NuRm667 wrote:
Da_Sombras wrote:
NuRm667 wrote:
The one criticism I have of L that I liked Near for is that I always felt it was a mistake by L to have Light as part of the investigation when Light was his biggest suspect. (granted, that was of a 5% margin).
Near never made that mistake.
L did that to keep Light close. L knew Light was Kira. Regardless of actual probability, he knew it. But he didn't have the hard evidence he wanted, so he kept him close. That's basically why he revealed himself to Light t begin with, to keep him close while at the same time preventing him from making any hasty action that would prove he was Kira. Near didn't do that because there was no reason to, and the way things were set up, it was for the best that Light continued working for the Task Force.
I don't hate Near. I like L far more, and I really only like Near because he was some substitute for L, as well has led to the downfall of Kira. However, I understand why a lot of people would dislike him. He's a cheap copy of L, he was a small child that just sat around playing with toys and yet just didn't give off the impression that he could really be as good as L.
I understand why he did it, but I still think it was a dumb move. You knew what Light was up to, but Light also knew what you were up to. That left Light the opportunity to discretely mess with the investigation. Do you really think Light's going to help you catch Kira when he IS Kira? I don't know, I would have never done things that way. That's why I felt Near took the appropriate route. He only had people on his team that he could trust. That's why I can't give Near the total credit. Giovanni I think deserves just as much for the stuff he pulled for the SPK if you really think about it.
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Meh, it did create a level playing field in that sense, but by being so close to your subject means that if he makes a major slip, even for a nanosecond, you're right there to catch them. Even some of the cleverer criminals can make stupid mistakes. Also, Light could hardly have manipulated the investigation detrimentally without L noticing, and he could then point out that Light was doing so, since it was clear from the beginning that he thought that Light was Kira. So at worst it's neutral, with a couple possible net advantages. Of course, by being so close to Light, he ended up becoming emotionally connected to him, which slightly damaged the investigation.
It's worth noting that there was at least one (probably two) moles in the SPK, and that Mello managed to kill off most of them. So, it wasn't that solid a group.
As for why I "hate" Near, it just didn't feel like he deserved to be the one who broke Light. He was basically L- he had a similar way of talking, he also had a gimmick, like L had his chocolates, and he approached the Kira issue in the same methodical manner. It felt to me like the writer realized that he wanted to keep the series going, but would have to kill L to do so, and then didn't really have a good replacement handy. Mello was a fun character though, so I'm uncertain why he was given such a secondary role.
The thing about L that I loved so much is that not only was he a character with depth, but he was just such an incredible detective. He figures out that Light is Kira extremely quickly, corners him several times, Light having to use magical powers to force his way out of suspicion. Yet, L keeps suspecting him. Then, Light stops being Kira. To me, this was basically giving up, if only for the time being. L had caught him and Misa, he knew they were Kira, so he gave up being Kira until it would be convenient for him to be Kira again. Yet, even when Light was completely innocent, L still knew what was going on. In fact, at one point, HE COMPLETELY DEDUCED EXACTLY WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
Then, when Light regains his memory, he not only has that period of innocence, he also alters the notebook so that it looks like there's no way for him to be Kira. To describe how fair this is, imagine your playing a game of chess, and you basically checkmate your opponent. Your opponent admits defeat, and wants a rematch. However, he doesn't have to reset his pieces; and he gets the ones he lost back. So L is basically trapped by Light's innovative tricks, yet he keeps pushing. L, in fact, manages to figure out which rule is fake, and things get so bad that Light has to trick Rem into killing L in order to assure his safety.
Near never had this risk- up until the very end, when he did pull a gambit worthy of his idol, he just sat on the sidelines, goading Light. He gathered information, certainly, but much of it was information that was provided by L's death, or information that L would have known (the people on the task force, who would take his place). In addition, when you take note that they couldn't have pulled off that final gambit without some assistance from Mello, Near really didn't do that much.
It just feels like Near was an L clone without as much depth or personality to him, and I would have perferred that a better character- L, or even Mello, have gotten the victory at the end.
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