Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

Every puzzle has an answer.

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva is the first feature-length movie featuring Level5's popular gentleman, Professor Layton, and his Kid Sidekick, Luke. Level 5 announced that they hope to produce more.

After solving the latest Don Paolo caper, Professor Layton puts on a record, sung by his former student Janice Quatlane. The Professor and Luke recount a case she involved them with three years ago, when she invited them along to an opera at the Crown Petone opera house. After the show, the guests are flung into a dangerous game, where the prize is said to be eternal life. Meanwhile, a series of disappearances hits London, with young schoolgirls going missing. The Professor's assistant Emmy goes about investigating.

The movie received favorable reviews and is currently available in Japan and the United Kingdom; Viz Media has released the US version.

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Tropes used in Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva include:

• Action Girl: Emmy.
• At Arm's Length: Luke really does try to protect Janice but when faced with mooks, he runs afoul with this trope. And yes, he does try kicking at them.
• Atlantis: Or in this case, the lost kingdom of Ambrosia. When their queen died, the people of Ambrosia drank the Elixir of Eternal Life and vanished along with their kingdom to await the day when she would return.
• Batman Cold Open: The movie starts with Layton and Luke coming to the end of an investigation regarding Big Ben.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: The wolves. And possibly the sharks too.
• Big Damn Heroes: Emmy and Grosky.
• But Now I Must Go: At the end, Melina decides that she can no longer keep living through Janice, bids everyone farewell, and peacefully passes on.
• The Cameo: In the theater, you can catch a glimpse of Mr. Beluga from Pandora's/Diabolical Box, and later you can see him and Babette (also from Pandora's/Diabolical Box) having got off the submarine.
  • The Elysian Box (again, from Diabolical/Pandora's Box) can be seen next to the TV when Emmy is at Dr. Schrader's house.
  • Claudia, the cat from Curious Village (or at least a near-identical cat), can be seen curled up on the couch at Nina's house.
• Conspicuous CGI: EVERYWHERE! Sure it's in the games, but it's very noticeable in a movie.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: In order to find the proper test subject, the Big Bad built a cruise liner, with an opera house on it, and filled it with historical artifacts. And then blew it up. To get one test subject. That's a very expensive plan, especially since he had no way of knowing whether or not the experiment would work on the subject he got a hold of.
  • That's it? What about the giant fortress which unfolds into a stories-tall battle mecha with saw blades, missiles, crab claws, flailing hoses and spider legs, all with a giant pipe organ on top, which is only for playing the song to reveal the secret of immortality. Or the brainwashed wolves and sharks. That's some serious security for a deserted island. Or what about the mashup pipe organ which secretly can copy a person's mind into another person? Which... if you can do that, who needs immortality anyway? In retrospect, the giant opera house/cruise ship full of treasures and puzzles held absolutely no relevance to the villain's plan whatsoever. On the contrary, it's what brought Professor freaking Layton and Luke in to begin with, which is basically BEGGING for your plan to be DOOMED.
• Death's Hourglass: The Detragan has a series of lit candles that periodically go out, one by one. These mark how much longer it can continue to store the imprint of Melina's mind before it disappears for good.
• Disney Villain Death: Descole... except that they Never Found the Body.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. After the climax, Grotsky claims arrest on Mr. Whistler for kidnapping school girls in an attempt to bring back Melina. He at least gives him, when asked, the chance to play the Detragan one last time in her memory.
• Framing Device: The Professor and Luke are remembering a case that happened three years ago while listening to a record.
• Giant Mecha: In the climax of the movie, the castle turns into one.
• Grand Theft Me: The actual means of the "eternal life" everyone's fighting over, and it only applies to Melina anyway.
• Groin Attack: Emmy gives one of these to the mooks.
  • Share the Male Pain: Grotsky cringes and covers himself protectively when he sees it.
• Impossibly Low Neckline: Grotsky. No, really.
• Informed Ability: Amelia is apparently a superb chess player; sadly, the plot provided no opportunity to show this particular skill.
• Inspector Lestrade: Chelmey has a small appearance at the beginning, and Inspector Grotsky fills this role for the rest of the film.
• Inverted Trope: Specifically, Eternal Diva is proof that not all Video Game Movies Suck.
• Iron Butt Monkey: Grotsky.
• I See London: Grotsky uses his trousers as a flag to attract a rescue plane.
• Let's Get Dangerous: Of all people, it's Luke Triton who gets the most badass scene in this entire film, risking his life in a frankly suicidal attempt to save Janice.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Professor Layton builds an auto-gyro from parts found in a toolshed while escaping from some wolves.
• Meaningful Name: The kingdom of Ambrosia, rumored to hold the secret of eternal life, is named after the food of the gods in Greek Mythology that gives its eater ageless immortality.
• Mythology Gag: The film is like watching someone play a Professor Layton game, with the plot being based entirely around solving puzzles and a music player that plays the puzzle tunes among other things. Despite there only being 4 puzzles in the film, they're still numbered 001-004, just as they would be in a Professor Layton game.
  • In the games, Professor Layton has video game type puzzles thrown at him, leaving fans wondering how there could possibly be a movie. It was quite intelligent of the creators of this movie to have puzzles thrown at him for story reasons.
• Omniscient Morality License: Professor Layton deliberately allows people to incorrectly answer some puzzles - after being told that the punishment for such failures is death. The Big Bad was lying, but how exactly did Layton know that?
• Precocious Crush: Luke very clearly has one on Janice.
• Split Personality: The Detragan unintentionally causes this as it's supposed to have Melina take over the girls' personalities. The fact that there isn't a good match forces Melina out when the host remembers herself. Interestingly, the father got so desperate, he was willing to use Luke as a subject.
• The Other Darrin: Dr. Schrader, Flora and Don Paolo, during their guest appearance at the beginning, have different voices from the games. It's understandable with Flora, since Lani Minella is a U.S.-based actress and the movie was dubbed in the United Kingdom, but it is somewhat puzzling why Don Paolo has a different actor, since Chris Miller voiced both Layton and Don Paolo.
• The Reveal: The game for eternal life is false and is just a way to find young girls who could, by the thanks of a machine, have their own minds replaced with Melina's memories and personality. The fact that it worked on the first subject, Janice, who willingly gave herself up to Melina, and the fact that Melina is necessary to bring back the legendary Ambrosia, is the real reveal.
• There Can Only Be One: The gift of Eternal Life can only be given to the one that passes all the challenges. However, as stated above in The Reveal, it was all just a ruse to get Amelia to take on Melina's memories.
• Say My Name: "LUUUUUUUKE!" "LAAAAAAAYTOOOOON"
• Sequel First: In the UK, where it came out before Professor Layton and the Last Specter. Averted in the US, where the delayed release meant Last Specter got out first (just barely, as Eternal Diva came less than a month after).
• Show Within a Show: The opera Janice stars in.
• Stylistic Suck: What little we see of the opera isn't bad, per se, but all the songs have the same melody, and the vocals don't sound much like opera.
• Tragic Keepsake: Janice's pendant, which Melina gave to her right before she died.
• Unwitting Pawn: Poor Amelia probably thought she was terribly lucky to have been chosen for a free ticket to the opera.
• Villainous Breakdown: "If the door to Ambrosia will not open by this music, I will TEAR IT DOWN!" Descole's mentality just goes downhill from there.
• You Keep Using That Word: The play within the movie is always called an opera, but what little we hear of the vocals is far from operatic.