WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOTH THE MANGA AND ANIME!

Instead of doing the typical pros and cons lists, instead I think it's better to just compare the things I liked and didn't like about the manga with what I liked and didn't like about the anime.

To start things off, I saw the anime first, so I am admittedly more partial to it. Despite this, the manga I would say was just as good. The two follow essentially the same story, only differing in a couple minor points and the ending which I will touch upon later.

As for the manga, it did one thing that in hindsight was a pretty stupid plot point in the anime that didn't need be there, and omitted it (or rather the anime unnecessarily added it in.) That being the mentioning of L and Naomi's former colleagueship. The fact that the manga didn't include this made the brilliant, but admittedly, already confusing plot that much less confusing.

My one main gripe about the manga comes in the form of how L's death is handled. It just came out of nowhere and didn't give the reader any time to really feel the impact of it. As cheesy as the foot-washing scene in the anime was, it did give the audience a reminder of L and Light's supposed friendship after a long period of seeing them interact as business partners. While I do think the manga does a much better job of making it's biggest surprise that much more surprising, it lacks the emotional weight that made that part so powerful in the anime.

I really liked the way the manga ended....well.... sort of. The added epilogue of Aizawa and Matsuda conversing about previous events on their way to helping Near with another case was a very nice addition and led to a very satisfying conclusion to these characters. The way the manga ends, also, with the reveal of a secret Kira worshipping cult, I thought was brilliant. The only thing I liked better about the anime was the implication if Misa's death. Granted, they don't mention anything about it in the anime, but in the manga they don't even bother to trying close the arc of her eminent death caused by trading the eyes twice.

Anyways, this was still a great read. It made me appreciate the anime that much more due to the sheer faithfulness it had to the source material. The source material in itself, on it's own though, is still pretty great also. Check it out when you can.