Death Note (2006 film)

Death Note (2006 film)
File:Death Note Movie.jpg A promotional poster of the Live-Action film, showing Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light (left) and Ken'ichi Matsuyama as "L" (right)
Genre	Detective Fiction, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Shōnen, Supernatural
Anime
Death Note
Directed by	Shūsuke Kaneko
Studio	NTV, Warner Bros.
Anime
Death Note the Last name
Directed by	Shūsuke Kaneko
Studio	NTV, Warner Bros.

Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto) is a series of Japanese films, adapted from the Death Note manga series, released in 2006. The films primarily center around a university student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it. The two films were directed by Shūsuke Kaneko, produced by Nippon Television and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures Japan. A spin-off film directed by Hideo Nakata is currently in pre-production. It is announced to be dedicated to the pre-history of the character of L and released in the first half of 2008.

Plot

Main article: Plotline of Death Note

Light Yagami is a brilliant, but despairing of social, university student who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that, if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a Shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a race to prove mental superiority between the two begins.

History

The first film, simply known as Death Note, premiered in Japan on June 17, 2006 and topped the Japanese box office for two weeks, pushing The Da Vinci Code into second place. It is mostly faithful to the manga, starting with Light in a university and flashing back a year or so to when he received the Death Note. It ends with his first meeting with L.

The second movie, Death Note the Last name, premiered on November 3, 2006, and instantly topped the Japanese box office, remaining at number one for four straight weeks, and grossed 5.5 billion yen in Japan by the end of the year, making it one of the year's highest grossing Japanese films. It combines elements from the rest of the storyline creating an outcome similar to the manga, but with a few key differences.

Both films star Takeshi Kaga, who is best known by North American audiences as host Chairman Kaga of the original Japanese version of Iron Chef. A spin-off film, featuring L as the main character, is currently in pre-production. The film, tentatively entitled "L", will be directed by Ring director Hideo Nakata and set in the United States, and is scheduled to be released in 2008. Production is set to commence in August.

Death Note (死亡筆記) was released in Hong Kong on August 10, 2006, Taiwan on September 8, 2006, Singapore on October 19 2006 & Malaysia on November 9, 2006 with English and Chinese subtitles. The sequel was released in Hong Kong on November 3, 2006, in Taiwan on November 24, 2006, in Singapore on December 28, 2006, and in Malaysia on January 25, 2007, with English and Chinese subtitles. The world premiere was shown in UA Langham Place cinema in Hong Kong on October 28 2006, and this film is the first Japanese movie to have its world premiere in Hong Kong. It is also available in American specialty stores. Although the dialogue is still only in Japanese, the Hong Kong release of the DVD has English subtitles (the Japanese release only has Japanese subtitles).

Manga to movie changes

See also: Plotline of Death Note

General changes

• There is no time jump, so the events of the movies all happen over the same time span as the first half of the manga.
• Instead of the Death Note being passed to Higuchi, it was passed to Takada, who killed her predecessor and became the anchor woman. After being captured by the Kira Investigation Team in the Sakura TV Station, she is killed by Light after he regains his memories in a manner similar to how he killed Higuchi in the manga.
• Teru Mikami, Near, and Mello do not appear in the movies.

First movie

In the movie, Naomi kidnapped Shiori, and asked Light to come to the art museum and confess that he really is Kira if he wanted to save her. He did go to the museum, but denied that he was Kira, and said that he was upset at seeing his girlfriend being taken hostage. Naomi told Light that unless he started to write her real name, which was "Naomi" written in katakana, she would kill Shiori. Light, however, adamantly insisted that he wasn't Kira. Soichiro, upon seeing this, sent in the police. Naomi immediately became upset and distracted, allowing Light's girlfriend to break free and run away from her. Naomi, however, fired her gun and shot Shiori, who died in Light's arms shortly afterward, and then afterwards shot herself.

Later, Ryuk found out that Light actually engineered Naomi's death using the Death Note, as he had already found out her name by checking with the church since she revealed to him she was Penbar's fiancee and he reasoned that nobody would use a fake name in marriage and written a scenario whereby Naomi would kill herself after shooting Shiori. Obviously, Ryuk was confused, as by doing this Light would end up killing Shiori, but Light revealed that he'd written her name in the Death Note as well, which shocked Ryuk. When questioned by the Shinigami, Light replied that he wasn't certain if he had even loved her.

Using these events to foster hatred for Kira, he asked to join the investigation team when his father checked on him. While Soichiro was slightly reluctant, L immediately granted his wish.

Second movie

This movie introduced Rem, the Shinigami who gave a second Death Note to Misa. Misa used her Death Note to attempt to make contact with Kira (Light) and made the Shinigami eye trade. Using this power she discovered that Light was Kira, and tracked him down.

When she found him, she declared her devotion to him and gave him her Death Note as proof, and in exchange, he agreed to go out with her. Soon afterward, Light encountered L on the university campus, wearing a mask so that his face could not be seen. Misa turned up to say hello to Light, and Light manipulated the circumstance so that Misa could see L's face, and therefore his name. However, L had already deduced that Misa was the Second Kira and that Light would call her as soon as possible so he stole her cellphone and had her captured and imprisoned before she could tell Light his name.

Misa gave up her ownership of the Death Note and lost all memory pertaining to it, and thus once captured she honestly remembered nothing about the Death Note, the Shinigami, or being the Second Kira. Light then used the same trick, burying his own Death Note in the forest for future retrieval, and allowed L to capture him and lock him up, telling Rem to give Misa's Death Note to someone else.

After several days, the Kira deaths stopped, but then resumed when the new owner of Misa's Death Note began to use it. L authorized Misa's and Light's releases, but Misa was required to stay in a secure, though comfortable, compound. L and Light hunted down the new owner of the Death Note, Kiyomi Takada, and captured her and her Death Note, then coming to see Rem.

However, upon touching the Death Note, Light remembered everything that had happened before, Light then uses a piece of the death note hidden in his watch to kill Kiyomi Takada. The case was "solved", and Misa released, Light kissed her and whispered to her ear asking her to dig up his previous Death Note and write L's name in it. Meanwhile, Light remained in the compound with L, and Soichiro took possession of the Death Note obtained from Kiyomi, leaving it in a secure suitcase. The team went with him, leaving L and Light alone together.

Misa dug up the Death Note, and regained her memories, but could not remember L's name, so she made the Shinigami Eye trade a second time, with Ryuk. She visited Light at the compound, determined to see L again and reveal his name a second time. When she arrives, L reveals to Light that he has decided that Misa is definitely one of the Kiras and will catch her in the act of writing his name in her Death Note.

Rem is furious that Light has arranged Misa's demise, and writes both L's and Watari's names in her Death Note. Both of them collapse to the floor soon afterward, supposedly dead. Rem, having used her Death Note to extend Misa's life, dies.

After L's death, Misa came down and met Light, giving him her Death Note again. Light wrote his father's name immediately, shocking Misa, and arranged that he should die after bringing Light his Death Note. True to what was written, Soichiro arrived with the suitcase, but opened it to reveal that it was empty, and he remained standing. Light was shocked.

As the rest of the investigation team converged on Light, L re-emerged, alive and well. He revealed that he'd had the Death Note Misa dug in the forest stolen and replaced with a fake. L discovered that deaths could be arranged up to 23 days in advance, as well as that anything written could not be changed. Three days prior to Rem writing his name, he had written his own name on the other Death Note, arranging to die peacefully at the maximum limit of that 23 days. Rem's writing of his name had had no effect because his name had already been written in a Death Note, though he lamented Watari's death.

Light, in frustration, attempted to use a piece of the Death Note hidden in a secret compartment of his watch, but Matsuda shot the watch off Light's wrist before he could do so. As a last-ditch attempt to eliminate his opposition, Light tried persuading Ryuk to write their names in his Death Note (and extend Light's life). Ryuk, however, refused to do this, and instead wrote Light's name in his Death Note. Light pleaded, to no avail, and finally died in his father's arms while Misa watched in horror. L was given possession of all the Death Notes, but informed Ryuk, much to the Shinigami's dismay, that they would all be burned.

Afterward, Interpol closed the case. Twenty days later, after being congratulated by Soichiro, L died peacefully while eating his sweets, with a picture of Watari next to him.

One year after these events, the Yagami family visited Light's grave. Sayu reveals her belief that Light died in the fight against Kira, and Soichiro hoped only that Sayu would never find out what had really happened to Light. Somewhere else, Misa wondered about the gaps in her memory and felt that something was missing, but she did not know quite what. The movie ended with Ryuk flying past Tokyo Tower.

Theme songs

First movie

• "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Manatsu no yoru no yume" by Shikao Suga

Second movie

• "Snow ((Hey Oh))" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
  
  

Cast

• Light Yagami: Tatsuya Fujiwara
• L: Ken'ichi Matsuyama
• Ryuk (voice): Shidō Nakamura
• Soichiro Yagami: Takeshi Kaga
• Misa Amane: Erika Toda
• Raye Iwamatsu: Shigeki Hosokawa
• Naomi Misora: Asaka Seto
• Shiori Akino (original character): Yū Kashii
• Rem (voice): Peter
• Sayu Yagami: Hikari Mitsushima
• Sachiko Yagami: Michiko Godai
• Watari: Shunji Fujimura
• Tota Matsuda: Sōta Aoyama
• Shuichi Aizawa: Shin Shimizu
• Hirokazu Ukita: Tatsuhito Okuda
• Kanzo Mogi: Ikuji Nakamura
• Kiyomi Takada: Nana Katase

DVDs

See also: List of Death Note DVDs

Currently these Movie DVDs have been released in Japan:

• Death Note The Movie
• Death Note the Last name
• Death Note Movie 3-Disc Set
• Death Note Movie Documentary: DEAD or ALIVE

External links

• Official Death Note live-action movie website Template:Jp icon
• Death Note (live-action movie) ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia