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The Best Episodes of Death Note

Every episode of Death Note ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Death Note!

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note,...
Genres:AnimationMysterySci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:Nippon TV

Best Episodes Summary

"Silence" is the best rated episode of "Death Note". It scored 9.6/10 based on 9861 votes. Directed by Mitsuyuki Masuhara and written by Toshiki Inoue, it aired on 4/4/2007. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Revival".

  • Silence
    9.6/109,861 votes
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    #1 - Silence

    Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 4/4/2007

    Light, his memory recovered, orders Misa to begin killing after Higuchi dies. The Shinigami Rem realizes that everything is going according to Light's plan, and that L will arrest Misa as Kira-unless Rem acts quickly.

    Director: Mitsuyuki Masuhara

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Revival
    9.3/107,045 votes
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    #2 - Revival

    Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 3/28/2007

    While Higuchi is finally captured, Light inadvertently regains his memories as Kira.

    Director: Hisato Shimoda

    Writer: Shouji Yonemura

  • Overcast
    9.1/107,007 votes
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    #3 - Overcast

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 11/15/2006

    Light uses the Death Note to try to get rid of the woman who could get him captured, and is shocked when it doesn’t work. Realizing she must have given him an alias, he’s only got minutes to find out her real name before she tells her story to the task force.

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Shouji Yonemura

  • Confrontation
    8.9/107,348 votes
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    #4 - Confrontation

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/11/2006

    While the world’s criminals continue to drop dead, L meets by computer with representatives from various nations. He requests that a task force be set up in Japan, under the direction of none other than Soichiro Yagami, Light’s father.

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Wager
    8.9/105,266 votes
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    #5 - Wager

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/24/2007

    Evidence turns up that points to Misa Amane as the second Kira. In an effort to spare her, Rem forces Misa to forfeit her ownership of the Death Note.

    Director: Oyunam

    Writer: Yasuko Kobayashi

  • 1.28
    8.9/105,561 votes
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    #6 - 1.28

    Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 6/20/2007

    The Japanese Task Force and the SPK finally meet at YellowBox Warehouse on January 28th. However, a third party has come to the warehouse as well, on Kira's orders to kill everyone else there.

    Director: Takayuki Hirao

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Frenzy
    8.8/105,041 votes
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    #7 - Frenzy

    Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 3/21/2007

    L, Light and Misa watch from the investigation team building and wonder who he is talking to. L wonders if Higuchi is talking to a shinigami. Rem convinces Higuchi to go to the station, but she has her own selfish motives for doing so.

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Shouji Yonemura

  • Pursuit
    8.7/105,861 votes
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    #8 - Pursuit

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/25/2006

    Light—now known to the world as Kira—tests the Death Note to understand the scope of its powers by killing off six convicts in various ways—and confirms he can control his victims’ actions before they die.

    Director: Naoyasu Habu

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Assault
    8.7/105,106 votes
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    #9 - Assault

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 12/13/2006

    As predicted on the tapes sent to Sakura TV, news anchors and commentators who expressed doubt about Kira die one by one. On further investigation, L concludes that this Kira is not the original—there's a second Kira!

    Director: Naoyasu Habu

    Writer: Shouji Yonemura

  • New World
    8.6/106,985 votes
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    #10 - New World

    Season 1 Episode 37 - Aired 6/27/2007

    Though Mikami has written all the investigators' names in the Death Note, a minute passes and everyone is still alive. Near seizes Mikami's Death Note, and all is at last revealed.

    Director: Tetsuro Araki

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Tactics
    8.5/105,523 votes
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    #11 - Tactics

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/1/2006

    Soichiro Yagami demands to meet with L in person when he finds out that L has secretly brought FBI agents into Japan. Light, meanwhile, has found a way to get those very FBI agents off the case—permanently...

    Director: Mitsuhiro Yoneda

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Encounter
    8.5/105,205 votes
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    #12 - Encounter

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/2006

    The murders continue, and L grows suspicious of Light’s too-perfect behavior and decides to investigate him on his own. In order to get closer to Light, L enrolls at the same university and reveals himself to be L.

    Director: Yukio Okazaki

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Rebirth
    8.4/107,101 votes
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    #13 - Rebirth

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/4/2006

    Brilliant but bored high school student Light Yagami suddenly finds himself holding the power of life and death in his hands—the power of the Death Note. He decides to rid the world of evil—by killing off criminals one by one. When the murders start to pile up, genius detective L is on the case, and an epic battle of wits unfolds.

    Director: Kei Tsunematsu, Tetsuro Araki

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Dealings
    8.4/105,723 votes
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    #14 - Dealings

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/18/2006

    Ryuk, the Shinigami, or god of death, who dropped the Death Note into the human world, warns Light that someone is on his trail. Light is troubled that he can’t find out the identity of his tracker, and Ryuk suggests an amazing deal...

    Director: Hiroyuki Tsuchiya

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Glare
    8.4/105,139 votes
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    #15 - Glare

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/22/2006

    L insists on setting up bugs and cameras in the homes of Chief Yagami and Deputy Director Kitamura—whom Raye Penber was tracking. But Light is a step ahead as usual—he knows he’s being watched.

    Director: Makoto Bessho

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Confession
    8.3/104,791 votes
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    #16 - Confession

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/10/2007

    Light goes to Aoyama to discover the identity of the second Kira before L becomes more suspicious. But Misa Amane, the new Kira, uses her unusual gift to find Light before he finds her.

    Director: Mitsuhiro Yoneda

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Decision
    8.3/104,681 votes
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    #17 - Decision

    Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 1/31/2007

    Misa is in confinement, though her memories of the Death Note have been completely wiped away. When Light is confined as well, the murders stop and suspicion of Light grows stronger. Then suddenly, the killings resume.

    Director: Makoto Bessho

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Unraveling
    8.2/105,296 votes
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    #18 - Unraveling

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/8/2006

    Light meets a woman at the Police Department with an urgent message for the Kira task force. As son of the chief investigator, Light listens to her story, and is startled to discover she may have information that could lead to his arrest.

    Director: Oyunam

    Writer: Yasuko Kobayashi

  • Love
    8.2/104,853 votes
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    #19 - Love

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/27/2006

    With a second Kira now on the loose, L asks Light to join the task force and pose as the real Kira in order to catch the copycat. Light agrees, hoping to divert suspicion from himself. To his surprise, this new Kira has a special ability even Light lacks…

    Director: Hiroyuki Tsuchiya

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Friend
    8.2/104,731 votes
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    #20 - Friend

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 1/17/2007

    Light and Misa show each other their Death Notes, and Light asks Misa to have her shinigami Rem get rid of L. But Misa asks something of Light in return—to fall in love with her!

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Shouji Yonemura

  • Doubt
    8.1/104,992 votes
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    #21 - Doubt

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/6/2006

    L's suspicion of Light deepens, compelling him to invite Light into the investigation. But then a phone call alerts them that Soichiro Yagami has suffered a heart attack!

    Director: Shinji Nagamura

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Guidance
    8.1/104,479 votes
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    #22 - Guidance

    Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 3/14/2007

    Thanks to Misa, the Task Force now knows the identity of the new Kira and L plans an elaborate scheme to smoke him out of hiding.

    Director: Naoto Hashimoto

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Execution
    8.0/104,690 votes
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    #23 - Execution

    Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/7/2007

    After fifty days of confinement the killings continue, and Misa and Light are released. But L has devised a plan to ensure no more murders occur, and has Light's father, Soichiro, take the two for a ride that may be their last.

    Director: Ryosuke Nakamura

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Father
    7.9/104,437 votes
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    #24 - Father

    Season 1 Episode 29 - Aired 5/2/2007

    Mortified over allowing the Death Note to fall into Mello's hands in order to save his daughter, Soichiro puts himself into harm's way in order to get it back.

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue

  • Malice
    7.9/104,337 votes
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    #25 - Malice

    Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 6/13/2007

    Light and Near agree upon a meeting place for the final confrontation. A key player is kidnapped and the end results are shocking.

    Director: Tomohiko Ito

    Writer: Toshiki Inoue