2016 Death Note Film Gets 3-Episode Prequel on Hulu Japan

The official website for Death Note Light up the NEW world, this year's live-action Death Note sequel film, announced on Tuesday that the film will get a three-episode prequel mini-series titled Death Note NEW GENERATION. The mini-series will launch on Hulu Japan on September 16, with a new episode every week.

Masahiro Higashide, Sousuke Ikematsu, and Masaki Suda, who play the characters Tsukuru Mishima, Ryūzaki, and Yūki Shien in the film, respectively, will be the focus of the episodes. The first episode, "Shinsei" (Rebirth), will center on Mishima, showing how he was selected as the ace of the Death Note task force. The second episode, "Ishi" (Dying Wish), will focus on Ryūzaki, showing the incident that led him to the Death Note task force, and reveals his thoughts about L. The third episode, "Kyōshin" (Fanaticism), focuses on Shien and the trauma he carries.

The characters Sakura Aoi (Rina Kawaei) and Ryuk (Shidou Nakamura) will also appear in the mini-series. Tomoyo Nakamura and Kazuyuki Aijima will play original characters.

The film's staff members Shinsuke Sato, Katsunari Mano, and Yutaka Yamada reprise their same roles of director, scriptwriter, and musical composer, respectively, in the series' production staff.

Hulu Japan is commemorating the opening of the new film by launching a channel that features the previous films, anime, and live-action television series on Wednesday.

The new film will open in Japan on October 29.

In Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's original 2003-2006 supernatural suspense manga, a teenager named Light finds a notebook with which he can put people to death by writing their names. He begins a self-anointed crusade against the criminals of the world, and a cat-and-mouse game begins with the authorities and one idiosyncratic genius detective.

In the new film's story, a highly advanced information society is beset by global cyber-terrorism in 2016. New charismatic figures, who "inherited the DNA" of Light (previously played Tatsuya Fujiwara) and the detective L (Ken'ichi Matsuyama), emerge. The successors of the two geniuses will wage a war over six Death Notes on Earth.

A crucial plot element will be the "Six-Note Rule": only six Death Notes are allowed to exist at a time in the human world. Of course, the Shinigami (Gods of Death) themselves are limited to the number of Death Notes. Therefore, up to six Shinigami may exist in the human world. This rule existed in the original manga, but previous adaptations in the franchise have not used this rule thus far.

The film will star:
Masaki Suda (live-action Assassination Classroom's Karma Akabane, live-action Kuragehime's Kuranosuke Koibuchi) as Yūki Shien, a cyber terrorist who reveres Kira.

Sousuke Ikematsu (The Last Samurai's Higen, MOZU's Kazuhiko Shingai) as Ryūzaki, L's successor and a world-famous detective.

Masahiro Higashide (live-action Parasyte's Hideo Shimada, live-action Ao Haru Ride's Kō Mabuchi) as Tsukuru Mishima, a "Death Note otaku" and an investigator pursuing the Death Notes

Rina Kawaei (Azumi: Bakumatsu-hen stage play) as Sakura Aoi, the most terrible Death Note user ever, an indiscriminate murderer, and the complete opposite of Light Yagami.

Mina Fujii as Shō Nanase, an investigator on the Death Note task force.

Eiichiro Funakoshi as Kenichi Mikuriya, a Supreme Court justice who possesses a Death Note.

Erika Toda as Misa Amane (Toda is reprising the role from the previous live-action films.)

Shidou Nakamura as Ryuk (Nakamura is reprising the role from the previous live-action films and anime.)

Sota Aoyama as Tōta Matsuda (Matsuda is reprising the role from the previous live-action films.)

Shinsuke Sato (live-action Gantz, Gantz: Perfect Answer, Library Wars films) is directing the film. The film is a "forbidden sequel" to the two earlier live-action Death Note films, 2006's Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name. The film was shot in overseas locations, and Warner Brothers will distribute.​

 

This is sounding more and more interesting. I CAN'T WAIT!