Done all your boxing day shopping and finding yourself desiring the relief of a comfortable couch, good movie and a distinct lack of crowds of people? Just in time for the weekend, Australian anime publisher Madman Entertainment has released three Death Note live-action film adaptations onto their AnimeLab video-on-demand service.
These include the original two Death Note films starring Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami, Kenichi Matsuyama as L and Takeshi Kaga as Soichiro Yagami; and the 2016 sequel Death Note: Light Up the New World featuring an original story from the original work of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
While English dubbing was eventually added to the first two films – all three are only available with the original Japanese audio & English subtitles on AnimeLab. This is the best way to watch the films in my opinion.
AnimeLab is an online anime streaming service managed by Madman Entertainment. It’s accessible only to those residing in Australia and New Zealand and offers a basic service free with video quality, dub and availability timeframe limitations. For those looking for access to no simulcast delays, no ads, full back-catalogue access and high definition video can take advantage of a premium subscription membership for $7.95AUD/month or $79.50AUD/year.
You can read more about, and find links to, each film below:
Death Note – Movie 1
How do you find a serial killer when the killer only needs to know the face and the name of his victims?
Light Yagami, a college law student, comes into the possession of the Death Note – a special notebook with the power to kill. With it he decides to create a perfect world by killing all the criminals. Soon the world’s greatest detective, known only as “L”, is on the case. Now the chase begins to find the ultimate serial killer.
An all out battle between the greatest minds on earth begins.
Death Note – Movie 2
Picking up where the first film leaves off, Light Yagami is in possession of a Death Note, a magical notebook that kills anyone whose name is written on its pages. Though he tries to use it to wipe out criminals, he is soon tempted to use it for less noble purposes.
Light Yagami’s life has become complicated by a police investigation into his alter-ego “Kira”, led by the determined teen detective “L”. Meanwhile, TV star Misa Amane, who also holds a Death Note, proves equally troublesome.
Death Note: Light Up the New World
Set ten years after the events of previous films Death Note and Death Note 2: The Last Name. In 2016, society is afflicted with cyber-terrorism. The Death Note is a supernatural notebook that grants its user the power to kill simply by writing a person’s name on its pages. Six different Death Notes fall to the human world, the maximum number of notes that can exist at once. In the midst of this, two new individuals inherit the DNA of Light Yagami and L and must play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse once again.
