Death Note: Genius of the Counterattack

Built as a primer for audiences ahead of Light Up the NEW World, this 92-minute broadcast trims the original pair of films, the 2006 feature and The Last Name, into a streamlined summary. It threads in fresh material connected to the prequel miniseries New Generation and the incoming sequel, then went out over Nihon TV on October 28, 2016, the night before the new movie reached theaters. Narration from Tsukuru Mishima and Ryuzaki carries viewers quickly through the earlier events.

The recap frames itself around Mishima in 2016 as he digs into the original Kira investigation, and its first half hour boils down the events of the debut film he is studying. The setting then shifts to the present, where the task force relocates to a larger base and Ryuzaki meets Touta Matsuda; the following hour compresses the second film as the two review what unfolded. To close, the program rolls footage from the upcoming feature, showing notebooks raining down to Earth, Ryuzaki conversing with Near astride his motorcycle, and the investigators heading toward the killings in Shibuya, before sliding directly into a promotion for the new release.

As a condensed retrospective, the film deliberately skips the third entry, L: Change the WorLd, drawing only on the two features that feed directly into the new storyline. Its role is functional, refreshing the audience on the original confrontation as a bridge into the sequel rather than standing as a work in its own right.