Death Note

A shinigami, as a god of death, can kill any person—provided they see their victim's face and write their victim's name in a notebook called a Death Note. One day, Ryuk, bored by the shinigami lifestyle and interested in seeing how a human would use a Death Note, drops one into the human realm.

High school student and prodigy Light Yagami stumbles upon the Death Note and—since he deplores the state of the world—tests the deadly notebook by writing a criminal's name in it. When the criminal dies immediately following his experiment with the Death Note, Light is greatly surprised and quickly recognizes how devastating the power that has fallen into his hands could be.

With this divine capability, Light decides to extinguish all criminals in order to build a new world where crime does not exist and people worship him as a god. Police, however, quickly discover that a serial killer is targeting criminals and, consequently, try to apprehend the culprit. To do this, the Japanese investigators count on the assistance of the best detective in the world: a young and eccentric man known only by the name of L.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

The Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is in effect a ball of hot mud, but on the surface it's cold enough, so most of us live on it (or are supposed to). It is circa 4.5 billion years old, and, unless we humans succeed in destroying it over the next couple of centuries, it is expected to last for quite another while, though the changes in the Sun's emissions due to its aging will likely cause the extinction of everything; the species of earthlings are guaranteed to die, even if we fail to kill them -- unless, of course, we find ourselves another planet and figure out a way to take everything there. Our little planet on a corner of this galaxy may mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, but to its inhabitants it is their home, so, as a species, we cherish it dearly, to the point many cultures even to this day deify it. Being the home to the human civilizations, the Earth is the main setting of most fiction, be it anime or otherwise, but not only are many titles set in other places, such as unrelated fantasy worlds, in a considerable number of fictional titles the Earth is actually destroyed by aggressive alien invaders.

Earth

Last stronghold for humanity. If Tokyo falls, it's all over. Tokyo Tower will undoubtedly fall anyway.

Japan

Asia is Earth's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres and sharing the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe. Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its overall large size and population, but also dense and large settlements as well as vast barely populated regions within the continent of 4.4 billion people.

Source: Wikipedia

Asia

The thriller is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. The hero of a typical thriller faces danger alone or in the company of a small band of companions. The protagonist may be a law enforcement agent, a journalist, or a soldier, but typically he or she is cut off from the resources of "their" organization. More often the hero is an ordinary citizen drawn into danger and intrigue by circumstances beyond their control. (Source: Wikipedia)

Thriller

Detective

Anime that fit in the alternative present category usually have technology and society that is very similar to ours, but with differences in both, history and culture, which sometimes are blatantly obvious, but sometimes harder to place; this one can at times be very subjective.

Alternative Present

Consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places and events seen by the viewer.

A single linear focused plot is highly continuous.

A truly random plot is highly discontinuous.

Plot Continuity

Present

The police (civil servants) are the good guys in the battle against crime. Though they try hard, they are usually outclassed by super-criminals or criminal organizations in anime, requiring the help of special units or some lone hero.

Cops

Psychological media delve into mental or emotional states of a character in the midst of a difficult situation, letting you observe them change as tension increases. Internal monologues are a key feature, allowing narration to delve into a character's mind, revealing their innermost ideas and motivations - even as they may be driven to the brink of sanity.

Psychological

Focuses on unresolved questions, and the efforts of characters to discover the answers to them. Whether curious and deadly events are afoot, or some part of the world itself is strange or inexplicable, or someone's past or identity seems strangely shrouded, these characters are set on learning the truth.

Mystery

Shounen

Supernatural might refer to something mythical, mystical, bizarre, or something outside the bounds of accepted reality. There's a shadow of mystery often found in shows involved with this genre. Supernaturally oriented titles are often steeped in folklore, myth, or urban Legend. They may involve strange or inexplicable phenomena, Psychic Powers or emanations, and/or ghosts or other fantastic creatures.

Supernatural

Drama is a form of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone.

Drama

Birthdate: February 28, 1986 (1989 in the anime) Zodiac sign: Pisces Hair color: Brown Eye color: Brown Height: 179 cm (5'10") Weight: 64.1 kg (141 lbs.) Blood type: A Occupation: high school student, university student, detective Age (during the series): 17-23 Likes: justice Dislikes: evil  Light, born on February 28, 1986, is a third year high school student (12th grade) at Daikoku Private Academy (å¤§å›½å­¦åœ’, Daikoku Gakuen) who also attends supplemental classes at Gamou Prep Academy in the beginning of the story. Light has a father, Soichiro Yagami, who is the head of the Police Force. Light also has a mother, Sachiko Yagami, and a younger sister, Sayu Yagami.  In Spring 2004, Light becomes a first-year student (freshman) at To-Oh University (æ�±å¿œå¤§å­¦, TÅ�Å� Daigaku), becoming one of two freshman representatives; L is the other freshman representative. During a tennis game with L at To-Oh, spectators reveal that Light was the junior high school tennis champion in 1999 and 2000. After his 2000 victory, Light quit tennis as he entered high school.  Yagami Light is a brilliant college student. Nicknamed "Kira," he uses the Death Note to create his ideal world of justice under him; its new God. Though he looks frail, Light is an extremely athletic person, with an aptitude to find an opponent's weak point. He is a genius, which adds to his notion that only he is fit to judge humanity and steer it on a proper moral course.  He gets shot by Matsuda after his plan failed and then dies because Ryuk wrote his name in his Death Note. (January 28, 2010 in the manga; January 28, 2013 in the anime)

Light Yagami

Age: First appearance: 13 years old Final chapter : 19 years old, Final appearance : 21 years old Gender: Male Species: Human Date of birth: 24 August 1991 (1994 in anime) Occupation: Head of SPK (Special Provision for Kira), 3rd and final "L" in chapters 108 and aftermath Blood type: B Likes: toys and puzzles Dislikes: Kira  In Death Note, Near is the youngest of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom. Of the successors, Near is the more level-headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quick to act. Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life. He is usually seen hunched over rather than sitting. He also constantly plays with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twiddling strands of his hair. He shows a great respect for L, basing much of how he solves crime on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that he is interested with rather than trying to pursue justice. Near uses the Wedding Text font "N" and "L" to represent himself and the fake L, respectively. But later in the aftermath, he used Old English font "L" like the original L did. He is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime, Cathy Weseluck in the English dub, and Bruno Coronel in the Latin Spanish version.   It is speculated by Matsuda in Death Note: Oneshot that Near uses the Death Note to manipulate Mikami into failing Light in the final battle, which would shed light on some major plotholes. It's important to note that Tsugumi Ohba has said that he wanted it to be left up to the readers on if Matsuda is right or not.  Tsugumi Ohba, writer of Death Note, said that Near "becomes less likeable" as the story advances, citing Near's plan to take the notebook at a later point in the story. Ohba said that a negative reaction originated from "the difference in their attitudes" and that people may have viewed Near as "a cheat." Ohba added that Near's "cheeky behavior," intended to "reinforce his childishness," had been construed as "annoying."  In the final chapter Near brings finger puppets to the Yellow Box Warehouse. Takeshi Obata, artist of Death Note, said that Near first bought the Kira finger puppet and drew on it with a magic marker. Obata then said that Near must have created the other puppets afterwards. Obata views Near as not liking L much so Obata had Near depict L as "ugly", and that Near "worked hard" on Mello's puppet as Near "liked Mello."  Obata said he enjoyed drawing Near and that Near is also one of his favorite and his least favorite characters, considering him to be the smartest character in the manga "because he cheats."  When asked about which character was most similar to himself, Ohba indicated Near and "maybe Light." Regarding Near, Ohba said that he does not leave his house often.

Nate River

Age: 13-15 pre-timeskip, 19-20 post-timeskip Birthdate: December 13, 1989 Blood type: A Likes: chocolate Dislikes: those better than him  Mello is the older of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom. When it is decided that Mello should work with the other successor, Near, Mello refuses, citing an inability to work with Near, to whom he is considered second. Similar to L's fondness for sweets, Mello is often seen eating bars of chocolate. How to Read 13 states that Mello has "an excellent mind" and that he "sometimes lets his emotions get in his way." The book cites Mello's "hatred of Near," which created "a flaw in [Mello's] personality." The book states that Mello isn't purely evil, citing his apology and genuine care for Matt's well-being. Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of Death Note, stated that Mello "works hard for everything." Ohba added that Mello's name "doesn't really stand for anything," as opposed to Near's name standing for Nate River, etc.  Mello is voiced by Nozomu Sasaki in the Japanese anime, David Hurtwitz in the English version and Javier Olguín in the Latin Spanish dub.  Mello decides to find Kira his own way by joining the Mafia. After obtaining one of the Death Notes from the Kira investigation team by kidnapping Sayu Yagami, Light Yagami sets up a raid that leaves Mello badly scarred and his real name in Light's hands. After learning that Light is Kira and Near was going to attempt to apprehend him, Mello kidnaps Kiyomi Takada, but is soon killed by Takada's hidden pages of the Death Note. This action causes Teru Mikami to expose his own Death Note to kill Takada, an action that Near picks up on and is eventually able to use to thwart Light's plans. Near reflects this during the final showdown and credits Mello as the single most pivotal person in discovering Light's plans. Hal Lidner further believes that it was Mello's plan that he would be killed to expose Light's plan, but Near rejects this theory. His date of death is January 26th, 2010. Age 20. Mello is the narrator of the spinoff novel Death Note - Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

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