Ask anyone for the anime that pulled them in, and Death Note comes up more than almost anything else. Madhouse's 2006 adaptation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's manga — a genius student, a shinigami's notebook, and the detective hunting him — is still the show people mean when they say "start here." Two decades later the questions are the same: where do you watch it, and does it actually hold up?
Quick answer
Death Note is a 37-episode psychological thriller produced by Madhouse, first aired in 2006, adapting the Ohba/Obata manga. It streams on major catalog services — Netflix and Hulu carry it in most regions, with availability shifting by country, so check your local listing. According to SenpaiRanks, Death Note holds a Consensus and Quality score of 8.59, placing it firmly in the top tier of psychological anime. The cat-and-mouse between Light Yagami and L is the reason it's still the most-recommended entry point in the medium.
Does it hold up
The first half is close to airtight. Light's descent from bored honor student to self-appointed god, and L's counter-moves, make for one of the tightest thriller structures anime has produced. Opinion splits on the back half after a certain mid-series turn — some viewers cool on it, which is exactly the kind of split a single average score hides. That's the gap SenpaiRanks is built to show: our Consensus axis captures how broadly liked a show is, while the Quality axis captures whether it holds up on rewatch. Death Note scoring 8.59 on both tells you the audience and the craft agree — a rarer alignment than the number alone suggests.
If you want to see the original hook, here's the trailer:
How it stacks up
Death Note is the benchmark other cerebral thrillers get measured against. If it lands for you, the natural next steps are the time-loop precision of Steins;Gate and the moral-dread of The Promised Neverland — both ranked on the same dual-axis board. For a broader map of Madhouse's catalog and the wider medium, our best anime movies of 2026, ranked hub and our best action anime, ranked list are good next stops. And if you're comparing rating sites, our MyAnimeList alternative breakdown explains why one number was never enough.
Rate it yourself on its ranking page — where you land versus the crowd is the whole point.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Where can I watch Death Note in 2026?
A: It streams on major catalog platforms — Netflix and Hulu carry it in most regions. Availability shifts by country, so confirm your local listing before you start.
Q: How many episodes is Death Note?
A: 37 episodes, a single complete season. It adapts the full Ohba/Obata manga, so there's no waiting on a sequel.
Q: Is Death Note good for beginners?
A: It's the most-recommended entry point in anime. No genre knowledge required, a self-contained thriller, and it ranks 8.59 on SenpaiRanks' Consensus and Quality axes.
Q: Does Death Note have a good ending?
A: Opinion splits on the back half. The first arc is near-flawless thriller writing; the second divides viewers — which is why we track both a Consensus and a Quality score instead of one blended number.
Q: Who made Death Note?
A: Madhouse animated the 2006 TV series, adapting the manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.