It can be seen that the means to its end does not have to be as 'just' when compared to actually catching Kira But nevertheless, when L goes through 'whatever means' to catch Kira, he is also willingly putting his own life on the line to solve a case ...So does this mean I'm implying that L is evil, semi-evil? Well, if anything, 'indirectly evil', as Light can be considered 'indirectly good'. And as obvious, you can say he is plain evil if you believe in Light's morals. Easier said than done.

Now I can't leave this all one sided. Let's assume that L is the moral one, or 'lesser of the two evils' (if I may so strongly say) in this dilemma. If you believe Light is immoral, then it is logical to deduce that L would be moral of the two. Happy? I thought not. =P

(+) As an opposition to Light, L believes in binary oppositions; hot and cold, black and white, good and evil. There is no such thing as 'pure', if there is nothing complementary to prove it's existence. Thus in his mind, there will always be criminals around, regardless of any circumstance. Being anti-Kira, it can be inferred that L believes that there is a balance to be maintained, or else a) why on earth is he a detective b) furthermore, he would be worshipping Kira more than Misa and Teru combined, which is just plain ludicrous.

But it does not at all mean that L is against a world of good. More so, it is Kira's behaviour and methods proving to be vice in L's morals. In his view, playing God is absolutely unacceptable for killing others indiscriminately. Although he does believe that criminals should be punished for their wrong-doings, it doesn't necessarily mean automatic death for them, (taken into consideration of their crime as well). And more importantly, a mass genocide done for the 'greater good' from nothing more than a despicable criminal would be far below just. You can say that L is the rational pluralist in the game of morals. Even though he is Kira's [Light] enemy to the end, there are some common traits to be found.

Just like Light, L holds onto his values and beliefs to admirable extents, causing him to be blunt and stubborn as he is; he never once cleared Light off as being completely innocent regardless of any situation. But it is also his unyielding persistence to keep hold of his beliefs, and his sense of justice that brought him to his demise; he has also sacrificed himself for what he believe was just.

Up until death, L was defending humanity for what it was, instead of what it should be. To him, it was not about people forcing or being forced into beliefs, but them to have their own, and to live by their own. Behind the facade of just catching Kira, and solving the case, it was the sake of having liberty L has long battled for.

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{I know, horrid digressions. And yes, the last paragraph was insanely biased compared to the others I wrote for. Analyzing him was forsakenly difficult, since L does not spout out what justice is, but more so, what he does. Sooo, this is what I inferred, interpretted and whatnot. Wait, why the heck am I apologizing for what I think?!}

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:: Personal Insight [aka Spamful Rants] ::

To add onto my overwhelming bias, I love L. I'd have a fangirlism attack about now, but I love L to such an unfathomable extent, that I wouldn't know where to start. L being loveable, is of course, an axiom, itself. Having him being the quirky super smart oddball, it's hard to believe that people hate him. Or maybe that's just my blind ignorance, but who knows... How can you L-haters hate L?!! But since it is, in fact, possible to hate him, let the Defend L Game begin!

1] The series would have not progressed at all without L... 'nuff said
2] He can kick the living garbage out of Light.
3] Do YOU know any other character who is as eccentric as L?
4] He satisfies the haters by dying X__x

But has my world ended, has the Death Note series crumble since L's untimely... permanent disappearance? Does it enrage me so? For all stated beforehand, no. For one, I already knew [damn them spoilers to hell!], and two, his death makes me love his character even more. Dying for a cause; it's an Aerith [ff7] kind of situation. Sure, it would have been wonderful that he could have sent Light to his execution with his own bare hands, but that didn't happen now did it? That, and to be quite honest,it would be a bit too much on the cliche side. And then you wouldn't get to see Light tortured like that in the end, now wouldn't you?

Also, if this will make things better, Rem did Light's dirty work 6= I know, Light planned it all, but didn't technically 'kill' L, now did he? Direct intention to kill, but killing L indirectly XP And to mess with your mind even more, L indirectly killed Light. With his little minions, he did. [I love both Mello and Near, so hush]. Alive or not, L still won in the end [The same goes for Light... freaky chapter 108 cult, much?]. And even though he died, he at least died knowing he was right... Or that would've crushed his pride completely. o_o

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PS [in regards of ep. 25]: They had to put so much filler for chp 58 o_o 'Twas all good, it's just that... the death scene in my head... is better o_o Well, music-wise... You HAD to play requiem of all songs when L died?!

But I love how they used his flashbacks as his final 'thought'. Beautiful. Music... not so beautiful. Filler beforehand... still entertaining. Lolita Misa breaking out into song and killing people, L and Light having awkward moments concerning with frolicking in the rain... Religious or not, it's hilariously strange eye-candy.

But if that pisses off elite fans, then my interpretation which I've learned in art class: the importance of bare feet is that it represents mortality; being on "holy" ground... yes, religion it is. They make it so unforsakenly religious in the show, but it's all good... although not the scary choir singing I stick to my twangy melancholic guitar tunes within the DN OST =)

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:: OOL ['out of L'] instances ::

Comparing the manga L to the anime L, there are a few times where L... just seems so off, that it looks TOO off. And the one thing I don't get whatsoever, is why the anime tries so hard to limit L's goofiness, but instead, makes him goofier in the process. [They won't show L eating the donut in the manga, but makes him lick it so ridiculously in the show? And they completely cut him out when he looks hilarious in the manga and replaces his expression with non-expressional pauses ON OTHER PEOPLE: