Death Note

Death Note is an anime television series animated by Madhouse that premiered in October 2006 on Nippon Television. The series has 37 episodes and concluded its run on the network in June 2007. Tetsurō Araki directed the series based on the manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.

High school student Light Yagami finds a discarded supernatural notebook dropped into the human world by the Shinigami Ryuk. The notebook gives its user the ability to kill any human whose name and face they know by writing the name on its pages. Light resolves to eliminate criminals worldwide to establish a peaceful society governed by his own judgment. The sudden string of unexplained deaths among inmates draws international police attention, prompting law enforcement agencies to partner with an eccentric master detective known only as L to uncover the identity of the killer.

Character designer Masaru Kitao created the visual designs for the animation, while Hideki Taniuchi and Yoshihisa Hirano composed the original music. Mamoru Miyano voiced Light Yagami, and Kappei Yamaguchi provided the Japanese voice for L. Madhouse expanded the anime with two television specials that recapped the narrative from different perspectives. Nippon Television broadcast the two-hour special Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God in August 2007, followed by Death Note: Relight 2 - L's Successors in August 2008, which added new animated scenes and dialogue.

Viz Media licensed the anime for North American release in 2007, streaming episodes online before issuing translated home releases. The English-dubbed version began airing in Canada on YTV in October 2007, alongside an American television broadcast on Cartoon Network. Manga Entertainment distributed the anime across the United Kingdom, while Madman Entertainment managed distribution in Australia and New Zealand. Lead actor Mamoru Miyano won the Best Voice Actor award at the 2008 Tokyo Anime Award and the Best Lead Actor award at the 2nd Seiyu Awards in 2008 for his performance in the series.