Death Note: Light Up the New World

Death Note: Light Up the New World
Poster
Directed by	Shinsuke Sato
Produced by	Takahiro Sato
Written by	Katsunari Mano
Based on	Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba (story) & Takeshi Obata (characters)
Starring	Masahiro Higashide Sosuke Ikematsu Masaki Suda Mina Fujii Rina Kawaei Sota Aoyama Nakamura Shidō II Erika Toda Eiichiro Funakoshi
Music by	Yutaka Yamada
Production company	Nikkatsu Django film
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 29, 2016 (2016-10-29)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥2.3 billion (US$19.6 million)[1]

Death Note: Light Up the New World (デスノート Light up the NEW world, Desu Nōto Light up the NEW world) is a 2016 Japanese film directed by Shinsuke Sato. The film is based on the manga series Death Note written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata and is a sequel to Death Note 2: The Last Name (2006), but thematically takes place after the Death Note: New Generation mini series. It premiered in Japan on October 29, 2016, by Warner Bros.^[2][3]

Plot

In 2006, Light Yagami (aka "Kira") battled the detective L in his attempt to rid the world of crime, aided by the power of a Death Note - a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written inside. Ten years later, in a world afflicted with cyber-terrorism, a chain of unexplained deaths suggests that Death Notes are being used once more. Interpol quickly assigns L's biological successor, Ryuzaki, to the newly established "Death Note Task Force", led by Detective Tsukuru Mishima. They quickly secure a notebook during a murder spree in Shibuya, after its owner, Sakura Aoi, is killed by another Death Note. Upon touching Aoi's notebook, the Task Force meets and questions its original owner - a Shinigami ("god of death") named Beppo - who reveals that there are six Death Notes currently in the human world; this is the maximum number that can exist there at any one time. The Task Force resolves to find the remaining five Death Notes.

Similarly, Aoi's killer - cyber-terrorist Yuki Shien - vows to acquire all the notebooks, believing he is on a mission from Light via his Shinigami, Ryuk. Inciting global panic with a virus featuring a video of Light as Kira, Shien then makes contact with Light's girlfriend and former ally, Misa Amane. After restoring her memories of Death Notes and gifting her with his, Shien asks Misa to disclose information which he believes will reveal where Light is hiding; she refuses, having watched Light seemingly die ten years ago. Undaunted, Shien uses his exceptional hacking abilities to locate three Death Notes, killing their owners in the process. He then impersonates Kira via another virus, threatening a killing spree unless L's successor reveals his name and face. In response, Ryuzaki spreads a CGI video of the original L, inviting Kira to a website intended to trick him into revealing his location. Anticipating this, Shien escapes before killing one of the original Kira investigators - Touta Matsuda. Fearing that the investigation is compromised, the Japanese government dissolves the Death Note Task Force.

Refusing to give up, Mishima finds a hidden message in Ryuzaki's video: "I own the last Death Note". Enraged, Mishima confronts Ryuzaki in his home and discovers the latter's unconventional relationship with his Shinigami, Arma. However, Ryuzaki reveals that his Death Note is blank, having promised L before his death that he would never use one. Upon leaving, Mishima is arrested on suspicion of compromising the investigation. A year prior, Mishima was tasked with locating Hiraki Yagami, Light's secret successor who was placed in the care of prosecutor Teru Mikami. However, both Yagami and Mikami subsequently vanished, leading the police to suspect Mishima of conspiring with Kira. After Mishima is interrogated, Ryuzaki frees him so that he can access the Task Force's Death Note and confront the new Kira. Agreeing to meet Ryuzaki at the National Arts Centre, Shien again asks Misa for her help, which she reluctantly gives.

After three Task Force members return to the case, they head with Ryuzaki to meet Shien, who has been lured with the promise that Ryuzaki will reveal his face and the team's Death Notes. Mishima remains at headquarters to instruct them - however, contact is cut by a jamming signal made by Shien. Forced to reveal their faces, Ryuzaki and two Task Force members are killed by Misa, who has acquired "Shinigami Eyes" which display a person's real name above their head. Misa then gives Shien the information he needs but warns him that Light is definitely dead; his name did not appear when she looked at her picture of him. Finally, Misa kills herself with a Death Note page.

Realising that the Kira who gave him his task is an imposter, Shien arrives at the secret location and sacrifices half of his life span to obtain Shinigami Eyes - deciding to kill the imposter and take his place as Neo Kira. Shien is then shocked to be confronted by Mishima and Ryuzaki; the latter suspects Neo Kira wrote his name much earlier and specified a later time of death. Ryuzaki then reveals that he believes Mishima is Neo Kira - and upon touching Shien's Death Note, Mishima remembers everything. Having witnessed Teru Mikami turn insane and murder Hikari Yagami, Mishima killed Mikami and replaced Yagami as Neo Kira. Mishima later gave up ownership of his notebook and instructed Ryuk to give it to Shien, confident that the cyber-terrorist would find the remaining Death Notes. With this new information, Shien attempts to kill Mishima, but the police arrive with orders to kill all three of them. Mortally wounded in the initial crossfire, Shien dies after giving Mishima the Death Notes, allowing him and Ryuzaki to escape through an abandoned subway. They are then confronted by the last remaining Task Force member, who realises that Mishima is Kira and thus the one who killed a member of her family. However, Arma kills her when she attempts to shoot Mishima - at the cost of her own life, much to Ryuzaki's despair.

Mishima and Ryuzaki's execution order is annulled by Interpol and Mishima is taken into custody. Ryuk then explains why the six Death Notes were dropped down to earth - the dying Shinigami King, intrigued by Light Yagami, has promised to give his throne to the Shinigami who finds the next Kira. When Mishima points out that all six Death Notes have been secured, Ryuk suggests that human greed will result in their use once again, and leaves. Shortly after being led to his cell, Mishima is greeted by Ryuzaki, who informs him that the vehicle containing the notebooks was attacked by a terrorist group, destroying four and leaving the other two missing. Revealing that today is his appointed date of death, Ryuzaki suggests trading places with Mishima, as he believes that the latter is the only one who can retrieve the missing Death Notes. Accepting his new role, Mishima reveals his real name - Ryo Nakagami - and leaves Ryuzaki to die peacefully in the cell.

A post-credit scene shows a video of Light saying "Just as I planned" and ironically smiling.

Cast

• Masahiro Higashide as Tsukuru Mishima,^[2] a special task force member, who pursues all 6 death notes.
• Sosuke Ikematsu as Ryūzaki,^[2] a mask-wearing private investigator and the original successor to L.
• Masaki Suda as Yūki Shien,^[2] a cyber-terrorist and worshiper of Kira.
• Erika Toda as Misa Amane,^[3] the former death note holder and love interest of Light Yagami.
• Rina Kawaei as Sakura Aoi,^[2] a mass murderer and Kira worshiper, regarded as the most deadliest death note user.
• Mina Fujii as Shō Nanase,^[3] a member of the task force.
• Nakamura Shidō II as Ryuk, (voice)^[4] a black male shinigami, who is bored with the shinigami realm.
• Sota Aoyama as Tōta Matsuda,^[5] a young detective, who experienced the Kira case 10 years ago.
• Eiichiro Funakoshi as Kenichi Mikuriya,^[6] a Supreme Court Justice in possession of a Death Note.
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Arma (voice), a white female shinigami, created based on Sidoh's design.
• Tori Matsuzaka as Beppo (voice), a golden shinigami.
• Kenichi Matsuyama as L,^[7] was the greatest detective in the world, who captured the main Kira.
• Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami,^[8] worldy known as "Kira", a serial killer of criminals and former death note holder.
• Kensei Mikami as Teru Mikami,^[9] the guardian of Hikari Yagami and Misa's prosecutor.

Production

As of February 2016 principal photography was taking place outside Japan.^[2]

The theme song "Dear Diary" and the insert song "Fighter" is performed by Namie Amuro.^[10]

Reception

The film opened on 342 screens and sold 342,309 tickets, earning 458,645,800 yen (about US$4.37 million) during its opening weekend.^[11] It was the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan in 2016 and also the 10th highest-grossing Japanese film of the year in the country (tied with A Silent Voice), with ¥2.3 billion (US$19.56 million).^[1]

Miniseries

A three-part miniseries entitled Death Note: New Generation was announced as a part of the Death Note live-action film series. It bridges the 10-year gap between the previous films and the 2016 film.^[12][13][14]

References

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Death Note: Light Up the New World on IMDb
• Death Note: Light Up the New World at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official Australian website