A few days later, after much discussion, the voice actor cast for the Death Note animation was finalized:
Yagami Light: Kenichi Suzumura L: Yamaguchi Morihei Misa Amane: Tanaka Rie Ryuk: Hochu Otsuka Soichiro Yagami: Naoya Uchida Yagami Sayu: Nonaka Ai
I had been worried about Yamaguchi Morihei's schedule conflicts, but fortunately, they didn't materialize.
Naoya Uchida was the voice actor for Soichiro Yagami in the original Death Note animation from the other timeline.
A few other voice actors were also retained from the original, but they were few in number; most roles were recast through new auditions.
Hochu Otsuka, who debuted in 1983, is a veteran voice actor. He voiced Akira Sendoh in Slam Dunk, Jiraiya in Naruto, and the main villain Sato in Ajin—though the latter two series hadn't even been released by 2000.
Lin Zhiyan felt completely at ease entrusting him with the voice of the shinigami Ryuk.
Yagami Sayu is the male protagonist's younger sister.
In the original Death Note from another timeline, Yagami Sayu had a more substantial role. However, after Lin Zhiyan adapted it into a 26-episode, half-year series, her part was significantly reduced, making the choice of voice actress less critical.
Tanaka Rie would be a suitable choice for Misa Amane.
As for the male lead, Yagami Light...
Lin Zhiyan had initially considered Jun Fukuyama or Takahiro Sakurai for the role. After all, in that other timeline, Fukuyama had voiced Lelouch, and Sakurai had voiced Shogo Makishima in Psycho-Pass.
However, their voices didn't quite match the original's Mamoru Miyano.
Moreover, Takahiro Sakurai debuted in 1997. While he had voiced significant roles like Kabuterimon in Digimon, he lacked other notable characters beyond that.
Jun Fukuyama debuted in 1998 and had even fewer roles, none of which were major.
The voice actor for Light's rival, Yamaguchi Morihei, was already cast, and the voice of the companion Ryuk was to be played by Hochu Otsuka. If either Fukuyama or Sakurai were chosen, they would be completely outmatched in acting skill by these established veterans, and it would feel like a backroom deal.
Choosing Kenichi Suzumura for the role would avoid such issues. He debuted in '94 and already voiced the protagonist in the '98 anime Time Slip NAZCA.
Over the years, he's participated in numerous anime. While he hasn't had many lead roles yet and isn't at his peak, his fundamentals are solid. Moreover, his voice bears a slight resemblance to Mamoru Miyano's Yagami Light from another timeline. At least during the audition, Lin Zhiyan felt he sounded more similar.
With this voice cast, he couldn't claim it was the most perfect fit, but it should work without any major problems.
Once the voice cast was finalized, they awaited the official recording sessions. However, it was still early April, and the sessions wouldn't begin until at least August.
In April, Lin Zhiyan completed the remaining storyboards for the Death Note anime and began considering another issue: how to handle the music and theme songs.
He couldn't compose original music himself, but he had a basic understanding of music and the advantage of his memory. He could easily transcribe all the sheet music from the original soundtrack and manage the music production himself.
Additionally, both the opening and ending themes of this animation were sung by male vocalists. Fortunately, although Lin Zhiyan wasn't a professional singer, he possessed sufficient vocal talent to perform them himself.
Despite managing multiple roles throughout the animation production process, many of which required his personal attention, the planning, script, character designs, and storyboards were already complete. With no need to bicker with the other members of the Production Committee, his primary responsibilities now were Supervising Director, animation supervisor, and Chief Animation Director.
With existing material to reference, these three areas of work wouldn't overwhelm him. With some effort, he could definitely find time to transcribe the original music scores and record the theme songs.
However, this arrangement would put immense pressure on the pre-broadcast promotion.
Having a music master compose the score could generate at least a little anticipation for the animation, while having a popular singer perform the theme song would significantly boost its popularity.
In this timeline, Death Note was originally an original animated production. Lin Zhiyan was responsible for the Supervising Director, script, character design, and Chief Animation Director roles. If he also handled the music and theme song, the anime's success before its premiere would depend entirely on his popularity and that of the voice actors.
Lin Zhiyan had been active in the industry for five years, gaining considerable fame within the animation world, but his reputation was almost exclusively tied to his animation work. Moreover, industry fame didn't necessarily translate to widespread recognition among the general anime audience.
From the audience's perspective, few people outside of hardcore animation enthusiasts would likely recognize Lin Zhiyan's name.
While the voice actors could bring some popularity to the anime, their impact would be limited.
Even hiring a renowned composer for the music and a popular singer for the theme song wouldn't guarantee massive hype, but any boost was better than none. It was far preferable to start with low visibility and rely on word-of-mouth to build momentum after the premiere.
If the Death Note anime was executed well, even if it started with little fanfare, it was bound to catch fire within two or three episodes, becoming a super dark horse. Lin Zhiyan had immense confidence in this.
If an animation generates significant anticipation before its premiere and receives rave reviews after its release, its popularity can spread rapidly. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, its momentum will grow exponentially, ultimately leading to far greater success than if it had quietly premiered and relied solely on word-of-mouth to gain traction.
The question arose: should he handle the music himself and perform the theme song?
If he didn't take on the music, who would be the best choice for the composition? And who should sing the theme song?
If he handled it himself, how should he plan the pre-premiere promotional campaign?
After wrestling with the decision for a while, he finally grabbed a pen and paper and began writing lyrics and composing the score.
Screw it.
He'd worry about the promotion later.
By handling the music himself, he wouldn't have to worry about commissioning others, whose compositions might deviate from the original, creating a sense of dissonance for Lin Zhiyan, who had seen the source material.
Moreover, hiring musicians and singers would cost money.
Since Lin Zhiyan could handle all of this himself, why waste money on a little pre-premiere buzz?
There was no need for that.
Another point is that hiring other musicians to compose the music and singers to perform the theme song would definitely take a lot of time and effort, and it's unlikely to get it right on the first try. But if Lin Zhiyan handled it himself, it would definitely be perfect on the first take.
Less hassle, more peace of mind.
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