Death Note

**Death Note** is an action, mystery, supernatural, psychological, suspense, thriller, horror, fantasy, drama, crime anime series.  It started with a manga

    series written by Tsugumi Obha, illustrated by Takeshi Obata, and published by Shueisha in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.  It originally ran from August 4, 2003 to May 15, 2006, with 12 volumes in total.  After that there was a novel adaptation, titled Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, written by Nisio Isin, published by Shueisha, and released on August 1, 2006.  Then came the anime series.  It was directed by Tetsuo Araki, written by Toshiki Inoue, musically composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, and produced by Toshio Nakatani, Manabu Tamura, Masano Maruyama, and Studio Madhouse.  It originally aired from October 3, 2006 to June 26, 2007, with 37 episodes in total.  After that came a video game, titled Death Note:  Kira's Game, created and published by Konami, and released in Japan on the Nintendo DS on February 15, 2007; it was never released outside of Japan.  After that came another game, titled Death Note:  Successor to L, created and published by Konami and released in Japan on the Nintendo DS on July 12, 2007; it was also never released outside of Japan.  After that came an anime film, titled Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God, which served as a retelling of the anime series.  It was directed by Tetsuo Araki, written by Toshiki Inoue, musically composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, and produced by Toshio Nakatani, Manabu Tamura, and Studio Madhouse.  It was released on August 31, 2007.  After that came another novel, titled Death Note: L - Change the World, which was written by M and published by Sheisha on December 25, 2007.  Another video game, titled L: The Prologue to Death Note - Spiraling Trap, created and published by Konami and released on the Nntendo DS in Japan on February 7, 2008; it was never released outside of Japan.  After that came another anime movie, finishing the retelling of the main story, titled Death Note: Relight 2 - L's Successors.  It was directed by Tetsuo Araki, written by Toshiki Inoue, produced by Studio Madhouse, and released on August 22, 2008.  Death Note has also had a history of live action adaptations, too.  The first was Death Note, released on June 17, 2006.  The second was Death Note 2:  The Last Name, released on October 28, 2006.  They were direced by Shusuke Kaneko, written by Tetsuya Oishi, produced by Toyoharu Fukuda, Seiji Okuda, and Takahiro Sato, musically composed by Kenji Kawai, starred Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Erika Toda, Shunji Fujimura, Takeshi Kaga, and Shigeki Hosokawa, and distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures.  Those two movies served as live action adaptatiosn of the anime series, ending it after the death of L, pretending like the second half of the series, which wasn't well recieved, didn't exist.  After that was a movie called L:  Change the World, which had an original story, and was released on February 9, 2008.  It was directed by Hideo Nakata, written by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, and Hirotoshi Kaboyashi, musically composed by Kenji Kawai, produced by Seiji Okudo, Nobuhiro Iizuka, Takahiro Kobashi, Takahiro Sato, and Tadashi Tanaka, starred by Kenichi  Matsuyama, and distributed by Warner Brothers Studios.  2015 brought us a live action TV drama series.  It was written by Yoshihiro Izumi, directed by Ryuichi Inomata, Ryo Nishimura, and Marie Iwasaki, and starred Masataka Kubota, Kento Yamazaki, and Mio Yuki.  2015 also gave us a live action musical, written by Jack Murphy and composed by Frank Wildhorn.  2016 gave us a live action tv miniseries called Death Note:  New Generation.  It was written by Katsunari Mano, directed by Shinsuke Sato, and it starred Masahiro Higashide, Sosuke Ikematsu, and Masaki Suda.  2016 also brought us another live action Death Note film, titled Death Note:  Light Up the New World.  It was directed by Shinsuke SAto, written by Katsunari Mano, starred by Rina Kawaei, Sota Aoyama, Nakamura Shido II, Erika Toda, and Eicihiro Funakoshi, musically composed by Yutaka Yamada,  produced by Takahiro Sato, and distributed by Warner Brothers Studios.  And finally there was a 2017 North American Netflix live action movie.  It was directed by Adam Wingard, written by Charles Parlapanides, Vlas Parlanpanides, and Jeremy Slater, musically composed by Atticus Ross and Leopold Ross, starred Nat Wolff, Lakeith STanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whingham, Paul Nakauchi, Jason Liles, and Willem Dafoe, and produced by Roy Lee, dan Lin, Masi Oka, Jason Hoffs, and Ted Sarandos.  It was released on Netflix on August 25, 2017.  ​​​

## Plot

Light Yagami is a genius high school student who discovers the "Death Note", a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, as long as the writer is thinking of that person's face as they write. After experimenting with the notebook, Light meets the ShinigamiRyuk, the notebook's original owner, who dropped the notebook to the human world out of boredom. Light tells Ryuk of his plan to rule as a god over a new world free from criminals, where only people he deems morally fit to live remain. Light becomes known to the public as Kira (キラ), which is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "*killer*". He continues to bring 'Justice' upon the world as a self proclaimed god. Ryuk, invisible except to those that possess the Death Note, follows Light around and takes enjoyment from Light's meticulous actions as Kira.

Kira's killings catch the attention of Interpol and world-famous detective "L". L, who is highly intelligent, has surmised that Kira can kill anyone by knowing their face and name, and tricks Light into revealing his location in the Kanto region of Japan. L creates a small anti-Kira task force from the local police to help discover who Kira is, including Soichiro, Light's father, requiring Light to take several measures to keep the Death Note secure. Light and L begin a game of cat and mouse to try to further their own ends.

Once Light is in college, he joins L and his anti-Kira task force in hopes of finding a way to learn L's name and kill him. Light's plan is impeded by a love-struck second Kira, famous model Misa Amane, and her Shinigami Rem. Misa finds out that Light is the first Kira and offers her assistance to him. However, Misa's infatuation with Light causes her to make several strategic errors, allowing L to gain enough evidence to detain her as the second Kira. L suspects Light is the first Kira, leading Light and Misa to create a plan to throw L off track. Light allows himself to be detained, and both relinquish ownership of their Death Notes, erasing all memories they had of using it. While detained, a third Kira appears, proving Light and Misa's innocence, and L releases them into house arrest in his headquarters.

The anti-Kira task force identify the third Kira as Yotsuba Group executive Kyosuke Higuchi, who has been using Misa's Death Note. Higuchi is captured, and Light touches the Death Note, regaining all his memories. He kills Higuchi to retake possession of the notebook. After apprehending Higuchi, the anti-Kira task force learns of the Death Notes and their function, and the existence of Shinigamis associated with them. Light then manipulates Rem into killing L after putting Misa in a life-threatening situation. Because purposely killing to prolong the lifespan of a human violates Shinigami law, Rem also dies. Upon L's death, Light becomes the second "L" and continues his charade of searching for Kira while carrying out the killings himself with help from Misa.

The narrative picks up four years later, with Kira attracting a large network of contacts and a swell of public support. Two young men, raised as potential successors to L, are revealed – Near, a detective associated with the United States Government, and Mello, a member of the Mafia.

Mello uses criminal means to get closer to Kira. One of Mello's plans results in the death of Soichiro. Meanwhile, Near's investigation of Kira leads him to suspect that Light is acting as both the current L and Kira. After Soichiro's death, Near plants seeds of suspicion in the task force. In response, Light persuades Misa to give up her notebook and raises another "Kira", Teru Mikami, a prosecutor and fervent supporter of Kira. Mikami recruits Kiyomi Takada, a newscaster, to serve as Kira's public spokeswoman. Realizing that Takada is connected to Kira, Mello kidnaps Takada. She kills Mello, and is in turn killed by Light. However, Mikami's actions as a result of the kidnapping enable Near to set up a trap that implicates both Light and Mikami as Kira. The task force and Near's investigation team capture the two of them and force a confession out of Light. Ryuk, realizing Light is no longer able to entertain him, kills Light with his notebook, as he promised to do so in the beginning of the story.

## Anime Movies

1. Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God
2. *Death Note: Relight 2 - L's Successors*

## Live Action Series

1. Death Note
2. Death Note:  The Miniseries

## Live Action Movies

1. Death Note
2. Death Note 2:  The Last Name
3. L:  Change the World
4. Death Note: Light Up the New World
5. Death Note (2017)

## Video Games

1. Death Note:  Kira's Game
2. Death Note:  L's Successor
3. *L: The Prologue to Death Note - Spiraling Trap*

## Novels

1. Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
2. Death Note: L - Change the World

## Why It Rocks

1. A very grounded premise without many supernatural twists, aside from the Shinigami and the Death Note itself.
2. Amazing characters, which are all interesting, likable, flawed, complex, and they all get varrying amounts of character development.
3. Light Yagami is one of the best anti-heroes of all time.
4. Ryuki is a great character which adds comedy relief to the series.
5. Lots of creative deaths.
6. While most of the deaths are nameless criminals and viewers will be glad, the series does have central characters die off, which tend to be really sad.
7. Incredible directing.  This series was directed by Tetsuo Araki, whose known for his bombastic and over the top directing style.  This can be seen with almost every death in the series, including Light's at the end, but the most famous scene in the entire show is the potato chip eating scene early on.
8. Good voice acting in both sub and dub.
9. Great animation.
10. Very appealing art style and character designs.  Unlike most anime, this series goes for a more realistic look.
11. Excellent music and soundtrack.
12. Death Note has one of the best endings in all of anime.

## Bad Qualities

1. After L's death in episode 25, the show noticably goes downhill.  It isn't horrible, but none of the new characters are as good as the old.  The only spectacular thing about the ending is the conclusion of the final episode, which is truly amazing.
2. Misa Amane is an obnoxious and unnecessary character.

## Reception

As of April 2015, *Death Note**s twelve volumes had over 30 million copies in circulation.[78] The series won the 2008 Eagle Award for Favourite Manga as voted by UK fans.[79]According to a survey conducted in 2007 by the Ministry of culture of Japan, occupies the 10th place among the best manga of all time.[80] It also received several nominations such as Best Manga at the 2006 American Anime Awards,[81][82] the 2007 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize,[83] an Official Selection at Angoulême International Comics Festival 2008,[84] and Obata was nominated for Best Penciller/Inker at the 2008 Eisner Awards.[85] In 2007, the first three volumes of*****Death Note*were on the American Library Association's 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten list.[86] On ICv2's "Top 10 Shonen Properties Q2 2009",*Death Note*was the third best manga property from North America.[87] Douglas Wolk of*Salon*said that a rumor circulated stating that the creators intended to create*Death Note*to last half as long as its actual run and Ohba and Obata had been persuaded to lengthen the storyline when*Death Note**s popularity increased, noting that the rumor "makes sense, since about halfway through the series, there's a point that seems like a natural ending". In addition, he said that fans wrote "thousands" of *Death Note* fan fiction stories and posted them on the internet.[88] In 2006, Japanese fans pointed out the similarities between *Death Note* and the 1973 one-shot "The Miraculous Notebook" (不思議な手帖) by Shigeru Mizuki. Comipress reported that the only difference between the story and *Death Note* is that there are no Shinigamis.[89]

Anime News Network (ANN) writer Zac Bertschy called *Death Note* a "surprisingly gripping and original suspense tale that raises a handful of interesting questions about morality". He noted that the difference between the series and other manga from the same demographic was very big due to the murders the main character commits as well as how he hides his identity of Kira. Although Bertschy mentioned some *shōnen* manga readers will be surprised with the dark themes of *Death Note*, he praised the series for its "great art, great story, [and] compelling characters".[90] Julie Rosato from Mania Entertainment found the story to be very entertaining, having liked Light's development in the story and L's introduction as well as how the latter starts suspecting of the former's identity. Additionally, she praised the story as it is "building a climax" with each detail introduced in the first chapter, making the reader look forward to upcoming chapters.[91] Briana Lawrence from ANN stated that what makes *Death Note* so interesting is that there is no villain, "instead it had two opposing sides that both believe in the same thing: justice". She felt that while the series' second half was not as good, with Light seeming less intelligent and once vital characters fading into the background, the ending brings back what the fans loved about the first volume and the supporting cast are "given a chance to shine". However, she did not like how the epilogue made no mention of what happens with Misa Amane and how Near and Mello were still treated like parts of L.[92] Jacob Hope Chapman from ANN praised Teru Mikami's role as bloody and flashy as ever better than that of Near, Mello, and Misa.[93] Jolyon Baraka Thomas, in a *Japanese Journal of Religious Studies* article, describes the manga as having a "somber narrative" with a "dark cast". Obata's art is "[rendered] in stark strokes characterized---fittingly---by a complex interplay of light and shadow".[5]

The *Death Note* anime was one of the series to win Best TV Anime at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair.[94] The anime was commended with Tom S. Pepirium of IGN saying that *Death Note'*s "heavy serialized nature" is what "makes the show so engaging and discussion worthy".[95] Pepirium, saying that translating *Death Note* is "no small task", stated that Stephen Hedley created an English dub with "nothing clunky". He added that Karl Willems, director of the dub, assembled a "stunning voice cast of professionals" with a "solid tone minus some of the cheesy yelling and screaming of other dubs".[96] On the NPR show *Fresh Air*, John Powers said that *Death Note* is "at least as addictive as a show like *Lost*".[97] It was also listed as the 51st best animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series.[98] *Hyper* wrote:
Running over thirty-seven 20 minutes episodes, the anime sticks much closer to the manga so takes a far more languid approach to storytelling, better fleshing out the fantastic characters of Light and his nemesis, L. Light in particular is one of the most layered characters to appear in anime in a long time.[99]
A.E. Sparrow of IGN reviewed the novel *Another Note* and gave it a 9.5 out of 10. Sparrow said that the author understood "what made these characters click so well" and "captures everything that made the manga the compelling read that it is". Sparrow said that fans of *Death Note* who read *Another Note* will "find a welcome home" in Nisio Isin's work that "adds a few more fun layers" to the *Death Note* franchise.[100] The novelization *L: Change the World* became the second top selling light novel in Japan during 2008.[101]

### Legacy

The series' release outside Japan was met with a wave of copycat crimes. According to *Wired* magazine, *Death Note* "[turned] Japan's most-popular print medium into an internationally controversial topic that has parents wondering whether they should prohibit their kids from reading manga entirely". Live-action director Shusuke Kaneko commented in response, "If preventing them from seeing this movie is going to make kids better, then why not prevent them from watching all bad news?".[2]

#### Bans and Attempted Bans

Early in 2005, school officials in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province (People's Republic of China), banned *Death Note*.[102] The immediate cause was that students had been altering notebooks to resemble Death Notes and then writing the names of acquaintances, enemies, and teachers in the books.[103][104] The ban was designed to protect the "physical and mental health"[105] of students from horror material that "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit".[106] Jonathan Clements has suggested that the Chinese authorities acted partly against "superstition", but also against illegal, pirate publishers of *Death Note*.[107] The ban has been extended to other Chinese cities including Beijing,[108][109] Shanghai and Lanzhou in Gansu Province.[110] Legally published Chinese-language versions of *Death Note* are published in Hong Kong.[107]

In 2007, the education bureau in Pingtung County, Taiwan warned parents to watch for "negative influences" from the manga.[111]

The Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico, U.S. held a hearing in May 2010 to ban the *Death Note* manga from their district's schools; it was unanimously voted down.[112]

After volumes of *Death Note* were found at the February 2013 suicide of a fifteen-year-old girl in Yekaterinburg, Russia, a local parents' group began campaigning in April 2013 for President Vladimir Putin to regulate all media based on the series saying it "arouses interest in death".[113] In March 2014 investigators have concluded that the manga couldn't cause the girl to commit suicide.[114]

#### Copycat Crimes and Imitations

There have been various copycat crimes around the world which were based on *Death Note*.[*clarification needed (see talk)*] On September 28, 2007, two notes written with Latin characters stating "Watashi wa Kira dess" [*sic*], a mis-transliteration of "I am Kira" (私はキラです *Watashi wa Kira desu*),[115]were found near the partial remains of a Caucasian male in Belgium. The case has been called the "Mangamoord" (Dutch for *Manga Murder*) in Belgian media.[116] It was not until 2010 that four people were arrested in connection to the murder.[117]

A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia, United States was suspended in 2007 after being caught possessing a replica "Death Note" notebook with the names of fellow students. The school's principal wrote a letter to the student's parents linking to an unofficial website where visitors can write names and circumstances of death for people they want to die.[118]

In South Carolina in March 2008, school officials seized a "Death Note" notebook from a Hartsville Middle School student. District officials linked the notebook to the anime/manga. The notebook listed seven students' names. The school planned a disciplinary hearing and contacted the seven students' parents.[119] In Gadsden, Alabama in April 2008, two sixth-grade boys were arrested for possession of a "Death Note" that listed names of several staff members and fellow students. According to Etowah County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Lanny Handy, the notebook was found the previous afternoon by a staffer. The students were suspended from the county's schools, pending a juvenile court hearing. The students, their parents, and school officials had met with Handy and a junior probation officer.[120] In Gig Harbor, Washington, one middle school student was expelled and three were suspended on May 14, 2008 for having 50 names in their own "Death Note" book, including President George W. Bush.[121]

It was reported in September 2009, that a Year Eight boy in Sydney, Australia, created a "Death Note" that along with names contained a "battle plan" detailing where bombs could be placed inside his school.[122] In December 2009, two students at an elementary school in Oklahoma were disciplined for a "Death Note" with the names and descriptions of deaths of two girls that had angered them.[123] A Michigan middle school student was suspended indefinitely in March 2010 for a "Death Note".[124] In May 2010, a middle school student in Avonworth School District in Pennsylvania was suspended for a "Death Note" with names of fellow students and pop singer Justin Bieber.[112] In February 2015, a fifth-grade student of an elementary school near Pittsburgh was suspended for owning a "Death Note" and writing other students' names in it.