Title:  Death Note Relight: Visions Of A God UK Distributor:  Manga Entertainment BBFC Certificate:  15 Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £14.99 Running Time: 140mins (approx.) Audio Options:  English 2.0, Japanese 2.0 Subtitles:  English Release Date:  8th February 2010 Reviewer:  Tom (Webmaster)

It has become a classic tale of modern anime.  Boy finds book.  Boy discovers writing in said book kills people.  Boy becomes vigilante.  Police notice said vigilante.  Boy starts killing said police.  The world's greatest detective takes on the challenge.  Boy takes on said detective and becomes ever-increasingly obsessed with power.  Both engage in an epic battle of wits which will determine if the world is spared the judgement of a teenager with a killer notebook, with the onus on cunning and dialogue, rather then fighting and action.  Welcome to the world of Death Note. 
 

No doubt you are aware of the above basic plot of Death Note.  It has become a modern classic due to its unique idea that the protagonist Light Yagami fights purely through the power of the written word and his genius mind, plus he is also the villain of the piece.  His techniques often defeat the modern technology deployed to survey, but he cannot outdo L, the detective who takes on Light in order to prove he is Kira, the moniker the press give the killer.  Explaining why criminals and

police pursuing Kira dying of heart attacks is murder is going to be tricky, but L proves a worthy adversary for Light, quickly deducing him.  All he needs is proof of the murder weapon. 

Following the massive success of the original series, it was inevitable that more anime would follow and it arrives in the form of Death Note Relight: Visions Of A God.  The subtitle comes from the claim that this new anime tells the story through the eyes Ryuk, the Shinigami (Death God) who purposefully drops the killer notebook to Earth with intention of watching the actions of the human who finds it.  When Light finds and uses it, Ryuk reveals himself and subsequently follows Light around in order to witness how he will use the notebook.  Ryuk remains an impartial character throughout, making it clear that it has no allegiance to Light and only wishes to witness human behaviour.  The thought of revisiting the anime through the eyes of this character would be somewhat appealing then, given that he would give an honest analysis of each character and situation.  That is what I hoped for anyway. 

Sadly Death Note Relight: Visions Of A God does not do what it says on the box and is one big collection of clips from the first half of the anime series, melded together to produce a feature-length film.  It opens with a Shinigami interested in the human world seeking out Ryuk, who then goes into the standard 'let me tell you a story...' line and then to the beginning of the anime series with Light finding the notebook. 
 

There is a problem with taking around the first 25 episodes of as series and condensing it down into a film, and that is the characterisation is largely lost (something viewers of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth will attest to).  In the film Light succumbs to evil more quickly then in the original series, thus making the transition less realistic.  Pivotal character Raye Penbar is given less screen time here, thus making his
fate seem less important.  Other important

characters such as Light's father and Misa Amane suffer from lack of introduction. 

Death Note Relight: Visions Of A God was originally made for broadcast on Japanese TV to serve as recap for a chunk of the anime series.  If you are watching it for this purpose alone, then it does this fine since you will be familiar with the characters and plot already.  In a way it is a good tactic by the broadcaster, since it allows the number of flashback scenes and review episode to be kept to a minimum for a series, thus make the series much tighter in terms of writing. 

As a DVD purchase though, it is questionable whether Death Note Relight: Visions Of A God is really worth the bother.  If you have already paid for the series, then why would you shell out £14.99 just to watch a recap for a series you already own?  If the film and been intercut with Ryuk giving his opinions on proceedings, or narrating at suitable points, then it may have proven more interesting.  It may have justified the repackaging of a set of clips. 

On the other hand though not everyone has seen the original series and may view this as a good opportunity to find out what all the fuss was about.  It is cheaper then purchasing the series after all and will give an indication of what makes Death Note the classic it is, since all the ideas are still there.  Personally I would advise to purchase the original series or the manga, as a cut-down version is rarely as good as the full version. 

Not quite a fans only title as expected then, but it definitely a huge disappointment for fans given the false manner in which it is presented.  This is not through the eyes of a death god but rather through the eyes of a cash cow. 
 

Extras:

The original Japanese making of is included, alongside the original Japanese promos and trailers for other releases. 

Ratings

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