L or Light ??

[Taco-Calamitous]

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.

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.

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.)

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

[Shan'do Spike]

In the end L is the one who get killed...Well, till the end of the series when Light get killed by his fella cop.

I'll go with Light...He's not that cool but still, he's smarter than L.

He's not, though. Light just starts with such an overwhelming advantage in this that the fact that L almost solves it is miraculous. Light may have won, but L was so very clearly smarter in this case. Near, on the other hand, while very smart, has basically all of the facts handed to him. It's pretty clear that the order is roughly L > Light > Near.


The most unbelievable part of the series, though, is how dumb the rest of the investigators are. I still can't stomach that they actually let Light remove the video cameras for absolutely no good reason when he was talking with Takada.

[SSJ4 Goku]

I don't know how I missed this thread the first time, but, now that it's here once again, (and with the pleasant bonus of people I haven't seen in quite some time! Hello, Tom and Kevin!) I can actually voice my opinion.

First, I never really saw L as outright smarter than Light. Sure, Light started with the advantage of the Death Note, but L's not coming into this as a novice, either. The fact that Light could engage in a battle of wits with a world-renowned investigator for as long as he did puts them on pretty equal footing in my book because, even if Light had the help of the Shinigami and the Notebook(s), L also had a pretty massive amount of resources at his disposal (in terms of manpower, technology, etc.).

Also, similar to what Nocturne said, I truly think Light's cause was a noble one, and for that, I tend...I won't say "to sympathise with him" per se, but, at the very least, I could symphathise with his ideals. While he did get corrupted and act less nobly as the series went on (spiraling into downright mania by the very end of the anime), he always was trying to create a better world not just for those he loved or some other anime cliché, but for all people. As someone else pointed out above, I think it's significant to point out that a decent amount of the population, as the series went on (both in the anime and the manga) truly respected and admired Kira for eliminating so much of the criminal population (and the crime rate, for that matter) in the world, so, even if his methods were less than admirable, at least he WAS always working towards a better world.

Now, I won't get into the whole "the end justifies the means" debate or anything, and whether or not Light should have had the sole ability to judge anyone's worth/whether they should continue to live or die, but, on a general sense, I think he had more than his fair share of flaws, Light was still a character worthy of...respect? I don't know if that's the word I want to use, but still...to see some people just say "L is the best because he's smarter" or that L's ideals were hands-down superior to Kira's, I just don't agree with. So yeah...those are my two cents.

[Freya]

Light, because he is more important than L. I liked L, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that he was that great.

The battle of them was epic and both are intelligent. I even think that they were quite equal. (What happened to L... was just coincidence imo. I can't really see it as a win for Light, because he didn't make it on his own.)
Nevertheless Light had so many good ideas. The world IS rotten and he wanted to make it a better place. He just had the wrong methods to do so. And of course he was intelligent but didn't see that he was one of those he wanted to kill. I liked that fact about him. Light saw himself as a god of the world he created, a world without murderers, yet the only murderer who would be left at the end would be him. I remember Ryuk telling him that but he never really thought about it. (Perhaps that was his worst mistake. ^^")

Spoiler for the end:

Spoiler: Also, the fact that Light lost was coincidence. It wasn't HIS fault but rather that of Mikami and all the others. At least that's how I see it. xD"

It is really difficult to compare these to, but I like Light more. >3"

[kajarxxx]

L zele win.-

[Xanatos]

I liked Light in the beginning and the way he was dealing with Death Note was somewhat interesting until he didn't became ****ing psycho and went on killing spree of everyone that stood against him including few innocent people. But I must give him more credit, I didn't hate him just the opposite he was great character and I really admired his persistence and intelligence.

As for L, he was intriguing character, many people say that he wasn't smart as Light and I will agree with them, Light defeated him in intellectual battle fair and square but nevertheless I really like him and all that he represented, justice and intelligence. Although in one of the few last chapters of manga there is sentence that describes L as not so fair and just character but there is no need to go in details about that. Anyway L was weird and mysterious character, which I like and unlike Light it was good to see that at least L had some sense of humor.

I enjoyed watching quarrels and fierce battle between these two, it was somewhat epic but if I must pick one of these character that will be L. I just liked him more.

[SacredAngel13]

i like L..he's super duper genious!!! he's kinda cool too! hahaha...
hmm..he also loves sweets, just like me!

[Nemesis93]

L is so much better than Light.

[Ann]

L of course! He's genius and interesting haha I will be extremely pleased if I could work with him! He has so much cool gadgets! That Mac Book - oh L how lucky you are

[winterborn86]

I love L, I just loved everything bout him, especially his fetish for sweet foods and found him rather funny too.
I did like Light but only to start with when he was using the death note to rid the world of criminals, kinda reminded me of Dexter, killing those who deserve it, but L wins for sure

[Meigumi]

Well, I happen to like L more than Light. I find him more funny and his obsession with sweets is kind of cute. xD

(But Ryuk is my most favorite character in the show, but that's not an option.)

[SeaAlchemist]

Definitely L. I never liked Light >.< To me Light was just...kinda messed up I never agreed with his way of thinking about handling crimnals.....

[Ragtime]

i'd go for the sugar addict L. he was the funniest and most intersting charcacter, plus, i loved the way he sat on chairs and uses a mobile phone

[Rhaps]

I like L a lot. He's personality and mannerisms are amazing. When I first read DeathNote I went to school and did the mannerisms lol I sat hugging my knees and picked things up with my index finger and thumb only
I still do the two finger hold thing a lot today lol

[TigermusiQ]

I started liking Light at first but then it was L, I've always sat funny/in interesting places but I tried mimicing the way he sat at first but it's uncomfortable, oh! And I hold my phone like him sometimes (usually if I'm in a mood :/ ).

Spoiler: However when L died I preffered Light (obviously), I really hated Near but Mellow was cool.

All in all B is my favorite.

[kurohime]

L because he is awesome. he might be lazy, but once you see his chibi form you have to say awwwww....