Death Note: The Last Name

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Rating 2¾


Directed by Shūsuke Kaneko

Written by Tetsuya Ôishi, based on the manga comics and anime series by Tsugumi Ôba and Takeshi Obata

Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light Yagami), Ken’ichi Matsuyama (L), Takeshi Kaga (Soichiro Yagami), Erika Toda (Misa Amane), Shunji Fujimura (Watari), Shin Shimizu (Kenzo Mogi), Hikari Mitsushima (Sayu Yagami), Michiko Godai (Sachiko Yagami), Masahiko Tsugawa (Police Chief Saeki), Shido Nakamura (Ryuuk, voice) and Shinnosuke Ikehata (Rem, voice)


As the owner of a book known as a “Death Note”, Light Yagami has been using it rid the world of criminals, causing their deaths simply by writing their names in its pages. Light is a first year Law student, whose father is a high-ranking police detective. L, a mysterious and secretive investigator who employs unusual techniques, is working with the Japanese police and the FBI to track down the vigilante killer, whose actions have polarised public opinion. L and Light engage in an intricate game of cat and mouse, as L tries to expose Light’s true identity.

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I chanced, somewhat accidently, to watch ‘Death Note’ approximately six months ago, without any prior knowledge of the film, the manga comics on which it is based or the anime series. I was intrigued enough to want to watch the sequel (the two films are actually two parts of one complete story), but have only just got around to doing so. ‘Death Note’ was first premiered in Japan on 17 June 2006 and ‘Death Note: The Last Name’ followed on 3 November 2006. The sequel was the eighth highest grossing film in Japan in 2006 and the fourth highest grossing Japanese film.

The first thing to say is that there is no point watching ‘Death Note: The Last Name’ without having watched the first film. Effectively, it is not two films, but one film split in half. The combined running time of the two films is nearly four and a half hours – and I think the second film, clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, is a little too long. However, the psychological game of chess played by L and Light is effectively staged and although I did not find myself engaging with the film on any deep intellectual or emotional level, it maintained my interest and attention. To some small degree it reminded me of the 1972 Joseph L Mankiewicz film ‘Sleuth’ starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, even though the two films are actually light years apart.

I don’t have any great insight to offer into a film like this and I have no idea if it appealed to fans of manga comics or not. I imagine it must have done. I didn’t find it any way irritating, which given its very stylised presentation it could have been, but equally I suspect it probably would not be of much interest outside of its target audience.

Review posted 17 September 2009



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Death Note

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Rating 3


Directed by Shusuke Kaneko

Written by Tetsuya Oishi, based on the comic series by Tsugumi Ôhba (writer) and Takeshi Obata (illustrator)

Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Takeshi Kaga, Shigeki Hosokawa, Asaka Seto, Yu Kashii, Shunji Fujimura, Erika Toda, Sota Aoyama, Hikari Mitsushima, Michiko Godai and Shido Nakamura


Law student Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara) comes across a book called “Death Note” and discovers that when he writes a name in it that person dies. He uses it to rid the world of criminals and is soon joined by a supernatural creature known as Ryuk, a shinigami or death god, who says he dropped the book and wants to observe how Light uses it. Light’s father Souichirou Yagami (Takeshi Kaga), an experienced police detective, is assigned to the case of the unexplained deaths and soon finds himself working with “L” (Ken’ichi Matsuyama), a mysterious and eccentric operative who works with the International Police Organisation.

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‘Death Note’ (or ‘Desu nōto’) is the first of two Japanese films released in 2006 (the second film is ‘Death Note: The Last Name’, which as yet I have not seen) and based on the Japanese manga comics of the same name. These ran for twelve volumes between 2003 and 2006. Both films topped the box office in Japan and the second film was one of the highest grossing Japanese films of the year.

Not being an aficionado of comics, manga or otherwise, I cannot make a judgement about the film’s faithfulness or its quality in general as a live-action adaptation of this particular genre of comics. Having limited knowledge of Japanese cinema, I don’t feel particularly qualified to critique the film, but I certainly found it interesting. Luckily, I happened to watch a version with subtitles rather than the version dubbed into English – I can only imagine how dreadful that must be. From my wholly inexpert position, it put me in mind of ‘V for Vendetta’ to a small degree, a film I actually dislike with some intensity. I found it a peculiar film. I don’t even know if I really liked it or not, but it caught enough of my interest and I found it unusual and alluring enough to have a hankering to watch the second instalment.

There is also an anime (animated) series based on the comic and a spin-off novel, as well as a video game. No doubt it has a huge cult following, but until I chanced upon the film on the Film 4 television channel and decided to watch it on whim, I had never before heard of it.

There are apparently plans for a Hollywood remake.

Review posted 22 March 2009




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