- L: Change the World
-
L: Change the World 
US poster for the filmDirected by Hideo Nakata Starring Kenichi Matsuyama Distributed by Warner Bros. (all Japan rights, US DVD) Release date(s) February 7, 2008 (Hong Kong)
February 9, 2008 (Japan)
February 29, 2008 (Singapore)
April 29, 2009 (United States)Country Japan Language Japanese L: Change the World (also known as Death Note: L, Change the World or Death Note III), directed by Hideo Nakata, is a spin-off film and a sequel to the Death Note film series. The series is based on the manga Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, but follows an original storyline. The film is set before the ending of Death Note II: The Last Name, which features the film version of L's death. The film was released in Japan on February 9, 2008, Hong Kong on February 7, 2008, Singapore on February 21, 2008, and the United Kingdom on December 29, 2008.
Two versions of the film were shown in the United States on April 29 and 30, 2009. The first version of the film shown was in Japanese with English subtitles and the second version shown was dubbed in English with the same voice actors from the English dubbed Death Note anime like the US release of its predecessors. The film was released on DVD in the US on August 18, 2009.
Contents
Plot
Kenichi Matsuyama reprises his role as L from the previous Death Note films. The film chronicles the final 23 days of L's life, as he solves one final case involving a bioterrorist group that aims to wipe out much of humanity with a virus with one hundred times the infection rate of Ebola. He takes a boy he names Near, the sole survivor of its use in a village in Thailand, and an elementary schooler named Maki Nikaido under his wing.[1]
Dr. Nikaido, a researcher, has received a sample of a deadly virus which destroyed a village in Thailand. His assistant, Dr. Kimiko Kujo who also goes by the initial of K, reveals herself to be the leader of the organization that created the virus. Dr. Nikaido, who has created an antidote, refuses to give it her. She kills him, convinced that his daughter Maki has the formula.
Maki runs away, eventually finding L's headquarters. But the group tracks Maki down, forcing L, accompanied by Maki and Near, to run away to a high-tech truck with the help of an FBI agent, Hideaki Suruga. L seeks the help of Nikaido's research partner to create an antidote. Using Near, L manages to acquire the antidote just as the terrorists are about to take an infected Maki to the US to spread the virus. L stops the plane and gives all the infected passengers, including the terrorist, the antidote. Maki then tries to kill Kujo for revenge, but L stops her. The film concludes with L leaving Near and giving him his "real name".
Shunji Fujimura also reprises his role as Watari, though the character dies early in the film as prior the events of The Last Name. The major characters of the main plot such as Light Yagami (Kira), Misa Amane, and Shinigami Ryuk all have brief cameos in the film.
Cast
- Kenichi Matsuyama as L[2]
- Narushi Fukuda as Near[2]
- Mayuko Fukuda as Maki Nikaido (二階堂 真希 Nikaidō Maki)[2]
- Shingo Tsurumi as Kimihiko Nikaido (二階堂 公彦 Nikaidō Kimihiko)[2]
- Youki Kudoh as Kimiko Kujo (久條 希実子 Kujō Kimiko) aka K[2]
- Sei Hiraizumi as Koichi Matsudo (松戸 浩一 Matsudo Kōichi)[2]
- Bokuzō Masana as Asao Konishi (小西 朝夫 Konishi Asao)[2]
- Yuta Kanai as Tamotsu Yoshizawa (吉沢 保 Yoshizawa Tamotsu)[2]
- Megumi Sato as Hotsune Misawa (三沢 初音 Misawa Hotsune)[2]
- Renji Ishibashi as Shin Kagami (加賀見シン Kagami Shin)[2]
- Kiyotaka Nanbara as Hideaki Suruga (駿河 秀明 Suruga Hideaki)[2]
- Masanobu Takashima as Daisuke Matoba (的場 大介 Matoba Daisuke)[2]
- Shunji Fujimura as Watari[2]
- Kazuki Namioka as F (エフ Efu)
- Hao Ganhane as Azetsu Mokotu
- Erika Toda as Misa Amane
- Asaka Seto as Naomi Misora
- Yōji Tanaka as Sasaki (佐々木)
- Tatsuya Fujiwara as Light Yagami
- Ayui Naisora as Yagure Mokotu
Production
Hideo Nakata told The Daily Yomiuri that he wanted to reveal L's "human side," which had not been explored in the Death Note series.[1]
Reception
As of March 5, 2008, there was a total of 2,200,000 for attendance, with a total of approximately 2,500,000,000 yen (approximately US$25 million) box office for this film.[3]
Novel
The film was also adapted into a light novel with the same name, written by "M" and published in Japan on December 25, 2007.[4] While the novel is similar to the film, there are many significant changes to the plot. (For example, Near is the same Near that appears in the manga, but not a Thai boy.) It also reveals more information about L and his past. Viz released it on October 20, 2009.[5]
References
- ^ a b Kan, Saori. "23 days to live." The Star. Sunday March 23, 2008. Retrieved on March 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "News" (Japanese). L: Change the WorLd.
- ^ "松山ケンイチ感激！「L」観客動員数200万人突破を達成" (in Japanese). 2008-03-05. Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20080309152101/http://www.sanspo.com/geino/top/gt200803/gt2008030615.html. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
- ^ "L change the world" (in Japanese). Shūeisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=978-4-08-771210-0&mode=1. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
- ^ "L change the world". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1421532255/. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
External links
- Official website (Japanese)
- L: Change the World at the Internet Movie Database
Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata Chapters • Episodes • Films (Death Note · L: Change the World) • Soundtracks • Characters (Light Yagami · L · Misa Amane · Near · Mello · Ryuk · Shinigami)1990s 2000s Sleeping Bride (2000) · Dark Water (2002) · The Ring Two (2005) · Kaidan (2007) · L: Change the World (2008)2010s Chatroom (2010) · The Incite Mill (2010)Categories:- 2008 films
- Japanese films
- Japanese-language films
- Death Note
- 2000s thriller films
- Film spin-offs
- Films directed by Hideo Nakata
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
