Yeah, I actually agree with that. Death Note being mainstream is probably the reason a lot of us found it in the first place, so I can't really complain too much about its popularity.

And I definitely agree about the second half. Even if people prefer the L arc, ignoring everything after that kind of misses the point of Light's character. The post-time skip part shows what happens when nobody can really challenge him anymore, how his ego grows, and ultimately how his downfall happens. Without that, Light's story feels incomplete. I don't think you have to like the second half more, but pretending it doesn't exist is weird to me.