Death Note

Death Note is a 37-episode anime made by the studio Madhouse and directed by Tetsuro Araki. It is based on the manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata. Nippon Television aired it in Japan from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007, usually just after midnight. In the United States, Viz Media sold downloads of the episodes while the show was still airing in Japan, and Adult Swim began showing it on TV in October 2007. Two TV films called Relight later retold the story in a shorter form.

The show is a mystery and a psychological thriller, which means it is more about minds, plans, and tension than about action. Its hero is Light Yagami, a top student in Japan who is smart, popular, and secretly bored with the world. One day he picks up a strange black notebook. Its rules are simple and chilling: if you write a person's name in it while picturing their face, that person dies. The notebook belongs to Ryuk, a shinigami. In Japanese stories, a shinigami is a god of death. Ryuk dropped it into the human world mostly because he was bored too, and he follows Light around to watch what happens.

Light decides to use the notebook to build a better world by killing criminals. Soon, criminals around the globe begin to die of sudden heart attacks. The public notices, and people start calling the unknown killer Kira, a name that comes from the English word killer. Some see Kira as a hero. Others see a murderer. The question at the center of the show is whether anyone should have this kind of power, and what it does to the person who holds it.

The police cannot solve the case alone, so they turn to L, a mysterious young detective who is famous for cracking cases no one else can. L is odd. He sits in strange ways, eats lots of sweets, and hides his face from the world. But his mind is just as sharp as Light's. What follows is a long game of cat and mouse. Light must hide his secret while working out who L is, and L must find proof against a killer who never touches his victims. Each side sets traps, guesses the other's next move, and bluffs. Other figures join the story, including Misa Amane, a cheerful young model with her own link to the death gods.

What makes the show stand out is how much of the drama happens in quiet rooms. A single look, a potato chip, or a short line of talk can carry huge weight. The mood is dark and gothic, with dramatic music and lots of shadows. Critics liked it a lot. Every review counted on Rotten Tomatoes was positive, and one critic called Light one of the most layered characters in anime in a long time. The series also won Best TV Anime at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair. Many years later it is still one of the first shows people recommend to someone new to anime.