Light Yagami, a brilliant high school student, finds himself disillusioned by a world plagued by rampant crime and a lack of accountability. This sense of societal “boredom” leads him to yearn for a way to bring about justice. His life takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a peculiar black notebook that falls from the sky and lands outside his classroom window. The notebook bears the ominous words “Death Note” on its cover. Intrigued yet skeptical, Light investigates further and reads the notebook’s instructions, which reveal its supernatural power: by writing a person’s name while picturing their face, one can determine their death.
Curiosity piqued, Light conducts a daring experiment by writing down the name of a criminal he sees on a televised news report. Shockingly, the criminal dies exactly as the Death Note’s rules specify. This revelation shakes Light’s understanding of the world, leading him to question whether it’s a mere coincidence. To further test the notebook’s power, he strategically uses it to eliminate a gang leader who harassed a girl in a market. The criminal’s death coincides with Light’s written description, cementing his belief in the Death Note’s capabilities.
With a newfound determination, Light devises a grand plan to cleanse the world of criminals and create a utopian society free from wrongdoing. He uses the Death Note to eliminate wrongdoers whose identities he acquires from the news. However, his actions do not go unnoticed. After a mere five days, Light is visited by Ryuk, a Shinigami (death god), who dropped the Death Note into the human realm due to his own boredom. Ryuk’s appearance is striking and otherworldly, characterized by his tall, lanky frame, pale skin, and unsettling yellow eyes. His unkempt hair and ragged attire add to his eerie appearance. While invisible to most, Ryuk becomes visible to anyone who touches the Death Note.
Ryuk explains the Death Note’s purpose and capabilities to Light, finding amusement in Light’s responses and his determination to rid the world of criminals. Light reveals that he can manipulate the circumstances of a person’s death, specifying that the cause will be a heart attack if no circumstances are written, and the person will die within 40 seconds of the name being written.
As Light’s actions lead to the deaths of 52 criminals within a week, the sudden and unexplainable fatalities draw the attention of the public, media, and law enforcement agencies. The enigmatic detective known as “L” also takes note of the strange pattern of criminal deaths, adding an intriguing layer of complexity to the unfolding events.