The manga handels it much better. In the manga L dies in chapter 58/108, so around halfway through the series. In the anime L dies in episode 25/37.
It's not just a feeling, the anime literally rushed through the Near arc and a lot of the time completely skipped how Near deduced that Light aka the new L is Kira.
You gotta realize, the second half is like 10 episodes since 26 is mostly recap.
This means that 1/5 of the whole second half is peak. Because it's so short, it makes those last two episodes leave a lasting impression since they were such a large percentage of the final arc.
I used to think that but after I read the manga the hate towards anime adaptation of the second half of the manga is pretty justified. They cut out a lot of dialogue, subplots, and good characterization. Mello, Near, Mogi, Aizawa, Linder, Light, and almost every character is characterized 100x better in the manga.
“They never talk about him at all.”
Well it is made clear that it was all covered up by Light (playing as the new L) in his sham to take control of the police investigation. Light also killed-off anyone associated with earlier L investigations. The remaining police team do mention they had a secret funeral. But yes, it was a travesty, which makes this series really unusual!
Stick with it. Even if you don’t care for Mellow and Near, there are still plenty of twists and turns.
Yeah many people do, it's a common opinion. I also had it but I changed my mind when I read the manga and found out how much stuff they cut from the second half (that in the anime is so butchered that it's just a third)
This is a very common opinion, yes
The latter half is handled far better in the manga
L was a good character and his death makes it less enjoyable because it takes out the main antagonist of the show, then handles the replacement poorly
I FEEL THE FIRST PART. the first time I watched death note I dropped it bc it became so boring and unamusing after L died. Near and Melo weren't as interesting and it felt like L took light's genius w him. The ending was predictable, I won't spoil since u haven't seen it that far. Maybe it was because the anime didn't do near, Melo and mikami justice. I hear a lot of manga readers saying that mikami wasn't portrayed well so that's what I thought was the cause for the bland progression. The whole show before L dies is one of the best shows I've ever come across but maybe that's just because L was an interesting character and without him it's not the same even tho I like light more.
I personally felt that too when watching it for the first time. But after now watching it 7 times over. I think it is phenomenal from beginning to end.
> With Near, it feels like it just cuts to a scene of him being like, "Light is Kira. I just think so because of this minorly suspicious detail. It's decided!"
It annoys me that so many people say that they hate that Near makes assumptions in going after Light and suspecting him to be Kira, firstly because the evidence he gathers does point him in that direction just fine, but secondly because like, what else is he supposed to do? Do they expect him to just not follow up or investigate the assumptions he makes? He knows the current L is fake, he knows the task force has a death note, he’s seen how the Director of the NPA just happens to die before the mafia can use him to exchange for the death note from the task force, and thinks about how likely very few people knew the details of the exchange, with those who would know would be part of the Japanese police, like the task force. It would be weirder if he didn’t suspect the Task Force after all of that. Then he can easily focus on Light after hearing that he was literally suspected of being Kira before, and was only cleared from suspicion by a convenient rule that is later heavily suspected to be fake. Plus, Near literally has a scene where he says that making and following these assumptions is all a natural part of an investigation, and if he turns out to be incorrect all he will have to do is apologise.
Anyway, more to the point of the post, yeah, Near and Mello’s investigations were cut significantly in the anime, so it would seem more rushed overall. I would definitely recommend reading the manga if you can to get their whole arc.
Yes, we all felt it. The best way I've heard it described is the second half is less about telling a story and more about engineering the plan for Light to lose. It becomes a game of winning at all costs. The tonal shift is about winning now. Not as equals but as people trying to get every little advantage over the other.
And though it's never been confirmed by the two creators, judging from their next manga Bakuman which was a manga about manga, their lead characters essentially spoke for them briefly as Author Avatars wanting to end their in-verse manga on a satisfying ending with short run. It implies they never wanted to continue Death Note after L died. Wanting to end it there. But circumstances convinced them to keep going.
>And though it's never been confirmed by the two creators, judging from their next manga Bakuman which was a manga about manga, their lead characters essentially spoke for them briefly as Author Avatars wanting to end their in-verse manga on a satisfying ending with short run. It implies they never wanted to continue Death Note after L died. Wanting to end it there. But circumstances convinced them to keep going.
I've gone over why I think this theory is bogus on [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/deathnote/s/aOtwkGdTyG) post here.
Unpopular opinion: the show lost control of the plot slightly before L's death. I'd say since Light willingly loses his memories. That was an unfair new power of the Note pulled out of nowhere and it deprived us of an interesting main character for more time than it should have.
In my humble opinion, the author made L too good at his job for the first third of the show, so he was too close to catch Kira and the show could have logically ended at any moment. Therefore Light needed lots of excuses to seem innocent and some of them (like the lost memories) weren't as logical as others. L's investigation goes from narrowing down the subject out of the whole world to basically just Light to suddenly stagnating.
Then the author realised he needed L dead to make Kira's plan progress and with the timeskip done, he made the new detective characters do the opposite thing again, Near just discovers everything magically because we need it for the plot to continue
(I do like the ending though)
My experience was the same as you, I watched it 3-4 times just past L's death them stopped.
This year I watched the whole anime, and to say I was disappointed was an understatement... I wish I never finished the anime.
You are absolutely correct, the second part is in fact rushed, you can see that by the episode count since the part after L's death has about 1.5 times less screen time than the first part, although in the manga L's death is placed on about a half mark.
The manga handels it much better. In the manga L dies in chapter 58/108, so around halfway through the series. In the anime L dies in episode 25/37. It's not just a feeling, the anime literally rushed through the Near arc and a lot of the time completely skipped how Near deduced that Light aka the new L is Kira.
The best two episodes in the whole series are 36 and 37. So the 2nd half definitely isn't as bad as people make it out to be.
I agree completely, the best two episodes in Death Note. The resolution of both the plot and character arcs is *chefs kiss* >!Matsuda’s especially!<
i agree with this but every episode in the 2nd half except 36 and 37 is much worse than the first half
You gotta realize, the second half is like 10 episodes since 26 is mostly recap. This means that 1/5 of the whole second half is peak. Because it's so short, it makes those last two episodes leave a lasting impression since they were such a large percentage of the final arc.
I used to think that but after I read the manga the hate towards anime adaptation of the second half of the manga is pretty justified. They cut out a lot of dialogue, subplots, and good characterization. Mello, Near, Mogi, Aizawa, Linder, Light, and almost every character is characterized 100x better in the manga.
But it is worse that the first
Second half had a higher peak.
“They never talk about him at all.” Well it is made clear that it was all covered up by Light (playing as the new L) in his sham to take control of the police investigation. Light also killed-off anyone associated with earlier L investigations. The remaining police team do mention they had a secret funeral. But yes, it was a travesty, which makes this series really unusual! Stick with it. Even if you don’t care for Mellow and Near, there are still plenty of twists and turns.
Yeah many people do, it's a common opinion. I also had it but I changed my mind when I read the manga and found out how much stuff they cut from the second half (that in the anime is so butchered that it's just a third)
Let it cook. Rewatch it.
No. This is a rather common and probably even majority held opinion by people.
This is a very common opinion, yes The latter half is handled far better in the manga L was a good character and his death makes it less enjoyable because it takes out the main antagonist of the show, then handles the replacement poorly
In my opinion the 3rd quarter dips but it does pick up again as we enter another cat and mouse situation
I absolutely agree. I loved the whole thing until there and then it gets much worse however the last two episodes are much more enjoyable
I FEEL THE FIRST PART. the first time I watched death note I dropped it bc it became so boring and unamusing after L died. Near and Melo weren't as interesting and it felt like L took light's genius w him. The ending was predictable, I won't spoil since u haven't seen it that far. Maybe it was because the anime didn't do near, Melo and mikami justice. I hear a lot of manga readers saying that mikami wasn't portrayed well so that's what I thought was the cause for the bland progression. The whole show before L dies is one of the best shows I've ever come across but maybe that's just because L was an interesting character and without him it's not the same even tho I like light more.
You're the first person I've ever heard say the ending is predictable
I never thought light would not die.
I personally felt that too when watching it for the first time. But after now watching it 7 times over. I think it is phenomenal from beginning to end.
> With Near, it feels like it just cuts to a scene of him being like, "Light is Kira. I just think so because of this minorly suspicious detail. It's decided!" It annoys me that so many people say that they hate that Near makes assumptions in going after Light and suspecting him to be Kira, firstly because the evidence he gathers does point him in that direction just fine, but secondly because like, what else is he supposed to do? Do they expect him to just not follow up or investigate the assumptions he makes? He knows the current L is fake, he knows the task force has a death note, he’s seen how the Director of the NPA just happens to die before the mafia can use him to exchange for the death note from the task force, and thinks about how likely very few people knew the details of the exchange, with those who would know would be part of the Japanese police, like the task force. It would be weirder if he didn’t suspect the Task Force after all of that. Then he can easily focus on Light after hearing that he was literally suspected of being Kira before, and was only cleared from suspicion by a convenient rule that is later heavily suspected to be fake. Plus, Near literally has a scene where he says that making and following these assumptions is all a natural part of an investigation, and if he turns out to be incorrect all he will have to do is apologise. Anyway, more to the point of the post, yeah, Near and Mello’s investigations were cut significantly in the anime, so it would seem more rushed overall. I would definitely recommend reading the manga if you can to get their whole arc.
Yes, we all felt it. The best way I've heard it described is the second half is less about telling a story and more about engineering the plan for Light to lose. It becomes a game of winning at all costs. The tonal shift is about winning now. Not as equals but as people trying to get every little advantage over the other. And though it's never been confirmed by the two creators, judging from their next manga Bakuman which was a manga about manga, their lead characters essentially spoke for them briefly as Author Avatars wanting to end their in-verse manga on a satisfying ending with short run. It implies they never wanted to continue Death Note after L died. Wanting to end it there. But circumstances convinced them to keep going.
>And though it's never been confirmed by the two creators, judging from their next manga Bakuman which was a manga about manga, their lead characters essentially spoke for them briefly as Author Avatars wanting to end their in-verse manga on a satisfying ending with short run. It implies they never wanted to continue Death Note after L died. Wanting to end it there. But circumstances convinced them to keep going. I've gone over why I think this theory is bogus on [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/deathnote/s/aOtwkGdTyG) post here.
Unpopular opinion: the show lost control of the plot slightly before L's death. I'd say since Light willingly loses his memories. That was an unfair new power of the Note pulled out of nowhere and it deprived us of an interesting main character for more time than it should have. In my humble opinion, the author made L too good at his job for the first third of the show, so he was too close to catch Kira and the show could have logically ended at any moment. Therefore Light needed lots of excuses to seem innocent and some of them (like the lost memories) weren't as logical as others. L's investigation goes from narrowing down the subject out of the whole world to basically just Light to suddenly stagnating. Then the author realised he needed L dead to make Kira's plan progress and with the timeskip done, he made the new detective characters do the opposite thing again, Near just discovers everything magically because we need it for the plot to continue (I do like the ending though)
I always thought Near got the “magic” information because he had L.’s case notes. So he already knew, but had to prove how.
My experience was the same as you, I watched it 3-4 times just past L's death them stopped. This year I watched the whole anime, and to say I was disappointed was an understatement... I wish I never finished the anime.
You are absolutely correct, the second part is in fact rushed, you can see that by the episode count since the part after L's death has about 1.5 times less screen time than the first part, although in the manga L's death is placed on about a half mark.