Death Note was first serialized in 108 chapters by Shueisha in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. The series was also published in tankōbon (paperback) format in Japan starting in May 2004 and ending in October 2006, and since then has been translated internationally. The series was adapted into live-action films released in Japan on June 17, 2006, on November 3, 2006, and on February 2, 2008. The anime series aired in Japan from October 3, 2006, to June 26, 2007. A novel based on the series, written by Nisio Isin, was released in Japan on August 1, 2006.

Plot

Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent young man who resents what appears to be a relentless increase of crime and corruption in the world around him. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note," lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially sceptical of the notebook's authenticity, but after experimenting with it, Light realizes that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the New World" by passing his keen judgment on those he deems to be evil or who get in his way.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as , is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins.

Misa Amane, another Death Note owner, finds Light. Obsessed by Kira after the death of her parents' murderer, she devotes herself to helping Light, but is captured by L. Light makes a plan involving renouncing ownership of both Death Notes, and all of his memories of them, and turns himself in to L for surveillance. After losing his memories, Light and L start to investigate a criminal group named "Yotsuba" together who had Misa's Death Note. When arresting them, Light recovers all his memories while touching the Death Note, remembers his plan, and tricks the former owner of Misa's Death Note, the shinigami Rem, into killing L and his aide Watari.

After L's death, Light is given the position of the "new L" by the Japanese Taskforce and enjoys several years of unchallenged freedom before L's true successors Near (backed by the SPK, a group of American agents created by the President) and Mello (backed by the American mafia) appear. In the meantime, Kira has gained much public support, and has contacts- Teru Mikami and Takada Kiyomi- to continue killing criminals when he is unable to do so himself. Mello abducts Kiyomi, who kills him. Light kills her to avoid her implicating him, but after Mikami fails to realise his own Note is a fake duplicated by the SPK, it is used by Near to prove Light is Kira in a dramatic confrontation between the taskforce and the SPK, during which Light goes insane.