Death Note is a Japanese manga and anime series (directed by Tetsuro Araki) written by Tsugumi Ohba (and originally illustrated by Takeshi Obata). The anime series consisted of 37 episodes and aired between October 3rd 2006 until June 26th 2007.
A three-hour “Director’s Cut” compilation TV special, titled “Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God”, aired on NTV a few months after the anime concluded. Although advertised to be the “complete conclusion”, the popularity of the series inspired the release of a second TV special, titled “Death Note: Relight 2: L’s Successors” nearly a year later. These specials recap the first and second arcs of the anime respectively, with new scenes added to fill in any plot holes resulted from omitted footage.
Light Yagami is a bored young genius who resents all things evil. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers the “Death Note”, a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it. After experimenting with the notebook, Light confirms its authenticity and is joined by an unexpected house guest – the notebook’s previous owner, a shinigami called Ryuk. Light tells Ryuk of his plan to exterminate all the criminals in the world, until only people whom he has judged to be honest and kind remain. Once he finishes creating this utopia, he means to rule over it as what he calls “the god of the new world”.
Soon, the inexplicable deaths of criminals catch the attention of Interpol and the world-famous detective, “L”. L stages a fake public appearance and quickly deduces that the serial killer, publicly known as “Kira”, derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word “killer“), is located in a single Japanese prefecture and can kill people by supernatural means. Light realizes that L will be his greatest hindrance, and begins a cat and mouse game with him.
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