Death Note (Manga//Animated Series) (no spoilers)

"I'll Make You Trust Me. And When You've Told Me Everything I Need To Know, I'll Kill You."                                                                  -Light Yagami

Cover

Death Note is a 37-episode anime series based on the manga series of the same name written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was directed by Tetsurō Araki at Madhouse production. 

PLOT:

Light Yagami, a bright student, stumbles across a mystical notebook that has the power to kill any person whose name he writes in it. Light decides to launch a secret crusade to rid the streets of criminals. Soon, the student-turned-vigilante finds himself pursued by a famous detective known only by the alias L. 

Genres:- Animation, Crime, Drama, Fantasy,                           Mystery, Thriller

"I Am Righteous! I'm The Hero Who's Liberating People From Fear. I'm The Savior Who's Going To Be Like A God Of This Perfect New World!"

                               -Light Yagami

MAIN CHARACTERS:

Light Yagami is the main protagonist of the manga and animated series Death Note. 

Ryuk is a Shinigami that drops a Death Note, a notebook that allows the user to kill anyone simply by knowing their name and face, into the human world in order to have relief from his boredom.

     "Humans Are A Riot!"

                              -Ryuk (Shinigami) 

L is a world-renowned detective who takes on the challenge of catching the mass murderer known as Kira.

Misa Amane is an up-and-coming model and supporter of Kira. 

Rem is the Shinigami who gives Misa Amane one of the Death Notes she had.

"An Eye For An Eye, My Friend."

                                      -L(Lawliet) 

Near is the younger of L's two successors, raised in Wammy's House—Watari's orphanage for gifted children in Winchester, England. 

Mello (Mihael Keehl) is introduced alongside Near as a potential substitute for L. Both Mello and Near were raised at Wammy's House, an orphanage established by Watari, L's assistant.

Soichiro Yagami is Light Yagami's father, Chief of the NPA, and a police officer who initially leads the Japanese Task Force.

"In The End, There Is No Greater Motivation Than Revenge."

                                          - Mello

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS:

Naomi Misora is a former FBI agent. 

Touta Matsuda is a young member of the NPA and the Japanese Task Force.

Teru Mikami is a criminal prosecutor chosen as the Hand of Kira by Light Yagami.

"All Humans Die The Same. The Place They Go After Death Isn’t Decided Upon By A God, It Is Nothingness." 

                                                       - Ryuk

Raye Iwamatsu is an FBI agent in the series Death Note, who was investigating members of the Yagami and Kitamura families on suspicions of being Kira.

Kiyomi Takada is the former college classmate and girlfriend of Light Yagami. 

Lind L. Taylor

Kyosuke Higuchi is the head of Technology Development at the Yotsuba Corporation and one of the eight members of the Yotsuba Group.

"If Kira Gets Caught, He Is Evil. If Kira Rules The World, He Is Justice." 

                                                        - Light Yagami

Few Stills and GIFs from the Anime:

"In Human Society, There Are Very Few People Who Truly Trust Each Other."

                                        -Light Yagami

"When You Die, I'll Be The One Writing Your Name In My Death Note." 

                                               - Ryuk

Few Interesting Facts and Incidents that took place after the release of the series Death Note (do read it because it's interesting):

=>Misa Made For Excellent Closet Cosplay

• Misa’s drive and devotion was one reason she was such a popular character. Her fashion sense served as another big factor that garnered her a ton of appeal points.
• Bluntly, she dressed like the quintessential high school mid-2000s high school goth who still preferred lacy dark dressed to the world of emo skinny tight jeans.

• Considering most anime fans in the mid-2000s were the alt-high school kids of that era and these styles were very prevalent in the counterculture, of which most anime fans were a part of at the time, it’s no wonder fans really took to her. 

Perfect Deviantart and Cosplay fodder.

• Every con from like 2006-2008 was absolutely littered with Death Note cosplayers, and legend has it you can still see some from time to time today.

Misa Amane Cosplay

=> Resemblance with Adam and Eve

The initial motive in Death Note arises from a negative perception that may resemble the Adam and Eve (Bible’s mythic history- the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit). The Death Note is dropped to the human world; due to the flimsy condition of humanity which is not able to resist the vice, the Death Note is readily taken and used (forbidden fruit here refers to the Death Notebook). 

=>That biblic scene: L wipes Light’s feet

As Jesus washed Judas’ feet, also L wipes the one of the sinner Light. It’s a cinematographic way to underline the (false) God position reached by Kira. On the other side, L has appreciated the intellectual challenge with Light but in the raining scene where he hears the ringing bells he becomes aware that he cannot manage the supernatural advantage of Kira. 

In fact, we remind that the rain acquires a messianic hint, as water cleans up the sins of the sinners. In that scene, L Lawliet (his real name) farewells Light who will soon betray him.

L and Light//Jesus and Judas

=>Bans and Attempted Bans

• Early in 2005, school officials in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning (People's Republic of China), banned Death Note. The immediate cause was that students had been altering notebooks to resemble Death Notes and then writing the names of acquaintances, enemies, and teachers in the books. The ban was designed to protect the "physical and mental health" of students from horror material that "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit". Jonathan Clements (a British author and scriptwriter) has suggested that the Chinese authorities acted partly against "superstition", but also against illegal, pirate publishers of Death Note.
• Similar bans were made in Pingtung County, Taiwan,  New Mexico, U.S. and in Yekaterinburg, Russia were volumes of Death Note were found at the February 2013 suicide of a 15-year-old girl; local parents' group began campaigning to regulate all media based on the series, saying that it had an adverse effect on the minds of children. In March 2014, investigators concluded that the manga did not cause the girl to commit suicide.

=>Copycat Crimes and Imitations

• The series' release outside Japan was met with a wave of copycat crimes. According to Wired magazine, Death Note "[turned] Japan's most-popular print medium into an internationally controversial topic that has parents wondering whether they should prohibit their kids from reading manga entirely". Live-action (live action of Death Note) director Shusuke Kaneko commented in response, "If preventing them from seeing this movie is going to make kids better, then why not prevent them from watching all bad news?"
• On September 28, 2007, two notes written with Latin characters stating "I am Kira" (Watashi wa Kira desu), were found near the partial remains of a Caucasian male in Belgium. The case has been called the "Mangamoord" (Dutch for Manga Murder) in Belgian media. It was not until 2010 that four people were arrested in connection to the murder.
• A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia, United States was suspended in 2007 after being caught possessing a replica "Death Note" notebook with the names of fellow students.
• In South Carolina in March 2008, school officials seized a "Death Note" notebook from a Hartsville Middle School student. District officials linked the notebook to the anime/manga. The notebook listed seven students' names. 
• In Gadsden, Alabama in April 2008, two sixth-grade boys were arrested for possession of a "Death Note" that listed names of several staff members and fellow students.The students were suspended from the county's schools, pending a juvenile court hearing.
• In Gig Harbor, Washington, one middle school student was expelled and three were suspended on May 14, 2008, for having 50 names in their own "Death Note" book, including President George W. Bush.
• It was reported in September 2009, that a Year Eight boy in Sydney, Australia, created a "Death Note" that along with names contained a "battle plan" detailing where bombs could be placed inside his school. 
• In May 2010, a middle school student in Avonworth School District in Pennsylvania was suspended for a "Death Note" with names of fellow students and pop singer Justin Bieber.

Trailer of Death Note: