Light Yagami (played by Tatsuya Fujiwara) It lets the viewer know right away what the Death Note is and what it does, explaining the rise of Kira before we even get a glimpse at the main character behind him. The opening of the film is actually one of my favorite parts of it, with the audience being treated to Light writing names down in the Death Note and the resulting deaths of the criminals. Part I of the duology handles the introduction of Light Yagami as the cold-hearted killer Kira. embarrasses Light on live television by proving that he is unable to kill him, Light launches a scheme to get on the police task force to kill L. When the police get involved with trying to figure out who Kira is, Light finds himself in a struggle with the enigmatic detective L. The film introduces the string of heart attack deaths targeting criminals as the mysterious godlike persona known as Kira. Part I opens with Light Yagami writing names in the Death Note and the resulting demises. But it is the story of Death Note and I found myself excited as I went along for the ride. Part I of this duology is engaging, intense, dark, and I loved a lot about how it handled the story of Death Note. The CGI used for the death gods isn’t great and the special effects need work but – despite all that – I found myself caught up in the story of Death Note all over again. At least it tries to capture the spirit of the original source. I saw the 2017 Netflix live action film and – unlike that disaster of a film – this story is faithful (for the most part) to the manga.