The post-L arc (in the anime, at least; I've only read up to volume seven of the manga) is noticeably weaker than the L arc, which is a shame. The ending of the L arc is strong, and the decision to kill L partway through the series was genuinely bold and cool! But I feel Death Note didn't really know how to follow it up. If you're going to kill L, you need to take the series in a different direction afterwards; you can't just bring in an off-brand second L, who will inevitably be compared to the first and come up lacking.

It never really feels like Light is at risk after L dies. L is so perpetually there, a constant danger; Light always has to watch his own words and actions so closely. Near is too distant a threat; there's no tension there. Not only does the audience not feel that Light is being challenged, but Light himself doesn't feel that he's being challenged, and Light as a character is much more fun when he feels threatened and needs to think on his feet.

Mello and Near feel a bit like L has been split into two characters, neither of whom is as good. Near is extremely similar to L, which raises 'why kill L if you were just going to replace him with another L?' questions. But he lacks L's emotion - all the emotion went to Mello in the split - which results in Light and Near's dynamic being much less engaging than Light and L's. Light and L didn't just spark well off each other because of their reasoning skills; the emotion between them played a big role as well.

Light's dynamic with Near is also less fun than his dynamic with L because Light and Near don't respect each other, whereas there was a mutual respect between Light and L. Light views Near as deeply inferior to L, and Near views Kira as a worthless murderer.

Perhaps they're both right; perhaps that view is ultimately why Near is the one to take Light down. But, sadly, it makes for a less intense and interesting dynamic than the one between Light and L.

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