When I first read the 12th manga, I did a lot of shrieking and screaming and sobbing manically and sniffling. I felt -so- bad for Light, yet, in a way the death was very beautiful. Not because he lost, but I think the ending illustrates something deeper. All of the main players in the Death Note story, the geniuses for sure - Light, L, Near, and Mello - they are all bastards, in my opinion, but they are fighting for a cause that they believe is right. Ryuk's part in the ending really stuck out to me, and how they talk about how when every human dies, there IS no heaven and hell (which represent Justice) but instead, everybody goes to the same nothingness. And even though Near "wins", the victory turns sour when, in the epilogue, Matsuda mentions that the crime rate has gone up again.
For these reasons, I don't think Light was "evil". He just killed a lot of people on a holy crusade. After all, it is stated that most of the public actually supports Kira, and not out of fear, but because they like what society is becoming. Essentially two groups of people consistently hate Kira - the government and the criminal underworld.
As for Amnesia!Light... I think he's probably the best, and one of the only examples of a genuinely noble person in Death Note. He, and Soichiro Yagami, but Soichiro is a lot more conflicted than Light is. Innocent!Light is such a GOOD person, and during that point in the series we are really contrasting how morally questionable L is.
Power can change a personality, but I also don't think that it's so much a CHANGE as it is an amplifier of certain traits. Light is passionate and analytical - the Death Note emphasized these parts of his personality until he was willing to do whatever it took to win, no matter who or what came in his way.
Also... I despise Near. Grr. He's too apathetic and uncaring to be a hero!
I would love to read your fics, too. :-) Can't wait for them to get typed up!
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When I first read the 12th manga, I did a lot of shrieking and screaming and sobbing manically and sniffling. I felt -so- bad for Light, yet, in a way the death was very beautiful. Not because he lost, but I think the ending illustrates something deeper. All of the main players in the Death Note story, the geniuses for sure - Light, L, Near, and Mello - they are all bastards, in my opinion, but they are fighting for a cause that they believe is right. Ryuk's part in the ending really stuck out to me, and how they talk about how when every human dies, there IS no heaven and hell (which represent Justice) but instead, everybody goes to the same nothingness. And even though Near "wins", the victory turns sour when, in the epilogue, Matsuda mentions that the crime rate has gone up again.
For these reasons, I don't think Light was "evil". He just killed a lot of people on a holy crusade. After all, it is stated that most of the public actually supports Kira, and not out of fear, but because they like what society is becoming. Essentially two groups of people consistently hate Kira - the government and the criminal underworld.
As for Amnesia!Light... I think he's probably the best, and one of the only examples of a genuinely noble person in Death Note. He, and Soichiro Yagami, but Soichiro is a lot more conflicted than Light is. Innocent!Light is such a GOOD person, and during that point in the series we are really contrasting how morally questionable L is.
Power can change a personality, but I also don't think that it's so much a CHANGE as it is an amplifier of certain traits. Light is passionate and analytical - the Death Note emphasized these parts of his personality until he was willing to do whatever it took to win, no matter who or what came in his way.
Also... I despise Near. Grr. He's too apathetic and uncaring to be a hero!
I would love to read your fics, too. :-) Can't wait for them to get typed up!