2006 • TMDB 8.6 • 1 season • 37 episodes • Animation, Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy • Nippon TV
Where to Watch
Checked October 30, 2026, on JustWatch US: stream on Netflix (1 season), Amazon Prime Video (1 season), Hulu (1 season), Crunchyroll Amazon Channel (1 season), The Roku Channel (1 season), Hoopla (1 season), Fandango at Home Free (1 season), Pluto TV (1 season), Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads (1 season), Netflix Standard with Ads (1 season), Amazon Prime Video with Ads (1 season), Tubi TV (1 season) and Amazon MX Player (1 season); buy on Amazon Video, Fandango At Home and Apple TV Store (1 season each). Other JustWatch results under the same title are the 2017 film and the 2015 live-action series, not this anime.
Overview
Light Yagami is a brilliant student who is bored out of his mind — until a notebook falls from the sky. The Death Note, dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk, kills anyone whose name is written in it, and Light decides to use it to rid the world of criminals. As bodies pile up and the mysterious killer “Kira” becomes a global phenomenon, the world’s greatest detective, known only as L, takes up the case. What follows is one of anime’s great mental duels: two geniuses, each hiding in plain sight, trying to out-think the other without ever revealing what they know. Light’s crusade starts with noble intentions, but every lie he tells and every life he takes pulls him further from the justice he claims to serve, while Ryuk watches it all with amused detachment. Add Misa Amane, a second Death Note holder who worships Kira, and later the successors Near and Mello, and the game only grows more dangerous. Death Note is a psychological thriller where the deadliest weapon is not a weapon at all — it is an idea, written down, and the terrifying ease with which a good student becomes a god of death.
Main Cast
- Mamoru Miyano as Light Yagami (37 episodes)
- Kappei Yamaguchi as L (37 episodes)
- Shidou Nakamura as Ryuk (37 episodes)
- Aya Hirano as Misa Amane (37 episodes)
- Noriko Hidaka as Near (37 episodes)
- Nozomu Sasaki as Mello (37 episodes)
- Kimiko Saito as Rem (37 episodes)
- Naoya Uchida as Soichiro Yagami (37 episodes)
- Ryou Naitou as Touta Matsuda (37 episodes)
Seasons Snapshot
Season 1 — 37 episodes, premiered October 4, 2006; finale “New World” aired June 27, 2007. The single season covers the complete story, from Light finding the Death Note and his first confrontation with L through the arrival of Near and Mello and the final showdown.
Why Watch Death Note?
- A battle of wits where every episode is a chess move — Light versus L is one of anime’s defining rivalries.
- A hero who becomes the villain before your eyes, and a story brave enough to let you keep rooting for him.
- Rules that matter: the Death Note’s strict conditions turn every kill into a puzzle with real consequences.
- Ryuk, the death god who started it all just because he was bored — the show’s darkly funny conscience.
- A complete, self-contained story in 37 episodes, with an ending that still sparks arguments today.
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