"And he would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for that meddling kid!"

[absolutecorrupt]

Near seems to get a lot of hate, particularly in the Light Yagami Facebook fan page.

Comments

[nesshelper]

Near can't be blamed for the Idiot Plot that was plaguing the Near arc in general. Only thing we can really blame him for is claiming him + Mello surpasses L. For starters, Mello's interference would have easily been dealt with had Light AND Mikami not been victims of Idiot Plot Disease. Really, Mikami wasn't told and didn't figure that individual pieces of the DN are just what's needed--but figuring that much out is quite plausible when he was on an order to send 5 pages of the DN to Takada then fake personally killing the criminals via those 5 pages. Really, it was too much trouble to not have emergency paper with Mello out there, a criminal to be sure but still alive and having proven himself in the past to be a downright big-time nuisance to Light AND Near (wow, they actually have something in common: issues with Mello). It's like:

Light (thinking): I will tell Takada to keep DN paper on her person for emergencies that will most likely be caused by Mihael Keehl AKA Mello the guy who took over the MAFIA from scratch, but not Mikami whose life and servitude I value more.

Tell me what's wrong with that picture. I know Mikami was on orders to do nothing unnecessary, but some emergency paper would have covered seemingly necessary stuff. Killing Takada after her kidnapping may have turned out to be unnecessary (Light's watch trick and all), but emergency paper would have eliminated any need to go to the bank.

And don't get me started on Light making sure Mikami wouldn't enter the freaking warehouse, at least making sure that Light uses a password and Mikami would only enter if Light says it. He has used that sort of ploy to jump-start his Memory Gambit, after all.

Anyway, continuing the Near + Mello surpasses L thing, need I point out that Mello DIED? So even if Near + Mello surpassed L, who would have busted Light if Rem didn't get in the way (hell, he ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED in catching Light in the films, no Idiot Plot OR Reapers helping him), Mello DIED for it, making sure that Near is less than L after dealing with a guy he calls "nothing but a murderer." (Honestly, I'm really divided on my viewpoint of Light. I can't say he was the least bit wise, though...hmm, maybe his idiocy in the Near arc WAS intentional.)

At least Near has some humility about it though. So maybe he would learn to surpass L on his own in the future, if not during the series itself.