Death Note Profile: Touta Matsuda

Death Note Profile: Who is Touta Matsuda?

8/3/2016

Touta Matsuda is a character in the manga Death Note. A young Japanese police-officer who volunteers to enter the task force investigating Kira.

The youngest and most cheerful member of the task-force, he often acts the clown. This led to a popular internet meme around the catchphrase, 'Matsuda, you fool!'

Sometimes this tomfoolery was acted out in favour of the investigation, for example when Matsuda played the role of talk-show host in a bid to trap the Death Note using Yotsuba Group.

A family friend of the Yagami family - of whom patriarch Soichiro is his direct supervisor at work - Matsuda loyally stands by Light, refusing to believe that the teenager could be Kira.

One of the key dramatic points of the climatic scene revolves around Matsuda's shock that this loyalty had been exploited. It is Touta Matsuda who shoots Light Yagami, thus saving Near's life.

The Names of Touta Matsuda

This Death Note character is alternatively known as:

松田桃太
Touta Matsuda
Matsuda Touta
Tōta Matsuda
Matsuda Tōta
Tota Matsuda
Matsuda Tota

松井太郎
Taro Matsui
Matsui Taro
Tarō Matsui
Matsui Tarō
Matsu
Matsuda

山下太一郎
Taichiro Yamashita
Yamashita Taichiro
Taichirō Yamashita
Yamashita Taichirō

Matsuda's Vital Statistics

Hair Colour:
Black

Height:
5' 7" (170.18cm)

Eye Colour:
Brown

Weight:
9 stone 3lbs (130lbs; 58.9kg)

Occupation:
Police officer

Relationship Status:
Single

Key Dates for Matsuda

December 14th 1978:

December 14th 1981:

Touta Matsuda born

Manga

Anime

Matsuda's Lifespan Through Shinigami Eyes as Seen by Mikami

As Teru Mikami peeps into the Yellow Box Warehouse and glimpses each person with his shinigami eyes, the true name and lifespan of Matsuda is revealed. He is Matsuda Touta, whose life dates are 5 4 8 1 9 2. However those are within the Death God calendar to which mere mortals are not privy. Nor is there any overt hidden meaning here from the creators. By now, Tsugumi Ohba has just indicated that numbers should be present and Takeshi Obata has inserted those which seemed aesthetically pleasing.

Auguries of Matsuda

Born on December 14th, astrologically Touta Matsuda is Sagittarius

Matsuda's birth date of December 14th 1978 (manga) also factors into Shēngxiào. He is an Earth Horse in the Chinese Zodiac

However, the time-slip of the anime would have him born in 1981 instead. That means that now in the Chinese Zodiac Touta Matsuda is a Metal Rooster

How to Read: Death Note 13 reveals that Touta Matsuda's blood group is B

An Unpredictable Clown? The Personality of Death Note's Matsuda

Touta Matsuda is billed as a fashionable young man; a typical mainstream individual excited by the latest trends in popular culture, however they manifest. This has led him to being viewed as shallow or fickle by those around him. A man so caught up in the razzmatazz of events like the choosing of Kira's television spokesperson, that he doesn't seem to even register the distaste nor danger inherent in such a spectacle.

Tsugumi Ohba, in How to Read, states that Touta has an innocent heart (hence his loyalty and compassion in believing that Light is not Kira) and an inferiority complex. The latter is due to his constant exposure to quite brilliant people.

His excitable, hasty actions label him as somewhat of a trouble-maker within the Japanese Kira task-force. However, these same traits may manifest as daring, courage and quick-thinking. Matsuda is able to extract himself and others from dangerous scenarios by exploiting how others view him and through applying some of that daring speed of mind.

Also in How to Read, Matsuda's ability chart scores highly for unpredictability, with lesser scores - but still a mention - for creativity, intelligence, initiative, social skills and emotional strength.