As a fan of both the manga and anime, I was surprised at how well this movie turned out. Live action movies often ruin the brilliance of the cartoons because real life is, well, real life. Ryuk was done quite well. Using animation made him look unreal, but he was a god of death from another dimension, so it made sense that he shouldn't look like part of our world.The movie stayed true to the plot of the manga for the first half. When it started straying, I thought, "Oh drat. Here comes the awfulness." Instead, I was wowed at the brilliant maneuvering in changing Naomi's part in the story while still keeping parts from the original. Movie adaptions that stray from their original stories annoy me, but this one pulled it off wonderfully.And that ending. L mocking Light with the bag of chips. Brilliant.

Death Note A something about Japanese which I don't know. But as far as I could understand not on the basis the actors themselves, but the concept; its good. Its akin to The Matrix, with such vivid thought behind the story and the detailing of the concept of Death Note. Though at one level it is merely a fiction ( or maybe not :P), but the story holds really good and makes sense. The good thing about fiction outside India is that it is seen for its logical coherence. So in these respects, it good. The actors, especially Light Yagami, L and the father of the protagonist have played their characters really well. The way they were directed has to be attributed to their acting also. The concept in the mind of the director would also be a part of this film. Not to put too much mind, the demerits are that it could be a bit confusing to some who are interested to follow it. It adds up well for the movie lover. The soundtrack, I guess is worth a listen since the movie got really great sounds amidst all the suspense. ON the whole, it's a film worth watch! But I would advise you not to put your mind into it but hang onto your seats. The problem is that you would certainly be forced to see the next part. Not revealing, the story because its worth a watch. Actually reflecting back, the story line is really simple, but it's the execution. This again comes back to the point that, story need not be really complex for it to gel well, but it needs to be told really nicely. I give it a 7 on 10, the points missed are just the fiction being stretched too far with the concept.

My mom is NOT an anime or manga fan by any stretch of the imagination.She did, however watch this and the sequel, and was completely floored by them. I was able to tell her, 'See? This is what I've been talking to you about. Anime does not mean Tom and Jerry, it is medium not genre...(etc. typical "I told you so" rant)'.I've been told I have to watch this show for a while now, but never took the time to look it up. I finally watched this and the sequel myself and have since watched the full anime series and find the differences inconsequential. The movie is fairly accurate on many of the specific instances mentioned in the series, but I think of it as more of a re-imagining of the original. Think this way and you can't go wrong. Look at it this way, if the anime had followed the movie plot line, it would have been fantastic, that's how good a job they did.This was an excellent movie with great writing, directing, and acting. Its going to stay in my permanent collection, and is one I can't wait to show my kids when they get old enough to watch it.

As a non-aficionado of manga, I am always wary of manga-inspired productions. Nana, for example, panders purely to its manga fan-base and fails to engage a wider audience.Death Note, however, manages to break free of its comic book origins. Light finds the Death Note, a jotter that allows him to pass a death sentence on anyone whose name he writes in it. Ryuuk, the apple-addicted Angel of Death who owns the book, turns up to play sidekick to Light's procession of executions. The police are at a loss, till super-sleuth 'L' takes on the case and figures out the MO and narrows the suspects down to the lead detectives' family.Tatsuya Fujiwara is perfectly cast, his angelic features in shocking contrast to the character's dark heart. Ken'ichi Matsuyama is all quirky brilliance as L. The pace is brisk, the twists plausible and surprising. The ending sets up the sequel but in a forgivable manner. Fun, entertaining cinema.