Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto?) is a manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the Death Note , dropped on Earth by a god of death named Ryuk. It centers around Light's attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil as God using the notebook and the efforts of a detective known as L, to stop him. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose name & face they know, by writing the name in the notebook while picturing their face.
Light Yagami is a genius high school student who resents the 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, as well as various other rules. Though Light is initially skeptical of the notebook's authenticity, he realizes that the Death Note is real after experimenting with it on criminals. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light plans to become a god and establish a new world order by passing his keen judgment on those he deems evil and anyone who gets in his way.
After L's death, Light is given the position of the new L by the Japanese Task Force. Four years later, Near and Mello - two children who were raised to be successors to L in an orphanage founded by Watari - appear, with the goal of finding Kira. In the meantime, Kira has gained much public support, and has contacts. Mello, who has joined the Mafia, kidnaps the Director of the NPA. When Kira kills him, he kidnaps Sayu Yagami, Light's sister, as a bargaining chip to get the Death Note. The Japanese Task Force plans to go to Los Angeles to rescue Sayu but ends up losing the Notebook. The Task Force later attempts to retrieve it and succeeds in doing so. They also get Mello's real name due to Soichiro making the deal for Shinigami eyes with Ryuk. However, as a result of an explosion that Mello uses to cover his escape and one of his henchmen, Light's father dies.
In addition, a guidebook for the manga was also released on October 13, 2006. It was named Death Note 13: How to Read and contained data relating to the series, including character profiles of almost every character that is named, creator interviews, behind the scenes info for the series and the pilot chapter that preceded Death Note. It also reprinted all of the yonkoma serialized in Akamaru Jump and the Weekly Shōnen Jump Gag Special 2005.[16][17] Its first edition could be purchased with a Death Note themed diorama which includes five finger puppets inspired by Near's toys. The five finger puppets are Kira, L, Misa, Mello, and Near. In North America, 13: How to Read was released on February 19, 2008.[18]
