Death Note Director Adam Wingard Says Creators Approved of Film's Changes

Hollywood has tried its hand with anime several times, but there are lots of adaptations that fell short of expectations. Not every film is a flop like Dragonball Evolution, but Netflix's Death Note did upset fans similarly but on a smaller scale. Many were unhappy by all the changes the live-action venture made, but die-hard fans will want to remember something...

At the end of the day, the creators of Death Note gave their blessing to all of the changes made.

Recently, a resurfaced interview with Death Note director Adam Wingard has reminded fans of the little-known fact. Speaking to Gormaru about Godzilla vs Kong, it was there the director said he understands the complaints fans lodge against anime adaptations but that all the changes made in Death Note were vetted.

"I get where they're coming from, and I can't deny that we're making a movie very different from the source material but that is also by design," Wingard said.

"Ultimately, if we tried to do something that was exactly the same, it would have been a jumbled mess. It would have put too much in one film."

Continuing, the director went on to discuss how involved Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata were with the film. The creators of Death Note were kept up-to-date on all things film, and Wingard says they approved of all the final changes.

"The creators loved it. They were very onboard with all the changes we made," the director said.
"We were very forthright with every script we would send to them and cuts of the film. They really like that it's different and doing something new."

Clearly, the creators were fine with the changes, but anime purists were not thrilled by the film's Western relocation. Accusations of whitewashing began to follow the adaptation on social media, and Death Note's massive fanbase was quickly biased by the debate. Now, it seems Death Note has hit an official wall with Netflix, and there is no telling how the franchise's creators reacted to the whole kerfuffle.

So, did you mind the changes made in Netflix's Death Note? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

For those unfamiliar with Death Note, the original series was created by Tsugumi Ohba with illustrations by Takeshi Obata. The series' synopsis can be read here: "Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?"