Death Note

A black notebook dropped from the sky, a red apple bitten by a god of death, two geniuses fighting without ever throwing a punch. A Death Note poster has a rare kind of power: three elements are enough to fill a room with tension. Written by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata, the manga ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 2003 to 2006, and Madhouse adapted it into an anime directed by Tetsurō Araki.

The Death Note look: black, white and apple red

Everything revolves around the notebook, the Death Note, with its title in gothic lettering. Write a name in it and a life is in your hands. Light Yagami, a brilliant high-school student, picks it up and becomes known as Kira. Facing him is L, the enigmatic detective, crouched on his chair and surrounded by sweets.

Obata's linework is exceptionally elegant: fine faces, sharp suits, expressive hands. Hovering over it all is Ryuk, the shinigami with black wings and an enormous grin, hopelessly hooked on apples. That red apple has become the series' visual signature, a single spark of colour in a world of black and white.

So the palette is tight: ink black, off-white, vivid red. Exactly what a minimal, powerful poster needs.

Hanging Death Note in your room

The Light versus L duel works perfectly as two prints facing each other on either side of a desk: Kira against the detective, and you pick a side. For a single image, Ryuk with his apple on black is the safe bet, eerie and a little funny at the same time.

On a white wall the contrast is striking; on grey or black, the apple becomes the only bright point in the room. Death Note's world also sits naturally alongside the gothic collection, with its ravens, skulls and dark academia.

In Tunisia, plenty of people discovered the anime during exam season, promising themselves "just one episode". Find more cult series in the anime poster collection.

One name. One notebook. One wall.