The show begins with an scene from the Shinigami Realm. We see Ryuk sitting overlooking what appears to be a wasteland filled with other shinigami. Two other shinigami are playing a game and ask Ryuk to join, but he passes.

We now see Light Yagami sitting in class in the human world. He recites a passage and we see him leave the school. He is obviously melancholy

Light and Ryuk both have the same though on their minds. They think:

Light: "Day in, day out, the same news on permenant repeat."

Ryuk: "This is all so..ridiculous."

Light: "This world is.."

Ryuk: "..rotten."

While sitting in class, Light sees a note book fall on to the ground outside. After class he goes to pick it up. It is labeled a Death Note. Inside, there are instructions for how to use it. It claims that the human whose name is written in the notebook will die. He thinks it is lame and twisted; he likens it to a chain letter.

While on the way home, he is bothered by the note. He cannot help but consider using it. He reads more instructions such as "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected." and "If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack."

Soon after, Light opens the note and prepares to write. He hesitates out of fear for being a murder if he uses the note. A news broadcast about a man holding eight people hostage at a day care center comes one. After the broadcast shows his picture and name. At first, he thought that the note failed, but before he can turn the TV off, the hostages leave the building. It is then reported that the criminal died of a heart attack.

Light is in disbelief and, as he goes to prep school, he decides that he needs confirmation by killing another criminal. The criminal cannot be high profile because it would be covered up. For a moment, he considers murdering a classmate who bullied others, but he realizes that killing someone he knows would be a risk.

Light is leaving school when he thinks, "Once you actually start looking around, it makes you start to wonder if you would be doing society a favor by getting rid of these people." As he walks into a store, he sees a group of men on motorcyles corner and begin to assult a girl. In the store, he writes the name of the groups leader. Just as he wrote, the man is hit on his motorcycle by a semi-truck.

We then see Ryuk as he says, "Its been five days, I better get going."

Death Note instructions page one.

Ryuk has a conversation with two other shinigami in which it is explained that he dropped his death note in the human world and that he has a second note. He then leaves for the human world. Ryuk is then seeing flying through the rain.

Light arrives home early. His mother greats him waiting for his national test scores. He was number one in the nation. Light then contiues to his room where he looks at the death note and the names he has written. As he laughs looking at the pages, Ryuk speaks to him. Light falls out of his chair from the surprise. Light says that he has been waiting for Ryuk and that Ryuk's apperance makes him more confident in what he plans to do. Ryuk is impressed and surprised by Light's confidence and the amount of names he has put down.

Light explains that he has prepared himself for this situation; he asks if Ryuk is going to take his soul. However, to Light's surprise, Ryuk is going to do nothing to him. He explains that the note book is part of the human world as soon as it touches the human world. The death note is Light's, but if he wants he can give it away and have the memory of it erased. There is no punishment for using the death note other than the fear and pain only humans with a death note experience. When it is Light's time to die, Ryuk will write his name in his death note; in addition, a human who has used the note can neither go to heaven or hell.

Light's mother comes to the door. Ryuk encourages him to let her in, and when he does, she cannot see Ryuk. She gives him apples and tells him to turn the light on. Ryuk explains that because Light has Ryuk's note, only Light can see or hear him. Ryuk then eats an apple and says that they are worth the trip and juicy.

Light then demands to know why he was choosen for the note. Ryuk critises Light for being so vain as to think that he was choosen; it was an accident that Light recieved the note. Light then asks why he dropped it at all - he says it was clearly intentional considering the instructions. Ryuk then explains that he dropped the note because he was bored. He says that shinigami have nothing to do - taking human lives is boring and you cannot kill shinigami with the note. He thought it would be more fun to come to the human world himself.

Ryuk then explains that he is surprised by the number of names that Light has put down. He then asks why Light only specified the cause of death once. Light then explains that the best part of the death note is the standard cause of death. He says that he has already exhaused the worlds worst criminals and will soon remove them all. He says taht, "It is only a matter of time before people realize that these criminals are being eliminated by someone. I want the world to know of my existance - that there is someone out there passing rightous judgement on the wicked." When Ryuk asks why he cares, Light explains that it is because he has been bored too.

Light explains that there is something about the note that makes humans want to try it out. We flash back to Light after he killed the man on the motorcycle. He is stumbling in the rain, terrified of the fact that he killed two men. He does not think it will be overlooked. He questioned his right to pass this judgement, but he quickly decideds that this is what he was thinking about lately. The world is rotten and those making it rot deserve to die. He decided that it is worth sacrficing his mind and soul because the world cannot go on like this. He wonders if anyone else would have been able to clean up the vermin from the world if they had picked up the note. He then comes to the conclusion that no one but him can do it. He declares, "Using the death note, I will change the world!".

We then see Light writting names into the note and their deaths. Light explains that he wrote the names of the worst criminals to clean up the world so, eventually, no one would do evil. The truly guilty who deserve to be punished will die of heart attack, the less guilty who still cause trouble for others will be erased by illness and accidental death.

He claims to Ryuk that after that, the world will be free of injustice and populated by people he has judged to be honest, kind, and heardworking. When Ryuk claims that this would make him the only bad person left, Light says that he does not know what Ryuk is talking about; he is a hardworking honors student.

Light then says, "I will be the god of this new world."

Ryuk says, "It is just as I thought, humans are soo interesting.."