with a name like dani california day was gonna come when i was gonna mourn ya

[meimichi]

DEATH NOTE MOVIE, BITCHES.

And mizuumi_twitt couldn't go today, so we are going again tomorrow to see it again. :P


In general...

I wasn't disappointed, but basically the movie (clocking it at about two hours and twenty minutes) covers the first volume only. To me, the true fun of DN is watching Raito and L play cat-and-mouse with each other. But they only had the final scene together, so I was disappointed in that aspect. I wanted tennis, damn it.

In addition, they left out some things I really missed. Raito's boredom is not touched on, and he and Ryuk don't have their little, "Why'd you do it?" "I was bored. Why'd you do it?" "I was bored," exchange. Sorely missed. So basically Raito is just motivated by his general hate-on for criminals, but...to me, that doesn't seem as interesting, or really explain his motive adequately, either.

So, summary for those interested. Keep in mind this isn't 100%, as things may be out of order or there are things I may have forgotten.

The opening shot is of the note being dropped on a street wet with pouring rain.

The movie then begins with a series of criminal acts being shown, each one precluded by a flash of the note and Raito's hand scribbing in it. You see the pencil marks being written over the screen as the crimes are committed, and then each person dies of the heart attack. Then we see a prison. A prisoner yells out to a guard, and the guard looks in as the prisoner dies of the heart attack. Then the prisoner in the next cell yells out. And the next. We see one of the prisoners frothing at the mouth, it's rather ew.

This is followed by sequences (many seen in the trailer) of newspaper articles and news reports explaining the heart attacks and Kira, then of various Japanese citizens debating over Kira. You see high school girls texting each other about it, kids chatting in the computer lab about it, tons of internet sites on Kira, a bunch of net chats about Kira ("Trash should go in the trashcan, criminals should go to Kira!" "I'm not bullied at school anymore. It's all thanks to Kira-sama!").

Then we find a small basketball game going on. Raito is playing as Shiori watches, alone in the stands. The score is neck-and-neck, until at the very last second, Raito makes an IMPOSSIBLE shot and wins it. Apparently there was some kind of bet on the game, and Raito collects the cash and splits it with his teammates. Shiori says she wanted them to go out and celebrate his victory, but then chides Raito that he should be ashamed spending the money ill-gotten by gambling. I don't remember what Raito said then, but it was probably along the lines of They Were Weak, We Were Strong, So Yay Money. And I start going, "Shut up, Shiori. NOBODY LIKES YOU, CONTRIVED MARY SUE GIRLFRIEND WITH A 'STRONG SENSE OF JUSTICE,' WHO RAITO IS GOING TO KILL SO DEAD AND I KNOW IT WILL BE AWESOME!"

You see some college students talking about the Kira case near a cafeteria, then Shiori and Raito walk through there and sit down at a table. She makes a comment, something along the lines of congratulating Raito for already being accepted into some police-related program, and complains that she wants to be an officer too, but her goal seems so distant while he's already succeeded. Raito tells her to move at her own pace. She brings up the subject of Kira, speaking out against what Kira does. But Raito says, "If I had Kira's power, I might do the same thing..."

Shiori is aghast, but Raito tells her to listen to what he has to say. Because of his acceptance into the program, he now has access to special law enforcement documents online. But when he logged in, eager to discover the Wonderful World of Law Enforcement, he instead stumbled across a list (complete with photos, of course) of known criminals that the law has been unable to, or unable to pin their true crimes on them. Somehow or other, he discovered that one known murderer hung out with his gang in some biker bar, and he went to check it out. Shiori scolds him for doing something so dangerous, but Raito bitterly relates the story of how he sat there listening to this known criminal brag about the joy of hearing the screams of all of the people he'd killed, and cackling that he'd gotten away with all of it.

We see this all in flashback, as Raito glares (not very covertly) at the bragging criminal. The guy and his gang notice Raito's disapproving pout, and the murderer shoves his knife in Raito's face as the gang looks menacing. Raito runs off into the rain, clearly furious at how he'd gone there to fix what the law couldn't, and found himself just as helpless...

Back to present time. Shiori warns him not to ever do crazy dangerous stuff like that again. Raito thinks, "I won't tell Shiori what happened after that, though. Nobody needs to know what happened after that..."

Back to the flashback, that is when he stumbles across the note, in the street. He picks it up and takes it home. We may get our first glimpse of Raito's mom and Sayu here, I don't really remember. Though regardless of when her first appearance was, Sayu was CUTE AS ALL FUCK. I'm not kidding. The actress had maybe four lines in the movie, but she was absolutely precious and show-stealing.

Raito goes up to his room and turns on the TV. He opens the note up to the rules, and laughs (so innocently!) as he reads out loud, "The person whose name is written in this note shall die." On the TV behind him, the news runs a story of a criminal who just kidnapped a five-year-old girl. So, on a whim, Raito writes the criminal's name in the note, then shuts it and goes to sleep.

The next morning, Raito comes downstairs as Sayu is leaving for school, and she whines that college students are lucky for being able to sleep in on her way out. SO CUTE. Raito's mom asks if he still wants breakfast, and he says he does, sitting at the kitchen table and opening the newspaper...only to find the article announcing the criminal's death by heart attack the night before. He freaks and runs upstairs to reread the rules again, as his mom yells up the stairs to come back and have his breakfast...

So then, Raito goes back to the part of town the biker bar was in, and finds the previous bad guy on the street. They stand on opposite sides of a train crossing. Raito (NOT VERY COVERTLY but I think everyone knew that would be an issue in the movie - still, I loved his foresight in the manga of hiding the note even before he believed in it completely) pulls out the note and writes the guy's name down as the train crosses between them. By the time the train has passed, the bad guy is dead from a heart attack.

Raito runs off to an abandoned street, at this point starting to look kinda cheered at the prospect of a life of criminal-killing. A voice from above says, "Looks like you're enjoying yourself." The camera zooms up to find Ryuk perched on a telephone pole, maybe? The CG in this scene is awful. Really, really awful. It was fine in every other Ryuk scene, but I was cringing through this. We get the bare bones in their meeting scene: the shinigami's name is Ryuk, the note belongs to Raito since he picked it up, no special punishment for a human using the note, pain and angst befalls the people who have the note, Raito can keep it or give it to someone else but if he gives it away his memories will be erased, only Raito can see Ryuk, and the person using the note won't go to heaven or hell. (Raito had only used the note twice at this point, so we don't get to see him shock Ryuk with the pages of names, and the boredom stuff is, as I said, sadly missing.)

I think then we get to see some more news footage to understand that Raito's just starting to get his groove on, and then the news runs a live story on an ongoing hostage situation. Raito is watching it unfold on a giant TV screen like the ones in Shibuya. He (NOT VERY COVERTLY) pulls out the note and writes down the criminal's name. Then as the Japanese SWAT team equivalent rushes in, the report comes back that the criminal is dead from the heart attack. There is a brilliant shot from the ground up, of Raito looking quite godly indeed on the street corner, holding the note.

The next morning, Shiori comes over to Raito's house, hanging in Raito's room (Sayu teases Raito a bit about it). She bitches some more about how Kira is teh evol. Raito sits down on his bed and asks, "Isn't this what you'd call a revolution?" Shiori leans against Raito's bookcase, sadly saying, "But this revolution has already been betrayed." She's upset that she and Raito feel completely differently about Kira.

Then they go on a date to an art museum, which is the most empty museum in the history of the entire world. So empty that when they peek inside a gallery, they find a couple making out to the tune of "Manatsu no Yoru no Yume," which is the insert song playing in this scene. Both Shiori and Raito sneak out of the gallery, a little embarrassed. Raito asks playfully, "Shall we copy them?" Shiori looks around, then sees a security camera filming above them (<---PLOT POINT) and shyly says, "I really don't want to, you know, in front of other people..."

(I manage to restrain myself from hissing, "Shiori! One: It's RAITO. Two: SUGA SHIKAO IS PLAYING AND IF THERE IS BETTER MUSIC TO MAKE OUT TO IN AN ABANDONED CORNER OF AN ART GALLERY THEN I DON'T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT. Three: It's RAITO!")

There is much police-related stuff hereabouts, though I don't really remember it all broken up into individual stuff. We see Yagami getting briefed on the Kira case as another officer offers input, and Watari stands mysteriously in the background. Then L's name is brought up, and Watari pulls out the laptop (Apple got their product placement in, it's a Mac) for L to chat with Yagami through his voice-scrambler.

There are a couple scenes with Ryuk bouncing around Raito's room chowing down on apples as Raito kills people. All of Ryuk's stuff is really, really funny and exactly matching the feel of the manga.

More police stuff, with L explaining that Kira is in Japan, and most likely a student because of the killing schedule. Then I think...I'm not sure where it is in sequence, but maybe it's here? The scene with Tailor claiming to be L. Raito watches the broadcast from his room, and Shiori watches it from a street corner TV. Tailor says that Kira will be caught and brought to justice, saying that Kira is an immature criminal who has stooped lower than the criminals he sought to eradicate. This scene is all kinds of fabulous, it's the only real contact between Raito and L in the movie before the final scene...Raito laughs, "I'm immature? If I'm immature, then you are, too!" He writes down Tailor's name, and Tailor dies in the middle of his speech. Shiori claps a hand to her mouth, horrified. Then the screen swaps to the L screen, and L lays the verbal smackdown.

By the way, most people complained that they thought Fujiwara has a tendency to overact. Personally, I wasn't worried about that because Raito is such a drama queen anyway, it would be hard to do too much with Raito at times. Honestly, his scenes where Raito is mad at L for being outsmarted like that...they just weren't that intense, and Raito didn't seem that upset. I was kinda sad that we didn't see Raito going postal with fury like he sometimes does in the manga (though the day is still young. and when I typed that, I wrote first, "the gay is still young," instead, which is the most appropriate typo ever)

There's a scene with Raito walking down the street with Ryuk, saying happily as they walk down the quiet street, "How odd for my revolution to be such a quiet one." But Ryuk doesn't respond as Raito talks, and doesn't catch the apple Raito pitches back to him. Then Raito notices Penber following him (oh, except his last name isn't Penber here, for those wondering how they handled that, his surname is Japanese...might be Iwasaki Rei? Iwa-something, anyhow). Raito asks how long he's been followed, Ryuk thinks a few days. Raito bitches about Ryuk not mentioning it, but Ryuk says that he's not Raito's comrade and doesn't need to say anything.

Raito flounces back home and pouts over not being able to kill his stalker, which is when Ryuk tells about the eyes. But Raito turns down the deal flat - but they don't mention his reasoning behind his refusal and wanting to rule over the new world as its god. (Aside...I honestly feel like they wanted to hold off on Raito's true crazeh until the final scene. I'm not sure if this was a bad idea or a good one. On one hand, I missed Raito and his sociopathic fabulousness...but on the other, people I saw the movie with who hadn't read the manga were SHOCKED at the end at Raito's capacity for evil. So I don't think it was an awful choice from a movie standpoint, but as a fan, I missed it.)

Then, Raito has a wonderful, awful idea. He asks Ryuk, "You mentioned people who touch the note can see you?" Then he hauls Shiori on a bus (painted with a giant Misa ad), and Rei follows. Shiori remarks that it's weird since they never take buses anywhere usually, and Raito drama-queens that he wanted to check out THE GUY THAT HAD BEEN FOLLOWING HIM ALL THIS TIME DUN DUN DUUUUN as he dramatically turns to ask Rei who he is and why he's following him! And I'm like, OH MY GOD RAITO SHUT THE FUCK UP. Rei is like LA LA LA I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, and Shiori scolds Raito for acting up, and basically I want everyone to shut up in this scene.

The whole thing is then pretty straightforward from the manga - busjacking, Raito insisting on seeing Rei's ID and seeing his name on it, getting the criminal to pick up the paper and letting him see Ryuk, after which he goes batshit trying to shoot Ryuk. The effects with the bullets going through Ryuk are pretty cool, though there is one mildly pointless bit done in bullet-time as the final bullet zooms through Ryuk's forehead, which just makes Ryuk chuckle. The shot of the busjacker running off the bus and getting hit by that car is shocking, even though I knew it was coming.

Rei wants to talk to Raito afterwards, but Shiori has gone into shock, so Raito hails a taxi to take her to the hospital. So Rei goes back to his hotel room to see Naomi, who is sitting in their room looking at bridal magazines and not seeming totally doomed at all or anything. And, let me say, Seto Asaka is so damn good. Unbelievably good. She pretty much steals the movie, I think. The guy playing Rei is not great, though, and his chemistry with her seemed rather awkward, though maybe the awkwardness was purposeful since Rei was supposed to be distracted in this scene. But anyway, they hug cutely, and exchange the most chaste-with-a-side-of-awkward kiss ever (it's practically an air kiss, man). Rei seems uncomfortable - he's worried since he showed Raito his ID on the bus. Rei and Naomi settle on the couch and cuddle, with her head in his lap. They talk shop mostly, but there is a sense of Oh They Are Going To Be Ever So Happy Together, Or They Would Be If They Weren't Totally Doomed.

Raito plots elsewhere, and the grand train plan is hatched. The next day-ish, Naomi is waiting for Rei in the hotel lobby, clutching a bag with the name of the church they're getting married in. They're supposed to meet with the priest to discuss their wedding plans, but Rei just passes through the lobby and totally blows Naomi off. She's slightly miffed and very curious about what he's blowing off their wedding planning session for, so she follows him onto the train and watches from the opposite side of the car. Pretty much manga-stuff from here again, though Rei seems so damn unfazed when Raito kills the guy sitting next to him on the train.

Anyway, so Rei finds the envelope and talks with Raito via the headset radio, and writes down the names. Then he gets off the train, with Naomi also getting off form the opposite door. She yells out, "Rei!" and Rei turns, but right then he collapses, clutching his chest. He goes down hard on the train platform, catching a glimpse of Raito grinning his evol mastermind grin as the train pulls away. Naomi screams Rei's name, flinging herself at his body, and her bag from the church falls to the ground, forgotten...

Then Raito explains his plan to Ryuk and we see the whole thing written out in the note.

Somewhere hereabouts, there's also a sequence of Misa doing her idol thing, playing host on some cooking show that plays in the background as Raito does evil note stuff at his desk. She's giggling about how the dish she's making is sure to beat off any potential love rivals if you make it for your loved one, or something like that. She looks absolutely ridiculous cooking in her gothloli getup. (Ryuk is watching this. I think he seems to think Misa is hot, he's absolutely enraptured by the show.) Then we see her doing an interview afterwards. A magazine reporter asks who Misa's ideal guy is, and she exclaims, "It's Kira!" The reporter is surprised, but she exclaims, "But he's so cool, isn't he? And, anyway...he's my savior." The reporter asks what she means, but Misa's manager cuts in and scolds Misa that he's told her before not to ramble on about Kira to reporters. Misa pouts about it but shuts up. She then takes off, thanking the remaining TV staff for doing such a great job on the show...but a staff worker watches her ultra-creepily as she walks away.

We also finally get it revealed that Yagami = Raito's dad, and there's a family dinner where Raito asks to be let on the Kisa case, but Yagami says he doesn't want Raito on it. Sayu continues to be insanely precious. Raito lets it go, but he grabs an apple on his way upstairs, and grandly announces that if something happens to his dad because of Kira, he'll definitely be the one to catch Kira and make sure he dies for his crimes. The family is mildly weirded out by this speechifying.

There's the grand exodus of the police team, until only the team of six is left working on the Kira case. I might also add that the guy playing Matsuda is absolutely beyond perfect. He's adorable, and he finishes peoples' sentences when they're trying to speak slowly and be dramatic, and just generally awesome even though the part is very small. The team says they don't trust L since he won't show himself, and L finally directs Watari to take the team to his hotel.

They get there, and it is awesome - the place is totally nondescript save for a giant tray of sweets in the middle of the room. Then L makes his grand entrance, complete with scratching his leg with his other foot! Immediately, Matsuyama never skips a beat as L. Personally, I hated his take on Shin in the NANA movie, but either he's improved a lot or the director really kicked his ass into gear. Seeing him sit is AWESOME - he sort of just LEAPS into the chair and curls up his legs in one fluid motion. It's almost catlike, and I can't imagine how long it took Matsuyama to practice making that posture look both natural and comfortable. He talks about how Kira is immature and hates to lose, so he can relate. Yagami gets annoyed with L's attitude, and he says sternly, "This isn't a game we're playing, Ryuuzaki: it's a war." L replies simply, "Either way, isn't the goal of winning the same?" AWESOME. And L is never without sweets throughout the movie. I think he had tea in this scene, same as the manga, and also probably cake. He held everything with two fingers throughout the movie as well.

Then the surveillance bit starts. They unfortunately left out all of the most fun parts of this: Raito just sticks what looks like maybe...really breakable bobby pins? into his door to see if someone's entered. That seems to be his "real" plan too, which is SO DUMB because it's SO OBVIOUS and I miss his crazy door-handle-angle plan. He also doesn't openly mock L with the dirty magazine, which made me cryyyy. And while there are an awful lot of TV screens that L's watching, we never do get the full batshit insane figure of how many cameras he stuck in that room. But otherwise you know the drill, the whole plot with Raito being under surveillance, bribing Ryuk with the apples, and then finally winning with his brilliant potato chip plan of doom. Though he doesn't have to throw out the mini-TV here. After his innocence is proven, they take out the cameras, and he feeds Ryuk apples as he finishes off the remains of the potato chips. Ryuk asks what he would have done if Sayu had swiped the chips from the kitchen first - but Raito says that the potato chips are an awful flavor, and nobody else in the house would eat them but him.

Anyway, so Raito's innocence is proven, but L's still not buying it.

Meanwhile, Naomi is carrying on her own investigation - she knows that the person who killed Rei is the one he must have shown his ID to on the bus. She tracks down Shiori, who leads her to Raito. Then Naomi introduces herself with a fake business card, and promptly accuses him of being Kira. Shiori says that Raito couldn't possibly be Kira and grandly defends him, as Raito sneaks note paper out of his wallet and writes down the suicide plan with Naomi's business-card-name. He finishes, then tells Shiori that she's wasting her time talking with Naomi, and pulls her off. Naomi yells after him that she'd given a fake name, so he won't be able to kill her if he tries, and that Rei was her fiancee and she's going to avenge him. Oooh, pwned.

Ryuk still urges Raito to swap for the eyes. But Raito won't do it. I think some more stuff happens here, maybe more L stuff? Not sure. Oh right, we see the investigation team worrying about being back at square one now Raito's been cleared, even though L still totally knows it's Raito, and then Naomi calls up L and tells him that before the day is through, she'll deliver the proof that Yagami Raito is truly Kira.

But the next day, Shiori calls Raito from the art museum, nervously telling him to come right away and meet her there. He tells her he'll meet her there in a half-hour, in front of the painting of the grim reaper holding a mask (NO SERIOUSLY). The camera pulls away to reveal Naomi holding Shiori at gunpoint as she hangs up the phone.

The investigation team has people who tracked Naomi to the museum, and they're tapped into the video feed to see whatever crazy shit she has planned. Which is when they see Raito running up through the museum on the feed, and L is like IT IS SO TOTALLY HIM YOU GUYS. And then we see Naomi, still holding Shiori at gunpoint in the middle of a giant room in the Emptiest Museum In The History Of The World. Raito runs into the room and comes to a stop when he sees Naomi's gun.

Naomi continues holding Shiori at gunpoint, as she tells Raito that she knows he must be Kira, since he's the one Rei showed his ID to that day. She says she'll let Shiori go if Raito just gives himself up. And, might I add, this scene is absolutely mind-blowing because both Seto and Fujiwara are acting the FUCK out of this. Raito screams, desperately, that he isn't Kira. Naomi raises the gun to Shiori's head, saying, "Don't admit it, then. But unless you admit you're Kira now, I'll murder the one you love right in front of your eyes: in the exact same way you murdered Rei in front of mine." Raito frantically screams that he isn't Kira, he isn't, and even if he were Kira, Shiori still wouldn't have anything to do with it, and begs Naomi to let her go.

Around this point, the investigation team has backup called in to charge into the museum...but L won't let them give the order to go in, because, "It's starting to get interesting." Hee.

But back at hostage central, Naomi is screaming, "I know you're Kira! My real name is Misora Naomi! Kill me now, and prove yourself as Kira! Kill me NOW!!" And Raito does pull out his pen hesitantly from his coat, but he doesn't pull out any paper, and even as he mutters to himself, "Misora Naomi!" it seems that it's too late...

...because Shiori twists away from Naomi suddenly, and makes a run for Raito across the giant room. Naomi aims her gun and fires three shots meant for Raito...

...but Shiori takes them all in the chest...

Shiori collapses, and Raito screams, "SHIORI!!!" and rushes to hold up her collapsed form. He screams at Naomi, "HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD YOU SHOOT SHIORI?!!" And Shiori lifts up her head, whispering, "Raito..." and reaches up to kiss him. She pulls away and smiles, "Hey...guess I finally...did it in front of other people..."

And then she dies.

And let me just say right here, that I absolutely knew at this point that of course Raito had to have planned all of this crap from the beginning, because otherwise the movie would have been teh suck. But Fujiwara was insanely, insanely good, just as amazing of an actor as Raito is in these kinds of scenes in the manga, so so so good. And I honestly felt like I should cry, I teared up a tiny bit just because his performance was that convincing as he was screaming over Shiori's body, so heartbreaking. But I just had a huge grin on my face at the same time because it was Raito finally being unleashed in all his true sociopathic glory for the climax.

Anyway, Naomi realizes her "mistake" as she sees Raito screaming over Shiori's crumpled form, and just as the investigation team bursts into the scene, she raises her gun to her own head, and shoots...

From this, we pull away to Misa on her way home...but she's being followed by creepy stalker guy from the TV studio. He pulls a knife on her and says they need to die together. nihongofrancias complained that Toda always looks ugly when she cries in dramas, and I said, "Well, Misa never cries so that shouldn't be a problem," but I never imagined we'd get to see this scene! And Toda is quite great in it too, she's crying but doesn't look bad at all, and she frantically screams for help as she desperate tries to jump a chain-link fence to escape, to no avail. Just as the stalker is holding up the knife and promising that he'll make it so it barely hurts at all...he slumps over dead. Heart attack. In the same second that his body hits the ground, the note slaps to the earth right next to his body, coming from absolutely nowhere.

I never imagined we'd get to see this scene, which wasn't even really in the manga. But let me say, while I'm already a Misa fan, I think this scene makes you understand her a great deal more. You get that when that guy hit the ground, she almost certainly thought that Kira was her savior again, at least until Rem showed up to explain it to her later. But regardless, after seeing her screaming for her life like that, you can truly understand what drives her to this insane love for wanting to help Raito. And it makes sense, because unlike Raito's situation in the manga, she actually has been personally wronged by criminals, and you can understand her wanting to use the note so that she won't be found helpless again like that, and to create the new world order where nobody is threatened like she was, or her parents were, ever again. I mean, I know we knew these things about Misa on an intellectual level, but seeing her fingers digging into that chain link fence as she's screaming for help just underlines it in a great way.

We go back to the museum. Raito is curled up on the museum steps, his face buried in his arms. Yagami leans down near him and says they're bringing a car around to send him home in, and walks off. Ryuk floats beside Raito on the steps, remarking that Raito must feel horrible that his precious Shiori died. But Raito then lifts up his head, and HE IS ROCKING THE EVIL RAITO GRIN, and grins widely, "But Ryuk...I killed Shiori, too!"

AND IT IS AWESOME.

Ryuk is shocked, saying that Raito couldn't have, because it's a rule of the note that you can't order one person to kill another. But Raito smugly explains his MASTERMINDED PLAN: when the train pulled away the day he killed Rei, he caught a glimpse of the bag she was carrying with the name of the church. After Naomi came to bitch at Raito and was yelling about avenging her fiancee, he put two and two together, and went off to the church. The priest was remarkably helpful when he asked for info on Rei's wedding, and of course the wedding plans all had "Misora Naomi" written on them because that couldn't be with a fake name.

So after that he wrote his plan that Naomi would tell law enforcement that she had a plan to uncover Kira, then set off to the museum with the gun at a certain time and date, take a hostage in an attempt to draw Kira out, kill the hostage with her gun, and then kill herself out of guilt. Meanwhile, he had written for Shiori that she would go to the museum at the same date and time, be involved in a hostage situation, and be murdered by a gun. So, Raito says proudly, he still followed the note rules because he never said that Naomi specifically had to shoot Shiori - but he had said Shiori needed to be shot by a gun in her instructions, and he'd already known that Naomi would have the gun onhand since she was required to carry one to execute her own suicide, and it was doubtful anyone else in Japan would have a gun to carry out Shiori's murder. Raito says triumphantly that now he'll definitely be allowed to join the Kira investigation - nobody can say no to the boy whose girlfriend was just murdered by Kira's fault, right?

Ryuk stares, kinda flabbergasted, and says, "...you really are evil, huh. Raito, you're more shinigami-like than any shinigami. Don't you feel awful, though, since Shiori loved you from the bottom of her heart? Didn't you love Shiori back?" Raito pauses thoughtfully, his face a blank, and he says simply, "Who knows."

Then Yagami comes back and says the car is ready. Raito says that he has a request. He asks again to join the Kira team, saying he can't forgive Kira, since Shiori's death is all Kira's fault. Yagami hesitates, but a voice from the entrance says, "It's fine."

Raito looks up, and there stands L, who introduces himself. And he welcomes Raito to the Kira investigation team...

...and then...

......HE PULLS OUT THE EXACT SAME BRAND AND AWFUL-TASTING FLAVOR OF POTATO CHIPS THAT RAITO HID THE TV IN, AND POINTEDLY MUNCHES ON THEM. He and Raito stare meaningfully at each other in camera shots that look nothing less than epic. The silent message is clear:

"Bring. It. ON."

Then the ending credits groove along to "Dani California." After the credits, Ryuk cackles that the game is just beginning, reminding us he's the only one who knows L's real name, and Raito's lifespan, and to stay tuned for November for part two. WHICH I WILL NOT BE HERE FOR, WOE.

Anyway, it was quite good. The investigation stuff did drag at the start, though, and I think it might have been better to introduce L sooner...I think it took a full ninety minutes before we glimpsed him. But the final shot definitely was saying plainly, "The fun is just getting started."

Comments

[missdeep.livejournal.com]

All the fucking mary-sue skanks in the world are called Shiori. MY ALIAS IS CURSED.

Anyway, the movie sounds like some seriously hot shit and if you're seeing it again I'm taking that as a good sign. Even if we get no gay!tennis :(

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

But didn't you pick it for SKU!Shiori? She is not a Mary Sue! Just skanky! (But really, I love her!)

We actually bought the tickets for tomorrow, before we saw the movie tonight, though. Because we meant to go in the morning, but it sold out like crazy and the only show we could get was at 6:00. And my friend had dinner plans, but had been looking forward to seeing the movie like crazy, so we agreed to go again tomorrow so she wouldn't miss out. I'm not sure if I would have necessarily chosen to see it again otherwise - but I saw it was five guys tonight and it's just not the same squeeing over L and his lollipops all alone, you know? :( So I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

We get gay!tennis in the sequel but those were the first set photos that were published, so it was the very first thing I'd looked forward to. I WAS SO CRUSHED when not ONLY did we miss out on GAY TENNIS, but we actually pretty much missed out on GAY IN GENERAL since they only had the one scene face-to-face. Woeeeee! WHY AM I MISSING THE SEQUEEEEEEL.

[flamika.livejournal.com]

Random person commenting here: Thank you so, so much for this summary (and it was funny, too!). The movie appears to be... interesting. I'm eager to see how they handle things differently from the manga. And of course, I never want to miss out on an opportunity to see Light acting like a diva. XD I kinda wish they'd done the whole "I am L" scene at the college where Light nearly poo'd on himself in shock, but this new interpretation sounds good as well.

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was a bit miffed that we wouldn't get to see him freaking out in part two. I really liked that moment in the manga as well. But L silently declaring war via potato chips was great, and a wonderful note to end the movie on...I really did feel a bit like the whole movie was just one big tease for the sequel, which is no doubt going to be amazing since they've already finished with the exposition and stuff.

[bakanekosama.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEE! Thanks for the write-up! Can't wait for the sub torrents any longer!

I love the potato chip thing. And I'll miss the "I am L" bit at the college ceremony too. And what, these kids aren't in school?

I wonder how much they can fit in the sequel, or most likely alter the storyline completely for the painful time constraints and NOT give us the grand finale (aka chapter 58), huh?

Was Rem in it at all, btw?

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

Raito is in college, but I was a bit fuzzy on how it all worked. The college-set scene implied he and Shiori were going to the college together, and he spent lots of time studying. But I didn't really understand the part about the police program he was in; if that was something separate from school or if he was going to an academy.

I think it's important to keep in mind that this movie really only seems to be the setup for the next one. If they really want to get to chapter 58 then things will need to be changed to suit time constraints, yes, but a lot more should fit into the next movie since now all of the characters are set up and all of the note-related exposition is finished with. Also, we already know the tennis scene is included, which doesn't seem like something they would keep if they were really pressed for time. Especially since there doesn't seem to be any need for L to be at the college in the first place, now... :/

No Rem. The final shot in that scene was of Misa looking up at the sky trying to figure out where the note had been dropped from. She hadn't touched it yet.

[geartemis.livejournal.com]

Oh man, this sounds AMAZING. Judging by this review, I might actually warm up to Tatsuya. Thank god that they didn't ruin Raito with Shiori's part; it showed how much more evil he is, just like they promised. Can't wait to see this (if I ever get the chance, anyway.)

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

Fujiwara really, really was excellent. The scene when he cries over Shiori's body is absolutely unrestrained and wonderful. Also, his acting was so natural that it wasn't until the repeat viewing that it even registered with me, that he had filmed about 75% of his scenes in the movie all alone, talking to a tennis ball (or whatever they substituted for pre-special-effects Ryuk - I know they used a puppet in the outdoor scenes but probably not in the majority of the ones in Raito's room)! Then I was even more impressed. Even if the CG on Ryuk was iffy in spots, Fujiwara's reactions to him are so natural and relaxed, that you always believe Ryuk is really there as a character, not just a special effect.

[fusakugyoku.livejournal.com]

Oh my holy freak.

Thanks so much for this summary (and you awesome snarky commentary!). Wow, I thought the whole Shiori thing would be a huge bomb, but this sounds absolutely wonderful! I can't WAIT. These deviations are probably the almost-best that could have been possible.

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I was also worried about Shiori too, but her presence really grounded the movie, I think. Her death just made the ending pack an extra punch, emotionally - it just made everything tie together in a way that felt very cinematic.

Plus, a guy I saw the movie with who'd never read the manga was absolutely SHOCKED at the twist that Raito was so evil that he'd killed his girlfriend. The reaction was really fun to see.

[asami-san.livejournal.com]

Thank you for writing this summary , I enjoyed reading it..tho I hoped for more L in this Movie.. Oh well.. -_-

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

There's definitely enough to make people happy though. :) The second movie will probably be better in terms of his screentime though.

[elwing-alcyone.livejournal.com]

(Came here from the link on death_eyes.)

Oh my God, I've been dying for spoilers here, so thank you so much for typing this out. It sounds awesome. At least all those rumours about Shiori being Light's motive for becoming Kira turned out to be false. What they really did is very cool. I can't wait to see it.

Thanks again! You have made a random fangirl very happy.

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I wanted to share the excitement with the other DN fans, at least - seeing the movie is fun, but it's kind of depressing not being able to discuss something DN-related with the whole fandom as per usual. :)

I was also really nervous about Shiori - the repeat viewing today was much better since I didn't have to stress over how she'd be used, and could just relax and enjoy it. *g*

[ironical-kai.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just... wow. That is an amazing description. Thank you so much!

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for commenting!

[fluffyfledgling.livejournal.com]

Yes, you totally pwn. Thank you so much for the summary! Not only was it fantastically amusing to read, I am now feeling beautifully spoiled (because your summary was so detailed) as I would have died inside if it had been less so.

Some of the changes in the movie make me WTF?! repeatedly, but it seems like the general idea still gets across.

May I have your babies?

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

Hee. Glad you liked it!

A few changes made me a little sad, but the "feel" is definitely intact and all of the acting is so amazing that I couldn't complain. Honestly there are only two things I seriously wish had been different: adding in the bit on Raito's boredom since I love that dimension to his character, and making it so Raito didn't unnecessarily call out Rei following him on the bus, which just seemed really, really, really stupid for him. ^^

[faustusfaustine.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh. I am so glad that Raito is still so evil~~~~ ^^

And thank you so so much for this summary. Now I really have the urge to watch it~!

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

I was glad he was evil too~! Glad you enjoyed it. :D

[rubbersoul1967.livejournal.com]

WOW. WOW. Thanks so much for this extremely well-done and elaborate description. X) I'm so excited for this movie; it sounds so interesting!

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! It was really good, so I'm glad to share the information with people who can't see it yet. ^^

[bellpickle.livejournal.com]

Holy crap, that ending sounds incredible. I can't wait to see it now!

Thanks for the summary!

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

It really, really is. On my second viewing today, a bunch of people in the audience screamed, "NO WAY!!!" when the credits rolled, totally furious it was ending there when it was only just getting to the good part. ^^

[krystel-kun.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO much for doing this review!! X3 It got me through being depressed and ...sad that I don't get to see it yet. ;-;

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you so much for typing all of that. X3 It's so interesting what parts they changed. It also sounds like it can work on its own, for those who haven't read it. Plus new twists! Killing his girlfriend is a great way of showing what a nutcase he really is. And thanks again!

[philippamurphy.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry for the anonymous thanks. It must have logged me out. ;;

[orenaiteki.livejournal.com]

thanks for the summary :D!
I really hope someone gets it subtitled online sometime
I want to see it so badly now :O

[exborean.livejournal.com]

Muaaa~~~ I thought you diiiiied~~~~
What is your address in Japan? Do you have easy computer access? What have you been doing? Waah~~~

[nyonyo.livejournal.com]

OMG, LOGIN TO LJ!!! If you use the cookie option, you don't need to even login everytime you visit the site!! I post like every day and have been since the day I got here, they're just locked! *_* I thought YOU died because your Xanga was just like, GONE. AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF HOUSE OF LEAVES. (Did you know they just released the full-color version?! I WANT IIIIIT)

My house family has wireless, the connection is CRAZY fast, faster than school or home. And I've been all over the place, if you login you can read all about it!! Most recently, I spent the weekend before last in Osaka, going to the Sony Anime Festival Concert for Bleach and Gintama anime, and got to see the seiyuu perform onstage live (PAKU ROMIIIII) and almost all of the theme song bands (Tommy heavenly6, Horie Yui, etc...).

ALSO I MISS YOU LIKE WHOA. I made some friends here but they are all like, "GEN!" and not into teh yaoi smut (to the point that...they watch Tenpuri for...the tennis), so I have to go doujin shopping all alooooone, because when I bring friends with me they get SCANDALIZED and I am like I MIIIIIISS LES BECAUSE HERE I AM GOING TO MANDARAKE LIKE ONCE A WEEK TO BINGE ON SMUTTY DOUJIN, AND I SEE DISTURBING THINGS LIKE AN ENTIRE SEPARATELY LABELED SUBCATEGORY OF HAGAREN DOUJIN SHELVES IS THE ED-AS-A-GIRL-GETTING-IT-ON-WITH-ROY STUFF, AND I HAVE NOBODY TO SHARE THE DISTURBING IMAGES WIIIIIIITH.

NOT TO MENTION WHEN WE WENT TO SEE THE DEATH NOTE MOVIE AND IT GOT TO THE BIG EMOTIONAL CLIMAX AND RAITO WAS SPRAWLED OVER SOBBING HIS EYES ON THE FLOOR?!! I GOT ALL TEARY FOR LIKE A MINUTE SINCE THE ACTING WAS SO GOOD, THEN THEY WENT TO THE WIDE SHOT OF HIM SPRAWLING SOME MORE IN HIS FAKE SOCIOPATHIC SORROW, AND I WAS JUST LIKE, "OOH BUT RAITO HAS ONE FINE ASS...AND I BET L IS PROBABLY THINKING THAT TOO ON THE VIDEO FEED!!!!" AND I COULD NOT SAY THIS TO ANYONE BECAUSE ONLY I COULD ONLY SAY THAT TO YOU. *CRY*

Hey, speaking of which, what do you want in the way of presents?

Also, WHY ARE YOU COMMENTING HERE AND ASKING ME ABOUT ME AND NOT TELLING ME ABOUT HOW YOUR LIFE IS. How is job stuff going? Did the book you were working on get all finished? When do I get to see iiiit?!!

P.S. the Honey & Clover movie looks like it's going to be really really really good. I've seen the trailer three times at the movies, and every time it made me cry a little bit.

[(Anonymous)]

That's a really good summary, thanks for posting it.

I'm just wondering where the second movie is gonna go... 'Cause if there's only two, it's not necessarily gonna end on the chapter 58 note without leaving room for more sequels, or completely changing what happens next. I think it's quite possible that, since it seems that they're playing Raito off as being a bit dumber, Chapter 58'll come into play, but immediately afterwards someone figures out it's Raito and chapter 107 kicks in, completely skipping the SPK arc.

Just my thoughts.

-Kensu (don't have an account, and am probably unknown to you anyway)

[sakurita.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for the great summary!! It looks like the movie was just awesome! You are so lucky!

[linnen.livejournal.com]

I feel your pain for not being in Japan for part two. I'm going to see it next week, but know that I'm just going to weep openly aftwards for the cruel fact that I cannot see the next part.

[deathbyliz.livejournal.com]

hey. i added your icon journal so i thought i'd add your main as well. you're amazing. :]] lol

[lefcadio.livejournal.com]

Here from the TOWNL forum~

Hee, thanks for writing this up - I saw it while in Japan, but it was a lot of fun to read your commentary. xD Even though I was kinda sad L and Light didn't meet like in the manga, the end scene was still awesome - especially since L seemed to eat that last crisp rather provocatively. :p
And the sweets/cakes kebabs! Hee, that had to be one of my favourite moments.

I'm so glad to hear the tennis scene is in the next one, though - I'd feared they'd cut it because it was basketball they showed Light playing in this one. Not being there to see the next one will suck. ;__;

[chibi15.livejournal.com]

Thanks for writing this up!!! I enjoyed it a lot!!! I will watch the movie when it comes to Hong Kong!!! I can't wait!!

Although most of my favourite parts of the manga are not in it, like you said the "Boredom" part, the evil laughs of Raito and the totally cool meeting between L and Raito at the college!!!

But I am very glad that Raito is kept evil, and very glad they showed Misa's background!! But she's supposed to be blonde hair not black!

[xkira.livejournal.com]

what was the book that he was holding that he threw away in the rain?