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General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: Christophomicus on January 08, 2008, 12:27:06 pm

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Christophomicus on January 08, 2008, 12:27:06 pm

So I found out the other day that the Death Note Special has FINALLY been subbed (By Kuro-Hana, who are now coincidentally disbanded) and being the avid Death Note fanboy I am downloaded and watch it pretty much instantly.

Words cannot sum up my disappointment. ;(

We were promised a 3 hour retelling of the story from Ryuk's perspective, were we not? The file I got was 2 hours 10, though this is understandable; with ads, it would've stretched to 3 hours, so.

And yeah, basically it was a 2 hour retelling of the first half of the story. There were TWO different scenes from the series, but to add insult to injury, the total amount of NEW animation I am guessing would not be over 15 minutes.

Changed Things (Click to reveal)

-New way for Light to first meet L; instead of being introduced at university, L instead calls him to get him to join the investigation team. He then leads him through a series of complicated rooms and whatnot to meet him in a big screening room where they watch some Kira evidence together.
-The full version of Zetsubou Billy plays from the moment Higuchi goes to write the policeman's name down to when he gets captured, as opposed to the normal music.
-There is a single shot of the ceiling when L dies that was not present in the original. I don't even know why they added it.
-There is actually a really nice scene at the end where they make a grave for L and funeral and stuff. The rest of the team walks off and Light stays behind, taunting L and physically defacing his grave, saying "I HAVE WON", etc, etc. This was a really good scene.
-Oh, there was a new introduction where an unknown Shinigami comes to Ryuk to hear about Light's story.
-We see after this that the unknown Shinigami has left, and Ryuk tells him to drop a notebook in the human world if he wants some fun, ending with the words "Isn't that right... Light?" which I am not sure if he is implying the unknown shinigami is Light reborn or not, I dunno.
-There was a different version of Alumina for the ending credits
-You'd think they have the bloody decency to at least not recycle animation in their NEW GRAVEYARD SCENE, but no, no, they went and re-used stuff from Episode 37. Light's maniacal laughter when he claims "I am Kira" to Near and his eyes are glowing red is recycled for this scene, but his eyes glow blue instead.

And yeah, that is about it.  I mean, the Near/Mello arc wasn't even covered at all. They also chopped out A HEAP of stuff, so if you're watching Death Note for the first time, chances are you will not understand what's going on. They missed out several plot points that bring it all together. I don't really know who the target audience for this was, considering it was aired a mere TWO MONTHS after the end of Death Note TV, so it's not like people are like "Oh yeah, haven't seen for a while, might just catch this one to refresh my memory".

Very disappointing. Only download if you are an extremely avid fan and have a few hours to spare.

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Liman on January 08, 2008, 01:27:45 pm

Nice to hear some input on this special "episode". I haven't seen it yet and based on your comments I most likely will wait till some people cut out the new stuff and add it to Youtbe.

I've read somewhere about this new unknown Shinigami and that some people assumed it was Light. I'm not sure what to think until I've actually seen it, but the translation makes it sound more like Ryuk is implying that "shit will happen if you drop it, Light if anyone knows that" rather than that he means that the Shinigami is Light reborn.

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Jeff on January 08, 2008, 02:42:05 pm

Hidden content (Click to reveal)

I had always assumed that when Ryuk said that when Light dies Ryuk would write his name down and that he wouldn't go to heaven or hell to mean that users of the Death Note are reborn as shinigami.

Also I am sad to see that they did nothing with episode 37.

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Liman on January 08, 2008, 04:01:55 pm

I found a clip with L's funeral and the scene between Ryuk and the new shinigami (that reminds me nothing of Light, not that it has to but...)

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=srVMm8RA5rY

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Jeff on January 08, 2008, 05:52:03 pm

Hmmm. I think that one could assume that my assertion was correct. It seems that is what the creators are trying to imply with that.

Also, so it really skips all the events that happen after L dies? That's terrible. In my opinion, Death Note was only an above average anime until the last episode. That rush of emotion in the end and that collapsing feeling of all of Light's hopes and dreams was what really made the anime stand out. Like, contemporary television media really rarely leaves you with an indelible impression of something, you usually forget about things you have seen, but it will be a long time before I forget the ending to Death Note even though much of the series is already lost in the haze of memory.

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: Christophomicus on January 08, 2008, 10:47:59 pm

Quote from: Jeff on January 08, 2008, 05:52:03 pm

Hmmm. I think that one could assume that my assertion was correct. It seems that is what the creators are trying to imply with that.

Also, so it really skips all the events that happen after L dies? That's terrible. In my opinion, Death Note was only an above average anime until the last episode. That rush of emotion in the end and that collapsing feeling of all of Light's hopes and dreams was what really made the anime stand out. Like, contemporary television media really rarely leaves you with an indelible impression of something, you usually forget about things you have seen, but it will be a long time before I forget the ending to Death Note even though much of the series is already lost in the haze of memory.

Yeah, this is how it ends. As I mentioned, that grave scene where Light dances on his grave and goes all loony, etc. Then Ryuk says "L's gone, huh, looks like things are going to get boring." and Light says "What are you talking about, Ryuk? I'll show you how I will become the god of my new world." and then he walks off, and there's about a minutes of him doing his fancy walking down an escher-style staircase sort of. And then it shows Ryuk's Death Note with Light's name in it, before going back to Ryuk where he's like "OH HE'S GONE. NO MORE STORY TO TELL."

And yeah, nothing more from that. :| I totally agree with you about 37; I've heard lots of people say they found it bad and out of character, but I thought it was rather excellent! If they were going to cover that though, it would definitely have to be in a different special. Two hours barely covered up to L's Death as is, trying to cram in the next arc... not a smart move.

@Lyman: Yeah, I am not actually sure what to think. :|

Title: Death Note: Rewrite/Director's Cut
Post by: r on January 09, 2008, 02:20:25 pm

http://damage-inc.net/dl/%5bKuro-Hana%5d%20Death%20Note%20Special%20%5bH264%5d%5b720P%5d%5b651E84B9%5d.mkv
this is it