<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Anime and Manga portal </Td> </Tr> <P> Death Note (Japanese: デスノート, Hepburn: Desu Nōto) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata . The story follows Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook from a Shinigami named Ryuk that grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose name and face he knows . The series centers around Light's attempts to create and rule a world "cleansed of evil" as "God" using the notebook, and the efforts of a detective known as L to stop him . </P> <P> Death Note was first serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006 . The 108 chapters were collected and published into 12 tankōbon volumes between May 2004 and October 2006 . An anime television adaptation aired in Japan from October 3, 2006 to June 26, 2007 . Composed of 37 episodes, the anime was developed by Madhouse and directed by Tetsuro Araki . A light novel based on the series, written by Nisio Isin, was also released in 2006 . Additionally, various video games have been published by Konami for the Nintendo DS . The series was adapted into three live - action films released in Japan on June 17, 2006, November 3, 2006, and February 2, 2008, and a television drama in 2015 . A miniseries entitled Death Note: New Generation and a fourth film were released in 2016 . An American film was released on Netflix on August 25, 2017 . </P> <P> Death Note media is licensed and released in North America by Viz Media, with the exception of the video games and soundtracks . The episodes from the anime first appeared in North America as downloadable from IGN, before Viz Media licensed it and it aired on YTV's Bionix anime block in Canada and on Adult Swim in the United States with a DVD release following . The live - action films briefly played in certain North American theaters in 2008, before receiving home video releases . In 2015, the collected volumes of the Death Note manga had over 30 million copies in circulation . </P>

How many episodes is there of death note