Death Note (2006 TV series)

Death Note (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was directed by Tetsurō Araki at Madhouse and aired in Japan on Nippon Television every Wednesday (with the exception of December 20, 2006, and January 3, 2007) shortly past midnight, from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007. The plot of the series primarily revolves around high school student Light Yagami, who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook called a Death Note. This book causes the death of anyone whose name is written in it and is passed on to Light by the Shinigami Ryuk after he becomes bored within the Shinigami world.

A two-hour "Director's Cut" compilation television film, titled Death Note: Relight – Visions of a God, aired on Nippon Television two months after the anime series concluded. Although advertised to be the "complete conclusion", the popularity of the series inspired the release of a second TV film, titled Death Note: Relight 2 – L's Successors nearly a year later. These films summarize the first two parts of the series' narrative, but they alter the plot by adding and omitting scenes.

Cast and characters

Production

Tetsurō Araki, the director of the anime series, said that he wished to convey aspects that "made the series interesting" instead of simply "focusing on morals or the concept of justice". Toshiki Inoue, the series writer, agreed with Araki and added that, in anime adaptations, there is a lot of importance in highlighting the aspects that are "interesting in the original". He concluded that Light's presence was "the most compelling" aspect; therefore the adaptation chronicles Light's "thoughts and actions as much as possible".