Discussion: Touta vs. Tadashi

Good evening, mi loves! 💛

For tonight’s discussion, we’ll be discussing Touta Matsuda from the DNAU and Tadashi Sato from Coalesce. This is one comparison that I’ve been looking forward to for the longest time, considering that both characters (especially Tadashi) are very close to my heart. 

We’ll be going back to the source material for this one, so if you’re unfamiliar with Death Note’s canon, then I’ll be explaining quite a bit of it in the post! It’s pretty much needed if you want to understand how Touta’s shifted when it came to DNAU, and how Tadashi improved as a character come the time of Coalesce. As much as possible, don’t skip the background—it might be a little confusing to go in without really understanding who the original sourced character is. 

Without further ado, let’s start! Click the “read more” below if you’d like to keep going. 

"Let's go!" 

In the Death Note canon, Touta Matsuda was a member of the National Police Authority before he and a number of police were invited by L to work with him on the Kira case. Mastoid was one of the younger ones, known for his lighter, jollier attitude. A running gag in the series was how the others would view Matsuda as a naive and unproductive agent, him being slow on the uptake at times and more often than not being used as the typical comedic relief. As the series progressed, however, Matsuda grew a bit out of his role as the joker and got more and more serious until the last chapter of the series. No spoilers (read the manga or watch the anime!), but if you’ve managed to read the manga or watch the episodes, then you would know which exact moment I’m referring to. 

When it comes to DNAU, time and his experience in being part of the Kira case left marks and impacts on is character. While still humorous fro time to time, Touta would be the calm and wise figure to everyone in the workplace. As he would be working in HQ, Touta would be regarded as one of the more experienced people in the place, considering his strange record of managing to keep alive after so many years and so many different circumstances. 

But back to Touta in the DNAU. Most of the time, he’s was featured with DNAU!A. He and A were the closest of friends, despite it not being too obvious. A would snap at him from time to time as he would most likely reprimand her for her careless actions. A would find herself nearly reducing his arm to black bruises after a hard night of drinking, and Touta would simply be there to sober her up. There was something about A—and later, Squad A—that drew him to them all. While initially being set as A and Peters’ mentor at the very beginning, the three of them eventually came together as one Squad, with Mack joining in only a few years later. 

The Touta of the DNAU is weary and tired, but hopeful. He’s someone who remains on the calmer quite frequently; after years of going through what he’s been through, most things at this point seem to be pieces of cake. He remains a father figure and a friend to all, wanting as much as possible for the people he holds close to not be afraid to approach him. After all, he had been in their position once—and as things went on, he found that it wasn’t quite the best to go at things alone. He’s assumed responsibility as the father figure of SA, and while he isn’t as vocal about it, would go at great lengths as to keep everyone in his care safe. 

"I do my best."

Bringing in Tadashi, I think it’s fair to say that whatever core elements that Touta had somewhat remain. These include his intense care for his friends, family, and team, as well as his willingness to prevent anything bad to happen to them. The general sense of weariness is amplified in Tadashi’s case for particular reasons revealed in his arc. While both Touta and Tadashi have gone through horrible things in their prior experiences, it might be fair to say that the effects on Tadashi are even more prominent than Touta (who retained some happiness even in Death Note’s post-canon). 

Tadashi is a warm-hearted and giving individual who wants everything to be okay. Once more, he’s the oldest figure in his Squad, but instead of taking on a fatherly role, he generally acts as their older brother considering that Aether, Peters, and Mack are roughly within the same ages as one another. This is something that he knows well—so as much as possible, he wants them to learn but also to prioritise themselves. There’s some sort of irony in this, however; as much as he wants to take care of them, a big flaw in Tadashi is his inability to properly care for himself. This is something that is to be reflected throughout his arc and would be mentioned from time to time during the general course of Coalesce; with this mind, if you’ve read the Parental shorts, then it would definitely feel more hypocritical for Tadashi to demand Aether to care for herself when he can barely do the same. 

At this point, it might be worth asking why Tadashi has a Japanese name when his face claim, Gong Yoo, is a Korean. To clear things—this was intentional! Tadashi’s name contributes to his story and is a big part of it. Yes, Tadashi Sato isn’t his birth name, but it’s a name that he holds very closely to the fact of not wanting to be referred to as his real name. His real name is to be revealed eventually, and it would tie in with the reason why we find him in that particular state during the first chapter. 

His story is one that personally means a lot to me; without spoiling much, I find that it’s something that warrants a lot more discussion. The first two chapters have given a considerable number of hints about his wellbeing, and his overall journey in his arc includes having to recognize what happened to him and what to do about his current situation. The Tadashi featured in the different non-linear shorts posted is very much different from the Tadashi we see during his arc; there’s a lot of growth that happens, but what has yet to be shown is the stumbles he takes along the way. There’s going to be a lot of stumbling and a lot of missteps on Tadashi’s part, admittedly; as kindhearted and giving as he is, it’s interesting to consider that he actually can be pretty selfish at his worst moments. 

And with that, this rambles is closed! Thanks for checking this out, everyone! I'll be shifting the blog's layout in a couple of hours to reflect the last character being featured. Honestly, it shouldn't be hard to guess who it is considering everyone who's been shown so far. 🌹