I think the recent uprising of Near posts has really made me appreciate the character more, he's a pretty neat dude actually! I guess I've always kinda overlooked him because Mello is much more boisterous, I was still torn about L's death and because he really does resemble L a lot which puts him at an immediate disadvantage because now he has to prove that he's 'worthy of being his own person', kinda. Do you think he might have been more popular if he had a more unique, less L-ish design?
Honestly I didn’t really like Near at all my first time through the series way back in the day when I just watched the anime! I think that’s a shame now, because after I read the manga recently I completely changed my mind, and Near became one of my top faves.
I think Near sometimes gets overlooked for several reasons:
1- he had to replace L, and a lot of people missed the fun of the first arc’s fast-paced, intimate rivalry between L and Light. L is a beloved character and the series’ writing is at its best during L’s half of Death Note, so it was a very tough act for Near to follow.
2- Mello is always stirring up shit and moving all over the place, whereas Near acts pretty stoic and does lots of sitting and playing with toys. People often see this as Near being kind of apathetic and boring in comparison to Mello, but I’d honestly argue that Near displays a lot more genuine feeling and care toward other people than Mello does! Mello has very dramatic/extra schemes and occasionally hilarious facial expressions and such, but he also hardly bats an eye when he’s murdering innocent people or his cronies are dropping dead all around him. The one time in the manga that Mello truly outdoes Near emotionally is in that first scene when they’re little kids, in my opinion. Mello’s fun because of his dramatic plans and his inferiority complex, but I’d say Near’s actually got a lot of interesting plans as well, plus a much greater depth of emotion and compassion for others.
3- I don’t think the anime does Near’s character justice at all, to be honest; it’s way more apparent to me in the manga that he’s funny and full of personality and not just a lesser version of L. We get more in-depth scenes with him and his hobbies and humour and philosophies, and he doesn’t come off nearly as poker-faced and blase about everything. Anyone who’s just watched the anime is kinda missing out on a lot of Near’s charm, I’d say.
4- I also think Near’s overlooked a bit by fans because his design makes people write him off as less crush-worthy / shippable than the other characters. He looks pretty childish and acts very unsensual. People LOVE shipping rivals, so I’d imagine his relationship with Mello would definitely be the second most popularly shipped one in the fandom (after Lawlight) if say his design and quirks had been swapped with Matt’s or something. As it is now, there are waaaay fewer Meronia fics than MattxMello fics out there, even though Matt barely existed at all in either the manga or anime. Nothing against MattxMello, they’ve got their own cute dynamic, too… but I do think that’s a shame, because Near’s definitely one of the best written, most complex characters in the series!
