Death Note: Light Up the New World

Plot

The Death Note is a supernatural notebook that grants its user the power to kill by writing the desired person's name on its pages. Set ten years after the events of the previous films, the Shinigami King, who takes fascination with Light Yagami's action years prior, ordered for six death notes to be sent to the human world and find the successor of Kira. In 2016, while the society is afflicted with cyber-terrorism, chains of deaths around the world quickly spread rumours of a new Kira. Following the mass murder after a 10-year hiatus, the Death Note Task Force lead by Tsukuru Mishima is formed, and the team is assisted by Ryuzaki, the original successor of L who inherits his DNA. In Shibuya, the team secure one of the death notes in the midst of mass murder after the owner Sakura Aoi, was killed by another death note user who owns Ryuk's death note, a cyber-terrorist Yūki Shien who worships Kira after Light killed the murderer of his family. Ryuzaki and the Task Force questions the death reaper Beppo, who owns the death note they have secured, and he reveals that there are six death notes in the human world and the maximum number of notes that can exist at once, should there be the seventh note it is rendered useless.

Shien secretly makes contact with Misa Amane who had lost her memories and under observation of the police, returning her memories. Shien asks for her cooperation to collect all six death notes with a promise they can meet Kira, but Misa refuses because she doesn't believe him. Despite her refusal, Shien lets her keep a death note believing she will help him eventually. Ryūzaki is revealed to be the owner of a death note belonging to the death reaper Arma. Using his exceptional hacking abilities, Shien easily finds and collects four of six death notes. He then spreads a computer virus throughout the world that demanding the death notes and for Ryūzaki to reveal his name and face in public or else another mass murder will happen. In respond to Shien's message, Ryūzaki sends a video of L that invites Shien to a special website made by him that is actually a trap to locate the cyber-terrorist. Knowing it was a trap, Shien escaped and killed one of the investigators, Tōta Matsuda. Matsuda's death caused the Task Force to be dissolved.

Refusing to give up, Tsukuru finds a hidden message in Ryūzaki's video that tells Ryūzaki owns the last death note and confronts him, but Ryūzaki frames Tsukuru to be taken into custody. During the interrogation, it's revealed that Light used his DNA to make a successor in case something happened to him. Tsukuru was the one who supposed to lead the investigation of the child's whereabouts but the investigation was a dead end, making the police suspecting that Tsukuru is involved with Kira. Ryūzaki frees Tsukuru so he can get the death note the Task Force has secured and then convincing Tsukuru and his team to help him exposing the new Kira's identity and secure the remaining death notes. During the death note exchange, Ryūzaki and two of the Task Force investigators are killed by Misa before she killed herself by writing her own name in a piece of death note.

At the promised place, Shien and Tsukuru confronts each other, followed by Ryūzaki who is revealed to be alive and keeps the real death note while the one Shien was using is a fake. However, Ryūzaki then reveals that based on what Ryuk said to him before the exchange, he can't be killed by a death note because his name was already written in the note by the new Kira. Ryūzaki suspects that Tsukuru is the new Kira who erased his own memories by giving up the ownership of the book. By touching Ryuk's death note, Tsukuru remembers that he had killed the child with Light's DNA and his guardian after they were driven insane by the death note. Gaining ownership of the death note, Tsukuru himself was also overcame by the note and Light's ideal of peace. To get the remaining death notes, Tsukuru gave up the ownership of his death note and instructed Ryuk to give it to Shien. The police ambushes their place with order to kill all three of them as terrorists. Shien is killed in the crossfire while Tsukuru and Ryūzaki successfully escaped through an abandoned subway. The last surviving Task Force investigator, Shō Nanase whose real name is Aya Shirato, reveals that she is vengeful of Kira for killing her brother who was a criminal and also her only remaining family. Before she could kill Tsukuru, she was killed by Arma at the cost of her own life, much to Ryūzaki's grief.

Tsukuru and Ryūzaki's execution order is annulled by the Interpol and Tsukuru is taken custody. Ryuk explains to Tsukuru that the death reapers are looking for Kira successor because the death reaper king promises to give his throne once he died to anyone who can find the Kira successor. The vehicle containing six death notes that supposed to have been secured was attacked by a terrorist group, resulting four of the death notes getting burned in the crash, which means the game will still continue. A few days afterwards, Ryūzaki visits Tsukuru and informs him of the death notes that were stolen before. With his death is near, Ryūzaki chooses Tsukuru to become his successor once he died because Tsukuru is the only one he believes capable of retrieving the death notes. Tsukuru accepts the position, leaving his cell as the new Ryūzaki but not before revealing his real name: Ryō Makigami. Soon afterwards, Ryūzaki dies peacefully in the cell as written in the death note.

Cast

Production

As of February 2016 principal photography was taking place outside Japan.

The theme song "Dear Diary" and the insert song "Fighter" is performed by Namie Amuro.

Reception

The film opened on 342 screens and sold 342,309 tickets, earning 458,645,800 yen (about US$4.37 million) during its opening weekend. It was the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan in 2016 and also the 10th highest-grossing Japanese film of the year in the country (tied with A Silent Voice), with ¥2.3 billion (US$19.56 million).

Miniseries

A three-part miniseries entitled Death Note: New Generation was announced as a part of the Death Note live-action film series. It bridges the 10-year gap between the previous films and the 2016 film.