Death Note (2006)
Death Note is a 2006 Japanese-language animation series. It stars Mamoru Miyano, Shido Nakamura and Aya Hirano.
Light Yagami is the top student in Japan and privately dying of boredom. Then a black notebook falls out of the sky: the Death Note, dropped by a listless death god named Ryuk, and it kills anyone whose name is written on its pages while the writer pictures their face. Light decides he will use it to erase every criminal and remake the world in his own image. What follows is a cat-and-mouse duel of pure intellect, adapted by Madhouse from Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga. Coldly plotted and morally slippery, it dares you to keep rooting for him.
Quick answers
What is Death Note about?
Light Yagami is the top student in Japan and privately dying of boredom. Then a black notebook falls out of the sky: the Death Note, dropped by a listless death god named Ryuk, and it kills anyone whose name is written on its pages while the writer pictures their face. Light decides he will use it to erase every criminal and remake the world in his own image. What follows is a cat-and-mouse duel of pure intellect, adapted by Madhouse from Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga. Coldly plotted and morally slippery, it dares you to keep rooting for him.
When was Death Note released?
Death Note was released on 4 October 2006.
How many episodes does Death Note have?
Death Note has 37 episodes across 1 seasons.
Where can I watch Death Note?
Death Note is available on Crunchyroll Premium (Via Prime), Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, Peacock Premium and Prime Video.
Where to watch Death Note
Stream: Crunchyroll Premium (Via Prime), Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, Peacock Premium, Prime Video
Watch free: Amazon Freevee, Fandango at Home Free, Hoopla, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Tubi TV
Rent: Google Play
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, Google Play
Cast
- Mamoru Miyano as Light Yagami (voice)
- Shido Nakamura as Ryuk (voice)
- Aya Hirano as Misa Amane (voice)
- Kappei Yamaguchi as L (voice)
- Kimiko Saito as Rem (voice)
- Naoya Uchida as Soichiro Yagami (voice)
- Ryou Naitou as Touta Matsuda (voice)
- Keiji Fujiwara as Shuichi Aizawa (voice)
- Kazuya Nakai as Kanzo Mogi (voice)
- Noriko Hidaka as Near (voice)
- Nozomu Sasaki as Mello (voice)
- Ai Satou as Sachiko Yagami (voice)
Similar series
Explore Death Note guides
Death Note in our writing
- Companion guide: Vigilantes & Street Justice
A few thoughts on Death Note
The source manga Death Note sharpens every move in the duel. For another icy battle of intellects, Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts rewards the same hunt for the tell nobody noticed, while the game BioShock wraps a philosophy of power inside a thriller. Stephen King's The Institute matches its dread of gifted young minds turned into weapons.
Battle-of-wits thrillers where the plan is the weapon
Death Note lives on its duel of minds, Light versus L, every move calculated three steps ahead. These picks chase the same charge: schemes, feints and long cons where the smartest person in the room is the whole show. Expect ciphers, gambits and opponents who treat winning as an art form.
Detective deductions and locked-room reasoning
Half of Death Note is pure detective work, L building a case from coffee-stained clues while Light covers his tracks. If that chess match is your draw, these mysteries hand you the same pleasure: sharp sleuths, hidden culprits and a solution you could almost reach yourself before the reveal lands.
Death gods, cursed objects and supernatural bargains
The Death Note itself is a god of death's discarded toy, and Ryuk hangs around just to watch the fallout. These stories share that uneasy pact with the beyond: haunted objects, spirits with their own agendas, and characters who accept a gift they will spend the whole tale regretting.
Antiheroes you keep rooting for against your better judgment
Death Note dares you to cheer a mass murderer who believes he is saving the world. These picks pull the same trick, handing the spotlight to killers, schemers and self-styled gods whose logic almost convinces you, until you remember the bodies stacking up behind their grand design.