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Death Note (2006 TV series)

Japanese anime television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Death Note (2006 TV series)
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Death Note is a Japanese anime television series based on the manga series of the same name written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was directed by Tetsurō Araki at Madhouse and originally aired in Japan on Nippon TV every Wednesday (with the exception of December 20, 2006, and January 3, 2007) shortly past midnight, from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007.[1][2] The plot of the series primarily revolves around high school student Light Yagami, who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook called a Death Note. This book causes the death of anyone whose name is written in it and is passed on to Light by the Shinigami Ryuk after he becomes bored within the Shinigami world.

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A two-hour "Director's Cut" compilation television film, titled Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God, aired on NTV a few months after the anime concluded.[3] Although advertised to be the "complete conclusion", the popularity of the series inspired the release of a second TV special, titled Death Note: Relight 2: L's Successors nearly a year later. These specials recap the first and second arcs of the anime, respectively, with new scenes added to fill in any plot holes resulted from omitted footage.

In 2007, Viz Media licensed the series for a bilingual release in North America. Episodes of the series were officially available for download soon after they aired in Japan; according to Viz, this was "significant because it marked the first time a well known Japanese anime property [was] made legally available to domestic audiences for download to own while the title still [aired] on Japanese television."[4] Viz Media began releasing these episodes via Direct2Drive on May 10, 2007. In addition to this downloadable release of a subtitled version of the series, Viz also acquired the rights for the home video release of both the subtitled and dubbed version of the series.[5]

On October 21, 2007, Death Note premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.[6] Death Note episodes were also added to Adult Swim's streaming video service, Adult Swim Video, on Fridays before airing on television. On November 9, 2008, Death Note began airing weekly, at 3:30 a.m. EST, starting with episode 1, "Rebirth", on Adult Swim. In Canada, the series premiered on YTV's Bionix programming block on October 26, 2007. In October 2007, Hong Kong began airing the Cantonese version of Death Note at 12:00 a.m. Saturday nights on TVB. On April 14, 2008, Death Note premiered in Australia, where it aired on ABC2 on Mondays at 9:30 p.m.

Five pieces of theme music are used for the series. The first opening theme, titled "The World", is performed by Nightmare. Nightmare also performed the first ending theme, "Alumina" (アルミナ, Arumina), which reappears as the ending theme in the television film Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God and as an insert in episodes 12 and 19. Both songs appear on their album The World Ruler. The second opening theme from episode 20 onwards is "What's Up, People?!" and the second ending theme is "Zetsubō Billy" (絶望ビリー, Zetsubō Birī, "Desperate Billy"), which also appears as an insert in the TV special Death Note: Relight: Visions of a God. Both themes are performed by Maximum the Hormone and appear on their album Bu-ikikaesu. The final episode's ending theme is "Coda ~ Death Note" by series co-composer Yoshihisa Hirano. "Misa's Song", performed by Misa's voice actress Aya Hirano, is heard as an insert for episode 25. The English version of the song is performed by the character's English voice actress, Shannon Chan-Kent.

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Cast and characters

  • Mamoru Miyano as Light Yagami, the main protagonist of the series. Light is an overchiever who uses the Death Note to feed his desire to become God of a new world, inflicting mortal judgement on criminals.
  • Kappei Yamaguchi as L, the main antagonist of the series. L is reclusive, blunt, and eccentric, but regarded as the world's best detective.
  • Shidô Nakamura as Ryuk, the Shinigami whose Death Note is picked up by Light. He has a flippant attitude to the events of the story.
  • Aya Hirano as Misa Amane. Misa is a popular Japanese actress and model, who also possesses a Death Note and falls in love with Light.
  • Noriko Hidaka as Near, the young detective who replaces L.
  • Nozomu Sasaki as Mello, a detective raised alongside Near who also pursues Kira. His emotional streak and desire to do things his way causes complications in the case,
    • David Hurwitz as Mello in the English dub.
  • Masaya Matsukaze as Teru Mikami, a stern and scrupulous prosecutor that becomes Light's disciple.
  • Naoya Uchida as Sooichiroo Yagami, Light's father and the chief of the taskforce investigating the Kira murders.
  • Ryô Naitô as Toota Matsuda, the youngest member of the Kira investigation team. He gradually becomes more confident and mature as the series goes on.
  • Keiji Fujiwara as Shuuichi Aizawa, a confontational member of the Kira investigation team that is as devoted to police work as his family.
  • Kazuya Nakai as Kanzoo Mogi, a reserved member of the Kira taskforce.
    • John Murphy as Kanzoo Mogi in the English dub.
  • Hideo Ishikawa as Hideki Ide, a member of the Kira taskforce that dislikes working with L and has a snarky attitude.
  • Hidenobu Kiuchi as Hirokazu Ukita, a member of the Kira taskforce who is as inexperienced as Matsuda, but less anxious.
    • Jeremy From as Hirokazu Ukita in the English dub.
  • Kiyoshi Kobayashi as Watari, L's laconic manager who runs the orphanage where Near and Mello grew up.
  • Maaya Sakamoto and Masumi Okamura as Kiyomi Takada, Light's ex-girlfriend who becomes a spokesperson for Kira.
  • Hideo Ishikawa as Raye Penbar, an American FBI agent sent to Japan to investigate Kira.
  • Naoko Matsui as Naomi Misora, a former FBI agent and Raye Penbar's fiance.
  • Issei Futamata as Kyoosuke Higuchi, a Japanese businessperson with the Yotsuba Group. He is given the Death Note by Rem and uses it to kill business rivals.
    • Andrew Kavadas as Kyoosuke Higuchi in the English dub.
  • Kimiko Saitō as Rem, the Shinigami whose Death Note is picked up by Misa Amane. She has a protective streak of Misa.
    • Colleen Wheeler as Rem in the English dub.
  • Ai Satō as Sachiko Yagami, Light's mother and Sooichiroo's wife.
  • Haruka Kudō as Sayu Yagami, Light's younger sister and Sooichiroo's daughter.
    • Kelly Metzger and Sayu Yagami pre-time skip and Kristie Marsden as Sayu Yagami post-time skip in the English dub.
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Episodes

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Television films

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Home media release

Japanese

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English

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References

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