I finished reading/watching it last night (read most of it, got lazy towards the end so I watched the last few episodes). I started reading it being a little skeptical tbh. I'd heard what it was basically about and I knew it was very highly rated by a lot of people. Because it was a Shonen, I had my doubts about it being as good as people claim and expected to find it overrated.

I was so wrong, this is honestly one of my favourite series now. It's amazing how the psychological battle between Light and L was written to be so thrilling. The characters were all brilliant and I found myself really caring about most of them at the end. The way that Light is driven from being a well intentioned vigilante to a psychopath with a god complex was very well done. I love how most of the plans unfolded and that they were explained step by step. I even liked the development with Near and Mello (even though I was a little pissed when L died). The ending was brilliant and I took quite a lot of satisfaction in seeing Light's plans fail so spectacularly and how, even though he was dead, L won in the end through his successors.

Who else is a fan? Also, who did you root for, Light or L? I really need to talk about this now, lol.

Honestly? I'm neither on L's side nor Light's side. The presentation of L's character, although surreal, shows him as a likeable character, what with his personality and habits.

Light on the other hand is much deeper. His degradation is amazing. Initially, he had a strong sense of justice, wanting to purge the world of evil. Then, but a few days later, he's gone from wanting to purge the world to wanting to become its leader by ruling it through fear. I see Deathnote as a psychological anime, with some drama and hints of suspense.

For me, the whole psychological battle between L and Light made most of the series worth watching. The entire plot is like watching a massive chess game, only the characters have much more serious consequences for losing a piece or misreading the opponent.

Each character seemed to fit some form of stereotype, with some more fleshed out than others, and it gave some of them a much deeper reason for actually being there. Sorichiro has to be a memorable mention for me as they showed the conflict and turmoil he was constantly going through as the investigation proceeded. It's what made Death Note seem so good at times; these characters actually seem like real people at times, and react thusly. You could even understand both sides of the argument, regardless who you sided with in the end. It was simply questioning the definition of justice, and illustrating how Light's degradation really transforms that simple wish of making the world a better place into a wish to rule over that better world.

Although I do agree, after that certain point it seemed like it went off on a tangent. Light didn't seem like the same person he was before that point, and up until the end kept making extremely obvious mistakes.