you with many questions with the biggest one being how far are you willing to go get justice

(Requiem): The sorrowful, elegiac tone of this piece is fitting as the story overall was a tragedy. Light wasted his future on a mad dream, leaving nothing but sorrow for his family. Without L to aid police, who knows how many criminals will remain free? Rem sacrificed eternity for a human. The only one who gets an arguably happy ending is Misa, who is spared while in most other adaptations she dies, but the damage has been done. She’ll never remember what Rem did to save her, and she’s going to die early because she gave up half her life to gain the Shinigami Eyes. Worse yet, since she used the Death Note, when her time comes all that awaits will be an endless void. They were all victims of fanatical ambition, and like the oldest of tragedies, each was the architect of their own doom.

Moviefan12: Jim, thank you for joining me looking at this musical as this is something I’d most likely otherwise never touch.

Jim: Happy to be a part of it. I only checked it out on a whim myself but I’m glad I did. This is one of the few instances where I would say a stage adaptation greatly surpasses its source material. I truly hope that someday it will get a US tour. Until then, if you’ve read this and it piqued your interest, do yourself a favor and check out the soundtrack.

Moviefan12: Join me next time as I l close this event out by looking at the musical adaption of…

Carrie

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