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I went and saw the Death Note Musical last night. It was exactly what it advertised itself to be, which was a translation of the Japanese script with all its delights and flaws. I’m sure it’d be utterly impenetrable to anyone who didn’t know Death Note in and out, but as someone who listens to the English demo CD on the regular I loved it.

The stage was cut into three pieces: Light’s bedroom on the left, L’s room in the middle and a police/news reporter desk on the right. There were steps leading up to every part and a clear piece of stage at the front, which was all dynamically used.

My highlights were:

Soichiro (yes always my fave) was such a tiny man compared to the buff actor playing Light, but he held himself with such stern dignity Light’s deference was totally believable. His songs broke my heart.

Ryuk enlivened every scene he was in - every single actor who shared a scene with him bounced so well off of him

Rem is just so lovely and dignified. Mortals and Fools was gorgeous

I am here for a Ryuk and Rem friendship. Him warning her to be careful and her trying to explain herself with the Mortals and Fools refrain? That was everything missing from the manga. Ryuk got dimension.

Misa’s actor was 100% energy the entire time, pure MisaMisa

Borrowed Time is the best characterisation Misa has been given in any part of the franchise and her actress sold it, blindfolded and strapped up and belting that song back to the entire crowd

During his first song I thought Light’s actor was shitting himself for real, since he was coming across as not having the confidence to really belt out Where Is The Justice at his teacher, but as the scenes progressed I realised it was a directorial choice to contrast who he was to who he became once he got hold of the Death Note’s power - and he really did embody “I’m seventeen and understand the world better than anyone else because I have good grades!” to a tee

He really turned into such a delightful shit by the end, crowing and mocking and complaining about how his own plan hurt…

But oh, Ryuk’s actor made the switch from comedy relief to solemn immortal creature so well. Him sitting in L’s throne, silent and stonefaced, as the rest of the cast sang Requiem around L and Light’s dead bodies was perfect

The fact that I got to hear the policeman’s song, L’s Shinigami revelation and all the refrains in English, filling the gaps of the English demo

The wording in some of the songs changed! For most of them it was little things, but just like in the Japanese stage version L’s first part of The Way It Ends was completely rewritten

Listening to it you can hear the songs were originally written in English - all of the Japanese and Korean productions have awkward parts in the songs where they’re trying to make the syllables fit with the beat, but for the English version the beat/syllable rhythm lined up perfectly

And some other things:

That was the most blue/green hair I’ve ever seen at any theatre showing I’ve been to. You all looked good in it though, kiddiwinks.

All the spoken parts were in American English. I suppose that was done to keep the accent consistent with the songs, but in general it’s a trend in London theatre that I wish they’d reverse.

Well done to L’s actor for doing all those frog squats. The first one he did, I could see his ankles wobbling furiously trying to keep himself stable. Apart from a brief touch to the stage you never would have known from the rest of him he wasn’t a natural squatter

Unlike the Far Eastern productions, there was no revolving set so when it was the scene for Misa’s interrogation the little actress was literally wheeled out strapped to a box trolley. It was hilarious.

There were complaints about opening night having broken props and bad timing. For my show the next night, the props all stayed in one piece and the timing for the tennis match was spot on

However there were still a couple mistimings - someone from backstage spoke a line at the beginning of Stalemate that should have come at I’ll Only Love You More, which did throw the actors about to sing, but only in that they briefly broke character with their facial expressions before launching into their song

But I think it may have thrown L a bit more, as he accidentally skipped a couple words in his sung verse, leaving a little silent gap before smoothing into his next line. He saved it really well.

The sound mixing needed a little tweaking - occasionally the lyrics got drowned out by the music, but the orchestra were fantastic.

A bunch of tiny little lines had been excised here and there, I’m guessing to bring it down to a certain runtime length.

But all that is just the nature of live productions. When you know a show well enough, you notice when things aren’t what they are in the recordings. I’m not going to go in September, but if it does another run next year I’ll definitely go again to enjoy how the show evolves.

[captainhysunstuff]

stares at u with my autistic eyes 🤑

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haha they're getting along

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Why does everyone look at me like that?

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DOUBLE ART JUMPSCARE!!!!

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My angry chocolate boi 🍫🖤

He's forever my favorite ✨️🥇

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whimsical lawlight wedding save me....

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The red scarf that reminds you of innocence ( if you get the reference then have a cupcake ) ft Matt?

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hello.

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hi エル

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i just read your chain comic and holy . gawd. i have so much to say but i will be quick. the way you build up the tension between light and L. amazing. showstopping. goes from tender in the beginning and making my heart warm to when L finally confronts light about being kira that i was so. i cannot describe. just reading L get So Into It about L being Kira and being RIGHT made me feel like i was. losing it. like i was being stabbed and having a heart attack and an earth shattering mindgasm all at once. like how when people saw the exorcist they freaked the heck out. that was ME for this comic (in the best way possible). like i was SO ready for them to kiss and get nasty over him being a killer . like i felt it in my veins. amazing artwork. amazing story. <3

I’m super glad that you’ve enjoyed my fancomic~! It’s certainly been a labor of nerdy love making it, so it’s great to hear that it’s given you such a positive experience~! Thanks for checking it out, and have a wonderful rest of your day~! ❤️😊❤️

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"Who's Hotter?" Battle of the Anime Duos #5

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Misa <3333

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catching up with faith the unholy trinity after a million years

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My top ten Death Note moments:

This

This

This

This

This

This

This

This

This

This

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[captainhysunstuff]

damn bitch chill tf out this is death note not freak note