Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese mangá series created por writer Tsugumi Ohba and mangá artist Takeshi Obata. The series centers on Light Yagami, a universidade student who discovers a sobrenatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth por a shinigami (death god) named Ryuk. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose face they have seen, por composição literária the victim's name in the notebook. The story follows Light's attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil using the notebook, and the complex conflict between him, his opponents and a mysterious detective known to the world only as L.

Death Note was first serialized in 108 chapters por Shueisha in the Japanese mangá magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. The series was also published in tankōbon format in Japão starting in May 2004 and ending in October 2006 with a total of twelve volumes. The series was adapted into live-action films released in Japão on June 17, 2006, on November 3, 2006, and on February 2, 2008. The animê series aired in Japão from October 3, 2006, to June 26, 2007. Composed of 37 episodes, the animê was developed por Madhouse and directed por Tetsuro Araki. A light novel based on the series, written por Nisio Isin, was released in Japan. Additionally, various video games have been published por Konami for nintendo DS.

Viz Media licensed the Death Note mangá in North America and has published all the twelve volumes from the series as well as the light novel. The episodes from the animê first appeared in North America as downloadable por IGN. Viz later licensed the animê series and it aired on Bionix. The live-actions briefly played in certain North American theaters since 2008. However, none of the video games titles have thus far been published in North America.

Several publications for manga, animê and other media have added praise and criticism on the Death Note series. The plot and violence from the story have been praised, noting it to be very entertaining. However, the series was banned in China due to various problems people had with children altering their notebooks to resemble a Death Note.