50 Fun Facts About Death Note

Who wrote Death Note?

Ohba is a pen name and the writer's identity has never been confirmed. Takeshi Obata, of Hikaru no Go, drew it.

In which magazine was Death Note serialised from December 2003 to May 2006?

It ran alongside Naruto, Bleach and One Piece in Shueisha's flagship title, an unusually dark series for the magazine.

How many chapters does the Death Note manga have?

They were collected in twelve volumes. 108 is also the number of earthly desires in Buddhism, which fans have taken as deliberate.

The public nickname 'Kira' for the mystery murderer is the Japanese rendering of which English word?

The media coin it after criminals start dying of heart attacks worldwide. Light comes to accept it as his title as the god of a new world.

The shinigami Ryuk is invisible to everyone except whom?

He dropped the notebook into the human world out of boredom. Light's father and the task force can only see him once they handle the Death Note themselves.

What is Ryuk's well-known weakness in the human world?

He calls them 'juicy' and goes through withdrawal without them, twisting himself into knots. Mello is the chocolate one.

Which studio animated the Death Note anime?

The 37 episodes aired on Nippon TV from October 2006 to June 2007 under director Tetsurō Araki, who went on to Attack on Titan.

How many episodes does the Death Note anime have?

Two 'Relight' compilation films followed, retelling the story from Ryuk's point of view. Adult Swim ran the series in the US from October 2007.

Which band performs 'The World', the first opening theme of the Death Note anime?

Maximum the Hormone took over from episode 20 with 'What's Up, People?!', a change fans still argue about.

What is L's real name, revealed only in supplementary material?

Lind L. Tailor was the death-row convict L used as a decoy on TV.

Which of these is NOT one of L's aliases in the series?

Coil and Deneuve are supposedly the world's second and third best detectives; L is all three. Matsuda is the task force's youngest member.

Which eccentric habit is L known for?

He also lives on sweets and holds objects with his fingertips. Obata asked whether L should be drawn as unattractive; Ohba left the design largely to him.

Who ultimately kills L?

Light engineers it so that Rem must write L's and Watari's names to save Misa, which also destroys Rem herself.

What is Misa Amane's job?

'Misa Misa' is famous across the Kansai region. She worships Kira because he killed the burglar who murdered her parents.

What does a Death Note owner give up to obtain the shinigami eyes?

The eyes reveal the name and lifespan of anyone whose face you see. Misa makes the trade twice, leaving herself very little time.

Which shinigami gives Misa her Death Note?

The notebook originally belonged to Gelus, who died saving Misa's life out of love for her. Rem picked it up and delivered it.

After L's death, his two potential successors are introduced. Which of them joins the mafia?

Near works with the US government instead. The two were raised as rivals at Wammy's House and only ever add up to L together.

What is Near's real name?

Mello is Mihael Keehl and Matt is Mail Jeevas. Near spends most of the story building towers of dice and toys while out-thinking Kira.

Mello is rarely seen without which food?

The bar of chocolate is his trademark, as sweets are L's and apples are Ryuk's. Potato chips belong to Light's most famous scene.

Wammy's House, the orphanage that produced L, Near and Mello, is in which English city?

It was founded by the inventor Quillsh Wammy, better known as L's handler Watari.

What is Watari's real name?

A famous inventor and the founder of Wammy's House, he acts as L's sole link to the world. Rem kills him alongside L.

What word does the prosecutor Teru Mikami mutter repeatedly as he writes names in the Death Note?

'Sakujo!' The obsessive habit is what Near exploits: Mikami's rigid schedule lets the SPK swap his notebook for a fake.

What is Soichiro Yagami's position?

Light's father leads the Kira task force without ever suspecting his son. He dies after taking the shinigami eyes to see Mello's name.

In the final showdown, which task-force member shoots Light four times to stop him killing Near?

The youngest and most naive member of the team, who had always believed Light was innocent, is the one who snaps.

How does Light Yagami finally die?

Ryuk had warned him on day one that a shinigami who has taken a liking to you is not your friend. The manga and anime stage the death slightly differently.

The kanji of Light's surname, Yagami, mean what?

His given name is written with the character for 'moon' but read as 'Light'. Fans also noticed the surname spells something rude backwards in English.

Who voices Light Yagami in the Japanese version of the anime?

Brad Swaile voices him in English. Miyano's unhinged laugh in the finale became a meme in its own right.

Who voices L in the Japanese anime?

Yamaguchi is also the voice of Inuyasha and Usopp in One Piece. Alessandro Juliani plays L in English.

Who played Light Yagami in the 2006 Japanese live-action films?

Fujiwara had already played the lead in Battle Royale. Shusuke Kaneko directed, and the sequel The Last Name followed the same October.

Which actor played L in the 2006 films and their 2008 spin-off L: Change the World?

The spin-off covers the 23 days L has left to live after writing his own name to trap Kira, a plot unique to the films.

The 2017 American Death Note film was released by Netflix. Who directed it?

It relocated the story to Seattle with Nat Wolff as 'Light Turner' and was criticised for whitewashing. Willem Dafoe voiced Ryuk.

Who voiced Ryuk in the 2017 Netflix Death Note film?

Jason Liles performed the body while Dafoe supplied the voice. LaKeith Stanfield played L.

The 2017 Netflix film moved the story from Japan to which US city?

Producers defended the casting by calling the story 'a universal theme that knows no racial boundaries'.

The prequel light novel Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases was written by whom?

The Monogatari author's book pits L against Beyond Birthday, a failed Wammy's House successor. It is the only place L's investigation before Kira is shown.

The official guidebook released in October 2006 carries what title?

It reveals character full names, the complete rules and the pilot chapter. Its 'thirteenth volume' status is a joke about the twelve-volume series.

The manga's final confrontation takes place in a location Ohba called what?

Ohba said the series ended more or less as intended, and chose the warehouse ending over an alternative.

By April 2015, roughly how many copies of the Death Note manga were in circulation?

Two months later China's Ministry of Culture put it on a list of 38 banned anime and manga titles.

In June 2015, which country's Ministry of Culture listed Death Note among 38 banned anime and manga?

The ban cited content deemed to encourage violence and crime. Several US and Russian schools had already confiscated replica notebooks.

Which company licensed Death Note for English release in North America in April 2005?

Viz, part-owned by Shueisha, publishes almost every Shōnen Jump title in English.

In which year did Death Note: The Musical run in both Japan and South Korea?

The same year brought a live-action Japanese TV drama. The musical's songs are by Frank Wildhorn, composer of Jekyll & Hyde.

Tsugumi Ohba wrote Death Note, but who drew it?

Ohba and Obata rarely met during the run, communicating through their editor; they first met in person at an editorial party in January 2004.

Who plays Light Turner in the 2017 Netflix film?

Light's surname was changed from Yagami to Turner for the American setting, and LaKeith Stanfield played L opposite him.

Into how many tankōbon volumes was the Death Note manga collected?

Shueisha later re-released it as seven bunkoban volumes and, in 2016, as a single 2,400-page All-in-One Edition.

Kyosuke Higuchi, who receives a Death Note while Light loses his memory, works for which company?

With his memory erased, Light genuinely helps L catch Higuchi, then regains his memories the moment he touches the notebook again.

The 2006 Japanese film topped the box office for two weeks, pushing which Hollywood film to second?

The film premiered in Japan on June 17, 2006, and the sequel The Last Name followed that November.

In the 2017 Netflix film, Light and Mia's final confrontation takes place on top of what?

Ryuk wrecks the Great Wheel, killing Mia and dropping Light into the water, where a doctor controlled by the notebook is waiting to rescue him.

Who kills Mello after he kidnaps her near the end of the story?

Takada, Kira's TV spokesperson, is herself killed by Light moments later, which is the thread that finally exposes him to Near.

Who directed the Death Note anime series?

Araki went on to direct the first seasons of Attack on Titan, another series about ordinary people squaring up to monsters.

Which Broadway composer wrote the score for Death Note: The Musical?

Wildhorn, best known for Jekyll & Hyde, wrote it in English with lyricist Jack Murphy before it premiered in Japanese and Korean productions.

Fans noted Death Note resembled 1973's The Miraculous Notebook, a one-shot by which manga artist?

Mizuki is best known for GeGeGe no Kitaro; the main difference noted was that his notebook story had no shinigami.