- [Curt] The human whose name is written in this note shall die. That's the first rule of the Death Note. Seems pretty powerful, huh? It'd be a shame if it fell into the hands of a high school psychopath. Well, today Channel
Frederator is partnering with our sister channel, Get in the Robot, to venture into the world of anime. We'll take an in-depth look
into the land of the dead, the living, and everything in between with our complete Death Note timeline. Also, we're just sticking with
the anime for this timeline. No manga, no video games, no musical, and especially not that Netflix version. Even Willem Dafoe
couldn't save that thing. Now sit back, take a
potato chip, and eat it. The birth of Kira, November 2006. In the Land of the Dead, also known as the Shinigami realm, a Shinigami named Ryuk
is incredibly bored. Unlike most Shinigami who
pass the time wasting away, Ryuk is desperate to find something, anything to relieve his boredom. One day, Ryuk steals the Death Note of a careless Shinigami named Sidoh. He writes down the rules to
the Death Note in English, the most popular language
in the human world, and intentionally drops through the portal connecting the realm of
the living and the dead. Then, Ryuk somehow tricks
the King of the Shinigami into giving him a second Death Note. On November 28th, in the human world, high school honor student Light Yagami sees the Death Note falling from the sky while sitting in class one day. He picks it up, takes it home,
and thinks, "What the hey, "let's test it out and see
if I can murder someone!" After studying the rules, Light writes the name of a criminal in the middle of a
hostage situation on TV. 40 seconds later, the criminal suffers a
heart attack and dies. Light tests the Death Note once more, and when some creep gets hit by a truck, he confirms the Death Note is real. Any normal person would stop right there, but Light Yagami is not a normal person. He embarks on a five-day killing spree, taking out the most notorious
criminals in the world, followed by smaller ones. Boy meets Shinigami, December 2006. On the 5th day, December 3rd, Ryuk travels to the human
world and meets Light. He tells him the unspoken
rules of the Death Note and reveals that when his time comes, he will write Light's name
in his own Death Note. And since Light used the Death Note, he won't go to heaven or hell. But hey, it's not like that
will happen anytime soon. Light sees himself as a god, judging the wicked and
creating a perfect new world. You know, the sort of messiah complex you want a high schooler to have. Heart attacks are his
favorite method of murder, and they soon become his calling card. He wants to make it clear to the world that someone is handing
down a righteous judgment on these criminals, and accordingly, people begin to think something is up with all of these
suspicious heart attacks. That's when L, a mastermind detective, begins collaborating with
the National Police Agency to discover just what
the hell is going on. As the public catches
on to Light's killings, they begin calling whoever
is behind this Kira, from the Japanese pronunciation of killer. In an attempt to lure out Kira, L places a death row
inmate, Lind L. Tailor, on a worldwide broadcast as a decoy. Tailor introduces himself as L and states that Kira is
evil and must be caught. Light quickly writes his
name in the Death Note, killing him on live TV. But it was all a set-up. I mean, Tailor really is
dead, but the real L is alive. Using a voice synthesizer, he challenges Kira to kill him this time. Nothing happens, so L deduces
that Kira needs a name and a face to kill. Oh, and it also turns
out that the broadcast only aired in the Kanto region of Japan, so Kira must be there. Also, Light only kills criminals
outside of school hours, so once the police figure
out that he's a student, Light changes up his killing pattern. Light's father Soichiro
is the Chief of Police, and Light had been hacking his computer to see confidential files. It becomes apparent that Kira has access to police information, so, in response, L
sends several FBI agents to investigate members of
the Japanese Police Force. Later, Ryuk points out that
Light is being followed. Ryuk then offers Light
the Shinigami Eyes Deal. If Light agrees to cut
his lifespan in half, he'll be able to see a human's name and their remaining lifespan,
just like a Shinigami. As helpful as that
would be, Light refuses. He's got a new world to create, you know? Light's worried about the FBI tracing him through his father, so he comes up with a
way to get rid of them. After some experimenting
with the Death Note, he uses one of his stock
criminals to hijack a bus. Specifically, it's the very same bus Light and his FBI tracker are on. Light offers to take out the gunman, but the FBI agent, Raye Penber, says he'll do it instead. He shows Light his ID to prove
he's really with the FBI. Just then, Light touches the gunman with a piece of the Death
Note so he can also see Ryuk. Sure enough, the gunman
panics, runs off the bus, and gets killed by a
car, just as Light wrote. Now that he knows Raye
Penber's name and face, Light has everything he needs to end him. But he takes it a step further. He blackmails Penber, forcing
him to write down the names of every FBI agent assigned
to investigate the Kira case. The paper Light gives him
was from the Death Note, so he unknowingly kills
all his fellow agents. Of course, Light kills him as well, but not before revealing his identity with dramatic subway car flair. With morale at an all-time low, most of the Kira task force
quits, leaving only 5 members. Soichiro Yagami, Touta
Matsuda, Hirokazu Ukita, Shuichi Aizawa and Kanzo Mogi. Nobody blames you for quitting. I totally would too. Naomi and Misa, January, March 2007. After his sudden death, Raye
Penber's fiance, Naomi Misora, who I should mention
is a former FBI agent, decides to begin
investigating Kira herself. She comes across Light when attempting to contact
the Japanese task force. Using his father's status,
Light gains her trust, and discovers she has
important information concerning Kira's identity. She knows her fiance showed his ID to someone on the hijacked bus, and that that someone was Kira. Light figures he needs to kill her too, so he tries to get her name. She uses an alias, Shoko Maki, giving Ryuk a good chuckle and
tipping Light off to her lie. Light pulls off some lies of his own and states that he's working
with L to track down Kira. He asks her to join the task force. All he needs is a valid ID, written recommendation from
one of the task force Members, and permission from L to make it official. But yeah, that's all BS. Once he writes her real name
on a page of the Death Note, Light reveals he's Kira, and sends Naomi off to commit suicide in a way that ensures
her body won't be found. Yeah, it's only downhill from here, folks. When Light gets home, something
in his room feels off. He knows someone has been in the room, so he bribes Ryuk with apples to look for cameras and wiretaps. Sure enough, Ryuk finds them, so Light creates a clever
trick with a mini TV and a bag of potato chips. That way, he's able to
continue killing criminals while studying for his
upcoming entrance exams. Eventually, L removes the cameras, and Light becomes determined
to find L's identity through his father. Meanwhile, let's check in
with an up-and-coming model and pop star named Misa Amane. Her parents were murdered in 2005, but Kira avenges them when
he punishes their killer. From then on, Misa becomes
a die-hard Kira supporter. Later, a knife-wielding
stalker approaches Misa and confesses his love to her. When she turns him down,
he tries to stab her, only to die from an
ever-familiar heart attack. See, a Shinigami named Gelus quickly wrote the name of the
stalker in his Death Note. He'd fallen for Misa so
he wanted to protect her from the Land of the Dead. However, since Shinigami are
meant to shorten human life instead of extending it, Gelus dies and is reduced to ash, and his remaining years
being given to Misa. Another Shinigami named Rem,
who witnessed the sacrifice, decides that Misa should
have Gelus's Death Note. He would have wanted it that way. Rem travels to the human realm and gives Misa the Death Note. She becomes her companion,
like Ryuk is for Light. Misa agrees to the Shinigami Eyes Deal so that one day Misa can meet Kira and thank them for avenging her parents. Face to face, April 2007. Oh boy, these months are
just packed, aren't they? So many deaths and notes. Anyways, Light gets a perfect score on his entrance exam to To-Oh University, along with one other eccentric student, L. L's using Hideki Ryuga as an alias, the name of a famous pop idol. But out of nowhere, Ryuga approaches Light and let's him know that he's L. Now, Light knows he's trapped. If he writes Hideki Ryuga's
name on the Death Note, there's a chance the pop
star would die instead, pretty much confirming that Light is Kira. And if Light pushes too
hard about L's real name, he'll also cast suspicion on itself. But Light agrees to face any
challenge L dreams up for him, starting with a tennis match. Light wins the tennis match, but then L casually mentions that he suspects him of being Kira. Light feigns shock, but the two agree to
go to a cafe together. After a quick test, L asks Light to assist with
the Kira investigation, which could lead to
two different outcomes. If Light is Kira, then he might
slip up and reveal himself. If he isn't Kira, then
his intellectual prowess will be of great help
to the investigation. If Light agrees, he'd have a chance to discover L's true name. So Light agrees to help, but only if he's able to
meet with the task force to confirm that L is
truly who he says he is. Much to his surprise, L agrees. Back at the police station, Soichiro is wrestling with the possibility that his son could be Kira. L has requested to place Light under direct surveillance many times, and that's enough to make
any parent suspicious. Eventually, Soichiro succumbs
to stress and exhaustion and collapses. Light and L go to visit
him in the hospital, where Soichiro confirms
that the student Light met is in fact L. On April 22nd, a
sensationalist news network called Sakura TV begins airing tapes sent in by a second Kira. These tapes state that if the police don't stop chasing Kira, then they will be killed. Kira demands that the
authorities hand over either the director of the Kira
investigation or L himself. They give the authorities four
days to make their decision. If they offer L, he
must appear on Sakura TV and give a 10-minute speech. If this copycat Kira doesn't
believe this to be L, they'll kill some police officers. In a reckless attempt
to stop the broadcast, task force member Hirokazu
Ukita rushes to the station but is killed by the second Kira. His death tips L off to the fact that the second Kira only needs a face and not a name to commit murder. Light is tickled to learn
that there's another person in possession of a Death Note, but figures he needs
to join the task force and track them down in
order to keep himself and Kira's reputation safe. The two Kiras, May to June 2007. Playing some sort of 4D chess, L asks Light to pose as
Kira for a video broadcast in order to lure out this second Kira. They respond with their own video, giving out information about
Death Notes, Shinigami, and where the two of them can meet up. Light heads to Aoyama to
meet up with the second Kira, but they never show up. Well, they stood Light
up, but they were there, using their Shinigami eyes to confirm that Light is the true Kira. Other Death Note users'
lifespans are hidden from sight. The second Kira finds Light's address and goes directly to him, revealing their identity, Misa Amane. Desperate to thank Kira, she
asks to be Light's girlfriend, and even says she doesn't
mind if he uses her. Come on, Misa, you're better than that. But anime isn't. So Light, being the suave,
charming serial killer that he is, agrees, planning to kill her after
she outlives her usefulness. However, he is also introduced
to her Shinigami Rem who threatens to kill him
if he ever harms Misa. Light is left in a real predicament. Misa is incredibly reckless and impulsive, but Rem will kill him if
he tries to get rid of her. Light decides to play along, but he insists that he date other girls in order to keep his relationship
with Misa on the down low. Good thing he's incredibly good looking because that god complex
isn't doing him any favors. Instead of meeting two weeks
after their initial meeting like he ordered, Misa meets up with him
only two days after. Light uses this opportunity
to convince Rem to kill L. Rem agrees, but things
don't go according to plan. L manages to get ahold of evidence linking Misa to the second Kira. Namely, hair and fibers found on the tape used to seal the envelopes
that were sent to Sakura TV. Misa is arrested, sending
Light into a panic. If Rem kills L now, it would all but confirm
Light's involvement. So, after Rem convinces her
to protect Light's secret, Misa relinquishes her Death Note to Light, erasing her memory of
anything related to it and protecting his secret. From here, Light comes up
with one hell of a scheme to clear himself and Misa of suspicion. Light swaps the notebooks with
their respective Shinigami. Ryuk now owns Misa's notebook
and Rem owns Light's notebook. Next, Light writes two
fake rules in the notebook that Rem is attached to. The first bogus rule states that when the notebook is destroyed, anyone who has touched it will die, and the second states that if
the owner doesn't write a name within thirteen consecutive
days, they will die. Light then instructs Rem to
give the Death Note to a greedy, forceful and selfish individual who will use it to attain
a higher status in society. He then goes and buries his own notebook. After this, Light offers to detain himself to prove he's not Kira. During this time, Light relinquishes
ownership of his notebook and all of his memories
of being Kira are wiped. On the 15th day, criminals
begin dying once more, exonerating Light and Misa. They're released from police custody. The death of L, July to December 2007. With no memory of his time as Kira, Light joins the investigation team hunting down the new Kira,
a man named Kyosuke Higuchi, the head of Technology Development
at Yotsuba Corporation. This is the greedy selfish
man that Rem chose, and he certainly acts the part. With his memory wiped, Light is a completely different person. He refuses L's suggestion to
manipulate Misa's feelings to benefit the investigation. Light then discovers a correlation between the killings and
the growth of Yotsuba, leading him to believe that the new Kira is involved with the Corporation somehow. Misa uses her career as an idol to infiltrate the Yotsuba Corporation. She eventually records
Higuchi claiming to be Kira, so the task force goes in for the arrest. When they catch Higuchi,
they discover the Death Note, and when Light touches it, he
regains all of his memories. Light uses a snippet of the
notebook he hid in his watch to write Higuchi's name, killing him. Light then instructs Misa to
go dig up the other Death Note, causing her to regain her memories. She decides to make the
Shinigami Eyes Deal again in order to discover L's name. Of course, that means that
her lifespan is halved again. From here, Light tells Misa
to begin killing criminals, drawing L's suspicion once more. With Misa in danger,
Rem is forced to kill L. She writes down L's name in her notebook, as well as his butler Watari. Having lengthened Misa's life
instead of shortening it, Rem fades away into dust. L suffers a heart attack
and falls into Light's arms. In his final moments, Light
shows L his true colors. Well, for a moment, then he just pretends to
be upset over L's death. Light takes on the L persona and gains control of
the Kira investigation. However, all is not lost
thanks to L's butler, Watari. It turns out Watari bankrolls
orphanages across the world. There, orphans are trained to
become world class detectives. L's successors, two boys
named Near and Mello, each set out to find and defeat Kira. The end draws near, 2012. Five years have passed and the world has fallen under Kira's law. Wars have ceased and cults
have risen to worship him. Light is working for the
National Police Agency and everything is going
exactly as he wanted. Behind the scenes, the head
of the FBI introduces Near to the President of the United States. They create a new American division dedicated to capturing Kira called the Special Provision
for Kira, SPK for short. Mello knows that the Japanese
police have the Death Note, so he and the mafia
kidnap Kanichi Takimura, the head of the Japanese
National Police Agency. Light realizes he needs
to get rid of the mafia, while Near sends the SPK
to infiltrate the country to get the Notebook. Light kills Takimura so the mafia no longer has any leverage, but they retaliate by kidnapping Light's younger sister, Sayu, instead. Desperate, Light contacts the
SPK, and the two join forces. With this, the NPA oversees the exchange, the mafia gets the notebook,
and Sayu is returned home. Finally, Mello has one the mafia members write the names of the SPK's members, just to mess with Near. Sidoh, the Shinigami who
originally owned the Death Note, comes to the human world
desperate to get it back. Sidoh finds it with Mello, and after all the humans get freaked out, Mello tells Sidoh he'll have to help them if he wants his Death Note back. Meanwhile, Light has Misa send a message to the task force as Kira. To get the second notebook back, Kira will relinquish
ownership of the Death Note to one of their members. Light's father is the one
that takes the notebook and halves his life in exchange
for the Shinigami Eyes, much to the task force's dismay. On November 10th, the task
force raids the mafia's hideout, killing most of the mob and successfully regaining the Death Note. With his Shinigami eyes, Soichiro learns Mello's
real name, Mihael Keehl. However, instead of just killing Mello, Soichiro offers him a chance to surrender, giving a mafia member time to shoot him. As Soichiro is dying in the hospital, Light tries to get him
to write Mello's name, but Soichiro dies before he can. Since Light forfeited
ownership of the Death Note, Soichiro could see his life span, so he died believing his
son was innocent all along. Sidoh then returns to the Land of the Dead with his Death Note, and the United States
formally disbands the SPK, stating they will no longer fight Kira. Mello and Near meet up and,
after exchanging threats, agree to share some information. After learning what Mello knows, Near is almost certain that Light is Kira. His suspicions are solidified
when he learns from Light that there's a Shinigami
at the task force. With this information in hand, Near asks the task force
members to tell him if the second L was ever
suspected of being Kira. This makes Aizawa suspect Light. Light wants Near dead as soon as possible, so he orders Sakura TV
director Hitoshi Demegawa, now Kira's spokesperson, to attack the SPK base in New York with other Kira followers. However, Near makes it rain and uses the ensuing chaos to escape. Once he and his team are safe, Near calls the task force
to restate his request. After giving it some serious
thought, Aizawa calls Near. But to keep it 100 with the task force, Aizawa tells Light he did so and that he and Mogi are going
to search Light's apartment, but Mogi decides to stay with Misa while Aizawa reports on what he found. You see, Light saw this coming, so he had Misa relinquish her notebook to a man named Teru Mikami, a criminal prosecutor Light
chose to be the hand of Kira. With Misa's memory gone once again, she'll have plausible deniability while this new Kira does all the work. And do the work he does, as Demegawa is deleted as
punishment for running amok. Mikami then chooses Kiyomi
Takada, a news anchor, to be the new Kira spokesperson. Turns out she's one of
Light's old girlfriends, so he and the task force use
her to learn more about Kira. Of course, Light plans on using her as a way to secretly
communicate with Mikami. In the face of these changes, Near relocates to Japan
to confront Kira head on. As Mikami and Kiyomi
carry out Kira's will, Near continues to build his case, inching closer to catching Light. He pinpoints Mikami as the hand of Kira, or X-Kira, as opposed to Light, L-Kira, based on his television appearances, where he demonstrates
his passion for Kira. Near has one of his agents,
Stephen Gevanni, track him down, and confirms theory
after Gevanni sees Mikami write someone's name down and watches them die seconds later. Even though Mikami is now
considered the new proxy Kira, Aizawa still suspects Light. He begins looking into Light and Kiyomi's wiretapped meetings and discovers that they've been secretly sending each other notes. When Aizawa informs Near, Near tells him to just
keep watch over Light. Light senses the final
battle is approaching and he knows someone will
try to steal the Death Note, so he devises a new plan. Mikami will use a fake notebook
to write names in public and later send the names
and faces to Kiyomi so she can write them on
pages from the real notebook. Light fades, 2013. Now, I bet you're wondering
where Misa's been all this time. Well, she was getting ready to open for the East West Pop Music
Festival for New Year's with Mogi as her manager. Near, however, brings them to
the SPK headquarters in Japan. Mogi, of course, now
believes Light to be Kira after talking with Aizawa. Light calls Near to report
Misa and Mogi's absence, only for Near to tell him
that he didn't detain them but that they came willingly. Meanwhile, Gevanni
follows Mikumi to his gym and breaks into his suitcase to take pictures of Mikumi's
handwriting in the notebook. With this in mind, Near organizes a meeting
with the task force for January 28th, 2013, at
the Yellow Box Warehouse. Light saw this move coming from Near, but he never could have
anticipated Mello's next move. Mello kidnaps Kiyomi and
speeds away on his motorcycle. After pulling into the
back of a tractor trailer, Mello orders her to remove her clothes to ensure there are no tracking devices. Unbeknownst to him, she was keeping a scrap of
the Death Note in her bra and writes Mello's name on
it, killing him as he drives. After they crash into a church, Kiyomi calls Light on Mello's phone to tell him what she did. Then she calls Mikami,
asking him to give her as many names to write down as she can. Mikami realizes she's in trouble, so he heads to the bank where he's hidden the real Death Note to quickly write her name
and cover Kira's tracks. However, Light beats him to the punch. On the way to save her,
Light writes her name and has her set the church
and herself on fire, tying up any loose ends. Trouble is, Gevanni saw
Mikami write her name in the real notebook, so he knows the one
Mikami carries is a fake. They already tampered with
Mikami's fake notebook in preparation for the meeting, but this time, they just swap
the notebooks altogether. Now Near has the Death Note and Light is completely in the dark. Two days later, the fated
meeting finally takes place at the Yellow Box Warehouse. While the task force and
Near's crew stand face to face, Mikami peers through the doorway and writes down the names
of everyone present, other than Light. Light is so convinced he's won that he even tells taunts Near, revealing his identity as Kira. Of course, it doesn't work
and Light completely panics, accusing Near of setting him up. Yet his fellow task force
members aren't convinced. In a last ditch effort, Light pulls out a scrap of
the Death Note from his watch and tries to write their names down, but Matsuda opens fire
on Light, injuring him. Mikami kills himself with his pen and Light runs off, bleeding. Light soon runs out of steam
and collapses on a stairway. With their partnership at an end, Ryuk opens up his Death Note
and writes down Light's name. He dies from a heart attack, eternally unable to go to heaven or hell. The reign of Kira is finally at an end. And that's Death Note, everyone. Wasn't that fun? As upsetting and stressful and all around depressing
as the series is, it's one of the most intense
impactful anime ever created. If you liked this video,
subscribe to Channel Frederator. I'm your host Curt, and
thanks for watching. And remember, Frederator loves you.
