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REVIEW: Death Note: Light up the NEW world BD+DVD




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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:11 pm Reply with quote
I had prety much the same experience. I think the script woud have worked better for a full series, 24 episodes if anime, 12 for a live action version (since episodes are normally longer). A lot of plot points feel rushed and therefore dumb not only that, some even feel cancelled, like the thing they did with Nana ; having 5 notes and a character named nana (7) and the talk about her brother I was expecting her to be another note holder and probably light's little sister. not just a "kira killed my brother" one dimensional character... wich might ahve worked if they made it so kira killed an acussed, innocent person but they did not even let that sink... not that being a death note holder would have saved her much, since the other 4-5 ones also got killed quite unceremoniously.

Lots of potential, I still enjoyed it, but it definitely was not a movie script.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:36 pm Reply with quote
A fair-enough review, although I'll admit I liked/appreciated it way more.

If you don't like sequels that undercut/betray the previous story and its ending (such as Terminator 3, Alien 3, and Men in Black 2), that can be enough reason to dislike this one, as I almost did upon first viewing. In the long run it made everything L and the protagonists fought for seem to be in vain and rendered meaningless with the continuation of the Death Notes, as well as the secret measures Light took revealed in this chapter.

Another nitpick I have against this movie is that although it's a sequel set in the same timeline as the first two--there are some plot inconsistencies that just don't make as much coherent sense as they're intended to. For instance, the "measure" that Light took was spoiler[fathering a child so that he could grow up to take Light's place as the new Death Note king. That is often a usual tactic used by psychotic villains in some stories, but here it makes me wonder--taking the first two movies into account, when the heck did Light have the time to conceive a child for such an elaborate, long-term scheme? And with someone apparently other than Misa? For that matter, who was the mother and where is she in all this? It seriously bothers me not knowing this much.] And last but not least, what ever happened to Light's father? My best guess is that he passed away in the line of duty from the past 10 years, but this movie never clarifies anything.

This sounds like a lot against it, so what made me come around to it? One, it's Shinsuke Sato (who also did the Gantz movies), one of my new favorite filmmakers who knows how to make a solid, entertaining popcorn film. If the Death Note story had to have a continuation, this movie utilizes a most intriguing concept that's based off of ideas lifted directly from the original manga. While the first two movies were a grounded cat-and-mouse thriller, Light Up the New World is like more an epic war film. And I read some complaints of Misa's role, but her reactions and complicated feelings about being called back into the action felt very true and consistent. And spoiler[her fate in this story only made sense to me, because in the back of the mind I always knew that if there were ever a story continuation and Misa was called back into action, there was never going to be a happy ending for here, there was just no way for that. If she had just gone on in blissful ignorance like she did at the end of The Last Name, but alas with this movie's existence it just wasn't meant to be.]

So it could've been better in many ways, and this movie has both its strengths and weaknesses, although in my opinion the strengths just manage to outweigh the weaknesses. But I'll admit that in spite of that I still see Light up the New World as more of a fanfic than a true sequel to the first two movies--albeit a fun and entertaining fanfic for what it is. It's too bad this is barebones, and I'm glad I'm keeping my Madman blu-ray which retains the 3-episode mini-series. It really does help flesh out further the world and characters of this movie, and it also helps explain why we don't see a 10-year-older Near from L: Change the World.


Last edited by pachy_boy on Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 1:37 pm Reply with quote
I wish they had made this a live action TV series. The movie is solid for what it is, but it's rushed at times and some characters seem like they could be cool if they had more than a single 2 hour movie to be introduced, explained, and a resolved.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 4:20 pm Reply with quote
About the kid, I completely disregarded that and assumed bad translation and that they meant sucessor.

Mr. sickVisionz wrote:
I wish they had made this a live action TV series. The movie is solid for what it is, but it's rushed at times and some characters seem like they could be cool if they had more than a single 2 hour movie to be introduced, explained, and a resolved.


Agreed,a lot of characters last less than 5 minutes and could ahve used a full episode instead.
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1816
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:57 pm Reply with quote
Mr. sickVisionz wrote:
I wish they had made this a live action TV series. The movie is solid for what it is, but it's rushed at times and some characters seem like they could be cool if they had more than a single 2 hour movie to be introduced, explained, and a resolved.


Japanese live-action TV series seem to be harder to license, though, at least for Western markets. Like, Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock released the third Eko Eko Azarak live-action movie but never had the TV series it spun-off from.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:25 am Reply with quote
fuuma_monou wrote:

Japanese live-action TV series seem to be harder to license, though, at least for Western markets. Like, Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock released the third Eko Eko Azarak live-action movie but never had the TV series it spun-off from.


I don't really follow live action JP TV stuff so I can't call it, but I know Crunchyroll streamed the previous live-action JP Death Note series and places like Netflix get JP live action TV stuff at a pace that that doesn't seem like it's super hard to acquire vs the other foreign content they acquire.

My fingers are slightly crossed that they adapt this into a TV series with some variations here and there like they did the original. That was cheesy and low budget and kinda soap opera quality, but I actually enjoyed it a lot.
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NJ_



Joined: 31 Oct 2009
Posts: 2997
Location: Wallington, NJ
PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 3:29 pm Reply with quote
fuuma_monou wrote:
Japanese live-action TV series seem to be harder to license, though, at least for Western markets. Like, Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock released the third Eko Eko Azarak live-action movie but never had the TV series it spun-off from.


Another example is Discotek licensing the movie finale of the Hana Yori Dango J-Drama 10 years ago and not the previous two seasons but in that particular case, there's a good reason for it

animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=771440#771440

jsevakis wrote:
TV dramas starring any guys from Johnny's Entertainment will likely never be released in the US, unless someone is really, really stupid with their money. Johnny's (and their parent company Onjikyou) controls a lot of the rights of the dramas their talent star in, and they have a non-negotiable minimum license fee that is completely out of whack with what a live action foreign TV series would sell in the States.

They do not have such control over movies, however, so those can get licensed. That's why we got the GTO movie in the states, but not the drama, despite it being faaaar better.


Those familiar with Johnny's know how much of a problem they have been with anime since OPs & EDs with songs involving their music artists usually gets replaced or cut completely from international releases or in some cases like Yu-Gi-Oh (during the 4Kids Toonzaki days) & Monster Hunter Stories, affected full episodes getting streamed.

Thankfully Death Note doesn't seem to have that issue since in addition to getting streamed on Crunchyroll when it was airing, the 2015 J-Drama got licensed for video in both France & Germany by Kaze.
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