I really love Light Yagami as a character. It's so refreshing to read about a protagonist that is confident, assured and downright selfish rather than the usual beta MC people pleaser we see these days. Light doesn't do anything for his friends, his family, to save the world or to become a great warrior. He's purely fuelled by his own ego to outsmart his opponents and have the power to kill others when he pleases (that's the real reason he uses the Death Note, the peaceful world is just a pretext.)

Most of the other characters were great too, even if the main antagonists were a bit young to be believable and the mangaka tried too hard to make them eccentrics. The main female MC is probably the worst one, the way she fawns over Light even when it's obvious he is just using her becomes too apparent in some scenes, and other characters never point it out to her even when they have reason to do so. She felt too much like a plot device.

I know a lot of people dislike the second half of Death Note but I personally enjoyed it all the same, it was an interesting change of pace and led to a very satisfying and fitting ending for the series.

Death Note is one of the best psychological thrillers not just in manga but any medium, the plot twists and turns so many times and you have no idea how it's all going to turn out, it's dark and brutal without being edgy, and the lore and concept of Death Notes is interesting and a lot of fun. There's a lot of test in the series as you see the characters interior monologues as they guess and second guess themselves and each other about what to do next so be prepared for a lot of reading. I'd recommend this series to anyone, even those who don't like comics or manga.