lunar month

A novel adaption of the series has been written by Nisio Isin, called Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. It serves as a prequel to the manga series, with Mello narrating the story of L's first encounter with Naomi Misora during the Los Angeles "BB Serial Murder Case" mentioned in volume 2 of the manga. Beside Naomi's character, the novel focuses on how L works. Insight was given into Watari's orphanage (named "Wammy's House") and how the whole system of geniuses such as L, Mello, and Near were put to work. Viz released the novel in English on February 19, 2008, however many retailers began selling the books as early as February 7, 2008.