Netflix’s Death Note is a great movie. It may not be an exact interpretation of the classic anime and manga series of the same name, but manages to establish its own personality and reason to exist. A young adult movie that plays to the strengths of the genre, this version of Death Note serves largely as an introduction for anime newcomers to experience why the series became a global phenomenon in the first place.
The movie does a lot of interesting things that diverge from the source material, there’s no doubt about that. Other than revolving around the appearance of the Death Note and possessing characters with largely the same names, save for Mia and Light’s dad, the film and its manga counterpart are radically different renditions of the tale, each told well in its own right.
Though fans have long made up their minds on what makes Death Note as a manga and anime series so great, there’s still a discussion to be had on what makes Netflix’s Death Note great, too. The following is a list of qualities that the film has that make it stand alone as a great rendition to the superb Japanese franchise.
