Part I

ARC undefined Part I is the first part of the Death Note anime and manga series. This part primarily focuses on a cat-and-mouse battle of wits between Kira, who is 17-year old Light Yagami, and L, an eccentric detective seeking to catch Kira.

During interviews, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata refer to this part as the "L arc." Many readers or viewers also use this name.

Chapters 1-22 (Revelations arc)
Light Yagami is a bored high school student, and Ryuk is a Shinigami bored of the monotonous world of the Shinigami Realm who drops his Death Note into the Human World. Light picks it up and decides to use it make the world a safe utopia while he becomes god of this new world. He adopts the name "Kira", given to him by the first people to notice that someone is passing judgment on criminals.

The killings catch the attention of the ICPO and L, who challenges Light, bent on discovering his identity. Light, accepting this challenge, begins to test the limits of the Death Note while throwing the police off of their case and breaking the cooperation between them and L.

After Light kills all of the FBI agents sent to Japan to assist L, he becomes L's primary suspect. L enrolls in To-Oh University to catch Light off guard and asks Light to join the investigation team, helping them both reach their goals of uncovering the other's identity.

Chapters 23-33 (Second Kira arc)
Sakura TV receives tapes from the Second Kira. After broadcasting them, L managed to deduce there is a second Kira and Light managed to deduce that they have the Shinigami Eyes. After Soichiro manages to receive the tapes, L asks Light to join the Task Force, not only in the hopes to help against the second Kira, but also because there would be more opportunities to have more evidence of Light being Kira. Light, learning that this second Kira admires him, wants to meet them before L does, so as to not tarnish Kira's reputation and also before the second Kira blunders and causes trouble for Light.

After a diary from the second Kira tells Light to go to Aoyama, Misa manages to uncover Light's identity as Kira, then visited his house, asking to become a tool for Kira to use to kill L. However, her Shinigami, Rem, is troublesome for Light as she is not allowing Light to bring any harm to Misa.

Since L had already deduced that Kira and the second Kira are working together, Light dates multiple girls at once as an alibi for the second Kira. However, L managed to find physical evidence pointing to Misa being the second Kira, and arrests her, and tortures her for information. Light, also asking to be attained, adds a fake rule, that whoever writes in the notebook must consecutively write for 13 days otherwise they'll die. Furthermore, he wipes his and Misa's memories of being Kira then passes the notebook onto a member of the Yotsuba company.

Chapters 34-59 (Yotsuba arc)
After fifty days of confinement and no evidence, L releases Light and Misa. After staging an execution, they are confirmed to not be Kira, and Light now wants to catch the new Kira alongside L, who hires Aiber and Wedy to help them do so. L is still doubtful Light is not Kira, so he handcuffs him and Light together and keeps a close eye on him.

Light manages to deduce that the new Kira is within the Yotsuba company.

After thinking of a plan, they are ready to do something. However, Matsuda ruins it by entering the Yotsuba headquarters. He manages to gain some information, and escapes by faking his death. Aiber also manages to get in touch with Yotsuba as Eraldo Coil, gaining more information about them.

Rem contacts Misa, telling her who the new Kira is. After managing to find a way to record Higuchi's confession, Misa shows the evidence to the Task Force. L manages to use Matsuda as bait to make Higuchi arrive on the scene, ambushing him and arresting him.

After he is detained, the Task Force learns of the Death Note, and Light and Misa finally regain their memories and continue as Kira, now with a very strong alibi with the fake rule and the memory wipe. Light then manages to put Misa in a situation where she is in danger, forcing Rem to kill L. Rem, knowing that she is being manipulated into doing so, kills L and Watari, also killing herself, finally earning Kira the victory.

Characters
The following is a list of characters featured in this part. Characters who are mentioned are italicized.


 * Light Yagami
 * L
 * Misa Amane
 * Ryuk
 * Rem
 * Gelus
 * King of Death
 * Soichiro Yagami
 * Naomi Misora
 * Kiyomi Takada
 * Watari
 * Touta Matsuda
 * Sayu Yagami
 * Sachiko Yagami
 * Kyosuke Higuchi
 * Raye Penber
 * Shuichi Aizawa
 * Lind L. Tailor
 * Yuri
 * Calikarcha
 * Gook
 * Deridovely
 * Zellogi
 * Wedy
 * Aiber
 * Hirokazu Ukita
 * Hideki Ryuga
 * Reiji Namikawa
 * Hideki Ide
 * Hitoshi Demegawa
 * Misa Amane's stalker
 * Arayoshi Hatori
 * Kiichiro Osoreda
 * Yumi Aizawa
 * Takuo Shibuimaru
 * Shingo Mido
 * Kurou Otoharada
 * Emi
 * Eiichi Takahashi
 * Eriko Aizawa
 * Koreyoshi Kitamura
 * Yamamoto
 * Yoshio Anderson
 * Masahiko Kida
 * Masaaki Shirami
 * Takeshi Ooi
 * Suguru Shimura
 * Ryo
 * Shiho
 * Ginzo Kaneboshi
 * Kyoko
 * Yukito Shiraba
 * Sudou
 * Nori
 * English teacher
 * Film director
 * Tasayoshi Yoda
 * Yasunaga
 * Sasaki
 * Yonegoro Nusumi
 * Unnamed woman
 * Yoshi
 * Light Yagami's friend
 * Misa Amane's friend
 * Matsushiro Nakaokaji
 * Imai
 * Ken Yadanaka
 * Near
 * Mello
 * Roger Ruvie

Chapters
The following is a list of chapters/volumes featuring this part.


 * Volume 1
 * 1) Boredom
 * 2) L
 * 3) Family
 * 4) Current
 * 5) Eyeballs
 * 6) Manipulation
 * 7) Target


 * Volume 2

Woman Slots Confluence One God Countdown Temptation Phone Call Handstand</li> </ol>


 * Volume 3

Trash</li> Gaze</li> Humiliation</li> First Move</li> Duplicity</li> Misfortune</li> Hard Run</li> Shield</li> Fool</li> </ol>


 * Volume 4

Reversal</li> Love</li> Judgement</li> Weapon</li> Bomb</li> Easy</li> <li>Gamble</li> <li>Removal</li> <li>Imprisonment</li> </ol>


 * Volume 5

<li>Whiteout</li> <li>Father and Son</li> <li>Eight</li> <li>Strike</li> <li>Separation</li> <li>Allies</li> <li>Matsuda</li> <li>Heaven</li> <li>Black</li> </ol>


 * Volume 6

<li>Successor</li> <li>Crazy</li> <li>Ill-Suited</li> <li>Impertinence</li> <li>Give-and-Take</li> <li>Potted Plant</li> <li>Yotsuba</li> <li>Misunderstanding</li> <li>Split-Second</li> </ol>


 * Volume 7

<li>Scream</li> <li>Inside</li> <li>Creation</li> <li>Embrace</li> <li>Two Choices</li> <li>Feelings Within</li> <li>Zero</li> </ol>

Episodes
The following is a list of episodes featuring this part.


 * 1) Rebirth
 * 2) Confrontation
 * 3) Dealings
 * 4) Pursuit
 * 5) Tactics
 * 6) Unraveling
 * 7) Overcast
 * 8) Glare
 * 9) Encounter
 * 10) Doubt
 * 11) Assault
 * 12) Love
 * 13) Confessions
 * 14) Friend
 * 15) Wager
 * 16) Decision
 * 17) Execution
 * 18) Ally
 * 19) Matsuda
 * 20) Makeshift
 * 21) Performance
 * 22) Guidance
 * 23) Frenzy
 * 24) Revival
 * 25) Silence
 * 26) Renewal