Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
Japanese release poster
Directed by	Masakazu Hashimoto
Produced by	Kenji Horikawa Arimasa Okada Toshiaki Okuno Shin Omura Ichiro Takase
Screenplay by	Aya Matsui
Story by	Akihiro Hino
Starring	Yo Oizumi Maki Horikita Nana Mizuki Atsurô Watabe Saki Aibu
Music by	Tomohito Nishiura Tsuneyoshi Saito
Studio	P.A.Works OLM
Distributed by	Toho Manga UK
Release date(s)	December 19, 2009 (2009-12-19)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Money made	$7,670,789

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (レイトン教授と永遠の歌姫, Reiton-kyōju to Eien no Utahime) is an anime mystery movie from 2009. It was directed by Masakazu Hashimoto. The film is based on the popular Professor Layton video game series.

The story happens between the games Professor Layton and the Last Specter and Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. In the movie, a famous singer named Janice Quatlane asks her old teacher, Professor Hershel Layton, for help. She met a young girl who says she is her dead friend reborn.

Professor Layton and his helper, Luke Triton, go to Janice's show. They get pulled into a puzzle game where the winner gets "eternal life." The movie is like the games, with lots of music, puzzles, and familiar characters.

An English version of the movie came out in the UK in 2010. It was released in the USA in 2011. Critics generally liked the film.

The Story of the Movie

This adventure takes place three years before the events of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Professor Hershel Layton, a smart archaeologist and puzzle solver, and his young apprentice Luke Triton remember one of their first big cases.

The Opera and the Mysterious Game

Professor Layton gets an invitation from his former student, Janice Quatlane. She wants him to see her perform in an opera. The opera house, called Crown Petone, is built on the White Cliffs of Dover.

The opera's story is about a lost kingdom called Ambrosia. It talks about the secret of eternal life. Janice thinks strange things are happening because of the opera. Girls have gone missing in London. Also, the opera's composer, Oswald Whistler, adopted a girl who says she is his dead daughter, Melina.

During the show, a mystery man tells the audience they must play a game. The winner will get eternal life, but the losers will disappear. Some people try to leave, but the floor opens, and they vanish. Inspector Grosky tries to catch the mystery man, but he is just a puppet that floats away, taking Grosky with him.

A Ship of Puzzles

The Crown Petone opera house turns out to be a ship! It breaks away from the cliffs and sails off. The mystery man then starts a series of timed puzzles. These puzzles are meant to remove players until only one winner is left.

Layton is very good at solving puzzles. He, Luke, Janice, and nine other people quickly solve the puzzles. The remaining players leave the ship in lifeboats. The ship then explodes behind them.

The Island of Ambrosia

The next morning, the group finds themselves on an island. They find a carved stone, and a historian named Marco Brock thinks they are in Ambrosia. They try to reach the castle in the middle of the island.

Layton, Luke, and Janice get separated from the others. They build a simple helicopter to fly to the castle quickly. There, they solve the last puzzle. It leads them to the final room of the contest. Layton lets Luke, Janice, Brock, and a smart child named Amelia Ruth go into the room. He decides to explore the rest of the castle.

Meanwhile, in London, Emmy Altava, Professor Layton's assistant, hears about the events. She flies to where the ship exploded. She picks up Inspector Grosky and flies to the island.

Secrets Revealed

Layton finds a room full of Melina Whistler's things. He also finds music called "A Song of the Sea." He meets Melina and sees her arguing with herself.

Luke, Janice, Brock, and Amelia enter the final room. They get trapped behind bars. The mystery man shows himself. It's Jean Descole, an old enemy of Layton and Luke! He orders Amelia to be brought to him.

Luke, Janice, and Brock are taken by Descole's men. But Emmy and Grosky save them. Layton and Melina meet up with them. Emmy realizes that "Melina" is actually Nina, one of the girls who went missing.

Amelia is brought to Oswald Whistler, who was thought to be out of the game. Whistler says Amelia won the contest. But he then forces her into a machine connected to the Detragon. He admits there is no "Elixir of Life."

Layton and his friends manage to save Amelia. Layton explains the truth. The Detragon machine can copy a person's personality and memories. Whistler worked with Descole to kidnap girls from London. He used the Detragon to put his dead daughter's memories into them. He wanted to keep her alive forever. This happened to Nina, and Whistler planned it for Amelia.

Layton reveals that Janice was also a victim of Whistler's experiments. He actually succeeded in putting Melina's memories into Janice's body. It was Melina who asked Layton for help to stop her father from hurting anyone else.

The Final Battle

With Melina's secret out, Descole captures her. He reveals his real plan. He wants to use the Detragon and Melina's singing to raise Ambrosia. He plans to play two songs from the island's stone: the Song of the Stars and the Song of the Sea.

Descole's attempts fail, and he gets very angry. The Detragon destroys the castle. It turns into the controls of a giant robot called the Detragiganto. Descole controls it and starts destroying the island. He desperately tries to find Ambrosia by force.

Layton and his friends escape the castle. Layton and Luke fly in their makeshift helicopter to save Melina.

During the chaos, Melina tries to stop Descole. But he knocks her off the robot, where she barely holds on. Luke rescues Melina. Layton fights Descole on top of the Detragiganto. Layton reveals that Descole missed a third song hidden in the stone: the Song of the Sun.

Again, Melina sings as Layton takes control of the Detragon. This time, the ruins of Ambrosia do rise! This makes Descole even angrier. He lunges at Layton, thinking the ruins belong only to him. But he only damages the control panel. This makes the Detragiganto go out of control and get badly damaged. Descole falls off the machine and disappears. Layton, Luke, and Melina escape.

The Meaning of Eternal Life

After Ambrosia rises, Melina decides she cannot live Janice's life. She says goodbye to her father, Luke, and Layton. Her spirit then leaves Janice's body.

Whistler plays one last song on the broken Detragon. Janice, now back in control of her body, sings for Melina's memory. As the sun rises, Layton explains that the true "eternal life" of Ambrosia's people comes from people today still telling their stories. Luke wonders if Melina was the queen of Ambrosia reborn. Layton reminds him of the legend: Ambrosia would rise again when its beloved queen returned.

Voice Cast

Soundtracks

Two music albums were released in Japan for the film. One album, The Eternal Diva: Janice Quatlane, has all the songs with singing. The other, Layton Kyouju To Eien no Utahime Original Soundtrack, has the main background music from the movie. Most of this music is new versions of songs from the first four games. Unlike the games, a real orchestra played most of the music. The movie's ending song, The Eternal Diva, is on both albums.

Future Plans for the Series

The company that made the games, Level-5, once said they wanted to release a Professor Layton movie every winter. They even said they were already making the next one. Besides animated films, there were also talks about a live-action movie made by British and Japanese teams.

The director, Akihiro Hino, didn't promise a second movie. However, he mentioned that the "second season" of the Layton series (starting with Professor Layton and the Last Specter) was first planned with another movie in mind.

See also

In Spanish: El profesor Layton y la diva eterna para niños