Remix of Death Note

            Quite frequently a movie is made based on a book or anime, and it goes horribly wrong. Take Dragonball Evolution, a 2009 American film based on the Japanese anime with a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Or even The Last Airbender, a 2010 American film with a 6% rating. Both are examples of remix. Remix is like taking ingredients and mixing them all in a bowl, except the outcome depends on if you know what you’re doing. The same can be applied to anything we know of. It is taking an idea, and presenting something new. These ideas can come from a range of things, such as books, T.V shows, artwork, etc. There are also different types of categorized remixes, and each type of remix are used to classify the remix situation of two different texts or more. These remixes are often interpreted as something original because most of the time, there is a new meaning, purpose and audience to the text.

            For example - one of my favorite anime, Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba, recently adapted into the American Netflix film Death Note (2017) by Adam Wingard. Like most remixed movies, Wingard has intended for this movie to reach the same audience, but also to newer audience as well. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be using the same name, “Death Note”. To give perspective on the remix situation, Death Note revolves around the main character (also the antagonist) using his new found note book – The Death Note.  The Death Note has the capability of killing people – anyone can write a name in the notebook and kill them, so long as they know that it is their real name, and that they know what the person looks like. The main character Light uses the death note for his own purposes to enforce his ideals and justice on criminals. Although there are many critiques on the new film, the setting of the story being in America changes many things about the film. First, the social society in which the antagonist is placed in. In Japan, societal pressure for students to be successful is much more common than in America. This changes the character’s personality and behavior. Secondly, the justice system is different in America compared to Japan. This changes the antagonist’s beliefs on “justice”, which is the main point of how the character uses the Death Note in the first place.

            Subtle differences like this shows us that the remix situation of the text is intended for newer audience. It also shows how the intended audience can change because of the differences in social norms. We can classify this type of remix as redistribution. That is because remix is transformative work that changes the original text with a new purpose, meaning and audience. The rhetorical act of changing the text to change the main character’s personality introduces a new theme in which we portray both the movie and original anime/manga.