Kotaro Tawadara (俵田 孝太郎 (たわらだ こうたろう)) is a detective from the Aomori prefecture who first appeared during the Western-style Village Murder Case.
Appearance[]
History[]
Born in Saitama Prefecture, he became a police officer after graduating from Tohoku University and was assigned to the Aomori Prefectural Police.
Tawarada works for the Aomori Prefectural Police Department Criminal Investigation Division 1 and has the rank of inspector. He was a detective when he first appeared in Western-style Village Murder Case, but at the time of the grand finale of Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness, he is said to have been promoted to inspector. However, he was already promoted at an earlier stage, and when he appeared in Western-style Hotel Murder Case, he was called "Inspector Tawarada" by his subordinate police officers, though this could likely be an error by the writers.
His blood type is O and his zodiac sign is Cancer. He is married and has two children.
Personality[]
At first he doesn't believe in Kindaichi's abilities and Kindaichi has to contact Inspector Kenmochi to get him to share information. In Western-style Village Murder Case, when Isshiki was killed, he tried to arrest Kusanagi, who was arguing about the cat, but was refuted by Kindaichi, stating that an old woman couldn't possibly carry an overweight man. He then stated that Kiriko is the killer. However, this is also dismissed as Kiriko has no motive to kill Isshiki. After being yelled at by Kenmochi on the phone, he reluctantly cooperates with Kindaichi.
Although hard working and has a serious personality, he also has a hot-blooded side, so his type is very similar to Kenmochi in his debut.
For that reason, he is nicknamed "Tawarada no Ossan" by Kindaichi, and on the contrary, he often calls Hajime "Kindani". At first, he was annoyed by Kindaichi's intervention in the investigation, but when the case was solved by Kindaichi's deduction, he changed his mind, and since then he has come to respect his deduction. Perhaps because he is a hot-blooded man, he has a short-sighted side. When he pointed that out, he countered that there was an accomplice, but the old woman and the person who thought he was an accomplice ended up being killed by the real culprit. However, it doesn't seem that he has any reasoning powers, and as an extra, in the mystery quiz book "Mystery Solving File 2", he found out the arson trick used by the criminal and led to the solution of the case. In fact, he is a heavy drinker, and it seems that he can drink about 1 sho of sake lightly.
His second appearance is in the Western-style Hotel Murder Case , where he appears to have changed his mind after the resolution of the previous case. When the Aprodia Theater Group receives a threatening letter, he calls Kindaichi to ask him for his assistance.
He appeared again in Murderous Intention Under Freezing 15 Degrees, in which he's in charge of the case. He's told by the victim that his injury is not from an attempted murder, but an accident. Tawarada is baffled as the security camera clearly shows otherwise, to which Kindaichi pushes him outside while he still demands explanation.
He appears in Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness along with Kyoko Kaya, Masasuke Inokawa and Shigeru Nagashima. He told Kindaichi that he's been promoted at some point before the grand finale.
His latest appearance is in Human-Eater Laboratory Murder Case, in which he give Kindaichi a stamp of approval to investigate.
Appearances[]
- Western-Style Village Murder Case (Manga)
- Western-Style Hotel Murder Case (Manga)
- Murderous Intention Under Freezing 15 Degrees (Manga)
- Young Kindaichi's Trip of Death Preparedness (Manga)
- Human-Eater Laboratory Murder Case (Manga)
Trivia[]
- Due to Western-Style Village Murder Case never get an anime adaptation, Tawarada never make an appearance in his anime counterparts appearances.
- In his first appearance, he's the only person on the case' suspect list to survive.