Nobody give the Death Note to Lisa…
The Simpsons season 34 will have an epic tribute to Death Note, the famous series from the mid-early last decade, with an anime parody that has turned the entire American family into typical characters of an action series. The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman shared this information with Deadline.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that this series pays tribute like this, Studio Ghibli has been one of the best known versions. In this case, the skit will appear as one of the long-running show’s stories told in this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode. Speaking to Variety, Selman added that the Death Note parody was animated by “an entirely different studio” and is “an incredibly authentic Simpsons anime.” Selman added: “I really think people [va] go crazy about it. We are not trying to take on all animeit’s an incredibly rich and diverse genre in itself… we focused on one thing, this Death Note show.”
The first clip from ‘The Simpsons’ parody of ‘DEATH NOTE’ has been released.
It is animated by DR Movie who also worked on the original series. pic.twitter.com/mmM7IbXc6K
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 25, 2022
Selman also says that in the next season, The Simpsons will parody Ellen, It, QAnon. Melissa McCarthy will appear as a guest voice actress playing a “rival for Grandpa’s love.” The Simpsons season 34 will premiere on September 25.
The showrunner of The Simpsons comments that the parody of Death Note will not be the only surprise of the special: “The entire episode is a parody of Stephen King’s It book. with, get ready for it, Krusty as Pennywise. We have Simu Liu from Marvel’s Shang-Chi in an upcoming show as Lisa’s perfect future boyfriend. We have our season premiere where Homer gets involved in a conspiracy as he searches for a missing turtle. I’m really looking forward to one where Krusty has a kind of Ellen DeGeneres afternoon syndicated talk show kind of nice guy guy that goes surprisingly wrong.”
Death Note, the series to which The Simpsons pay tribute
Death Note (デスノート Desu Nōto?), the series to which The Simpsons pays tribute, is a manga written by Tsugumi Ōba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, and whose anime series adaptation was directed by Tetsurō Araki. It also has several movies and video games. The story centers on Light Yagami, a high school student. One day, he finds a notebook with supernatural powers called “Death Note”, with which he is able to kill people if their names are written on it, while if the carrier mentally visualizes the face of the person he wants to kill.
Despite its ease of use, the Death Note is not an infallible instrument since it has certain limitations and rules that even the own Shinigami are unaware. The notebook cannot distort reality, so the victims killed by the Death Note can only die from possible deaths around them and any breach of these conditions would nullify the specifications in the notebook but not the death of people. Likewise, a person can only be manipulated to a certain extent before dying from the effects of the Death Note, with the number of days being limited to twenty three; however, it is possible to cause the death of a person due to chronic diseases depending on the time they take to develop.
One of the characteristics that Death Note had at the time is that it was one of the first suspense / police story manga that came to Shonen Jump, before this, the magazine was focused on sports, comedy and action manga, quickly standing out due to its scoop and story handling that always left the reader wanting more. This watershed made it one of the favorite series among the anime community.