Light, a young man just entering college, is a brilliant but easily bored student. One day, he comes across the Death Note--dropped into the human world by a rogue shinigami, or death god.
I know that it says this in the editorial description.
The description fails to mention the depth of the story, however. Written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by the same artist(Takeshi Obata)as the popular Hikaru no Go series, some may expect that this story follows a similar line of work. It doesn't. Death Note departs from the primarily innocent storyline which is prevalent in Hikaru no Go, and takes you into the world of Light, a seemingly kind but slightly twisted person.
Of course, this is "slightly" in the most gracious sense.
When you first pick up Death Note, you may be shocked by the storyline. Still, you must consider it a brilliant work. Treading a fine line between genius, savior, and demon, all you can do is watch Light as he comes to the decision that it's up to him to make the world a better place, whether or not it's by conventional means. He's not the normal "Hero," that much is obvious. He doesn't win free through villains, he isn't all-powerful... he does have problems. No matter what, he's willing to do what's necessary to obtain that which is his ideal. Even lie, cheat, and murder.
Even if it doesn't physically dirty his hands, Light is still changed by the things he has to do and the things he chooses to do. From the first volume onward, you can see the way that his character changes. The singular disregard he has for certain things is often disturbing, but still an excellent tool for holding the reader's interest.
He has to face the world for what it is, and the way he sees it changes as he does; the experiences he has change as the experiences he has already had continue to change him. The character developement so far is excellent, as are the story and the artwork. It's very interesting to watch a seemingly innocent ideal become wound into something else... a plot, a plan... a map to a redemption for the world.
Or a map to insanity.