9 Interesting Facts about Death Note

Artist Takeshi Obata originally thought of the books as "'Bible-like'... something you would automatically think was a Death Note." Deciding that this design would be cumbersome, he instead opted for a more accessible college notebook;

Death Notes were originally conceived as changing based on time and  location, resembling scrolls in ancient Japan, or the Old Testament in medieval Europe; however, this idea was never used;

In the pilot chapter of the manga there is a Death Eraser with which one can  erase names written in the Death Note. Once a name is erased the person comes back to life if the body was not damaged;

Writer Tsugumi Ohba said that Near's climactic speech about good and evil was rooted in his own beliefs : "Nobody can say what is right and what is wrong, what is righteous and what is evil. Even if there is a God, and I had his teachings before me, I would think it through and decide if that was right or wrong myself."

---Near, chapter 105 ("Impossible")

Ohba and Obata rarely met in person during the creation of the serialized manga; instead the two met with the editor. The first time they met in person was at an editorial party in January 2004. Obata said that, despite the intrigue, he did not ask his editor about Ohba's plot developments as he anticipated the new thumbnails every week;

Ohba claims that the series ended more or less in the manner that he intended for it to end; he considered the idea of L defeating Light Yagami with Light dying but instead chose to use the "Yellow Box warehouse" ending. According to Ohba the details had been set "from the beginning";

13: How to Read states that the humorous aspects of Death Note originated from Ohba's "enjoyment of humorous stories";

Regarding the anime adaptation Tetsuro Araki, the director, said that he wished to convey aspects that "made the series interesting" instead of simply "focusing on morals or the concept of justice." He concluded that Light's presence was "the most compelling" aspect; therefore the adaptation chronicles Light's "thoughts and actions as much as possible";

Araki said that, because in an anime the viewer cannot "turn back pages" in the manner that a manga reader can, the anime staff ensured that the show clarified details. Inoue added that the staff did not want to get involved with every single detail, so they selected elements to emphasize. Due to the complexity of the original manga, he described the process as "definitely delicate and a great challenge."