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I went into watching Death Note with no prior experience or understanding about basically anything. I didn't recognize the characters from anywhere and I never saw any episodes or parts of the manga. So it was as blind as it gets

Right away the show starts off strong. I was worried it was going to be a few episodes of the main character learning about his powers and they'd drag it out, but they very much don't- within one episode he experiments with his powers and he immediately starts concocting his long term plans.

The early arcs are good - one of the most interesting things about Light's early arc is how he realizes not only can he bring death to people, but that he specifically can control how they die, and the show does a good job showing how he experiments with this and bolsters his understanding of what he can and can't get away with. His early interactions with L and being outsmarted at first makes these developments even more interesting. Light's fairly instantaneous seizing of the opportunity and cunning schemes make his plotline very fun to watch, and it is not at all the somewhat boring male anime protagonist kind of trope I've come to expect. Light's refusal to take the red eyes deal is also very satisfying, as it shows his resolve to become the new world leader as long as he can.

At first I thought the second Death Note was going to have an enormous impact on the show, in a "battle between two users" kind of way, and that wasn't really the case. Although the second Death Note still is important, I like the way that the show still centered around Light and his manipulation of the second Death Note via Misa.

The arc around Light giving up his Death Note to inevitably get it back later is awesome. The way the anime tells the story is very good - they don't really explicitly tell you much about his plan, and they let it unfold. Watching Light turn back into his "normal" self without the Death Note lets you connect with his good natured character (even though in the first episode before the first Death Note, he wasn't really like this). It's hard to feel like you're rooting for the bad guy, but once you figure out what's going on, I also felt like I wanted him to get it back and see how it unfolds.

Without any shadow of a doubt, my least favorite part of the show is the plot and pacing around the time that Light has Rem kill L and Watari. I get what they were going for - the idea is that Light begins to become so cunning and powerful that he manipulates Rem, a Shinigami, into doing his bidding and taking the fall for it. And although that's an interesting idea, it feels like the entire fight between Light and L comes to a screeching halt and is not at all satisfying. It's like all the ideas of Light & L concocting clever ways to track each other are instantly discarded because of Rem's whims to protect Misa. The whole show until this point was humans interacting with the Death Note in fascinating ways, while the Shinigamis watch, which is the whole point of them appeasing their boredom, and then a Shinigami levels the playing field entirely. And I understand that this arc is to set up the next one with the Wammy's House, but it feels like L went down without a proper way to fight at the end and I don't like it.

Afterwards, it does take a bit to get used to the arcs with Near and Mello - they are fine characters, but the stark contrast of them being introduced immediately after L's death is a little weird. In particular, the show makes it feel as if Light has achieved total victory over L and basically the world, then within an episode or two, Near and Mello come out of (what feels like) nowhere and Light is basically back to square one for having to do the song & dance of defending himself against an incoming threat. I wonder if the manga handles this transition from L's death to Near & Mello any differently.

Also around this time, it's interesting to think about the presence of the multiple Death Notes flying around, between Sidoh's, Rem's and Gelus'. And when you piece together Ryuk never gives his up the entire show, it's satisfying.

The final few arcs of the show are good. I liked the supporting characters between Takada and Mikami supporting Light's initiatives, but Near being one step ahead of them. Gevanni tracking Mikami's movements is interesting and fun to follow - you know that he knows what's going on because he doesn't see a Shinigami after touching the fake notebook, but the show keeps it vague until the final stretch. In some ways it's a little silly, because there was no real way to piece together the double swap that Near pulls off with Mikami and the bank (because as far as I can tell they don't talk about his safety deposit box at all), so realistically the viewer is going to just emptily nod along through this explanation, but it's also not a big deal.

Ryuk's character is very good. He clearly recognizes that Light is extremely smart and probably smarter than he is himself. But the show does a great job of making the dynamic between them very clear - although Light is cunning and agile, Ryuk will always be a Shinigami and has the final say on matters of death, which is very evident in the final episode. Ryuk comes across as an aloof and comical character at times, but is quite serious and pensive at just the right moments.

The ending is good - it ends as it should. I wasn't sure if they were going to pull off an insane caper where Light takes everything and wins, but I think the pained expression on Light's face as he dies while Ryuk writes his name in his own Death Note is excellent. I did read that the manga's ending is a little different and has back & forth between Light and Ryuk, but it's a similar idea.

Great show, I had no expectations and it was a thrill to watch. I enjoyed the first ~15 episodes a ton, felt a little bit of fatigue in the middle part, but very much enjoyed the final stretch.