Death Note is a Japanese manga series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The series primarily centers around a high school student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.

Death Note has also been adapted for big screen in the form of two live-action films. The first film (simply called Death Note) premiered in Japan on June 17, 2006 and topped the Japanese box office for two straight weeks, pushing The Da Vinci Code into second place. It is mostly faithful to the manga (with some slight alterations such as the addition of Light's girlfriend Shiori and the circumstances in which Light and L first meet), starting with Light in a university and flashing back a year or so to him receiving the Death Note. It ends with his first meeting with L.

The second movie, Death Note: The Last Name, premiered on November 3, 2006, and instantly topped the Japanese box office, remaining at number one for four straight weeks, and grossed 5.5 billion yen in Japan by the end of the year, making it one of the year's highest grossing Japanese films. It combines elements from the rest of the storyline creating an outcome similar to the manga, but with a few key differences.

The trailer for the second film is here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CHXyEboDVo

A spin-off film, featuring L as the main character, is currently in production to be released in Japan in 2007. The sequel is set in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_note

What was the name of the Japanese film about the girl that has the interview.....and the extra-curricular torture chamber in her apartment????

Anyone??
Oh yeah, gimme' that book and we'll have world peace in a week!!!
First up, Charter members and CEO's of the World Bank, and Entire Membership Roster of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The live action films were done quite well, with excellent CG work covering the Shinigami. But the Anime series has been nothing but top-notch! So far, 14 episodes of the OAV have been released in Japan, airing around midnight each Wednesday (or is it Thursday? Confounded date line), with very faithful fansub groups quickly releasing subtitled versions shortly thereafter.

The catch? Viz has purchased the rights to eventually release the Death Note OAV series in the U.S., which means you'll have to resort to "other methods" to get those fansubs. While I don't exactly condone getting the series for free via this method, I highly recommend at least watching the first episode to see what all the hype is about! (And then go out and buy the series on DVD to indirectly support the production company!)

^ I second Halon's post, check out the Anime series highly recommended.

The movie you're thinking of Choggie could possibly be "Audition" (aka Odishon). It's reminiscent of what a Japanese version of "Misery" would be like. Great horror flick if you can get past some very intense cringe-inducing moments. Cheers!

*asia

Adding video to channels (Asia) - requested by lucky760.