Death Note is based on the hit supernatural action mystery manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.The live-action film, directed by Shusuke Kaneko - already established as a director of note through his series of popular monster movies featuring 'Gamera' - was released in late 2006 and went straight to the number 1 slot in Japan.

The film follows the Manga story of Light Yagami, who is a brilliant but bored student with great prospects. Life changes dramatically when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami (God of Death) named Ryuk. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies. Light sees an opportunity to rid the world of evil using the powers granted in the Death Note.The police authorities call in the help of the famous, but unconventional detective L when criminals begin to mysteriously die. Both Light and L believe themselves to be serving justice, and so begins the battle of wits to see who really is good or evil.

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's bestselling manga DEATH NOTE, has already spawned an internationally successful anime series, and now its the turn of the live-action feature film. Light Yagami (Tatsuya Fujiwara, BATTLE ROYALE) is good looking, a great student, and rich. But it's not enough. His attitude is about to change when a Shinigami death god accidentally drops his notebook down into the human world and into Light's hands. The thing about this notebook is that whoever's name is written down in the book dies. Now the death games begin as Light decides to use his new power to rid the world of evil. But is he doing more harm than good in his quest to kill off every criminal? And when the talented and mysterious L is brought in to solve the mystery behind all this death, will Light be able to outsmart him or end up in prison?