Death Note

They turned it into a two-part movie! I missed the first part but went ahead and saw Part 2. The main plotline followed the book so I wasn't too confused, and I'm really glad they didn't just redo the book. The movie threw in new characters and had a different ending which was nice for the surprise value. The trailer is in Japanese but you can kind of get a feel for the weird characters and the funky Japanese style. (Light is the Killer, L is the genius investigator, and Misa traded half of her lifespan to gain the ability to know people's true names simply by looking at them).

Here's the short of it: Ryuk (a god of Death) is bored and decides to drop his notebook into the human world to see what happens. A high school student picks it up and discovers that if you write a name in the book, that person dies. He then decides to alter the world by killing off all criminals but unfortunately law officials consider him a mass-murderer and the attempt to hunt him down (and find out how he's killing people) commences. While they're trying to discover who he is, he's busy scheming how to get rid of everyone in his way without being found out. There are so many twists and turns to keep it interesting -- the kid's father is head of the team hunting down the Killer; another Killer emerges and tries to locate Light (Killer) to team up; the new Killer turns out to be a ditzy bimbo movie star . . . um, I guess it sounds kind of dumb. But really, it's a gripping story.

As proof of its popularity, they've decided to create a cartoon version as well. I'm quite upset that the cartoon isn't broadcasted here in Oita. Dear Oita TV, you suck.

I gave it a search on YouTube, and someone posted the first episode! It has English subtitles so I'm guessing it's being broadcast in other countries. You can watch it in other countries, but not in Oita. Really and truly, Oita TV, go to hell.

The first episode is split into three parts if you feel like checking it out. Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3