I'm really not sure how I feel. It was kind of strange; for much of the time, I was rooting for Light. But then I was also rooting for L. I didn't want either to die; I just wanted to see the cat and mouse game continue on forever, I think. The only reason I probably had any sympathy for Light, however, was probably because he was the main character, and the anime showed what he was thinking the most. He was a real sonovabitch, though; the fact that he immediately tried to kill L the very first time he did a TV broadcast says much about his character. And then he was willing to kill those FBI agents... basically, he didn't care who died.L was a more entertaining character, I think. He brought a lot of the humor to the show (although I think the American voice actor did a better job of this) and he was more of a unique person in general. "I have to sit this way, or my deduction skills will diminish by some percentage, somehow. That does not explain why I hold cell phones the way I do..." Also, he's not a ruthless bastard like Light. In the end, that is why I like L better. (Actually, I won't say that, necessarily; I could go either way, but I like L's morals better.)
Spoiler: At one point, he's even contemplating killing his sister, and at another point he kills the girl he's told he will merry when everything is over, and I'm not even sure if that was completely necessary. Ruthless.
Also, yeah; Near sucks. Mello sucks. We always saw how L came to his conclusions, but Near seemed to magically come to his. Also, he was so young, I couldn't tell whether he was a boy or a girl at first. Can't stand the child prodegy characters in anime; they're so friggen' common. And Mello... was creepy as all hell. He made Light look like an angel at times... Anyhoo...
Wuv, Yer Mom