Outside the grounds of his high school, Light Yagami discovers a notebook that claims to be able to kill anyone whose name and face is known to its owner. He initially dismisses the so-called Death Note as a hoax, but, after testing its powers, he discovers that these claims are indeed real. The original owner, a shinigami named Ryuk, approaches Light and explains that the notebook now belongs to him. Since Light is the new owner, he is the only one who can see and interact with Ryuk. The shinigami also says that when Light's time to die comes, Ryuk will be the one to write down his name in his book. Light decides to use the Death Note's power to rid the world of evil and become the God of a new, peaceful world. Written by Dharmin Shah

As Light continues his plan to be the god of a better world, Ryuk presents a new fact: anyone who touches the death notebook will be able to see him, too, not just Light, prompting Light to establish some ingenious protection. Meanwhile, the brilliant and mysterious L sets a trap to convince the world of Light's existence and narrow the search for where to find him. Written by statmanjeff

L continues to expand his investigations and suspects the police force while Light starts to use another trait of the book to prove wrong the theories of L. In the meantime, Ryuk offers Light a deal.

After testing the power limits of the Death Note on six convicts, Light manipulates the circumstances of a psychotic bank robber's death to reveal the name of his stalker, FBI man Ray Pember, which includes putting the presence of Ryuk to purposeful use. Written by statmanjeff

After further tests with the Death Note, Light targets Agent Pember to remove him and all other FBI agents from the investigation. Unbeknownst to Light, it leaves behind Pember's fiancée, also an agent, who wasn't part of the investigation but now has reason to join it. Meanwhile, Light's action reduces the official investigation team down to five determined policemen, including his father and young officer Touta Matsuda. Now that only the most dedicated are left, L arranges to meet these officers in person - all part of his plan to find Kira. Written by statmanjeff

L meets with the remaining five of the Kira Task Force. L's not quite what the men expect, but hearing him out convinces Soichiro that he can be no other. As L lays plans for how to close in on Kira, Light meets Kanzo Mogi (Pember's fiancée) in the police station lobby before she can deliver a crucial supposition to the task force. As the two leave together, Light knows he can't afford to let her live. Written by statmanjeff

As L introduces his confederate and concludes his meeting with the policemen (distributing false I.D.s and tracking devices for their safety), Light works fast to gain the trust of Pember's fiancée before she can relay crucial information she's figured out about Kira. Written by statmanjeff

While Light covers his tracks and sets up deaths in advance, L, having researched Agent Pember's case load, decides to set up surveillance cameras and wire taps in the two households he was investigating - those of Deputy Director General Kitamura and Detective Superintendent Yagami. Almost immediately, Light is aware that his bedroom has been invaded. Surreptitiously, he tells Ryuk to curb his appetite for apples and ferret out all the bugs while he coolly begins a very careful game to throw off suspicion. Written by statmanjeff

When surveillance of the two homes turns up nothing, L thinks things through to decide what to do or where to turn next. Following an exam, Light enters college where he's number one in his freshman class along with a watchful student who introduces himself to Light as L and invites him to join the Kira Task Force. Recognizing he's been outplayed, Light blows his cool for the first time but soon rallies with a plan, locking the two boys in a deadly battle of wits from here on out. Written by statmanjeff

L and Light play a friendly game of tennis by which to suss each other out, with their playing skills attracting campus attention. Afterwards at a coffee shop, L presents Light a test of deductive reasoning skills, using Kira's messages. News of Light's father's heart attack interrupts them. Meanwhile, a newspaperman who seeks riveting stories gets just what he wants in a direct message from Kira. Written by statmanjeff

Through television, Kira broadcasts a public message, asking for cooperation in working together towards a better, crime-free world. L deduces with 70% certainty that this isn't the original Kira but a second Kira, one willing to strike down the innocent, and asks that Light join the task force. Light, meanwhile, not only realizes this is a second Kira but one that has paid the price for shinigami eyes to become more powerful. The struggle to stop Kira proves there are still policemen willing to stand up but it costs them a member of the task force. Written by statmanjeff

Without given much preamble, Light looks over the tapes from the TV station and voices the same conclusion as L, that there's a second Kira. With this conclusion validated, they work together to draw out the copycat. It works. The copycat gives a live broadcast reply but it proves a liability to Light when the copycat reveals shinigami information best kept secret. Horrified, L now realizes supernatural forces are involved. Written by statmanjeff

The task force receives a journal sent to a TV station by the Kira copycat, designating a date for a meeting between the two Kiras, but Light notes a different entry of greater interest under a different date. Though his investigation with Matsuda comes to nothing, he unknowingly reveals himself to the copycat, who comes to meet him in person at his home and make a personal request. Written by statmanjeff

Misa quickly becomes a double-edged sword in Light's life: on the one hand she's a loyal follower with shinigami eyes who will do whatever he wants (mainly, kill L), but on the other hand she's an obsessive wanna-be girlfriend who can't leave him alone and will get him caught. Moreover, if Light kills Misa to protect himself, her protective shinigami Rem will kill him. Back with the task force, L drops his suspicions and reveals that Light has become the first real friend he's ever had. Even so, Light asks Rem to kill L. Mogi (earlier assigned to tail Light) notes Light's curious number of girlfriends. Written by statmanjeff

With Rem ready to kill L at Light's behest, Light can't wait for her to take L out, but L, with no other suspects at hand and believing the two Kiras have met, informs the task force that his death in the next two days will constitute proof that Light is Kira. With Light, hearing this from L himself, stuck as to how to proceed, Misa's tactless actions reveal herself as the second Kira. Straightaway, L has her arrested, bound, blindfolded, and isolated. As Misa's suffering progresses, she finally begs Rem for death, but Rem alleviates it instead by having her relinquish ownership of the Death Note, which removes all memories related to the Death Note - all but her feelings for Light. Written by statmanjeff

In a plan to remove all suspicions from himself, Light tells L that he thinks he may be Kira subconsciously and asks to be confined. Light's father believes it is also a good idea to be confined to a cell as well as he cannot risk his emotions getting the better of him. In confinement, Light gives Ryuk the order to have his memory wiped, leaving L confused now that his two suspects both register as sincerely innocent.

As time wears on, Light and Misa give no indications of either being Kira. Using Light's father, L stages a test to force the issue and determine the truth, after which L finally releases Light and Misa but under restrictive conditions until they catch Kira. Written by statmanjeff

The investigation moves into L's new security building. L admits he's depressed over drawing wrong conclusions about Light and Misa, causing Light to erupt over the number of innocent lives he's risked and lost so far. Among recent deaths, Light notices a number of prominent CEOs dying of heart attacks that benefits the Yotsuba Company. As the task force turns its attentions to this, political bribes from Kira pull all police interest from the case, forcing individuals on the team to decide whether to stay or not. Afterwards, two new members of the task force are introduced. Written by statmanjeff

Frustrated by his insignificance within the task force, Matsuda abandons Misa on her movie shoot to spy on the Yotsuba Group on his own. Listening outside their office door, he hears something interesting just before they catch him. With his life in peril, the task force springs into action to save him while Matsuda tries to convince the Yotsuba Group that he only came to promote his client, Misa, for commercial work. Written by statmanjeff

L's team discovers that the Yotsuba Group meets in secret to discuss the elimination of individuals who are troublesome to their company and concludes that Kira must be one of the seven remaining executives. Can Light posing as L ferret out the right one? Written by Anonymous

Groomed on how to respond at her interview, Misa meets with the Yotsuba Group, but Rem, fearing for her safety, enables Misa to see her once again and reveals the identities of all three Kiras. Thrilled, Misa goes rogue and rendezvous with the sleazy third Kira to record a confession from him. Meanwhile, delving into the first Kira's history leaves Light feeling unnerved. Written by statmanjeff

L determines (and Light concurs) that Light used to have the power of Kira but no longer. Kyosuke Higuchi has it now, but the mechanics of how he wields it remain unknown. Using Touta Matsuda on live TV as bait, L engineers the means by which to find out. Calling for a favor from their mole, Reiji Namikawa, the team discovers that he and others of the Yotsuba Group have already pegged Higuchi for Kira as well. Kyosuke Higuchi soon finds himself on the verge of being outed and, unable to use the Death Note for the lack of knowing Matsuda's real name, races out in a panic to kill Matsuda any way he can. Written by statmanjeff

As the trap to catch Kira unfolds with the aim for him to reveal how he kills, Higuchi's actions leave L and Light nonplussed. Who's this Rem he seems to be talking to in his car, why did he seem relieved after writing down Matsuda's name in a notebook, and what's the deal he's agreeing to? Suddenly, Higuchi has the power to kill on sight, just like the second Kira, and L gives the word to mask all faces and take him down, but a former ally enters the action. Written by statmanjeff

As the team finally collars Higuchi for the recent Kira murders, members touching the confiscated Death Note see Rem standing among them and suddenly realize that shinigami indeed exist. As the Death Note finally reaches Light, his memories return. He quickly works to kill Higuchi to make their return permanent. As Light labors to restore Misa's full memory and have her kill L immediately, L deduces that at least two Death Notes have been in play. Written by statmanjeff

After a respite, the killings resume, and Rem sees Light's ingenious yet despicable plan for what it is. L, hearing the peals of a distance clock tower all day, knows enough not to ask for whom it tolls. Light strikes, clearing away several obstacles. Written by statmanjeff

After reviewing L's file on the Kira case, Light takes over, both in heading the investigation and in plunging the world into a new dark age where only Kira's will is law. Unbeknownst to Light, a final bit of technology from Watari contacts an orphanage to reveal a secreted fact. Written by statmanjeff

New investigator Near steps forward, a central figure in the SPK, an American organization trying to catch Kira without relying on L (whom they know is a fake). Near, aware of the existence of Death Notes, wants to get his hands on one, but a challenge to his efforts comes from his orphanage rival, Mello, who throws a curve into Near's efforts by having his underworld thugs kidnap Japanese Police Director Takimura, ready to trade him for a Death Note. Written by Anonymous

Light, acting as L, reveals to Near that Sayu (his sister) has been kidnapped by someone wanting to trade her for the Death Note. With the exchange set to take place in Los Angeles, Near lends his support while secretly planning to take the Death Note and bring down Kira; however, Mello (Sayu's kidnapper) resets the time and place of the exchange to get the notebook. As he succeeds and wipes out nearly every member of the SPK in return, Near and Light decide to cooperate more fully with each other from now on. Meanwhile, the true shinigami owner of a Death Note stolen by Ryuk plans a reluctant trip to the human realm to retrieve it. Written by Anonymous

Light tries to discover where Mello and his Mafia associates are hiding and uses Misa's eyes to find the Death Note's current owner. Light writes the owner's name in the Death Note and stealthily manipulates him into revealing the group's whereabouts. As Light transfers ownership of his Death Note in preparation for an attack on Mello's stronghold, Mello and his associates meet Sidoh and learn about the two false entries in the book. Written by Anonymous

With Demegawa broadcasting as The Voice of Kira, with the President of the United States calling off his American investigation team, and with even petty criminals fearing to speak their own names, Kira's unchallenged despotic rule over the Earth seems near. Mello, to protect himself by retrieving his only known photograph from Near, shares information: some of the Death Note rules are fake. Near, concluding that Light is Kira, uses that intel to spread dissension among the Japanese Task Force and fish for allies among them. Light sees no choice but to spark a manhunt for Near and kill him. Written by statmanjeff

Near contacts the Japanese task force and announces that Kira is among their members. He asks for insider information, and Aizawa, already beginning to doubt Light, responds. Near now believes without doubt that the new L is really Light Yagami and that Light is Kira. Written by Anonymous

Teru Mikami proves to be the right follower with whom Kira can share his power. After killing the self-centered and avaricious Demegawa, Teru selects Kiyomi Takada (Light's former girlfriend in college, as it turns out) as the new Kira spokesperson. With Mello watching Misa, and the task force watching Light, Light meets with Kiyomi to make direct contact with Teru. Written by statmanjeff

The SPK comes to Japan, where former CIA agent Halle Lidner becomes one of Kiyomi's four new bodyguards. Per Light's instructions, Kiyomi surreptitiously obtains five pages of the Death Note by which to carry on Kira's work while Teru, using a copy of his own creation, carries on as if his new fake Death Note is real. Meanwhile, a chance meeting between Kiyomi and Misa leads to the two having a private dinner by which to establish which is truly Light's legitimate girlfriend. Written by statmanjeff

Near considers how to deal with the presence of a shinigami, who can only be seen by those who have touched the Death Note. Before Misa can publicly announce her engagement to Light at a televised pop music festival, Near has her and her bodyguard, Det. Mogi, picked up for questioning. Simultaneously, he gives Stephen Gevanni (who's been shadowing suspect Teru Mikami - the fourth Kira), an order: touch Teru's Death Note and look around for a shinigami (neither realizing that the book's a fake). Written by statmanjeff

Mello kidnaps Takada in a daring operation, getting in the way of both Near and Light's plans to set up a meeting between the SPK and the investigation team.

Kiyomi's announced death prompts many to step forward, eager to be the next Kira spokesperson (to the disgust of many in the task force). The day of the meeting between SPK and the Kira Task Force arrives. As they meet, Near waits before revealing his plan to out Kira through the actions of Teru Mikami, but Light has prepared for this moment with a counter-plan to take out all those around him. Time will tell. Written by statmanjeff

It's over. Near's careful strategy succeeds, revealing Light Yagami as Kira. Cornered and going into hysterics, Light makes a last ditch effort to beat Near and make a case for keeping himself alive, active and at liberty, but he fails, prevented by one who had up to this point greatly admired him. As forewarned from the start, and now that, at best, only life-imprisonment looms ahead for Light, Ryuk writes one last name in his Death Note. Written by statmanjeff