Death Note Trailer Hits The U.S.

Those oh-so-wacky Japanese manga writers sure hit on a hot property with Death Note, the touching story of a boy, his demon and his notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written in it.
The manga series was massive there and has spawned a series of equally money-making films. Neither have come to America, although Viz Media is planning on distributing the first feature "sometime this Spring." Viz may not be as bad the Weinsteins when it comes to holding Japanese properties hostage, but I'll believe it's really coming when I see it on my local marquee.
Head over to Fangoria for the first look at the U.S. trailer. Be aware, while the trailer has been dubbed into English, the film (if ever released) will be in Japanese with English subtitles.






Frater Mine by Sean McGrath and Juan Romera
Ohgod.
I've seen the movies, and they're fairly awful J-horror fare. If you want to introduce Americans to Death Note, why not show the anime on TV first?
Because Americans have a notoriously short attention span. Unraveling epic storylines like LOST are rare in American cinema/television. They are most definitely the exception. As a whole, our society likes bite size pieces that loosely connect to one another.
It's one of the reasons shows like CSI and Law and Order work so well. Each episode is stand alone in each case, but you do get something for watching whole seasons as there are small character arcs along the way. Trying to get people hooked on a long running anime in the mainstream would be like yelling at a river to flow backwards.
Okay, so neither of you realize that Cartoon Network has been playing the anime of Death Note on Adult Swim?
I'm aware, it's just that Adult Swim isn't exactly what I would call the Zeitgeist. The people who watch hat are already reading comics or watching foreign movies anyway.
Plus, I really hate anything dubbed and rarely consider it a real version.
Yeah, but Adult Swim is what got Fox to make new episodes of Family Guy, and is responsible for Futurama "movies." The marketing campaign for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie caused panic in Boston. Adult Swim is, I think, a little more zeitgeisty than you give it credit for being.
Although I will concede the point about dubbing. Although, when I'm looking at my computer with the TV on beside me, it's a little hard to read subtitles. Dubbing bothers me far less with anime than with other films.