Another day, another Japanese manga/anime gets an American live action adaptation starring white people.
The progressive half of the internet has been losing its collective mind for months over the whitewashing of Ghost in the Shell, where white lady Scarlett Johansen plays what was a Japanese robot in the original anime.
Now Netflix has released a trailer for its own adaptation of the hit manga and anime Death Note, starring a white guy as the lead character, Light. The original Death Note took place in Tokyo where the entire animated cast was Japanese. Based on the trailer, the Netflix series will take place in the United States.
The detective character L. will be played by black actor, Lakeith Stanfield. It may not be heretical to turn a Japanese character into a black guy. Indeed, it could be really bad. Or really good.
The ancient demon Ryuk will be played by Willem Defoe. Not exactly sure whether to consider a demon a PoC, but if so, for shame Willem Defoe.
Obviously many people on Twitter are upset about these race changes. It happens every time an Asian character gets turned white, as happened with Dr. Strange, Power Rangers and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
If I was the creator, I would have made the main character trans Hawaiian to really throw a wrench into the rules of these situations. Would people still complain? I don’t know…