An intelligent high school student named Light Yagami finds a 'death note' which could be used to kill anyone. All that the user has to do is write the name of the target if he/she remembers the face. It was in fact the Shinigami Ryuk, who intentionally drops this book on the earth. He did so because he was bored. The anime has a good theme, no doubt about that. However, I feel it is because of the storyline that this anime has managed to achieved the classic status. Light Yagami uses this book in order to secretly kill as many criminals as possible. The 'unknown murderer' was then called 'Kira'. And when the police and the other authorities start investigating this Kira case, that's where the real storyline begins. It becomes the battle of the intelligence. Light and the key investigator L constantly try to outsmart each other which makes the storyline more intriguing as the viewers are mostly left curious. Even though the ending was predictable, I would say it was still satisfying to some extent.

The anime also does well in the characterization. Light's character would make you go from being understanding to literally start hating him. I was glad to know that L had some very strange and weird habits. If he was normal, his character would be boring. However, Near, who initially looked like a copy of L, somehow couldn't be as interesting. Even though he had an hobby of arranging so many blocks, he looked humorless for most parts and as a character didn't have much to offer. The other supporting characters are well written. Despite the nature of the plot, almost each of them had at least some significance. However, the character of Misa Amane felt unconvincing. At the beginning the of the series, she was in a strongest position. It was almost unbelievable how easily she gave up her autonomy in favour of Light.

The animation is outstanding. The anime first aired in 2006 and yet the animation is comparable even to some of the latest releases. The soundtrack is amazing. You can't get enough of it. The opening song and the ending songs are also good. But when I compare them to other mainstream(yet less popular) anime, I feel that they should've been even better.

Overall, I believe that it was mostly because of the storyline that the anime is so mainstream and so popular. I am certain that many people, who are not really into anime, must've have enjoyed this show. If you haven't watched this anime, what are you even doing with your life?