Yamato "Matt" Ishida

Yamato "Matt" Ishida, known as simply Yamato Ishida (石田　ヤマト) in Japan, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02. Although his first name is "Yamato", in the English version, he primarily goes by his dub-given nickname, Matt. First appearing in the film Digimon Adventure (1999), Matt has made regular appearances in the television series as a main character and also in other supplementary medias.

As one of the DigiDestined, Matt is partnered with Gabumon and is also the rightful holder of the Crest of Friendship (友情の紋章). He is the older brother of fellow DigiDestined T.K. Takaishi.

Description
Matt is regarded as "cool" by his peers and seen as a "born rebel" who "prefers to do things his own way." However, he can be passionate and emotional as well. Behind his façade, Matt has an "introspective, sensitive side" that comes through around his younger brother is T.K. Takaishi, whom he is fiercely protective of. He takes caution in the Digital World and often clashes with Tai Kamiya because of the latter's recklessness. He also gets upset when T.K. unconsciously follows Tai's orders. Matt owns a harmonica and frequently plays it when he is resting.

Matt lives with his father alone in Odaiba due to a divorce between his parents. This leads to an awkward relationship between his mother and himself, as he feels that they treat each other more as strangers instead of family, as well as pressures him to prioritize T.K.'s safety. In the English version, there was a dub error where Matt indicates that they are half-brothers when in fact they were full brothers.

In the sequel, Digimon Adventure 02, Matt becomes more mature and easy-going. He forms a band with three other classmates called the Teen-age Wolves (stylized TEEN-AGE WOLVES) and is their lead vocalist and bassist.

Pilot film
Matt made his first appearance in the short pilot film Digimon Adventure (1999), which was combined as the first part of Digimon: The Movie (2001) was localized. The film depicts his first encounter with a Digimon as a young child.

In the television series
Succeeding the film, Matt is a main character in the television series Digimon Adventure (1999). In this series, Matt is in fifth grade and is eleven years old.

In the sequel, Digimon Adventure 02, Matt appears less frequently due to relinquishing his abilities to Davis Motomiya, but still volunteers when needed. Taking place roughly four years after Digimon Adventure (three years in the original version), Matt is now in 9th grade and fifteen years old (eighth grade and fourteen years old in the original version). He is in the same class as Yolei's second oldest sister. Near the end of the series, Matt falls in love with Sora, and in the epilogue they are married with a daughter and a son, both of whom are partnered with a Yokomon and Tsunomon respectively. He has also become an astronaut with Gabumon.

In the video games
Matt makes a cameo as a non-playable character in the WonderSwan game Digimon Adventure: Anode/Cathode Tamer, where he is captured by Milleniummon and jailed with Joe and Kari until Ryo Akiyama comes to their rescue.

Matt appears in D-1 Tamer, where he is a contestant in the D-1 Tournament Ryo must battle against.

In the game Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer, Matt and Gabumon are attacked by Digitamamon, and Ryo has the option to save him over Ken and Henry. Following the end of the battle, he allows Gabumon to join his party.

In other films
In the film Our War Game! (2000), the second part of the localized Digimon: The Movie, which takes place on the spring break after Digimon Adventure, Matt visits his grandmother, Kinu, in the countryside with T.K. He is enlisted by Tai to help fight Diaboromon, and succeeds in destroying him when his Digimon fuses with Tai's.

When the film featurette release of Digimon Hurricane Landing! and its second part, ''Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals, which also made the third part of Digimon: The Movie'', Matt is captured by Wendigomon during his search for Willis and is de-aged until Davis and Willis defeat him. Due to ''Digimon Hurricane Landing!/Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals being heavily cut when the movie was localized for Digimon: The Movie'', this subplot was removed in the English version.

The sequel of Our War Game!, Revenge of Diaboromon (2001), takes place on the spring break after Digimon Adventure 02. After being targeted by Diaboromon, Matt battles him with Tai and their Digimon, only to fail. However, he lends his power to Davis and Ken to combat the threat.

In the CD dramas
Matt is featured in supplementary audio dramas released on CD during the television series' run, most of which consist miscellaneous adventures with the other DigiDestined that do not relate to the overall plot of the show. These include Matt being trapped in T.K.'s dream during New Years and tap dancing to distract Boltmon on Valentine's Day.

Unlike the other characters, Matt was given his own audio drama CD, titled Digimon Adventure 02: Yamato Ishida: Tegami ~Letter~ (デジモンアドベンチャー０２　石田ヤマト　手紙~Letter~), which was released on March 7, 2001. The audio drama contains the backstory behind the release of Matt's first single released under the Teen-age Wolves' name, Tobira Door (扉 DOOR).

In an audio drama released years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02, which takes place between Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, Matt is heard discussing his parents' divorce and documents his learning how to play his father's electric bass.

Development
Matt's character was designed for the pilot movie storyboard by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. In an exclusive interview released with the Digimon Adventure DVD box on December 21, 2007, producer Satoru Nishizono revealed that as the staff had agreed on deciding Tai's name, he had tried to name the other characters similarly with kanji that related to "luck."

Jeff Nimoy, co-screenwriter of the English version of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, noted that if there were anything he could change about Matt, it would be making him "less indecisive", citing his complication of adapting the script of the scene where Matt confronts his feelings in a cave with Gabumon.

In Japan, excluding the pilot film Digimon Adventure, all of Matt's appearances were voiced by Yūto Kazama, although he auditioned for Gabumon and Joe. Masami Kikuchi auditioned for Matt, but was casted as Joe instead. At first, Kazama felt that he couldn't voice a "pretty boy character" like Matt, but later discovered he related to him and ultimately felt as though he "lived as [him]."

In the English dub, Michael Reisz provides his voice.

Merchandise
During the run of the television series Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, Matt was included in merchandise such as trading cards. In Japan, his character was also given two theme songs: "Walk On the Edge" and "Negai Kanaeru Kagi" (願いかなえるカギ). All songs were performed by his voice actor, Yūto Kazama. His character CD single, Negai Kanaeru Kagi: Best Partner 2: Yamato Ishida & Gabumon (願いかなえるカギ ベストパートナー② 石田ヤマト&ガブモン), which also included Gabumon's (Mayumi Yamaguchi) solo "Daijob" and their duet "Ore-tachi no Melody" (俺たちのメロディー), was released on June 21, 2000. It debuted at #84 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and stayed there for one week.

In addition, Matt released a single under his band name Teen-age Wolves, titled Tobira Door (扉 DOOR), with "Hitoribocchi no Seesaw" (ひとりぼっちのシーソー) as its b-side. The songs were based on the story behind his character audio drama CD, Yamato Ishida: Tegami ~Letter~ (石田ヤマト　手紙~Letter~). The single was released on April 4, 2001, but failed to chart on the Oricon Weekly Charts.

In the English version, Matt also had a solo song, known by the title "I Turn Around", which he regularly performs in Digimon Adventure 02. The song was performed by Michael Reisz.

Reception
Matt is one of the most popular characters in the Digimon Adventure series. In a series of online polls conducted on Toei Animation's Digimon website, Matt was ranked 1st by Japanese voters as their favorite DigiDestined. When the same question was asked three more times, his rank remained at 1st but fell to 2nd, losing to Kari. In addition to this, Matt is ranked 1st as the DigiDestined voters would want to switch places with, whom the voters would want as a brother, as the best-looking DigiDestined in the winter, and whom the voters would want as their boyfriend. He placed 2nd as the DigiDestined who voters related the most to, as the best-looking DigiDestined in the summer, and as the best-looking DigiDestined in the autumn, and as the DigiDestined who voters thought was the strongest. In addition to this, Matt's harmonica placed at 1st for the individual item of the DigiDestined that the voters would want.