“Death Note 2: The Last Name” is a direct continuation of “Death Note.” The two movies are live-action adaptations are the Death Note anime and manga counterparts. Like in the first movie, there is no time jump present in Death Note 2: The Last Name as it continues from where it left off. The story starts off where Light fakes being enraged at the death of Shiori at the hands of special agent Misora who was kidnapped by her. In the end of the first movie Ryuk found out that it was Light that engineered Misora and Shiori’s death using the Death Note.
As a result, Light uses this as a way to join his father’s investigation team in order to get closer to “L” who is one of the great detectives in the world. L is charged with leading the investigation to track down Kira which is the name the people of Japan had bestowed to Light. However, nobody except for Ryuk knows that Light Yagami is Kira. In Death Note 2: The Last Name, things get more interesting as it picks up on the cat and mouse game. Now that Light is part of the investigation team, the ultimate battle between himself and L begins.
Light is trying to find L’s real name. However at the same time, L has strong suspicions that Light is Kira. While L along with Interpol is trying to track down Kira, Light purposely throws off the investigation. A second “Kira” is also introduced to the movie who is a popular idol in Japan named Amane Misa whose Shinigami is named Rem. It was revealed that a Shinigami named Jealous was fond of Misa and preserved her life. As a result, Jealous sacrificed his life. Jealous’ Death Note ends up in the hands of Amane Misa.
Things get interesting as there are two Kiras. Eventually, both Light and Misa start working together and swapping Death Notes. It’s revealed when you give someone else your Death Note, you lose all your memories of it. But by touching your Death Note or someone else’s, you regain those memories back. That is by simply touching it and not reclaiming it. Light takes advantage of this ability to throw off the entire investigation off of him and Misa.
L continues to reveal is more cheerful side as he wears a mask over his face while sucking a lollipop while meeting Misa with Light. The relationship between Misa and Light plays a very important role in the sequel. Things get more exciting as they intentionally have the memories of the Death Note wiped until the time is right to start killing again. The movie does in most cases stay true to the anime and the manga in most cases asides from a few changes.
There are plenty of differences present as Death Note 2: The Last Name covers the next few episodes after the death of Misora. Basically there are a bunch of characters in the anime and the manga that are not present in the movie. The Death Note anime itself lasts thirty-six episodes. The movie wouldn’t be able to cover everything in the anime and the manga.
Death Note 2: The Last Name puts focuses a good deal on the “Shinigami Eye.” The Shinigami Eyes are a special ability that allows the user to see the actual names of the people they see along with their dates of death. It’s also revealed that those who possess the Shinigami Eye can see who the other owners of the Death Notes are.
Misa makes an interesting contrast to Light’s personality. While Light is more calculating and collected, Misa is more bubbly and reckless. Due to Misa’s idol status, not many people think that she’s possibly the second Kira. The Shinigami Eyes are very much put to work as Misa helps out. While Misa manages to get L’s real name, L manages to keep her from telling Light.
Whenever Misa loses possession of the Death Note, she also loses the Shinigami Eyes. It very much takes a toll on Misa’s lifespan as she has to broker another deal to regain that ability. As Misa’s lifespan was already halved, she has it halved again to regain those Shinigami Eyes which is pretty interesting.
Overall, Death Note 2: The Last Name is a very interesting movie. It was successful as the prequel which topped the Japanese box office that it bumped the “Da Vinci Code” to second place. Death Note 2: The Last Name immediately topped the Japanese box office upon its release. Due to the popularity of such movies, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was an adaptation made for American audiences.
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