Death Note

Death Note (stylized in <a href="/facts/All_caps/ASFdydxp">all caps</a>) is a Japanese <a href="/facts/Manga/DPkkyHos">manga</a> series written by <a href="/facts/Tsugumi_Ohba/lkNEJ06S">Tsugumi Ohba</a> and illustrated by <a href="/facts/Takeshi_Obata/eafDBd59">Takeshi Obata</a>. It was serialized in <a href="/facts/Shueisha/0zYkJTwI">Shueisha</a>'s <a href="/facts/Sh%25C5%258Dnen_manga/cpvPW9Fe">shōnen manga magazine</a> <a href="/facts/Weekly_Sh%25C5%258Dnen_Jump/F3JHjX1v">Weekly Shōnen Jump</a> from December 2003 to May 2006, with its chapters collected in 12 <a href="/facts/Tank%25C5%258Dbon/qs26W5oa">tankōbon</a> volumes. The story follows <a href="/facts/Light_Yagami/Y8vp9h5z">Light Yagami</a>, a genius high school student who discovers a mysterious notebook: the "Death Note", which belonged to the <a href="/facts/Shinigami/sFrVsDYc">shinigami</a> <a href="/facts/Ryuk_(Death_Note)/mnJWdKe1">Ryuk</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/List_of_Death_Note_characters/XVcbo3uI">an elite Japanese police task force</a>, led by enigmatic detective <a href="/facts/L_(Death_Note)/oFqdDbLI">L</a>, to apprehend him.
A 37-episode <a href="/facts/Anime/d5j1by0m">anime</a> television series adaptation, produced by <a href="/facts/Madhouse_(company)/uQMN8x4p">Madhouse</a> and directed by <a href="/facts/Tetsur%25C5%258D_Araki/wXfykoEE">Tetsurō Araki</a>, was broadcast on <a href="/facts/Nippon_Television/c1yYfQBA">Nippon Television</a> from October 2006 to June 2007. A <a href="/facts/Light_novel/cFCd55HW">light novel</a> based on the series, written by <a href="/facts/Nisio_Isin/2QT5792k">Nisio Isin</a>, was also released in 2006. Additionally, various video games have been published by <a href="/facts/Konami/pBu2rpta">Konami</a> for the <a href="/facts/Nintendo_DS/4uVHPrnp">Nintendo DS</a>. The series was adapted into three <a href="/facts/Live-action/rRJrwAH5">live-action</a> films released in Japan in <a href="/facts/Death_Note_(2006_film)/4Sz4EKjt">June</a>, <a href="/facts/Death_Note_2%3a_The_Last_Name/Y1ukRpVV">November 2006</a>, and <a href="/facts/L%3a_Change_the_World/FBKTt6nG">February 2008</a>, and <a href="/facts/Death_Note_(2015_TV_series)/tUD6n3vq">a television drama</a> in 2015. A miniseries titled <a href="/facts/Death_Note%3a_New_Generation/PgAft5YQ">Death Note: New Generation</a> and <a href="/facts/Death_Note%3a_Light_Up_the_New_World/9eT46FC4">a fourth film</a> were released in 2016. An <a href="/facts/Death_Note_(2017_film)/Yv9VYG2Q">American film adaptation</a> was released <a href="/facts/List_of_Netflix_original_films/ML2fbD0R">exclusively</a> on <a href="/facts/Netflix/TKtlFVY9">Netflix</a> in August 2017, and a series is reportedly in the works. Two <a href="/facts/One-shot_(comics)/qjRJyDqH">one-shot</a> manga sequels, C-Kira and a-Kira, were published in 2008 and 2020, respectively; they were later collected in a single volume titled Death Note: Short Stories, alongside other standalone stories, in 2021. An online <a href="/facts/Social_deduction_game/679vTnq6">social deduction game</a>, Death Note: Killer Within, was released by <a href="/facts/Bandai_Namco_Entertainment/59nLvQuM">Bandai Namco Entertainment</a> for the <a href="/facts/PlayStation_5/vJ2ahUoK">PlayStation 5</a>, <a href="/facts/PlayStation_4/wMtdFnoP">PlayStation 4</a>, and <a href="/facts/Windows/bwhAhuSL">Windows</a> via <a href="/facts/Steam_(service)/nrpWwLA9">Steam</a> in 2024.
Death Note media, except for video games and soundtracks, is licensed and released in North America by <a href="/facts/Viz_Media/ryL0srEk">Viz Media</a>. The episodes from the anime first appeared in North America as downloadable from <a href="/facts/IGN/kNcWSmFY">IGN</a> before Viz Media licensed it. The series was aired on <a href="/facts/YTV_(TV_channel)/zk1o2DzB">YTV</a>'s <a href="/facts/Bionix_(TV_programming_block)/ESnySYTj">Bionix</a> programming block in Canada and on <a href="/facts/Adult_Swim/79yUNDfz">Adult Swim</a> 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. By April 2015, the Death Note manga had over 30 million copies in circulation, making it one of the <a href="/facts/List_of_best-selling_manga/nww4x7h3">best-selling manga series</a>.

Death Note open-in-new

Death Note