Professor Layton Retrospective: The Eternal Diva

Four days before the 3rd Professor Layton game came out, The first movie installment of the franchise was released in Europe. It was made by Level-5 themselves in collaboration with P.A Works, the company that makes the FMVs for the games. Loved by fans, this is one of those rare good video game movies. The movie takes place after Specter's Call and before The Miracle Mask, let's take a look:

The Script:

Professor Layton receives a letter from Janice, a former student of his who's an opera singer. In it she informs the professor that a young girl claims to be a reincarnation of a dead friend of hers. It's up to the Professor and Luke to solve this mystery. The story is great, as it retains the family friendly but emotionally deep themes that the series is known for. The characters are also very interesting and likable, especially Janice. The script does a fantastic job of being a 1:1 translation of the games into movie format. It sucessfully blends puzzle-solving and adventure without making it feel forced.

Overall it's a fantastic script.

9/10

The Direction:

The direction of the movie is great. The movie deals character moments with great care, action scenes are stylish and epic in scope, and comedy is very well timed. It's incredibly easy to be swept by Layton's lovable world.

9/10

The Audio:

Just like in the games, we have Tomohito Nishiura in charge of the soundtrack. For the first time a Layton story is enhanced by a full orchestra instead of DS synths and it sounds phenomenal. Hearing the series trademark tunes fully orchestrated is a real treat for fans, and the new tracks are equally catchy and effective. The voice acting is, as expected, truly brilliant.

10/10

The Animation:

P.A Works bring the work they do for the games into the big screen and it looks great. All the characters look and move just like in the games, which will please fans. The only problem is the integration of the CG. For the most part it looks fine, but sometimes a cg vehicle can clash with the hand-drawn style.

8.5/10


Overall, Level-5's first venture into the movie business is a smashing sucess. It's touching, it's incredibly fun, the characters are just as lovable as they are in the games and it sucessfully blends all the elements that make the games great into one tight package.

Final Grade: 9/10


Join me next time when we go back to the games for the last game of the first Layton trilogy: The Lost Future. See you then ;)