- Updated on: July 24, 2022
- by Ernie
Death Note is considered to be one of the best anime series of all time. I’m not going to argue with that, but to many, the order of watch/read isn’t entirely clear, so today, in this blog entry we’ll take a look at the order of all of the anime series, the manga, the light novels, and the live-action adaptations.
Let’s start by taking a look at what the Franchise consists of.
Table of Contents
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Table of Content
How To Watch Death Note in Order?
Quick Watch Order
1. Death Note Anime Series (2006)
Release Date: October 2006
Episodes: 37
Type: TV
Plot
The story of Death Note is a prime example of a man given godly powers, acting on noble intentions, but ultimately all of it going up in flames due to him just being human. Light Yagami finds a mysterious notebook, the so-called Death Note, and soon discovers, whoever’s name is written inside said notebook will sooner or later die. The notebook belonged to a Shinigami named Ryuk, and he also soon discovers that he can also decide how the given person should die, by describing it in detail.
The series is about Light’s exploits in using the Death Note to kill people he deems unworthy of living in his perfect world without crime. He takes on the guise of Kira in his crusade and the story is mainly centered around the battle of great minds. Him, and the leader of an elite police task force codenamed L.
Movies & Media
The two movies serve the purpose of recapping the story of the series and can be considered more or less a director’s cut of the series itself, however, they don’t add to the story, they’re just halves of the story of the series condensed into a feature-length movie.
Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a god
Release Date: 2009
Episodes: Movie
Type: Media
Duration: 130 minutes
Plot
After Ryuk (Shinigami) loses his Death Note in the real world, he wonders who will find the book and encounter his new powers.
Death Note Relight 2: L's succesors
Release Date: 2008
Episodes: 1
Type: Movie
Duration: 93 minutes
Plot
The successors have to get serious keeping in mind L’s defeat. They have to protect their organization in order to become successors.
3. Death Note 2006
Release Date: 2006
Episodes: 1
Type: Live-Action
Duration Per Episode: 2 hours 20 minutes
Plot
It is a live-action movie that follows the events of the manga and anime series up to the point when Light joins the Kira investigation team after engineering the deaths of a number of people to get into the group’s trust. It also incorporates Amane Misa’s attempted assassination that ends with the attacker’s death.
4. Death Note 2: The Last Name (2006)
Release Date: 2006
Episodes: 1
Type: Live-Action
Duration Per Episode: 2 hours 21 minutes
Plot
Sequel to the previous movie from the same year. The story picks up once again from when Misa receives a Death Note herself from another Shinigami, Rem, taking over the role of Kira from Light so that Light can play as a double agent. The story then culminates in Light being uncovered and dying, however, the way he dies is different from the anime version.
5. L: Change the World (2008)
Release Date: 2009
Episodes: 1
Type: Live-Action
Duration Per Episode: 2 hours 9 minutes
Plot
A spin-off of the Death Note live-action series. Although it was inspired by the original manga, it has an original storyline. The story focuses on L, who takes on another new case during the last 23 days of his life, after having written his name into the Death Note to save himself from Light. In this story, he fights against a bioterrorist group.
It also features the origin story of L’s successor as the leader of the Kira investigation group. Near, who was an orphan child taken in by L, and according to the movie, L mentored. Near was raised by Land got really good with his amazing special calculation skills.
6. Death Note (2015)
Release Date: 2015
Episodes: 11
Type: Live-Action
Duration Per Episode: 55-85 minutes
Plot
This television drama series was made in Japan, based on the manga series, directed by Ryuuichi Inomata, director of Kaseifu no Mita from 2011 and Ryou Nishimura known for the 2014 special version of Kamen teacher. Light is Portrayed by Masataka Kubota, L by Kento Yamazaki, and Mio Yuuki plays Near.
The story is pretty much the same as in the manga and anime with minor changes to be able to be adapted to live-action.
7. Death Note: The New Generation (2016)
Release Date: 2016
Episodes: 3
Type: Live-Action
Duration Per Episode: 3 minutes
Plot
A three-episode mini-series released online starting September 16th, 2016, as a sequel of Death Note 2: The Last Name.
The story follows three young men, with different stories in life. One is a Death Note Otaku, who investigates the mysterious death of a criminal, the other is L’s successor, who has solved numerous great crimes before and finally accepts a case in connection with Death Note. The third is a Cyber Terrorist who survived the murder of his family and gets his hands on a Death Note.
8. Death Note: Light Up the New World (2016)
Release Date: 2016
Episodes: 1
Type: Movie
Duration Per Episode: 2 hours 15 minutes
Plot
A spin-off of the 2006 movies and sequel of the New Generation mini-series, The story features the same main characters, Mishima, Ryuzaki, and Yuki Shien. The events take place 10 years after Light and L’s deaths. As it turns out, there are now a total of six Death Notes in use in the world, and the newly established Death Note Task Force sets out to find and secure them.
9. Death Note (2017)
Release Date: 2017
Episodes: 1
Type: Movie
Duration Per Episode: 1 hour 21 minutes
Plot
Netflix’s original completely American-made film is loosely based on the manga series but takes place in the US instead. Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Charles and Vlas Parlapanides and Jeremy Slater and aside from the relatively less known actors it also features Willem Dafoe on its cast. The story is practically the same with minor alterations and takes place in Seattle, and ends with an unexpected ending.
Chronological Order
With the adaptations over with, let’s next talk about the source material! We’ll now look at the order in which you should read the light novels if you can find them and want to read through them.
- Death Note (2006 film)/The Anime Series
- Death Note 2: The Last Name (2006 film)
- L: Change the World (2008 film)
- Death Note (2015 TV drama)
- Death Note: New Generation (2016 miniseries)
- Death Note: Light Up the New World (2016 film)
- Death Note (2017 film)
Death Note Light Novel Watch Order
1. L: Change the World
Much like the movie version, the story of the novel version focuses on L and his exploits, with the story leading all the way up to L’s death. The difference between the movie’s story and this is that Near is not Thai, and thus makes him much closer to the manga version. Near here is already training under L to become his successor one day.
Its contents are mainly displayed in a timeline. The chapters have the number of the countdown preceding the title. An interesting little extra to the novel itself is that the pages are all designed in the same fashion as the pages of a Death Note.
2. Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
The story is a prequel to the Death Note series itself. The story focuses on L and an FBI agent Naomi Misora investigating the murders in Los Angeles committed by the serial killer, Beyond Birthday.
The novel is addressed to L and Kira and is narrated by one of the characters in the story, Mello, who sometimes goes over into an actual novelist. But when catching himself doing so, he usually, and very self consciously shifts back to the perspective of an onlooker.
3. Death Note: Light up a New World Movie Novelisation
The literal novel version of the movie from 2016, written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, is based on the screenplay of the movie. It was published five days before the movie premiered. It mostly follows the movie’s plot but expands on parts of it that the film only mentions. Some of the Shinigamis get named, Shien has much more contact with the Shinigamis, and Sakura Aoi’s conversation with her Shinigami, Bepo is also revealed. It begins with the Shinigami King expressing his desire for a new Kira, and the six Death Notes falling to Earth.
Suggested Order
1 Death Note: Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
2. The Death Note Manga
3. L: Change the World
4. Death Note: Light Up a New World
Manga Guide
The manga consists of a total of twelve volumes and 108 chapters, but there is also a so-called 13th book titled “How to Read“ containing extras like character bios, storyline summaries, interviews, and concept art, as well as the pilot chapter of the manga.
Volume 1: Boredom (Taikutsu)
Release Date: 2004
Chapters: 7
Plot
This volume consists of a total of 7 chapters. Boredom can bring the worst out of people. Light Yagami, after finding a mysterious notebook known as the Death Note, decides to test his newfound powers on the so-called scum of the world.
Gaining access to his father’s files, who is the head of national police, he learns the name of the most wanted and heinous criminals. Light decides to test out the Death Note’s power and he gains more and more knowledge in using it.
With this extra knowledge in hand, he can always be one step ahead of the authorities. However, he soon finds someone lurking in the shadows, following his every step. He now has to put up with enemies he doesn’t often see.
Volume 2: Confluence (Gouryuu)
Release Date: April 14 2004
Chapters: 8
Plot
After taking out the majority of the FBI agents on his tail, Light is in hopes of finally being free of the bloodhounds in his case. However, one of the agents had a fiancé who also worked for the FBI in the past. She has information that could lead the authorities to Light’s trial. L also makes his first appearance to join forces with the task force hunting him, led by his own father. Will Light be able to avoid being caught even so?
Volume 3: Hard Run (Gekisou)
Release Date: September 3, 2004
Despite having dozens of bugs and hidden cameras trained on him, Light is still able to carry on with his work. In fact, he starts working even harder, but the battle of brilliant minds is interrupted by a family emergency. Even so, though, someone else is using the Death Note and it’s not Light. Who could the new Kira be?
Volume 4: Love (Koigokoro)
Release Date: November 11th, 2004 (Japan)
March 7th, 2006
With another Kira out there, L, despite still having his doubts, asks Light to join the task force to aid them in capturing the fake Kira. Under the shadow of a doubt, L hopes to catch Light off guard during this operation, while he’s supposed to act as Kira to lure the faker out. Light, though , agrees to this task to get more access to police resources. He does come in contact with the other Kira, only to find out that they’re not who he thought they were.
Volume 5: Whiteout (Hakushi)
Release Date: February 4th, 2005 (Japan)
May 2nd, 2006 (English)
Light has to spend an entire week locked together with Ryuk, and this draws him to the edge of giving up the Death Note and its memories. Light is in fact convinced that he’s completely innocent and held captive without just reasons. L however, doesn’t give up on his suspicion of him, since the mysterious death cases have stopped after he was locked up. Soon, however, Kira’s crimes start all over again all over Japan.
The new Kira though doesn’t focus on making the world better, all they care about is money. With the new Kira’s intentions being more focused on money and corporate power, a new chapter of the war opens up.
Volume 6: Give and Take (Koukan)
Release Date: April 4th, 2005 (Japan)
July 5th, 2006 (English)
There is a plethora of evidence pointing towards the seven members of the Yotsuba Group being the new Kira, Light, L and the rest of the task force are still no closer to the solution of which one of them it is. In a desperate attempt to get the new Kira to uncover themselves, L recruits Misa’s help to go undercover and feed them false information.
However, The Shinigami, Rem, reveals the true identity of the new Kira to Misa, and she’s more than willing to go to all lengths to protect Light. But what about L?
Volume 7: Zero
Release Date: July 4th, 2005 (Japan)
September 5th, 2006 (English)
Light and the task force finally manage to capture the new Kira, thus Light regains possession of the Death Note and all of his memories. This also reveals the careful and accurately pieced together plans he made before being locked behind bars. After having masterfully manipulated both people and Shinigamis alike, he finds himself in an excellent position. However, a new threat arises from the ashes of his victory, and now has to start a war on two fronts.
Volume 8: Target (Mato)
Release Date: September 2nd, 2005 (Japan)
November 7th, 2006 (English)
Light, now as a member of the NPA intelligence bureau, is just a step away from successfully creating the ideal world he was working on for all this time. However, during the years of uninterrupted success, he’s become complacent and isn’t prepared for the surprise attack awaiting him, against his family.
Light is forced between two enemies with very varying agendas as his sister, Sayu is kidnapped and he has to travel around half the world to confront them. The NPA’s Death Note is at stake, and Sayu’s life with it, Light is up against probably the hardest decision of his life.
Volume 9: Contact (Sesshoku)
Release Date: December 2nd, 2005 (Japan)
January 2nd, 2007 (English)
Having been ever confident in his intelligence, Light is disheartened by L’s proteges being far more competent than he expected. Near and Mello are now working to expose Kira within the ranks of the task force. Light is ground between three wheels at the same time, as he has to maintain three personas, and fight back against the new challengers, without making a mistake and revealing himself.
Volume 10: Deletion (Sakujo)
Release Date: February 3rd, 2006 (Japan)
March 6th, 2007 (English)
Near is openly trying to turn the entire task force against Light, and thus he’s forced to hand the Death Note to someone else to get out of trouble. This time, however, he chooses a disciple from among his loyal followers.
Since he has no way of directly contacting them, he has to rely on the successor following Kira‘s philosophy in carrying out his job. The question stands, will this move help him reach the utopia he’s been working towards?
Volume 11: Kindred Spirits (Doushin)
Release Date: May 2nd, 2006 (Japan)
May 1st, 2007 (English)
Light is under greater strain than ever when Near flies to Japan to catch Kira off guard in his own home. Near is convinced that Light is Kira, yet as L’s heir, he doesn’t want his doubts to get the better of him. His goal becomes more than just stopping Kira, it evolves into him fighting to expose Light as the one behind the Death Note murders.
Light is ready for the final fight, but with pressures from all sides weighing down on him, and his responsibilities towards his fiancé and his disciple, he might collapse in the end.
Volume 12: Finis (Kan)
Release Date: July 2nd, 2006 (Japan)
July 3rd, 2007 (English)
The final pursuit begins, as all of the people related to the whole incident slowly fall one by one, and with it, Light cleans house. He’s finally uncovered by Near and in a desperate attempt to save himself begs Ryuk to save him, but Ryuk turns against him to get his note back and Light ultimately dies.
Comment below or else I'll right your name in the death note!!
So That would be all. I hope it at least helps understand the world of this manga/Novel/Anime and movie series and that you at least found some helpful information here.
Was Death Note too confusing for you? Well, here it is. The simplest guide you can ever imagine. Enjoy the detective work in Death Note and the challenging life of Light Yagami.
