Death Note

A reunion of the Super Peace Busters team exploring love and loss in Chichibu with a supernatural twist spanning thirteen years.

Death Note's Blue Sky is a 2019 Japanese animated film produced by CloverWorks and released on October 11, 2019. Directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai with a script by Mari Okada and character designs by Masayoshi Tanaka, the project reunites the creative trio known as Super Peace Busters, who previously collaborated on Toradora!, Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, and The Anthem of the Heart. Set in Chichibu, Saitama—Mari Okada's hometown—the story focuses on the relationship between four individuals. The film explores themes of lost love, family responsibility, and the lingering power of unresolved feelings through its unique narrative structure involving an 18-year-old ikiryō (living ghost).

Quick Facts

Released: October 11, 2019
Studio: CloverWorks
Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai
Writer: Mari Okada
Character designer: Masayoshi Tanaka
Setting: Chichibu, Saitama
Opening weekend gross: ¥68.5 million

Lore & Background

The story is set in Chichibu, where 18-year-old Shinnosuke Kanamuro (nicknamed Shinno), an aspiring guitarist, is dating Akane Aioi. Shinno is also friendly with Akane's 3-year-old sister Aoi, and the sisters support Shinno's band. Akane plans to move to Tokyo with Shinno after graduation, where he’ll pursue a career in music. However, the girls' parents are killed in a car accident, and Akane changes her plans, choosing to stay in Chichibu to raise Aoi. Thirteen years later, Aoi is an aspiring bassist who plans to move to Tokyo after high school, while Akane works for the city hall. Masamichi Nakamura (nicknamed Michinko), the drummer of Shinno's former band, also works for the city hall. Michinko is planning to hold a music festival to boost the city's tourism, and the main performer is the famous enka singer Dankichi Nitobe. One afternoon, while practicing bass alone in the hall, Aoi encounters Shinno from thirteen years ago. Frightened, she runs home to Akane and awkwardly asks her about Shinno. Akane admits that she has not heard from Shinno since he left, and is not even sure if he is still alive. This leads Aoi to believe she had seen Shinno's ghost. Later, the sisters reluctantly help Michinko in welcoming Dankichi Nitobe, and they are surprised to see a grown Shinnosuke as the guitarist of Nitobe's backup band. Aoi then returns to the hall with her friend Tsugu (Michinko's son), where they confirm that the young Shinno has a physical body but is unable to leave the hall. Tsugu hypothesizes that Shinno is an ikiryō (living ghost) born from Shinnosuke's strong unresolved feelings. Shinno then asks Aoi to help bring Akane and Shinnosuke together, believing that doing so will return him to Shinnosuke's body. However, this proves to be difficult as Shinnosuke is rude, arrogant, and does not get along with the Aioi sisters—a different person from the Shinno that they once knew.

Reader's Guide

To understand the film, note that it was announced by the Super Peace Busters team on March 21, 2019. The soundtrack is composed by Masaru Yokoyama, with theme songs "Her Blue Sky" and "Mellow Blue" performed by Aimyon. Production credits include Aniplex, Fuji TV, Toho, and Story Inc. The film was distributed by Toho and released in all Toho Cinemas on October 11, 2019. It ranked #4 in its opening weekend, earning ¥68.5 million in three days, reaching a total gross of ¥440.5 million (approx. US$4.04 million) by October 28, 2019. Home media releases followed on June 10, 2020. Streaming rights include Netflix starting in October 2024 with an English dub, and HBO Max streaming it in Southeast Asia from November 19, 2024, until its removal on September 1, 2025. Extended media includes two novels by Mio Nukaga (one screenplay-based, one illustrated) and a spinoff novel by Saginomiya Misaki, plus a three-volume manga by Yaeko Ninagawa serialized from 2019 to 2020.