Can anyone explain to me what the anime DeathNote is all about?

Question

I just started watching it and I don't understand it.

Answer 1

Plot

Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent young man who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground in the year 2003. The Death Note's instructions claim that if a human's name is written within it that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a game of psychological cat and mouse between the two begins.

Answer 2

There is another world inhabited with Shinigamis (death reapers). One day, Ryuuk got bored and dropped the Death Note on the human world. Light happened to find it by luck on his school. The Death Note grants the user the power to kill the person whose name is written on it.
Light has his own Utopia: the bad and sinners are punished accordingly while the good are allowed to live. With that in mind, he starts writing the names of criminals. People call him Kira for he is a god and punishing the criminals.
The police has noticed this peculiar trend and calls for help for the notorious detective L to find out what is happening. L thinks that Kira is nothing less than a killer and will bring him to justice.
Enter the most brilliant fight of logic and wits in which the two sides have to find each other identities when there is nothing that reveals who are they.

Answer 3

Shinigami own notebooks called “Death Notes” which are used as killing devices. Whoever’s name they write down in a death note will die within 40 seconds. Shinigami Ryuk dropped his Death Note in the human world where it’s found by honor high school student Light. With the death note actually having directions in it for its use, Light discovers he now has the power to discreetly kill people, and with this new power he plans to change the world in his ideal world by killing off criminals. Eventually the governments of the countries around the world notice the unusual amounts of deaths of their criminals, and figure out someone is behind them, but they have no way of discovering it themselves. That’s when they hire L, a master detective, to find out who is behind the murders.

Answer 4

These humanoid creatures called shinigami (death gods) own what is called a Death Note. It's used to kill people, via seeing their face, then writting their name in it, followed by mode of death, and stuff. This guy, "Kira", bored with himself, finds one, and uses it to "make the world a better place". The main story is about how a detective named "L" tries to find who Kira really is.