Misa and Matsuda Appreciation Rant
Everyone’s changing their opinion on Misa recently. Talking about how she has gone through so much, and is much smarter than she is given credit for.
She managed to blackmail and threaten Light into being her boyfriend, and coax out Higuchi’s confession of being Kira with little to no effort. Misa is also a great actress, model, and has many fans. Despite leaving traces of evidence here or there, Misa was untraceable in her video tapes to Sakura TV, and managed to find Light before he found her. That’s simply remarkable.
Despite her parents being murdered at an early age, she stayed smiling and happy, so much so she was able to maintain a career as a model and an actress, and always have the optimistic, positive demeanor we see on her during Death Note. When given the Death Note, she did not use it for her own selfish gain, but instead to help Kira’s cause. Unfaltering and bold, she knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it. We may call Misa dumb, but in reality, can we really judge her when not only has she been through so much, but we ourselves may have not even pulled it off any better?
And on that note, we can also talk about our dearest cinnamon roll, Matsuda.
Touta is like a less annoying version of Misa. Throughout his time on the Task Force, he remained faithful and smiling despite everything, with the threat of death constantly looming over his head and his self-esteem being battered all the time by everyone around him.
Not the brightest or the most aware of the bunch, Matsuda still worked his way into the National Police Agency, even gaining a seat beside his well-respected Chief during an Interpol meeting. He would’ve had to work so much harder than everyone to get himself there.
During the Yotsuba Arc, Matsu took many risks, but it was his risk-taking that, in the end, alongside Misa, brought Higuchi down. Like Misa, they can both be unseeming in their appearance, attitude, and the way they go about things, but they’ve all got tricks and hard work and many obstacles overcame up their sleeves.
And let us not forget, Matsuda was quite close to Light, to the point where Light can be called Matsu’s close friend, if not best friend. Matsuda and Ide can be seen discussing this some time after the Kira case ended in a car.
Matsuda SHOT his best friend, and that shot condemned him. Light died. Kira was dead. Matsuda took down Kira in the end. He had to cope with the fact that he was lied to, that the person he trusted and worked for was their foe all along, that his respected chief Soichiro died for nothing, and L and Ukita and all the rest died for nothing because he and Aizawa and Mogi didn’t believe L.
Even if it wasn’t his fault, humans are inclined to blame themselves for things such as this. Imagine what grief and agony Matsuda must’ve faced, as a more sensitive and caring soul than the others, the one who actually opened up to the others to provide comic relief in the most solemn moments.
Matsuda kept a smile on his face for the rest of his detective carrier, a picture of Light always in his wallet, and smiled on through the rest of his life. He kept his optimism and sunny attitude throughout the whole series and beyond. All the way to his deathbed, he smiled for the others and shouldered his pain alone.
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s incredibly valuable.
(I may have gotten some things wrong, please do correct me if that is so.)