Death Note is unlike any other story I have ever seen. I have re-watched it countless times (I have lost track. It has to be over 15 times at this point), and each re-watch has been just as thrilling as the last. I don't think a single other series has been able to grip me as much as Death Note did upon my first watch. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!
So, of course, one of my absolute favorite parts of Death Note is the main character Light Yagami. I have always been a fan of evil characters, so it wasn't a surprise to myself or anybody else that I latched onto Light immediately. There are so many amazing points to his character! I'm not a Light apologist or anything, don't get it twisted, I think his view of the world is flawed and he is not "justice". But it's extremely interesting to watch him spiral out of control and become the person he does by the end. I enjoy watching him lose his shit and develop a more twisted sense of justice over the course of the story. Not to mention I think he's very sexy!
I am NOT a fan of Lawlight, in fact I'm pretty anti-Light ships. I ship Light x prison! I absolutely ADORE L though, he's miles behind Light and others when it comes to favorite characters but I think he's so cutie. Anyways, I love the idea that Light is so misogynistic that he is gay (or just asexual), but even so I don't think he fits well with anyone in the series.
Maybe Mikami, but that's a one-sided thing.
I spend so much of my life energy fighting those who claim that Death Note was 0/10 garbage after L died (I don't seek these people out, whenever I say "my favorite anime is Death Note", they flock to me!!! So rude!!!). I can't disagree that the series gets worse but I don't think it's as horrible as everyone claims. In order for Death Note to truly shine we have to see Light win. His "perfect" world has to progress. That can't happen until he gets rid of L. I'm not a big fan of Mello, but Near is so cute! How can you hate Near?!
Also, the latter half of the anime was rushed! To put it into context, the first 25 episodes of the anime covered 58 chapters. That's about half the manga. The next 12 episodes covered 50 chapters... 50!!! Basically, they covered the same amount of content the first half did, but in half the time! No wonder people feel it's rushed and poorly done, because it was. I don't think that the manga is perfect, but I think the anime could have done better, and not enough people talk about the episode distribution when talking about why it gets worse. Basically, go read the manga for a good time.
PLEASE GO READ THE DEATH NOTE LIGHT NOVELS!!!
My favorite Japanese author of all time NISIOISIN wrote one of the Death Note LNs, "Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases". It is one of my favorite LNs EVER it's so good. It's about Naomi Misora and the case she worked with L before the Death Note anime happened. Naomi is such an interesting character and I highly recommend reading it. The other LN, "L: Change the WorLd" is kiiiinda okay? It's basically "what would have happened if L won but also was going to die in 23 days?". It's funky.
Also, the musical is really good??? For some reason??? My favorite song is "Honor Bound" and I think "Where is the Justice" is kinda cheesy but silly and fun to sing. I hope they're able to put it on stage one day but I don't have much hope. Maybe one day.
Finally, if you have experienced the Death Note anime only one time I recommend re-watching it in either Japanese or English, whichever you didn't watch the first time. I believe the different languages offer such different experiences. I find the Japanese to be more serious and horror-esque while the English is way more comedic and lighthearted. It could be due to me watching the series many times but the English dub honestly feels like a comedy at some points, it's very fun! I like to return to the Japanese version when I want it to be more SRS but I often watch the dub as it's my personal preference.
As you can see, I'm not solely crazy over Light but crazy over the whole series.
Go watch/read/consume Death Note!!!
My Death Note Merchandise:
