Death Note is a 12 volume manga series (11 plus one extra) that has recently been turned into an anime and has a live-action movie that was released in Japan June 17th, 2006.

It's about a high school student by the name of Light. One day he finds a strange book called Death Note. The book reads that if a human's name is written in the Note then that person will die in 40 seconds. At first, Raito didn't believe this, until a few experiments proved him wrong. And also, meeting the Shinigami Ryuk helped him believe in the Note.

After Light learns a bit more about the Note he begins to 'Cleanse the World', as he puts it. He kills off all the criminals and gains the nickname 'Kira' in the process. Now he has to cleanse the world, and help the Japanese police force try and capture 'Kira' along side.Light's new suspicious enemy who goes simply by the name, L.