Death Note: The Musical

Death Note: The Musical
Poster for 2015 South Korea Production
Music	Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics	Jack Murphy
Book	Ivan Menchell
Basis	Death Note Manga and Anime by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Productions	2015 US Concept Album 2015 Tokyo, Japan 2015 Seoul, South Korea 2017 Seoul, South Korea 2017 Tokyo, Japan

Death Note: The Musical is a musical based on the manga and anime of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Jack Murphy and book by Ivan Menchell.

Development for the musical was announced in December 2013. The musical had its world premiere on April 6, 2015 at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo, Japan, with a Korean production opening the following July, running through August, at the Opera House of Seongnam Arts Center in Seoul.

Light Yagami is a genius high school student in Tokyo, Japan, who despises criminals. He expresses his frustrations to his teacher, his classmates rallying to his side as he proclaims the failures of the justice system. ("Where is the Justice"). Meanwhile, two Shinigami ("gods of death") named Ryuk and Rem discuss how pitiful humans are, before Ryuk, seeking entertainment, drops a supernatural notebook called the "Death Note" into the human world. ("They're Only Human"). Light finds it in the street and jokingly writes the name of a criminal that is currently holding a group of children hostage ("Change the World"). When the criminal dies, Light is initially horrified - until his hatred of criminals prompts him to use the Death Note to rid the world of crime, beginning a series of murders that quickly attracts the attention of the police ("Hurricane"). Following this, Chief Soichiro Yagami reluctantly proposes that they enlist the enigmatic but unorthodox detective known only as L.

Whilst Light flicks through the Death Note in his room, Ryuk appears and identifies himself as the notebook's original owner. He reveals that he will write Light's name inside when it's his time to die and that only those who have touched the Death Note can see him - as demonstrated when Light's little sister, Sayu, bursts into the room, completely oblivious to Ryuk's presence. When she leaves, Light reveals his plans to become the world's savior, using the internet to show Ryuk that people have joyously labelled the killings the work of "Kira" (derived from "killer"). Ryuk, amused that the people's "hero" is no more than a bratty teenager, reveals that he didn't choose Light for the task and merely dropped the Death Note out of boredom ("Kira!"). Subsequently, Light and Sayu attends the concert of famous idol Misa Amane, who dedicates her performance to Kira ("Ready for Love"). Afterwards, when Sayu mentions that she believes Kira's actions are wrong, Light asks what she would say to Kira if she met him. He is left stunned by her response - she would tell him to stop, declaring that he should follow her brother's example, whilst Misa muses over how much she idolizes Kira ("We All Need a Hero").