If you’re new to the “Death Note” series, you might not know that it first started off in 2003 as a serialized manga (“comic” in Japanese). The manga was a hit with readers with its distinctive plot, which tread the murky waters that separates ‘good’ and ‘evil’. Taking a different stance from the classic Good VS Evil dynamic, the creators of “Death Note“ Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata chose to throw a curve ball in the languishing manga scene. Death Note’s story is decidedly Machiavellian. The protagonist Yagami Light is an anti-hero in every way. Light discovers the eponymous Death Note one day and slowly deciphers the cryptic words written in the book, with his pen and the Death Note’s owner, shinigami (Death God) Ryuku goading him, his curiosity gets the better of him and he writes a criminal’s name – said criminal dies a few minutes later. Light’s philosophy is to cleanse the world of evil and create an utopia where he will reign as God. His actions earn him the moniker of “Kira” and the world, like the readers of the manga, are swept into a confounding discourse over whether the end justifies the means. Bring in L, a top notch detective with a weakness for sweets. He takes on the task of tracking down and capturing Kira and travels to Tokyo in order to do so. If appearances can be deceiving, the genius L looks like well, a bum. Often barefooted and with disheveled hair, L hardly looks capable of pitting himself against fellow genius Light. Now, those all were the story from the blockbuster “Death Note” and its sequel “The Last Name”, which then created “L: Change the World”, the spin-off of both films. Stealing the show with his performance in the two Death Note films, Matsuyama Kenichi reprises his fan-favorite role as the quirky genius detective with a sweet tooth and thick eyeliner, “L”. The story will more focus on the early life of the eccentric detective L when he was in the U.S, and also about his life after the events of the previous two “Death Note” films, and it was an original material which is not based on the story of the manga or anime (a novel adaptation was released roughly one month before the film premiere). Directed by Nakata Hideo of J-Horror “Ring” and “Dark Water” fame.
The plot cleverly takes place during the final twenty-three days of L's existence, which were predetermined because L wrote his own name in the Death Note in order to trap Light in “Death Note: The Last Name”. With faithful retainer Watari (Shunji Fujimura) having departed at the end of that film, L is now alone, but he remains focused on his detective work. He begins his final days by refusing the temptation to wield the Death Note himself, burning the offending notes and then proceeding to solve even more crimes remotely for Interpol via laptop computer and various undecipherable charts and statistics. He also continues to devour sweets at a rate that would send your average person into a permanent sugar coma. One final case finds L when a series of connected events converge on his doorstep. L reestablishes contact with K, a member of Wammy's House, the prodigy-raising thinktank that gave birth to L, as well as numerous other letter-named geniuses (no word if James Bond's Q is a member of the ranks). Also, former colleague F dies after discovering a terrible virus in Thailand, but sends L an odd messenger: a young boy who's immune to the virus, and just so happens to be a whiz with numbers. Finally, 12 year-old Maki (Mayuko Fukuda) shows up on L's doorstep bearing another strain of the same virus. Her father Nikaido (Shingo Tsurumi) developed the virus, but some nefarious baddies want control of it. Their goal: to change the world. The bad guys want to provoke an outbreak of this new virus - which is described as a fun combination of the flu and Ebola - so that they can eliminate the majority of the human race, ridding the planet of useless people while also preserving the environment. Oh, they may also be able to make a few bucks on the side.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the movie as an action adventure - the storyline flows smoothly. However, fans of the intelligence and innocence of L will be disappointed to know that his brains took up a ceremonial backseat for most of the movie. (Score: 2,5 stars out of 5)
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L Change The World (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
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Death Note (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Popular manga series Death Note first appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2003. With its anti-hero protagonist, dark psychological themes, innovative premise, and unpredictable plot twists, Death Note was an instant hit, amassing an avid readership in its three years of serialization. It was later published in a 12-volume set in multiple languages, selling 18 million copies worldwide. In summer 2006, the film version of Death Note, starring Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsuyama Kenichi became a blockbuster success throughout Asia.
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Death Note : The Last Name (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Far more a continuation than a sequel, "Death Note: The Last Name" follows the immensely popular and entertaining Death Note. The agile game of cat-and-cat continues between Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama). Tables are turned, fortunes are reversed, and a new Death Note and shinigami comes into play.
The plot cleverly takes place during the final twenty-three days of L's existence, which were predetermined because L wrote his own name in the Death Note in order to trap Light in “Death Note: The Last Name”. With faithful retainer Watari (Shunji Fujimura) having departed at the end of that film, L is now alone, but he remains focused on his detective work. He begins his final days by refusing the temptation to wield the Death Note himself, burning the offending notes and then proceeding to solve even more crimes remotely for Interpol via laptop computer and various undecipherable charts and statistics. He also continues to devour sweets at a rate that would send your average person into a permanent sugar coma. One final case finds L when a series of connected events converge on his doorstep. L reestablishes contact with K, a member of Wammy's House, the prodigy-raising thinktank that gave birth to L, as well as numerous other letter-named geniuses (no word if James Bond's Q is a member of the ranks). Also, former colleague F dies after discovering a terrible virus in Thailand, but sends L an odd messenger: a young boy who's immune to the virus, and just so happens to be a whiz with numbers. Finally, 12 year-old Maki (Mayuko Fukuda) shows up on L's doorstep bearing another strain of the same virus. Her father Nikaido (Shingo Tsurumi) developed the virus, but some nefarious baddies want control of it. Their goal: to change the world. The bad guys want to provoke an outbreak of this new virus - which is described as a fun combination of the flu and Ebola - so that they can eliminate the majority of the human race, ridding the planet of useless people while also preserving the environment. Oh, they may also be able to make a few bucks on the side.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the movie as an action adventure - the storyline flows smoothly. However, fans of the intelligence and innocence of L will be disappointed to know that his brains took up a ceremonial backseat for most of the movie. (Score: 2,5 stars out of 5)
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L Change The World (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)-
Death Note (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)Popular manga series Death Note first appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump in December 2003. With its anti-hero protagonist, dark psychological themes, innovative premise, and unpredictable plot twists, Death Note was an instant hit, amassing an avid readership in its three years of serialization. It was later published in a 12-volume set in multiple languages, selling 18 million copies worldwide. In summer 2006, the film version of Death Note, starring Fujiwara Tatsuya and Matsuyama Kenichi became a blockbuster success throughout Asia.
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Death Note : The Last Name (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)Far more a continuation than a sequel, "Death Note: The Last Name" follows the immensely popular and entertaining Death Note. The agile game of cat-and-cat continues between Light (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama). Tables are turned, fortunes are reversed, and a new Death Note and shinigami comes into play.
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