Don’t Miss Death Note: The Musical In Seoul Now!
If you’re interested in Japanese culture, it’s hard not to know about Death Note. As one of the most popular mangas and animes, its influence has spread worldwide with translations and adaptations in different languages. Did you know that in 2015 Death Note was adapted into a Korean Musical as well? If you’re looking for a musical to see in Seoul, I definitely recommend this one, especially if you’re a fan of the anime.
Get ready to see Death Note in Seoul:
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Basic Info
Booking Website:
For Korean residents (With an ARC)
For tourists (No ARC)
Days: Every Day
Showtime: 2:30 and 7:30pm
Runtime: 160 minutes (plus a 20-minute intermission)
Ages: 14 and up
Admission: Depends on the seats you choose
R – 150,000 Won
S – 130,000 Won
A – 100,000 Won
B – 70,000 Won
What To Know About Death Note
The musical Death Note is adapted from the Japanese manga of the same name that was created in 2003 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The original run was from 2003 to 2006, and it gained worldwide popularity which led to it, being adapted into multiple mediums in many different languages, including anime, movies, shows, audio dramas, and video games.
Here are some cool facts about Death Note:
- As of 2015, the manga has over 30 million copies in circulation.
- While the two authors were working on the pilot chapter, they never met in person and communicated only through their editor.
- A survey done in 2007 named Death Note the 10th greatest manga of all time
- One of the authors, Tsugumi Ohba, uses a pen name for all of his work, and his real identity is largely unknown.
What To Know About Death Note In Korea
This is the third Korean-language production of Death Note. There were performances in 2015, 2017, and now in 2022, it’s showing again. Also, a tidbit for the K-Pop fans, in all three runs of the show, former TVXQ member Kim Junsu has played the role of L, the best detective in the world.
This run of Death Note: The Musical is a non replica version which means that the costumes and performances have been redesigned and redirected rather than reusing sets and props from previous productions.
Synopsis
The main plot involves a high school student named Light Yagami finding a book, the Death Note, that allows him to kill people simply by writing their names in it. He quickly finds out that this book is tied to a Shinigami, or a god of death, named Ryuk. Light uses the Death Note to kill criminals, and quickly becomes convinced that he can build a new world using the power of the book.
The default way for people to die when their name is written in the Note is by a heart attack, so the Japanese police quickly become suspicious of the fact that so many seemingly healthy criminals are dying of heart attacks. They form a special team to investigate, and internet netizens decide that the person responsible should be called Kira, based on the English word “killer”.
The Japanese police also bring in the greatest detective in the world, who only goes by L, to help figure out who Kira is. The rest of the plot involves a battle of worldviews between the two. Light, who believes that the only way to make the world better is to rid it of all the bad people in the world, and L, who believes in second chances for everyone.
My Review
As someone who has seen the anime a couple of times, I’m very familiar with the story and I think it’s a great one. I had a lot of expectations going into this musical because I thought it would be the same as the anime, but I think I should have considered the difference in art medium more. The musical followed the general plot of the manga, with slight changes to keep with the runtime of 3 hours.
Everyone in the cast did a wonderful job telling the story. The costumes and actors’ personalities shined so well that there was no doubt in my mind that these were the Death Note characters I love so much. The singing was really powerful, and the actors did a really good job portraying the emotions of their characters.
The only thing that was a little unexpected was the musical’s interpretation of L, the detective. In the manga and the anime, L is a pretty lethargic character. He moves and talks slowly, never really yells, and has a pretty carefree attitude most of the time. I feel like it would be hard to translate his personality into a musical, where everything that’s happening is very loud and dramatic.
The L on stage seemed much more maniacal than the one in the anime. The costume and mannerisms were on point, such as how L tends to hold everything with only his thumb and forefinger, but the personality of the L on stage just didn’t seem the same. However, the actor’s singing was really powerful, and he helped to carry the plot super well. The concepts behind the battle between Light and L were present in the musical version, so that allowed me to have the same reactions to the plot that I did while watching the anime.
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