[Confession] Death Note: Light Up the New World
Death Note has been the one of the most impressive creation known to both anime beginners and experts alike. Even if you're not fond of watching anime, you'll watch it anyway because of its killer concept and inventive plot. It has become a household name ever since its first release 10 years ago and now it's back with a sequel after its long hiatus. Will this sequel be a worthy successor? Let's find out.
Here is the synopsis of the movie:
10 years has passed since the confrontation between Kira and L. Again, Shinigami sends death notes to the ground and due to this, the world soon falls into chaos. Tsukuru (Masahiro Higashide) is a member of the Death Note special task force team with 6 other investigators including Matsuda who experienced the Kira case of 10 years ago.
Mass murders caused by the death note takes place on Wall Street in the U.S., Shibuya in Japan and other places. World famous private investigator Ryuzaki (Sosuke Ikematsu), who is the rightful successor of L, also investigates the mass murders. They discover that 6 death notes exists in the world.
The confrontation begins between the person who wants Kira’s revival and the people who want to stop it.
Wooo!! It's been such a long time that I've waited for another sequel of Death Note! The suspenseful and chaotic world of Death Note brought us to great length of wits from its characters and it's something so memorable and brilliant. It's a kind of work that sparks curiosity. And now seeing this sequel with more new characters and much complex predicament by means of having not only two-- but six Death Notes distributed throughout the world-- this sequel calls for nothing but war.
The three-way battle of wits is recast to include police task force leader Mishima (Masahiro Higashide), L successor Ryuzaki (Sosuke Ikematsu), and cyberterrorist Shien (Masaki Suda), who looks to continue Light’s legacy. These men of different background comes together for one reason- to secure all six Death Notes. These characters are cleverly created to fill the gap the 10 years of movie interval left. Specifically the aftermath of prior characters' sacrifices and how they changed the world's perspective on life and death. And of course, I won't forget Erika Toda's reprisal role for Amane Misa! No one can ever act as Misa except Erika! *confetti*
A thrilling improvement on the look and feel to all Shinigamis reflect how far computer graphics has developed. The overall feeling of the movie comes from the animation debonair.
And as for me, the movie lacks in some ways more than one: the intellectual and crafty machination that is classic to the original Death Note was somewhat knotty in this film. While the original Death Note keeps you on your toes from its witty plans, this movie looses you all the way down until it grabs you so tight near the end. Also the characters Ryuzaki and Yuki Shien, although unique on their own, doesn't really live up to being the successors of L and Kira/Light Yagami respectively. They made themselves victims without even leaving a mark as a worthy to wear the crown.
It's a good thought that they made the sequel possible. It's all thanks to the efforts of its makers that it came out well. But I must say, no sequel can ever defeat the glory of Death Note, but the forefather itself.
My Rating:
Plot: 8.0/10
Acting: 8.8/10
Cinematography: 7.8/10
Characters: 6.6/10
Uniqueness: 8.7/10
OVERALL RATING: 7.9