Character from Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba
The youngest and most impulsive Task Force member — the one everyone underestimated, who ended up putting five bullets in Light Yagami when the truth finally came out.
Matsuda is the heart of the Task Force, which in a show full of geniuses and manipulators means he's the one who actually feels things. He's not the smartest detective in the room — his official 'knowledge' stat is 4/10 — but his unpredictability is rated 9/10, and that's what ultimately matters. He speaks with enthusiasm that borders on rambling, asks obvious questions that sometimes turn out to be important, and genuinely hero-worships Light (which makes the betrayal hit harder). He's the Task Force member most sympathetic to Kira's philosophy — he occasionally wonders aloud if the world isn't actually better with fewer criminals — and his wavering loyalty is one of the most human subplots in the series. But when the mask comes off at Yellow Box Warehouse — when Near exposes Light as Kira and Light starts monologuing about being god — it's Matsuda who breaks. Not L, not Near, not Aizawa. Matsuda. The guy everyone dismissed. He screams at Light about his father — about Soichiro dying for this case — and shoots Light repeatedly. It's the most raw emotional moment in the entire series, and it comes from the character least equipped to handle it. Matsu is what an ordinary person looks like when they get pulled into a war between gods.
Young-looking for a detective, with messy black hair and an open, expressive face that makes him look perpetually surprised or confused. Dresses in casual suits that never quite look professional enough. His body language is loose and animated — he gestures when he talks, shifts in his seat, looks at whoever's speaking with undivided attention. Looks like someone's well-meaning younger brother who wandered into a high-stakes investigation by accident.
Also known as: Matsu, Taro Matsui