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If you could rid the world of tyrants and dictators with just a few strokes of a pen, would you? If that shocking power was granted to you, who would you first eliminate?

We've all played versions of the would-you-go-back-in-time-and-kill-Hitler game before, but Death Note brings that premise, with all its implications and complications, fascinatingly to life.

So what's Death Note? In 2003, Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump serialized a supernatural thriller by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The manga became so hugely popular, it sold some 26 million copies and lead to an animated TV series and the release of a live-action film in 2006.

Death Note I

Watch the Trailer: Death Note

From manga to anime to a movie that spawned two sequels… the irresistible story begins in Death Note, when young, brilliant, law-student Light Yagami finds the Death Note, a notebook intentionally dropped by a rogue "Shinigami" death god named Ryuk. Any human unfortunate enough to have his or her name written in the book, dies. Under the pseudonym "Kira," Light launches a campaign to rid the world of evil and create his vision of a perfect society. But when criminals mysteriously begin dropping dead, authorities send the quirky super-detective known only as "L" to investigate. Both Light and L believe themselves to be on the side of justice and as the two match wits in an intricate game of cat-and-mouse, we begin to question our own sense of good and evil.

Watch the Trailer: Death Note: The Last Name

Death Note II: The Last Name picks up on the heels of the first movie as Light Yagami joins an investigative team in pursuit of the serial killer known as "Kira," essentially pretending to chase himself. However, the detective known as "L" suspects his true identity as Kira, so Light sets about trying to uncover L's real name. With it, he can eliminate this threat with the Death Note and continue his vigilante crusade. A dance of smoke-and-mirrors ensues until a new rash of murders suddenly breaks out worldwide. Light learns of a second Death Note, held by a second "Kira," and the plot twists again when Light and the second Kira team up to destroy the annoyingly perceptive detective.

Watch the Trailer: Death Note: L,
change the WorLd

Together, the movies earned over $80 million in Japan and stayed at #1 at the box office not only in Japan, but also in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. The cult hit broke into the Asian mainstream and almost got banned in China as a smattering of copycat true crimes became associated with the movie.

Catch Death Note: L, change the WorLd as it makes its U.S. debut on April 29th, and see if this underground phenomenon is worth the fuss. We've got the first ten (uncut!) minutes right here, exclusively on MTV Iggy. We dare you to tell us what you think!

Tatsuya Fujiwara became famous for his lead role in the controversial 2000 film Battle Royale, made when he was just 18. The stage-trained actor brings his knack for playing good-looking good-boys-gone-totally-weird to the character of Light Yagami, the straight-A college-student-turned-megalomaniac who wields the Death Note with righteous vengeance to create his own version of a better world.

Much loved by fans of Detroit Metal City, Kenichi Matsuyama owns the role of L, the secretive genius detective commissioned by the police force to solve complicated cases. Using calculated processes of elimination and statistical analysis, L quickly narrows down the list of suspects. But his sweet-tooth may be his undoing.

Shidou Nakamura began his career as a kabuki actor, debuting at the age of eight. Twenty-one years later, Nakamura played a demonically intense table-tennis champion in his first film, Ping Pong. He brings that touch of evil when voicing Ryuk, the rogue death god who, out of boredom and mischief, decides to drop his Death Note down to Earth to see who picks it up.

Erika Toda made the jump from TV to film with her role in Death Note. As Misa Amane she's traumatized by the cold-blooded murder of her entire family, and becomes fascinated by Kira's vigilante vendetta. Now Death Note gives her the revenge that she would have otherwise never attained.