Series · 2006
Death Note
デスノート
Light finds a notebook that can kill anyone whose name and face he knows. When he begins using it, the detective L tries to uncover his identity while keeping his own hidden. Their contest turns surveillance, conversations and carefully staged traps into weapons in a talkative psychological thriller.
Light begins as a gifted student with promising prospects. He chooses to kill criminals because he believes he can remake the world. Knowing who the killer is changes the detective-story question: the interest lies in how he justifies each decision, and what information might let L reach him.
L’s investigation eventually reaches Light’s bedroom, where hidden cameras make even reading or eating part of a performance. Light has to look like an ordinary student while knowing that somebody may be examining each movement. The scene’s tension comes from that mismatch between a familiar room and the calculation required to occupy it.
Original series · 14 hr 48 min · 37 episodes
Original 2006–2007 television anime, episodes 1–37; VIZ-listed edition, excluding Relight and live-action adaptations.
