Masahiko Kida is the Yotsuba Eight’s designated point of contact with the outside world — specifically with Eraldo Coil, the detective alias the group unknowingly hires to hunt down L, who is actually L himself. Kida survives the fall of the conspiracy only to be killed later, along with the rest of the Eight, once Light purges every remaining witness to the notebook’s corporate chapter.
A lean, sharp-featured 32-year-old man with straight dark hair parted to the side and rectangular spectacles, always in high-end executive suits.
Calculating, cautious, and composed — disciplined enough to be trusted with the group’s most sensitive outside negotiations. He views the Death Note purely as a shortcut past normal corporate competition, and his belief that money solves everything leads him to seriously underestimate both L and Light.
Born to two biology professors, Kida graduated from To-oh University’s science department — the same school as Light and L — and rose to Vice President of Rights and Planning at Yotsuba’s Tokyo office. He was married at the time of his death.
Once the Yotsuba Group gets hold of a Death Note, Kida becomes a core member of the secret weekend meetings choosing corporate targets. When the group realizes it’s under investigation, Kida is chosen to handle contact with the detective they’ve hired, Eraldo Coil — not realizing Coil is actually L. He negotiates directly with him by phone, at one point offering an extra $2.5 million just to get him to reveal his face and work alongside the group. His associate Reiji Namikawa even jokes that Kida is calculating enough he could be mistaken for Kira himself. After Higuchi’s capture ends the meetings, Kida goes back to ordinary corporate life, unaware he’s now a loose end. On April 10, 2005, once Light has fully regained the notebook, he executes the remaining Yotsuba Eight in one sweep; Kida dies of a heart attack exactly on schedule.
The Yotsuba Eight vs. L (Ch. 37–53)
Kida personally manages the group’s contact with Eraldo Coil while the Eight try to identify and eliminate L. L infiltrates the group and identifies the killer among them — a defeat that eventually restores Light’s memories and leads to L’s death.
vs. Kira (2005)
Light records Kida’s name to eliminate him as a witness to the conspiracy, closing the book on the Yotsuba era for good.
Major: Ch. 37, 38, 43–46.
Minor: Ch. 50, 51.
Mentioned only: Ch. 53–55, 59, 66, 108.3.
The Yotsuba Eight
His fellow conspirators, working most closely with Shingo Mido and Reiji Namikawa.
Eraldo Coil (L)
The detective he unknowingly negotiates with directly, never realizing Coil and L are the same person.
Kyosuke Higuchi
A fellow executive Kida works alongside without knowing he’s the one actually holding the notebook.
Light Yagami
His eventual executioner, who dismisses Kida and the rest of the Eight as small-minded people who used the notebook for purely selfish ends.
“Eraldo Coil?! The detective we hired to find L? Why is he calling me…?” — Chapter 43
- Collects eyeglasses as a hobby.
- A To-oh University graduate like Light and L, though he studied science rather than law.
- One of six Yotsuba executives killed on the same day in 2005.
🇯🇵 Japanese Voice Actors
Aizawa, Masaki
🇯🇵 Japanese
🇺🇸 English Voice Actors
Sims, Martin
🇺🇸 English