Matsuda (episode)

Matsuda (松田, Matsuda) is the nineteenth episode of the Death Note anime series.

Synopsis
Touta Matsuda, one of the members of the Japanese Task Force, feels inferior due to his lack of findings in the Kira case. Hoping to make his own contribution to the case, he decides to snoop around the Yotsuba Group and do his own research.

He finds evidence that the Yotsuba Kira is in the building but before he can act he is apprehended by the eight businessmen. Using the fake identity card Watari gave to him, he poses as Misa Amane's manager, Taro Matsui. He proposes having Misa featured in the Yotsuba commercial campaign while simultaneously contacting L via his modified belt buckle.

Worried that the Yotsuba Group may be getting suspicious of Matsuda and that the Yotsuba Kira might try something, L instructs Matsuda what he has to do next. Pretending to be intoxicated, Matsuda does a handstand on the beam of the balcony, despite being several stories up. Purposely slipping, Matsuda falls off of the beam and manages to avoid death with help from the Task Force. A mattress had been set up so that it was sticking out of one of the lower balconies; acting as a ramp, it catches Matsuda and rolls him onto the floor of the balcony. The businessmen scatter amidst in panic; unaware that Matsuda has survived, the group is ultimately glad that he fell before Kira was forced to deal with him.

Some time having passed, the Yotsuba Group is seen having another meeting, in which Arayoshi Hatori wants to opt out for fear that they will be caught and that he will have to pay for Kira's actions with his life. In response, the other members tell him that, having said this, he will probably end up dead in the coming day anyway. Realizing that they are right, Hatori insists that he was merely joking, though this is met with blank stares, as everyone knows that there is no taking back what was said, and that Hatori will soon be dead.

Trivia

 * As heard in this episode, Matsuda's ringtone is Alumina.