Death Note
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For other uses, see Death Note (disambiguation).
Death Note
Death Note Vol 1.jpg
Cover of the first tankōbon volume, featuring Light Yagami (front) and Ryuk (back)
Genre
Mystery[1]
Psychological thriller[2][3]
Supernatural thriller[1][4]
Manga
Written by Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Viz Media
Imprint Jump Comics
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Demographic Shōnen
Original run December 1, 2003 – May 15, 2006
Volumes 12 (List of volumes)
Novel
Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
Written by Nisio Isin
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
NA
Viz Media
Published August 1, 2006
Anime television series
Directed by Tetsurō Araki
Produced by
Toshio Nakatani
Manabu Tamura
Masao Maruyama
Written by Toshiki Inoue
Music by
Yoshihisa Hirano
Hideki Taniuchi
Studio Madhouse
Licensed by
Crunchyroll[a]
NA
Viz Media
Original network Nippon TV
English network
CA
YTV
NA
Neon Alley
US
Adult Swim
Original run October 4, 2006 – June 27, 2007
Episodes 37 (List of episodes)
Anime television film
Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God
Directed by Tetsurō Araki
Produced by
Toshio Nakatani
Manabu Tamura
Masao Maruyama
Written by Toshiki Inoue
Music by
Yoshihisa Hirano
Hideki Taniuchi
Studio Madhouse
Licensed by
Crunchyroll[a]
NA
Viz Media
Original network Nippon TV
Released August 31, 2007
Runtime 130 minutes
Novel
Death Note: L - Change the World
Written by M
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
NA
Viz Media
Published December 25, 2007
Manga
Death Note: C-Kira Story
Written by Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
NA
Viz Media
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Demographic Shōnen
Published February 9, 2008
Anime television film
Death Note: Relight 2 – L's Successors
Directed by Tetsurō Araki
Produced by
Toshio Nakatani
Manabu Tamura
Masao Maruyama
Written by Toshiki Inoue
Music by
Yoshihisa Hirano
Hideki Taniuchi
Studio Madhouse
Licensed by
Crunchyroll[a]
NA
Viz Media
Original network Nippon TV
Released August 22, 2008
Runtime 100 minutes
Manga
Death Note: a-Kira Story
Written by Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Published by Shueisha
English publisher
NA
Viz Media
Magazine Jump Square
Demographic Shōnen
Published February 4, 2020
Live-action
Death Note (2006 film)
Death Note 2: The Last Name (2006 film)
L: Change the World (2008 film)
Death Note (2015 TV drama)
Death Note: The Musical (2015 musical)
Death Note: New Generation (2016 miniseries)
Death Note: Light Up the New World (2016 film)
Death Note (2017 film)
Video games
Death Note: Kira Game (2007)
Death Note: Successors to L (2007)
L the Prologue to Death Note -Spiraling Trap- (2008)
Death Note (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by
Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from
December 2003 to May 2006, with its 108 chapters collected in 12 tankōbon volumes. The story follows
Light Yagami, a teen genius who discovers a mysterious notebook: the "Death Note", which belonged to
the shinigami Ryuk, and grants the user the supernatural ability to kill anyone whose name is written in
its pages. The series centers around Light's subsequent attempts to use the Death Note to carry out a
worldwide massacre of individuals whom he deems immoral and to create a crime-free society, using the
alias of a god-like vigilante named "Kira", and the subsequent efforts of an elite Japanese police task
force, led by enigmatic detective L, to apprehend him.
A 37-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Madhouse and directed by Tetsurō Araki,
was broadcast on Nippon Television from October 2006 to June 2007. A light novel based on the series,
written by Nisio Isin, was also released in 2006. Additionally, various video games have been published
by Konami for the Nintendo DS. The series was adapted into three live action films released in Japan in
June 2006, November 2006, and February 2008, and a television drama in 2015. A miniseries titled
Death Note: New Generation and a fourth film were released in 2016. An American film adaptation was
released exclusively on Netflix in August 2017 and a sequel is reportedly in the works.
Death Note media, except for video games and soundtracks, is licensed and released in North America
by Viz Media. The episodes from the anime first appeared in North America as downloadable from IGN
before Viz Media licensed it. The series was aired on YTV's Bionix anime block in Canada and on Adult
Swim in the United States with a DVD release following. The live-action films briefly played in certain
North American theaters, in 2008, before receiving home video releases. As of April 2015, the Death
Note manga had over 30 million copies in circulation.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Production
2.1 Development
2.2 Concepts
2.3 Pilot chapter
2.4 Anime adaptation
3 Media
3.1 Manga
3.2 Light novels
3.3 Anime
3.4 Live-action films
3.5 Live-action series
3.6 Video games
3.7 Musical
4 Reception
4.1 Manga
4.2 Anime
4.3 Light novels
5 Legacy and controversies
5.1 Bans and attempted bans
5.2 Imitations of the series
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Plot
See also: List of Death Note characters
In Tokyo, a disaffected high school student named Light Yagami finds the "Death Note", a mysterious
black notebook that can kill anyone as long as the user knows both the target's name and face. Initially
terrified of its god-like power, Light considers the possibilities of the Death Note's abilities and kills high-
profile Japanese criminals, then targets international criminals. Five days after discovering the notebook,
Light is visited by Ryuk, a "shinigami" and the Death Note's previous owner. Ryuk, invisible to anyone
who has not touched the notebook, reveals that he dropped the notebook into the human world out of
boredom and is amused by Light's actions.[5]
As criminals around the world die from inexplicable accidents and heart attacks, the global media
suggest that a single mastermind is responsible for the mysterious murders and name him "Kira" (キラ,
the Japanese transliteration of the word "killer"). Hoping to apprehend Kira, Interpol requests the
assistance of an enigmatic consulting detective, known as L, to assist their investigation. Deducing that
Kira is based in Japan, L tricks Light into revealing that he is in the Kanto region of Japan by manipulating
him to kill a decoy. Furious, Light vows to kill L, whom he views as obstructing his plans. L deduces that
Kira has inside knowledge of the Japanese police investigation, being led by Light's father, Soichiro
Yagami. Under the suspicion that "Kira" could have family ties with members of the "Kira" investigation, L
assigns a team of FBI agents to monitor the families of those connected with the investigation and L
learns enough to designate Light as the prime suspect. Around this time, Light graduates from high
school to college. L recruits Light into the Kira Task Force, with each trying to get the other to reveal
crucial information.
Actress-model Misa Amane, having obtained a second Death Note from a shinigami named Rem, makes
a deal with Rem for shinigami eyes, which reveal the names of anyone whose face she sees, at the cost
of half her lifespan. Seeking to have Light become her boyfriend, Misa uncovers Light's identity as the
original Kira, but Light has another motive: he intends to use Misa's shinigami eyes to discern L's true
name. L deduces that Misa is likely the second Kira and detains her. Rem threatens to kill Light if he does
not find a way to save Misa. Light arranges a scheme in which he and Misa temporarily lose their
memories of the Death Note, and has Rem pass the Death Note to a less morally driven individual,
Kyosuke Higuchi of the Yotsuba Group. With memories of the Death Note erased, Light joins the
investigation and, together with L, deduce Higuchi's identity and arrest him. Light regains his memories
and uses the Death Note to kill Higuchi, regaining possession of the book. After restoring Misa's
memories, Light instructs her to begin killing as Kira, causing L to cast suspicion on Misa. With Light
insinuating the investigation would lead to Misa's capture and execution, Rem realizes Light's plan all
along was to have her sacrifice herself to kill L, as a shinigami may not kill others to prevent a human's
death. After Rem kills L, she disintegrates and Light obtains her Death Note. The task force does not
announce L's death and agrees to have Light operate as the new L. With Light working as both L and Kira,
the investigation stalls but crime rates continue to drop as he no longer has a threat of capture.
Four years later, cults that worship Kira have risen. Two young men, raised as potential successors to L,
are revealed: Near and Mello. Aware that L is dead, they consider Light, the current L, as a prime
suspect. Mello, with Mafia assistance, kidnaps Light's sister, resulting in his father's death during a rescue
mission. As suspicion falls again on Misa, Light passes Misa's Death Note to a fervent supporter of Kira,
Teru Mikami. He also appoints newscaster Kiyomi Takada as Kira's public spokesperson. Realizing that
Takada is connected to Kira, Mello kidnaps her. Takada kills Mello but is killed by Light. Near deduces
Mikami's connection to Kira and arranges a meeting between Light and the current Kira Task Force
members. Light tries to have Mikami kill Near as well as all the task force members, but Mikami's Death
Note fails to work, having been replaced with a decoy. Perusing the names Mikami had written down,
only Light's is missing, which proves Light is Kira. Light is grievously wounded in a scuffle and begs Ryuk
to write the names of everyone present. Ryuk instead writes down Light's name in his Death Note, as he
had promised to do the day they met, and Light dies.
Three years later, Near, now functioning as the new L, receives word that a new Kira has appeared.
Hearing that the new Kira is randomly killing people, Near concludes that the new Kira is an attention-
seeker and denounces the new Kira as "boring" and not worth catching. A shinigami named Midora
approaches Ryuk and gives him an apple from the human realm, in a bet to see if a random human could
become the new Kira, but Midora loses the bet when the human writes his own name in the Death Note
after hearing Near's announcement. Ryuk tells Midora that no human would ever surpass Light as the
new Kira.
Production
Development
The Death Note concept derived from a rather general concept involving Shinigami and "specific rules".
[6] Author Tsugumi Ohba wanted to create a suspense series because the genre had few suspense series
available to the public. After publication of the pilot chapter, the series was not expected to receive
approval as a serialized comic. Learning that Death Note had in fact received approval and that Takeshi
Obata would create the artwork, Ohba said, he "couldn't even believe it".[7] Due to positive reactions,
Death Note became a serialized manga series.[8]
"Thumbnails" incorporating dialogue, panel layout and basic drawings were created, reviewed by an
editor and sent to Takeshi Obata, the illustrator, with the script finalized and the panel layout "mostly
done". Obata then determined the expressions and "camera angles" and created the final artwork. Ohba
concentrated on the tempo and the amount of dialogue, making the text as concise as possible. Ohba
commented that "reading too much exposition" would be tiring and would negatively affect the
atmosphere and "air of suspense". The illustrator had significant artistic licence to interpret basic
descriptions, such as "abandoned building",[9] as well as the design of the Death Notes themselves.
When Ohba was deciding on the plot, he said, he visualized the panels while relaxing on his bed, drinking
tea, or walking around his house. Often the original draft was too long and needed to be refined in order
to finalize the desired "tempo" and "flow". The writer remarked on his preference for reading the
previous "two or four" chapters carefully to ensure consistency in the story.[6]
