Desu NÅto has been hugely popular in Japan in the last few months, and it’s even spawned two live-action movies in Japan. Justly so, since it’s a taut and riveting series, and I’ve been following it on a weekly basis.
Until this week, that is. Last week, Viz announced that they’ve received the stateside licensing for the series, which stops legitemate fansubs cold. Viz doesn’t have the best track record of localization, so this was hardly considered positive news.
Their business model is interesting. They’ll be releasing DVD’s dubbed in English, but they’ll also be serializing it as it airs for download (the downloads will be Japanese with subtitles), which is the first time a distributor has done this. There’s no word yet how much the downloads will cost.
For those of us following the fansubs, this is something of a cliffhanger, given that the last episode to air sets up a meeting between two rivals that could change the entire direction of the series. A few months will likely pass before Viz begins distributing downloads, so the waiting is going to be somewhat unpleasant.
In case you’ve been out of touch, Death Note is the story of a young man named Yagumi Light, a bright college student who comes into posession of a notebook called the Death Note. These notebooks belong to the Shingiyami (“death gods”) of Japanese lore. Whoever owns the Death Note can kill a person by simply writing their name in it while picturing that person’s face. There are also means by which the owner can specify the exact nature and time of death, and the victim’s actions leading up to it can be controlled.
Sure, this sounds like typical Hollywood setup, but the series is much more than that. Light sees a world filled with crime and villany, and he makes the decision to use the Death Note to kill those he deems evil. Ostesibly, his intention is to make the world a better place (albeit in a very fascist and arbitrary way), and in time, the mysterious deaths among the criminal element start getting attention. The media dubs the unknown avenger Kira, and of course, law enforcement starts to hunt him.
Over time, Light’s motivations become less about destroying “evil” and more about protecting himself, even if that means killing innocents. One episode involves a brilliant plan to kill off an entire team of FBI agents who’ve arrived in Japan to investigate the case. The wife of one of the agents actually meets Light, and he reveals his identity to her just before sending her to her death. He smiles as the recognition sinks in, and the final scene is of Naomi walking off to commit suicide. It’s one of the most shocking and emotionial things I’ve seen in awhile, and it puts all six seasons of 24 to shame.
Up until now, the story has been a cat-and-mouse game between Light and a preternatural investigator known as L. Both men exist in the shadows, and each wants the other dead. Even though Light is right under L’s nose (quite literally), and L suspects him, neither person can play his hand openly.
The tension in this series is brilliantly handled, and the voice actors are clearly into their roles. As of the last story arc, a second “Kira” has appeared, and her actions threaten to drag Light into the open. As of episode 13, the two were to meet, and this is where the series leaves off for now.
As it is, I’ll likely be sticking to the subtitled downloads, as the Japanese cast is phenomenal (Misa is voiced by the Aya Hirano of Haruhi fame). Although Toriyama and others have ceased their projects, there is still a chance that it may be picked up by another group.
