Eh, death note started alright tomme. I got pretty hooked, then it kind of got loose during the middle. For me the moment after L is basically the ending.
After that I just lose my interest, other than seeing the characters grow older and how Light becomes more and more selfish I don't really have the same hold from beginning. L was pretty charismatic, so replacing it witha character taht is eeriely similar to him was a movement that hinder the process of get over his death without feeling he was being blatantly replaced. A character that acts similar and does what he did makes us feel cheated, like the anime could have continued without his dead. Then again I am not sure how I'd feel if L was replaced with someone completely different from him.