A friend told me that the writers of Death Note wanted to end it after L died, but kept on because in Shonen Jump, it's not common that the "evil" guy wins.
Is he right?
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5I guess only writers could answer that question. Maybe they already did in some interviews. Did you look for any? – Hakase Oct 19 '14 at 16:59
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4I find this unlikely. The story is clearly not complete when L dies. I looked for some evidence and found none, but I did find some statements that both Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba liked L, so I doubt they would have ended it with him dying and Light winning. Also, the fact that the finished manga has 108 chapters [was significant](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OneHundredAndEight) and [was planned from early on](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Death_Note_chapters#Volume_list). L's death is nowhere near Chapter 108. – Torisuda Oct 25 '14 at 19:23
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The evil guy who tried to protect the criminals from getting killed, so that crime rates would not come down, and detectives like him would have a job, got killed. There's no way the series could have ended there, since the evil guys had to win at the end. – Masked Man May 03 '15 at 16:34
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@Masked Man So you think, that L was evil? – DarkYagami May 12 '15 at 16:18
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@DarkYagami Yes, Light was very particular about killing only criminals at the start, but L insisted that protecting criminals was "justice". All he had to do was tell Kira, "I am okay with you killing criminals, but if you kill any innocent people, I will treat you as a criminal and bring you to justice." Then Light could freely go about eliminating criminals, and not be forced to involve "ordinary" criminals and people to cover his tracks. A lot of people tell me that L was the good guy and Light was the bad guy, but no matter how much I try, I cannot see it that way. – Masked Man May 12 '15 at 16:55
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@Masked Man I was on Light's side too. Also L didn't even care about justice. He only wanted to catch Kira for the lolz. – DarkYagami May 13 '15 at 11:21
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4@MaskedMan I must disagree that Light was "particular" about only killing "criminals". The moment Light killed Lind L. Tailor (early on in the series) was the moment he became a true villain. As far as Light knew at that time, this man was a famous detective (a representative of law and order) not a criminal, and had no way at all of finding Light (so wasn't a direct threat). Yet he immediately murders the man without a thought or pause with the DN, for no other reason than pure rage at being insulted by him. No cooling off period, no research into the man, only retribution for injured pride – Meir Illumination Sep 03 '15 at 00:48
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I can't speak for the writers, but the decline of the series in general after that point makes it so that the show is simply better in a technical sense without them.
Especially, given how one of the single biggest problems is the ending episodes and the total break from Light's character, who would never have been content with only one backup plan. He was facing people he thought were almost as good as L, and so likely wouldn't have underestimated them by not changing his plans at all to accommodate for the possibility of deception after Mello's appearance.
Given how adaptable he was against L, it seemed contrived for failure to lose because he suddenly didn't adapt.
Aki Tanaka
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I think the ending was poorly written and was rushed. I also didn't much care for Near either. That's probably why everyone wanted it to end after L's death. The fight between L and Light was truly amazing and both of them were fighting for their beliefs and standards for what was right. I don't think either one was truly evil and I was beyond sad when L died (he was so young).
I do think that plot and story-wise it was an amazing choice, but it definitely was not a stopping point by any means. Light was still a prime suspect. There were many people that disagreed with Light's/Kira's actions, and he wasn't finished using the death note.
Like I said before, L and Light's battle was amazing, but it still had flaws; nothing is perfect. Now Near/Mellow's ark was sloppy and almost wasn't worth finishing, but I did just because I wanted to see Light's fate. L never did pick Near or Mellow to be his successor, which I can tell why. Near treated everything like a game and Mellow didn't think with his head, and honestly, he was more villainous then Kira himself. However, that didn't make them any less of a genius. I think at the point in the series when the duo joined that, Light was overconfident due to the fact that he defeated L and had years to himself to do as he pleased. A rational person would have said he let his guard down.
However, it was clearly shown that the writer wanted to end the series because it was missing his beloved character L. So honestly, I believe that Light could have and should have beat Near, but that doesn't mean he should have won. I think that he should have been taken down by a more superior detective. Anyone who thinks that Light should have won isn't stupid or wrong, but in my opinion, you're not 100% right either. Even if he did win it all, it would have only been a temporary victory. When he chose the hand of Kira or (x Kira as Near stated) he chose the wrong person and that's not because his judgment was bad but because there wasn't a good successor at the time. Plus, he was in a rush because Near was hot on his tail. Someone would have messed it up after Light's passing or it would have been stolen or returned to the death gods causing all crime to return after the fear of Kira was vanquished.
Aki Tanaka
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1"*as clearly shown that the writer wanted to end the series because it was missing his beloved character L*" I would love to have some references to this. As of now, this is more of a fan-theory than an official statement. – Aki Tanaka Sep 30 '17 at 12:56