Death Note (2006 film)

Within the Kanto region of Japan, Light Yagami: an intelligent and distinguished yet disaffected Tokyo college student stumbles across a mysterious dark-colored notebook, with the words: "Death Note" marked on the cover, while returning home from his classes. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a person's name is written within while picturing that person's face, he or she will die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, but after experimenting with it on a convicted criminal, he realizes it is real. After experimenting with it on his second victim: an acquitted felon named Takuo Shibuimaru and meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a demonic Shinigami named Ryuk, Light begins to see the potential of the Death Note's god-like abilities and eventually decides to use the notebook to kill those whom he deems to be morally unworthy of life or impede his plans to change the world. He begins using the Death Note to kill numerous known criminals, terrorists and convicted felons around the world, becoming a near-mythical vigilante known as "Kira", which is the Japanese trans-literation of the word: killer and who is both beloved and feared by the world-wide media and public.

As the Kira killings continue, some within both the international and Japanese society come to see Kira as a righteous figure, with many even calling him a "god". Interpol launches an investigation of the murders, but months pass without any fruitful lead. The case eventually attracts the attention of L, a reclusive, highly skilled and world-renowned criminal profiler/international private detective, who deduces that "Kira" is in Japan. Allying himself with Interpol and the Japanese police force, L manages to confront Light through a television broadcast and demonstrates his deductive skills, correctly surmising Kira's residence in the Kanto region and that he can "kill without lifting a finger", by manipulating Light to kill a decoy of his named "Lind L. Tailor", thus unwittingly giving out his location to the Japanese police force. Enraged, Light vows to find and kill L, either by hook or crook.

After Light hacks into the police database to find information on acquitted criminals, L deduces that Kira is connected to the Kira task-force in Tokyo, led by Light's father: Soichiro Yagami, the head of the National Police Agency. Around the same time, Light finds out that he is being followed by an FBI agent named Raye Iwamatsu, who was assigned by L to shadow over potential "Kira" suspects and, through a series of events, manipulates Iwamatsu's and his fellow agents' deaths. Raye's fiancé, Naomi Misora, a former FBI agent, decides to uncover Kira's identity. Considering Light as the prime suspect, she kidnaps his girlfriend Shiori and demands that he confess or Shiori will die. Light adamantly insists that he is not Kira and pleads with her. When Shiori tries to escape, Naomi shoots her and abruptly commits suicide. Shiori dies in Light's arms.

Ryuk finds that Light had actually engineered Naomi's death using the Death Note, as he had already found out her identity and written a scenario whereby Naomi would commit suicide after shooting Shiori. Ryuk is confused that Light would deliberately put Shiori in danger, but Light reveals that he had written her name in the Death Note as well, much to his reluctance and remorse. Using these events to seemingly foster hatred for Kira, Light asks to join his father's task force. While Soichiro is slightly reluctant, L immediately grants his wish and it is hinted that he is still certain that Light is Kira.

As a precursor to the second movie, Misa, an actress, is chased down an alley by a man wielding a knife, intent on killing her. As she screams for help, the man dies of a heart attack just like Kira's victims. A second Death Note lands beside her.

The film premiered in Japan on June 17, 2006, and topped the Japanese box office for two weeks, pushing The Da Vinci Code into second place.[7]

Death Note (死亡筆記) was released in Hong Kong on August 10, 2006, in Taiwan on September 8, 2006, in Singapore on October 19, 2006, and in Malaysia on November 9, 2006, with English and Chinese subtitles. The world premiere was in the UA Langham Place cinema in Hong Kong on October 28, 2006, the first Japanese movie to premiere in Hong Kong. The film was released in the UK on April 25, 2008.

Wired's Lisa Katayama described the film as "a delightfully suspenseful 126 minutes for anyone who likes suspense, pretty Japanese boys or female detectives".[8]

A sequel, Death Note 2: The Last Name, was released in Japan on October 28, 2006

In 2007, the Malaysian newspaper The Star stated that more than ten film companies in the United States had expressed interest in the Death Note franchise.[5] The American production company Vertigo Entertainment was originally set to develop the remake, with Charley and Vlas Parlapanides as screenwriters and Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Dan Lin, and Brian Witten as producers.[22] On April 30, 2009, Variety reported that Warner Bros., the distributors for the original Japanese live-action films, had acquired the rights for an American remake, with the original screenwriters and producers still attached.[23] In 2009, Zac Efron responded to rumors that he would be playing the film's lead role by stating that the project was "not on the front burner".[24] On April 27, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Adam Wingard would direct the film, that Lin, Lee, Jason Hoffs and Masi Oka would produce, and that Niija Kuykendall and Nik Mavinkurve would oversee the studio.Producers stated the film would receive an R rating. On April 6, 2016, it was confirmed that Netflix had bought the film from Warner Bros

• List of films based on manga

• Death Note at Warner Brothers Japan (in Japanese)
• Death Note DVD official website (in Japanese)
• Death Note at IMDb
• Death Note at Rotten Tomatoes