I'm gonna post my thoughts on Light, the anime, and manga endings. As well as point out what I think some people are missing about the series..
First off, I'm going to say that this will have SPOILERS, which are not going to be hidden, so if you read on, don't blame me. Also, I don't really want a flame war… This is just my thoughts.. so heh.
I'll start by saying that when i first heard about the series, all I heard was 'A notebook where when you write someone's name inside, they will die'. The first thing that came to my head was 'You can get rid of all the rotten criminals'. Little did I know Light was thinking the same thing, I brought this up to say, I consider myself very like Light.. I'm not saying I would have done exactly what he did, but I can sure as hell understand where he was coming from. From my viewpoint, Light started off with a good cause in mind, and slowly, the powers got to his head. We also got a hint of Light's true nature through small outbursts throughout the series. First, Light is considered very calm, cool headed, and very logical. Now, when the Lind L. Taylor(sp?) incident happened, we can be very sure that 1. He wasn't very calm and 2. He wasn't very cool headed.
He had an outburst, he started using a whole page for 1 person's name, and became quite angry... Purpose of bringing this up. Out of Light's character... We see it again when L first approaches Light, when he gets home he is quite angry in his room, and eventually turns into laughing.. Another would be when Sayu was kidnapped.. This was probably the most apparent incident, where true yelling and anger were present..
When Light was using the notebook, If you pay close attention, you can see a shift in character as the series goes on. A lot of people just dismiss it and believe he was always like 'this'.. But I found that when Light smiled or laughed at the beginning, It was more for the reason 'He was getting his way'. He'd laugh when something falls exactly into place.. But later on 'Episode 36 for example'. He was literally having trouble holding in his laughter, not because he was getting his way, but because he was actually going to kill people.. The shift went from getting his way to the actual cause of how he got his way.. I think this became apparent for the first time when Misora Naomi became a victim.. Also, his cold heart was exposed when he decided to kill Takada Kiyomi.
Now some might think i'm just re-telling the series in some weird way, but I'm just trying to build up to the ending.. Now, in the ending there are literally 2 sides...
Side #1 - Light died... Light shouldn't have died.. Light should have won.. Blah blah..
Side #2 - Light was out of character, coward, pathetic... etc.
First off, Side #1 has completely lost the 'point' of the story. Light was my favorite character, probably because of the way I think, I can clearly see why he decides to do what he does, that just made me grow on his character.. But all in all, What Light is doing is wrong. Justice isn't something that can be defined, but it does not mean cold murder. He killed some people for convenience.. As much as Light winning would have been 'cool'. It just couldn't have happened. He wasn't the smartest for one, so he couldn't outsmart everyone forever, he was bound to slip up sometime.. In this case, he slipped by trusting to much in Mikami Teru, who was the sole reason to his loss. Mikami did fuck up.. That can make some Light fans feel a little better I suppose, he was only caught because of Mikami, he didn't screw up himself one could say...
Now for Side #2.. This is the side where I believe people are over-reacting.
Cowardly... Okay. We'll start with "What is a coward?"
according to dictionary.com a coward is :
1.a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.
So its clear this is somewhat true. He had a fear of facing danger, thus his running away... But it could also be looked at in another way.. Having the book in general is danger, being under suspicion is danger. And Light is for sure not easily intimidated.
What he was doing was not cowardly, but rather 'The best choice out of his options'.
(I am referring to the whole anime at this moment, excluding the finale).
Now, at the very ending was Light pathetic, cowardly, etc..
First he finds out he's been tricked with the fake notebook scheme, and Near explains everything to him fact by fact, showing Takada's name in the notebook, etc.
(From this point on I am referring to the manga, because it does a much better job of explaining how the ending is suppose to be portrayed for this argument).
When Near says "If you can talk your way out of this one, by all means please do" or something to that regard, Light falls to the floor holding his head screaming... Its because he knows he cannot talk his way out of this one, he is desperately thinking, and is coming to know answers (We already know he was desperate when he came up with that 2 second thought of 'It's a trap, it has to be a trap because writing a name in a notebook and not dieing doesn't make sense'. That logic for one doesn't make sense, but that much is obvious considering how much time he put into that thought.. After his crazy-man like laugh, which was great voice acting BTW. In the manga, Light regains himself.. He explains in detail what he had tried to accomplish, that his self interests were disregarded throughout his time with the notebook, and that 70% of crime in the world has dissapeared : Quite a feat... When the others disagree, Light immediately assumes they are stupid, because they cannot see basic reason/logic and then attempts his final choice of action 'Writing down near's name, and then trying to persuade the others after'. Which results in him taking several bullets.
Now, this is the part I think people are looking at the wrong way.. Myself being like Light, I can see myself 'losing control' In that situation.. Literally, Jail is probably the scariest thing in life... Alot of shit goes down in there, and I refuse to go near there in my lifetime.. Light has 4 bullets in him, and the police are going to drag him to jail..
Not normal Jail, if you remember what near said, it was "I will lock you away so no person nor sound will ever reach you".. That description is probably the worst thing that could happen.. Could you imagine yourself in a dark cell surrounded by nothing, if people can't reach you, you are obviously blind to the outside world.. No sounds.. Just sitting forever in solitude?? Death is MUCH better. Thats the way I look at things anyway, as for the rolling on the floor begging Ryuk, I admit it doesn't have much class, but can you really say you'd be much different.. I accept I'd probably be in a similar state.. Having Jail and death leaking before you, and having blood leak out of your body in atleast 4 places... Reason and Logic don't come as a priority anymore. We've already seen throughout the series (as mentioned above). That in outbursts he loses his character, this is just a repeat. I don't think its pathetic, I think its a true description of any human would act in that situation. Asking where dead people were (Takada), and where Misa was when he already confirmed she wasn't there, made it clear he couldn't think straight.. asking Ryuk despite knowing Ryuk wouldn't help him.. Obviously he didn't think that far ahead, he was just thinking Ryuk 'might' help him.. And Ryuk has helped Light in the past, finding the camera, fake rules, etc. But this time, if Ryuk helped him, he himself would die.. So its clear that the decision of Ryuk was in his best interest..
This is the way I see the ending. I think it was great. It shows you that bad deeds will eventually get back to you. At first he wasn't trying to be bad, but when he started laughing at killing people.. Thats just plain wrong, and its clear he couldn't have won.. It would have left a bad taste in everyones mouth.. If you think about it, you should agree.. And I hope people can read what I said with an open mind about the 'pathetic' Issue. Because I clearly think otherwise.