Cast announcement for drama adaptation of "Death Note"

The cast lineup for the upcoming NTV Summer 2015 drama "Death Note" was announced where Kubota Masataka will take the leading role of Yagami Light while his nemesis-cum-famous detective L will be played by Yamazaki Kento. As for Near who makes his first appearance in a Death Note adaptation, the character will be played by actress Yuki Mio who was on a short break from work after falling ill in February.

"Death Note" was a popular manga by Oba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi which was serialised in "Shukan Shonen Jump" between 2003 and 2006. The movie adaptations in 2006 which achieved box office takings of more than JPY 8 billion, featured Fujiwara Tatsuya as Light and Matsuyama Kenichi as L. However, the story in this drama adaptation will be different from the original. For example, Light who was depicted as a genius in the manga and movie, will become an ordinary student with no aspirations or special talents in the drama who becomes a dark hero after getting the Death Note. As for L, he becomes someone who is hard to get close to and hates doing any unnecessary things. L's habit of eating lots of sweet stuff will also be removed from the drama's story. In the case of Near, the character becomes somewhat hard to distinguish as male or female and simply looks on from the sidelines as Light and L battle it out.

Kubota and Yamazaki who are both fans of the manga and movie, admitted that there is a lot of pressure for them as there are many hardcore fans like them. Kubota also revealed that when he got the offer to play Light, he sent an email to Fujiwara and received an encouraging reply from the latter.

Source: Oricon / Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

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I love my Death Note, not just the manga but also the movies. To me, Fujiwara and Matsuyama are Light and L, no questions about it. 

With regard to the cast announcements, I'm very happy to see Kubota playing Light and think that he can nail it. I'm not too familiar with Yamazaki and Yuki so I'm neither thrilled or upset about them playing L and Near. Maybe it's my fixation with Fujiwara and Matsuyama that I find it difficult to imagine anyone else playing these characters. Maybe that's why I cringed when I saw Koike Teppei playing L in the Death Note Musical.

What irks me most is the changing of the drama's setting and storyline. If something ain't broken, there is no need to fix it. I understand if NTV wants to do something different from the 2006 version but still, this is a huge risk to take. That's why I think it's a double-edged sword to be too adventurous when it comes to adaptations.

I'll still check this out when it airs but honestly, I am not very hopeful about this drama's prospects.