Death NoteOctober 3, 2026
Death Note at 20 — The Anime That Changed How We Think About Anti-Heroes
October 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Death Note's anime premiere. The series, which aired from October 2006 to June 2007, introduced mainstream anime audiences to the moral complexity of a protagonist who is clearly wrong by the series' end despite being framed as brilliant and compelling throughout. Two decades later, Light Yagami remains the definitive anti-hero protagonist in anime and a benchmark against which similar characters are measured.