Death Note: The Last Name (2006) Desu nôto: The last name (original title)

Director:

Shûsuke Kaneko

Writers:

Tsugumi Ohba (comic) &
Takeshi Obata (comic) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 November 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Picking up where the first one leaves off, Light joins the task force searching for Kira in an effort to avert suspicion from himself---and get rid of L.

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic | Based On Manga

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Light Yagami
Takeshi Kaga	...	Soichiro Yagami
Shidô Nakamura	...	Ryuuk (voice)
Erika Toda	...	Misa Amane
Shigeki Hosokawa	...	FBI Agent Ray
Shunji Fujimura	...	Watari
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	L
Shin Shimizu	...	Kenzo Mogi
Sota Aoyama	...	Tota Matsuda
Magy	...	TV Director
Pîtâ	...	Rem (voice) (as Shinnosuke Ikehata)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexa Devine	...	Kyoko
Michiko Godai	...	Sachiko Yagami
Hanako
Itsuji Itao	...	Hikima
Yû Kaneko
Nana Katase	...	Kiyomi Takada
Miyuki Komatsu	...	Detective Sanami
Ai Maeda	...	Ayako Yoshino
Hikari Mitsushima	...	Sayu Yagami
Ikuji Nakamura	...	Ukita
Jun Okazaki	...	Festival Goer
Tatsuhito Okuda	...	Aizawa
Masahiko Tsugawa	...	Police Chief Saeki
Sakura Uehara	...	Saeko Nishiyama
Hiroaki Hata	...	Festival goer (uncredited)

Directed by
Shûsuke Kaneko

Writing credits
Tsugumi Ohba		(comic) &
Takeshi Obata		(comic)
Tetsuya Oishi		(screenplay)

Produced by
Toyoharu Fukuda	....	executive producer
Seiji Okuda	....	executive producer
Takahiro Sato	....	producer

Original Music by
Kenji Kawai

Cinematography by
Kenji Takama		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Yôsuke Yafune

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Koji Yamaguchi	....	first assistant director

Stunts
Hiroko Yashiki	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Minoru Ishiyama	....	camera operator
Sakura Seno	....	assistant camera
Masamichi Uwabo	....	gaffer

Thanks
Hiroshi Takase	....	dedicatee: in memory of

Production Companies

• Death Note Film Partners
• Horipro
• Konami Corporation
• Nikkatsu Studio
• Nikkatsu
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV)
• Shochiku Company
• Shueisha
• Video Audio Project (VAP)
• Warner Bros.
• Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (YTV)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Encore Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Eurozoom (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Viz Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• 4Digital Media (2008) (UK) (DVD) (as 4Digital Asia)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• I-On New Media (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Kam & Ronson Enterprise Co (2007) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Kaze (2008) (France) (DVD)
• Lambaian Filem (LF) (2008) (Malaysia) (DVD)
• Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting (2012) (Japan) (TV)
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Panasia Films (2006) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Video Audio Project (VAP) (2007) (Japan) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Digital Frontier (CGI)

Other Companies

• Aube Studio  music production
• Big Shot (II)  firearms supplied by
• Citroën Japon  filming cooperation
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Gakushi Kaikan  filming cooperation
• General Motors Asia Pacific Japan  filming cooperation
• Griffith  grip equipment supplied by
• Hosei University  filming cooperation
• Imagica  digital intermediate
• Imagica  prints
• Kawasaki City  filming cooperation
• Kitakyushu Film Commission  film commission
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  end title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Nikkatsu Studio  sound stages
• Ocean Resort Hotel Maholova Minds Miura  filming cooperation
• Osaka Film Council  film commission
• Rihga Royal Hotel  filming cooperation
• Sound City  music mixing studio
• T-Basic  publicity
• Tokyo Green Hotel  filming cooperation

Also Known As:

"Desu nôto: The last name" - Japan (original title)
"Death Note the Last Name" - USA (copyright title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

Japan | USA

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | UK:12A | France:U | New Zealand:M | Germany:16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Kitakyûshû City, Fukuoka, Japan

Company:

Death Note Film Partners

Trivia:

The film is dedicated: "In Memory of Hiroshi Takase." Takase was the Director of Photography for the first Death Note movie, who died just after finishing it.

Quotes:

L:All the Death Notes shall be left with me.
Ryuuk:You ain't gonna use 'em? That's just lame.

Movie Connections:

Features Death Note (2006)

Soundtrack:

Snow (Hey Oh)

Wonderful ending to the story, better movie than the first one.

The second part of the "Death Note" movie series, "the Last Name" starts from where the first one ended. Yagami Light, who uses God of Death's notebook, the Death Note, to kill criminals has joined the team of his father, Inspector Yagami, and the world's greatest detective, L, to capture Kira. Light, who is Kira, is motivated by his need to discover L's true name, so he can get rid of the detective. Meanwhile L is certain that Light is Kira, but without evidence he can't do anything but wait and see. As if things aren't bad enough, a Second Kira appears out of nowhere, to help Kira. Second Kira is Amane Misa, a rising idol, who worships Kira and has her own Death Note. Things move to their conclusion.

"Death Note: the Last Name" is a great improvement when compared to the first movie. Where first film was still somewhat slow and uncertain, the second part keeps the viewer interested its whole length: nearly two and half hours! The second part is also more faithful to the original manga than the first one. Greatest difference would be removing the character of Higuchi and replacing him with Takada, who in manga didn't appear until much later. The second movie is also the concluding one, which might be confusing since both movies together only tell the first half of the manga events. Still the finale has been cleverly turned faithful to manga, and I personally like it even better than manga ending.

I already commented the performances of Tatsuya Fujiwara(Light), Ken'ichi Matsuyama(L) and Takeshi Kaga(Inspector Yagami) in my review of first "Death Note" movie, so I'll just comment the new parties here. Erika Toda surprised me with her role as Misa. Although, like many other manga fans, I too would have wanted to see blonde Misa, the hair colour was the only complain I could come up with. Her Misa is naive but not as annoyingly air headed as in the manga, but actually makes her a believable. Nana Katase makes an okay role as an ambitious Takada, although I feel she could have done better.

The complains are the same as previous: the minor characters of police investigators are left in the background and the Death Gods look ridiculous, but this time the dynamic moving of the story saves a lot.

What can I say? A definitive improvement to the first film and a great ending to the story.