Is Near worse than L? Well, that's what I'll be talking about in today's blog post! But first! There will be some spoilers for Death Note. So proceed with caution! Disliking Near is a common theme within the Death Note fandom. Fans of Near don't usually like L, and fans of L don't usually like Near. Fans of the anime say Near is better in the manga, and his anime counterpart is usually disregarded. People say he's a much worse version of L, since he's more apathetic and childish. However, I disagree. I'm a fan of both Near and L, and I think they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. Near is good in the anime and manga, and many fans only look down on him because they were angry over L's death. The second half of the anime may have been rushed, but there are quite a few scenes where both Mello and Near shine despite their lack of screentime. The Death Note one shots also show how good of a character Near can be. Even though many fans like him even less after seeing how uncaring he can really be, I think it just shows how dedicated to his work he is. Near isn't completely uncaring, he just has a job to do. Near isn't worse than L, he just isn't L. I personally like seeing how much Near has developed over time; and he's slowly but surely becoming his own character away from L's legacy. But, those are mostly just my thoughts on this topic. I just wanted to talk about this because there's still a bit of a divide between the Death Note fans even now. Nonetheless, I hope you all still enjoyed this blog post!