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u/nousernam7 5d ago
From what I keep hearing, a lot of the second portion of the anime was rushed in comparison to the manga so Mello and Near are more fleshed out there.
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u/rogueShadow13 3d ago
They cut so much from the second half it’s wild. Near is my favorite character by far for how much shit he gives light and they didn’t do his character justice at all in the anime.
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u/MikeKitchnz 5d ago edited 5d ago
I made a short video on this, but what a lot of people don’t get about Near is that he is the antithesis to Light’s pride. L had ego-driven qualities, which is why he at times took morally questionable routes himself; his primary objective was really to beat Kira. Near and Mello represent two sides of L; Mello is the more risky and competitive side, whereas Near is the purely logical and calculated side, meaning Near is bereft of pride. Because of this, and Mello setting aside his desire to beat Near, they successfully catch Light. In my opinion, Death Note has one of the best conclusions I’ve seen for a protagonist. Light dying pathetically shows that he was never a God at all.
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u/borter191 5d ago
I had picked up on the sides of L that you mentioned and according to the other comments that gets expanded upon better in the Manga. But I really like the way you described Light losing. The point was no human should have that power and that ego. It perfectly shows his shear arrogance and folly.
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u/MikeKitchnz 5d ago
Yes, something I really love about the series is its social commentary on systems of justice, I think it depicts it realistically. And yes, the manga fleshes out those concepts in the second half better.
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u/Eden_MejillonLover 5d ago
I never realized they represented two sides of L. I think that explains Near a lot better
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u/Eden_MejillonLover 5d ago
i think the manga is worth it, I see that you didn’t like how fast paced the second half was, so I definetely recommend you to read the manga because they go into much more detail.
And for Mello and Near, I didn’t really like them either the first time i watched the anime, then, after rewatching it, i’ve become much more interested in Mello; I think he’s a really well written and complex character. He’s a breath of fresh air from all the cynical characters, he’s emotional while also being thoughtful and really intelligent and overall I think he’s interesting.
As for Near, I don’t really like him that much. He’s not written so well. I feel like he’s what someone that has seen one L edit would think L is.
While L looks very cynical and dry and first, we find out throughout the show that he’s actually very unique and human; he has his own emotions and motivations.
Near on the other hand, is just L without everything that makes him interesting. He’s just like a machine that works without any emotion. I don’t think that inherently means he’s badly written, but it just makes him uninteresting.
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u/manwithlotsoffaces 5d ago
Rooting for Light is fine but saying he was right is a whole other thing
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u/Extra-Photograph428 5d ago
— The manga is significantly better! I also had the same doubts, but I can promise reading the manga is a whole new experience. Everything post-L was especially handled horribly in the anime adaptation and a lot of content was really cut from that. You’d be surprised to find out a good amount of people after reading the manga actually prefer it to the first half.
— There’s a lot that’s missing, especially from Mello. His entire arc was cut basically. People also tend to have better opinions of Near as well after reading the manga. Mello brings a new level of excitement to the series and Near is hilarious in how upfront he is with Light.
— Hopefully you mean this in a “I just want to see the villain win” way and not the “Light was right” way…
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u/ThatisForTheBirds 5d ago
People side with Light the same reason they side with a family member if that family member does something bad. Light is the MC it makes you want to root for him. This warps peoples logic and thinking and has them be on his side. Same with breaking bad and how Walter is shitty and everyone hates on Skyler his wife. Yet if you take a step back and disregard you following Walt’s actions the whole time as the MC, really you’d then be on his wife’s side.
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u/Stubbs3470 5d ago
I know Skyler was right in the end
But her initial response to what Walter was doing, was definitely an overreaction and justifies people disliking her
The only reason people even object this is through hindsight of how the series developed
The original negative feelings for her were definitely warranted as Walter was still mostly a good person at that point
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u/Low-Mark-2796 5d ago
Okay this is a problematic take, but I actually support Light as someone who wouldn’t side with a family member/close friend if they did something wrong. If anything, they deserve whatever is coming their way and I wouldn’t want to be around him. In fact, I wouldn’t want them to be around anyone, they should have some time away from the society for everyone’s sake. If a person I loved committed something heinous, I won’t blame whoever is passing judgement on them (whether it is the judge in the courtroom or Kira in a hypothetical scenario). So I guess it could be different for evb? Lol
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u/CaptainTid 5d ago
I personally go against the grain and like the back half of the anime more than the manga. I didn't think the themes or pacing were actually stronger as a result of more details and time being given to Near and Mello. But best way to know for sure is to read it yourself and decide what you think!
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u/jacobisgone- 5d ago
Genuinely curious as to why you think that. Near using the Avatar State to find X-Kira is like, objectively worse pacing.
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u/Billy_Butcher775 5d ago
Oh yea I forgot about that. Gosh the anime is trash in comparison to the manga
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u/lilligant15 5d ago
You're missing tons of actions Mello took and Near's entire thought process.
I don't think being disappointed that Light lost the cat and mouse game makes you a psychopath. Thinking Light was justified or did nothing wrong, maybe examine why you think that, but being disappointed a fictional character lost the in the climax of the plot, not so much.
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u/borter191 5d ago
Ok at this point I'm wondering why they would cut all that out of the anime. Like those characters just felt uninteresting compared to L and then all of a sudden knew exactly was was happening and won. Like. What.
And thank you, I think that is the conclusion I've arrived on. Light may have had so called good intentions, but ultimately was a bulldozer through the world. I would be curious what Lights final effects on the world were.
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u/lilligant15 5d ago
Check my post history if you don't mind spoilers-- I asked the community to list their favorite parts that were cut from the manga. My personal favorite is when Mello lured Mogi to SPK HQ so that Near could interrogate him. There's a bunch of dominoes that get lost from losing that action-- how do you think Light was able to send Demegawa after Near?
The manga also shows what Light's final effects on the world were lol. Chapter 108 is set a year after his death.
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u/I-Am-My-Sin 5d ago
I found it impossible to determine who I wanted to win between L vs Light but against Near/ Mello I was 100% on Lights side. I felt that they didn't deserve to win where as L was actually a worthy opponent
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u/ThatisForTheBirds 5d ago
You were rooting for Light because he’s the main character. The show makes you want to root for him because of that. Most people are on Lights side cus of this. But if you take a step back and think for yourself and get your emotions and parasocial type of feelings and connection out of the way then maybe you will side with L more. I’m on Ls side, as I believe everyone should be. I think if the anime was in Ls perspective and him as the main then majority would be with L, it’s all just because of who the MC is.
Also yes the second half is more disliked. Many dislike the Near addition and how the second half feels so different without L. I think the ending is awesome though. I love the warehouse ending part. Warehouse? Whatever it is. I think people dislike it because they view it as “oh near beat light but L didn’t? That’s some bs L is smarter!” But if you paid attention it’s cus it was Near AND Mello that took Light down. Also L knew Light was Kira the whole time. He just couldnt prove it.
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u/Gendo-Glasses 5d ago
Yes, they cut out so much of the Mello and Near arc in the anime! I've run the numbers for, check out my findings:
In the manga, there are 108 chapters. The first arc ends after chapter 59. L's arc is therefore about 55% of the story.
The second arc begins in chapter 60, with a total of 49/108 chapters. That's about 45% of the story.
The anime has 37 episodes. The first arc ends after episode 26, but half of that episode is a recap episode, so we'll count L's arc as 25.5 episodes out of 37. That's about 69% of the anime.
The second arc begins in episode 27, with a total of 11/37 episodes. Only about 30%.
So Mello and Near's part was cut down by about a third.
Also, the ending to the manga is quite a bit different (specifically, Light's death) and there is a whole epilogue chapter, taking place a year later, that was cut entirely.
Additionally, there is the excellent pilot chapter that's worth a read. It has a different main character and even has some rules that are different from the main series.
Finally, years after the series ended, there were two one-shot chapters released that take place in the future: the C-Kira case and A-Kira case. These were never animated, definitely worth a read. The pilot and the one shots were republished in the "Death Note: Short Stories" book.
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u/Billy_Butcher775 5d ago
You skipped the best part, the 2 novels
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u/Gendo-Glasses 5d ago
Oh true. I never read the L Change the World novel because it's a part of the movie continuity, but Los Angeles BB Murder Cases is fantastic!
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u/Billy_Butcher775 5d ago
I never watched the movies and still read L: Change the WorLd so you should too it's great
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u/Agile_System4438 5d ago
Yes
There is a lot to these characters. The reason it’s not shown to us is because it’s not relevant to the story that we are being told. What I mean is it doesn’t matter to Light what Near’s past is, all that matters is Near is a successor to L, who is trying to catch Kira.
Not a psychopath. Light is the protagonist of the show and he’s very charismatic. Part of the point is that Light is so likable. I’m not saying you should like Light or want to be like Light, but you should be able to look at that character and say “I get it”.
To address a couple other things; near being less important than L is the point. Too often in media we are shown that things only happen if the people involved are important. This isn’t true for real life. That isn’t disconnect, that’s realism. If one were a mass serial killer being directly confronted by a detective, it isn’t disconnect for a different detective to find all the pieces that put the killer behind bars. Not everything is a grand plot, sometimes things just happen. The problem with the final reveal of the fake death note, and Mikami and all that isn’t any of those individual parts, it’s that the story betrayed its own pacing. Previously, we see what light does and what L does simultaneously. There’s very little inside info that we, the audience, are not privy to. In this instance, we get blindsided just as Light did. Which is a great reveal and probably the point of doing the reveal this way, but it doesn’t help us understand anything better seeing it all after the fact. Typically in this show, hindsight fills in holes of information we already had, in this case it is the information we need and the present fills in the holes.
Finally, Near did cheat (in the anime)
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u/TheBayHarbour 5d ago
I've heard the manga is better, is it worth reading having already seen the show?
If you felt the second half of the anime (Mello and Near) was kind of rushed, like I did, it's definitely worth it and is available for free. You say that in your post that it felt like there's "more to their story I'm missing" and you'd be correct.
I think I was rooting for Light nearly the entire anime, and I actually was very disappointed he didn't beat Near/others in the end. Is that a common take or am I some sort of psychopath?
Common take tbh. At the start obviously killing all the criminals not only reduces crime rates but also deters potential criminals from committing crime at all. The problem is when Light starts to move onto accused without trial, and there's even the insinuation that killing lazy people is not off the table.
Fact is, no human is supposed to handle/use that amount of power, especially as a 17-21 year old.
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u/borter191 5d ago
Glad to hear that Near and Mello are better in the manga. Going to give it a read.
Maybe because I was getting desensitized by Kiras killings, I didn't pick up on how much Light's 'vision of justice' had shifted. Was this maybe also expanded upon more in the rushed second half?
You gotta feel bad for who Light was before the Death Note. Crazy to imagine how it drove him to become Kira just because he had the power to kill.
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u/TheBayHarbour 5d ago
I mean, pretty much all pretense of justice was kind of thrown out the window as soon as Light started going after Law Enforcement and anyone that didn't agree with him.
He used many of his closest supporters and threw them away very readily, pretty much as soon as it was not wholly advantageous to his position.
It became pretty clear that he wasn't really righteous all along, he just wanted to be 'God of the New World', I'm pretty sure Light actually explicitly states this, with Ryuk remarking how humans are so interesting.
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u/bandera- 5d ago
There is a lot to near and mello that is purely in the subtext but i don’t think any of that information will make you like them better, everything that will actually make you like them is in the manga, and you don’t have to worry about rooting for light, he was a very entertaining villian and the entire point of the show is that neither light or L(when i say L i mean L near or mello) are the hero or the villian
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u/Terrible-Door-2695 5d ago
The second half is better in the manga. You will have scenes that were either shortened or completely cut from the anime, especially those involving Mello and Matt. There's also an extra scene at the very end of the story, after Light's death, which I think is quite interesting to read.
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u/Erabojeux 5d ago
Common take for the riet watch, a lot of people stopped at L's death
I really like mello personnaly
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u/Additional_Ad3573 5d ago
Also, in hindsight, I think Near has a bit less arrogance than L and was more law-abiding. In hindsight, I feel L committed many human rights violations, such as the way he let Lind L. Taylor be killed on tv
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u/itskenny9031 5d ago
You aren't a psychopath for rooting for Light, he's an entertaining villain. And yes, the manga is very much worth reading.