When looking back on Death Note, fans often think about characters like Light, L, and Ryuk. Though they were very important to the story, the members of the task force, such as Matsuda, seem to be forgotten.
Matsuda was one of the funniest characters in the manga and helped his comrades out a lot despite them not always appreciating him. He was willing to sacrifice himself to save them multiple times and readers could always rely on him to put a smile on their faces despite the series being quite dark. Out of all of his quotes, these are the best.
10 "Man Am I Drunk! Feels Great! How About Some Fresh Air? Hey Everyone, Look At Me! It's The Taro Matsui Show!"
When trying to find clues about the Kira case, the members of Yotsuba caught him spying on them. Knowing that he was in danger, he pretended to be there to talk to them about business.
When L called him to find out what was going on, they devised a plan for Matsuda to live by pretending that he died. He got drunk and "fell" off a balcony. As a result, Higuchi thought that he died and didn't think that he would ever see Matsuda again.
9 "All Right! I'm Gonna Quit The Police And Go After Kira With You, Chief! I've Finally Been Useful Since Some Of My Data Pointed To Yotsuba's Involvement, And I Don't Want To Quit Now. I Also Have My Job As Misa-Misa's Manager, So I Won't Be Unemployed. I Only Got The Job Thanks To Connections Anyway. My Dad Will Be Disappointed, But Who Cares? It Would Be Pathetic To Quit Before Catching Kira."
When the NPA decided to cut ties with L, the members of the task force had to choose who they wanted to work with. Matsuda was eager to continue working with L and Soichiro, saying these words.
However, he wasn't thinking as Aizawa was right next to him and needed to provide for his family. Aizawa temporarily left as Matsuda and the others continued their investigation.
8 "This Is In No Way Meant To Give Credit To Kira, But, Well, In The Past Few Days, There Has Been A Drastic Decrease In The Number Of Violent Crimes Committed Worldwide, Especially In Japan."
Matsuda was the only member of the task force that was able to understand why Kira wasn't purely evil. When he said these words at the beginning of the manga, the other officers around him weren't pleased by his comment.
This showed the readers how different Matsuda was compared to everyone around him and that he wanted to see the good in everyone.
7 "Misa-Misa Was Number One In The Eighteen Magazine Reader Poll! Her Disappearing For Two Months Created Tons Of Buzz And Actually Increased Her Popularity! Come On, Show A Little More Excitement. This Means She'll Be Starring In Director Nishinaka's Next Movie!"
When Light and L got into a fight with each other, the other members of the task force were able to see it through a camera. In order to stop them, Matsuda tried to distract L by calling him and letting him know about Misa's achievements.
As nobody cared about the model's career except for her and Matsuda, L hung up and told Light that Matsuda was acting like an idiot, which Light agreed to. This was one of the funniest moments in the entire series.
6 "We Aren't Alone In This. There Are Other Cops Who're Ready To Stand Up And Fight Kira."
When Misa had Sakura TV play her tapes so that she could meet Kira, several cops tried to stop the broadcast, one of which being Ukita, who was immediately murdered.
When Matsuda saw that there were police officers that weren't part of the task force who wanted to help, he understood that they weren't by themselves. L also saw this and was able to convince the NPA to help Soichiro escape without being seen, as he had also gone to gather the tapes.
5 "L, The Yellow Box Warehouse, It's Been Exactly A Year To The Day Since That Incident, And Now This. Maybe It's Fate. So L's Going To Be Leading This One, Huh? I Don't Feel Up To It."
Matsuda never liked Near. At the end of the manga, Near became the new L and started working on other cases. He requested help from the members of the task force one year after they defeated Kira.
Though Matsuda didn't want anything to do with it, he would always join his teammates on whatever case they needed to solve.
4 "I Don't Need Two Or Three Days. Let Me Do It!"
After Misa learned that Higuchi was the Kira that was working with Yotsuba, the task force devised a strategy to catch him. Matsuda had the biggest role to play. He had to reveal to Higuchi that he was still alive on Sakura TV, which could have potentially killed him if Higuchi were to make a deal for the Shinigami Eyes, see Matsuda again, and write his name in the notebook.
Though this nearly happened, the task force took precautions to ensure Matsuda's safety. Regardless, it was very heroic of Matsuda to be willing to be in that situation.
3 "I'll Make The Deal For The Eyes. The Kidnappers Will Get The Death Penalty Anyway From Everything They've Already Done, And Someone's Got to Do This. We Can't Just Let Them Stay At Large. I'll Do It. We'll Never Get A Chance Like This Again. If Kira Is Telling Us The Truth, Then There'll Only Be A Few People Alive Other Than Mello When We Attack. All We Need To Do Is Hide Our Faces, And There's No Way That We'll Fail."
The plan to catch Higuchi wasn't the only time that Matsuda was willing to sacrifice himself. Later on in the manga, the task force needed to get the notebook back from Mello and the mafia.
In order to learn Mello's name and stop him for good, Matsuda was willing to make a deal for the Shinigami Eyes. However, since Soichiro was the one that gave the notebook to the mafia in the first place, he made the trade and passed shortly after.
2 "I Don't Know If Kira Is Good Or Evil. And I'm Serious When I Say I'd Give My Life To Capture Kira. But I Also Think That Kira Is Fighting Against Evil. Look At The Last Incident. Kira Called Us The Enforcers Of Justice, And Lent Us A Hand In Order To Get The Notebook Back. And As A Result, We Got It Back. I Believe That This Was Possible Because We All Believed In Kira."
Matsuda never lost faith in the idea that Kira had good in him until the very end. After L died and Light took his place, he was able to arrange it so that the task force worked with Kira to fight against Mello.
After the battle, Matsuda told his comrades how he felt, though he would eventually change his mind after finding out who Kira really was the entire time.
1 "You Drove Your Father To His Death. And Now You're Trying To Change The Subject By Telling Me That He Was Made A Fool."
When Near proved that Light was Kira, Matsuda lost faith in both sides of the serial killer. As Light tried to write down his opponents' names, Matsuda shot him. He always had respect for Soichiro and was disgusted in Light for killing his own father.
Trying to use his blood to finish writing their names down, Matsuda shot Light again as everyone else hesitated. He may have been the least serious in the group, but he proved to be the most heroic of his friends.