Mato Kuroi (TV Anime Character)

Mato Kuroi (黒衣マト Kuroi Mato) is one of the main protagonists of the OVA and anime Black★Rock Shooter. Her "other self" is Black★Rock Shooter.

Appearance
Mato is a black-haired school girl with blue eyes. She has short, choppy pig tails and wears a seifuku consisting of a white top with a dark blue collar and a dark blue skirt. She also wears black knee-high socks.

She is also seen to have a patch of bandage on her right knee, after obtaining an injury from basketball practice.

Many of her belongings, including her clothes, phone charm, and room decorations, have a star motif.

Black★Rock Shooter (OVA)
She is an innocent and naive first year student in middle school. Outwardly, she is outgoing and excitable, but she is very awkward around people she does not know. Internally, she is sensitive and meek, but eventually learns to gain courage.

Black★Rock Shooter (Anime)
She is fond of philosophical musings, and often will vaguely say something that she sees (for instance, remarking "blooming" when seeing a patch of flowers) to no one in particular. Saya also describes her as the kind of person who has, until now, never hated anyone or have anyone hated her.

Her favorite food is also said to be curry.

She is very fond of the book Li'l Bird Li'l Bird Colorful Colors and reads it repeatedly.

Black★Rock Shooter (OVA)
In her first year of junior high school, Mato comes upon Takanashi Yomi when looking for friends to make and decides to strike a conversation with her. Mato's bluntness and outward personality shocks Yomi initially, but the two become friends eventually. They begin to turn to each other for everything, and Mato eventually shows Yomi a special place which is known as the Meeting Place where one can see a large view, and gives Yomi a cell phone charm with a star (identical to the one she has herself). Additionally, Mato's skill in basketball encourages Yomi to join the volleyball team.

Things change in her second year. The two are put in separate classes, and Mato finds and befriends the basketball team's manager Yuu from her class. Mato initially tries to get both Yuu and Yomi to be together with her at the same time, but ends up spending more time with Yuu. This makes Yomi feel "left out" and causes the rift to increase.

Mato starts to worry about Yomi, but things get serious when Yomi suddenly vanishes, not responding to any calls or texts. Initially Mato believes this means Yomi is avoiding her, but when two men come to her house asking about Yomi's disappearance, Mato breaks into tears and continues halfheartedly searching for Yomi.

Eventually, Mato gets a mysterious text from Yomi with nothing in it. Convinced that this is a clue, Mato runs out of her house (wearing a black jacket with a white star on the back) and rides her bike up to the place she showed Yomi. She finds the phone charm she bought for Yomi and holds it to her chest, finally realizing what Yomi means to her.

A light erupts from the charm and envelops her, transporting her to a strange place filled with light. She meets Black★Rock Shooter there, and reconciles with her "other self," who offers to help Yomi. The two merge and both identify herself as Black★Rock Shooter, allowing both to save Yomi.

In the end, a reconciled Mato and Yomi walk home from school; however, Mato remains unaware that Yuu is in a dark state...

Black★Rock Shooter (Anime)
Mato arrives at school on the first day. While in zoning out, she trips and falls, and a mysterious girl with glasses (Yomi) helps her up. She sees the bracelet on Yomi's wrist that she made, and comments on it. However, Yomi does not tell Mato her name.

Mato looks at her class roster and notes that the girl's name reads as "little birds playing". Still confused, she walks home with her childhood friend Yuu, discussing this strange person.

As she goes home, she muses about her favorite book, Li'l Bird Li'l Bird Colorful Colors, a book about a small white bird that takes people to worlds of different colors.

The next day, she meets with Yomi, and finally learns her name "Takanashi". She asks Yomi if she is interested in any clubs, but Yomi feels awkward and quickly leaves the room. She later meets Saya Irino, who advises her to drop by if she has any problems.

Mato joins the basketball club shortly after; Yomi sees the sight of her running, calling it "beautiful".

Yomi later sees that Mato has a phone charm for The Tiny Bird and the Colors, a book she also has, and invites her to her house to see the first edition of the book, which Mato has never seen, for a particular picture. She also gives Mato her bracelet as a present. However, they run into Kagari Izuriha, who insults Mato and tells her to go away. Mato leave the house and runs away in tears reflects at how scary the experience was and receives an apologetic text from Yomi.

Mato visits Saya the next day and confides that she's afraid Kagari hates her now, and Saya tells her that she will inevitably make enemies, and that there is always someone who is taking her pain for her. Inspired, Mato visits Yomi in the art room, and despite Yomi's protests that Mato cannot be friends with her because she will only get hurt, Mato insists they should go to the school festival and have fun together.

Yomi, however, does not show up at the festival, and Mato only receives three text messages from her, all saying "I'm sorry". Running home and crying, Mato declares that Saya lied, and that it hurts.

That night, Mato has a dream about a strange girl watching as another gets taken away by bugs, all while the word "help me" echoes in the background. She sees a heart-shaped scar on one of the girls' chests.

The next morning, Mato finds Yomi in the locker room and notices that she has the same heart-shaped scar on her chest. She questions it, but Yomi hides it and asks Mato why she isn't angry about Yomi not coming to the festival. Mato says that if she wants her to be angry, she will be angry, and states that Yomi is not, like her name implies, a little bird; she has the potential to go to many different worlds, but rejects it. With that, Mato runs off.

She finds herself at Saya's "Dawn Counseling" room along with Yuu, and tells them about her dream. Saya says that between close friends, a dream might be a way of saying things that can't be said in words. With this in mind, Mato goes to Yomi's house, and asks to come in. However, she ends up hearing Yomi screaming and a commotion, and Mato starts to bang on the door, only to find Yomi's mother behind her.

At the hospital, where Kagari had thrown herself down the stairs, Mato finds that Kagari only has a twisted wrist, but is demanding that Yomi stay with her and claims that she cannot use her hand anymore. Yomi's mother tells Mato about how Kagari ended up getting hit by a car when trying to chase Yomi while they were children; Kagari is not physically harmed, but there is something in her heart that is preventing her from walking. Mato protests this, saying Yomi shouldn't be tied to Kagari like this; Yomi's mother agrees, but says Kagari is pitiful, but Mato retorts that Yomi is also pitiful.

Mato bangs on the door to Kagari's room, demanding that Yomi come out and that they walk home together. Yomi begs Mato what to do, and Mato says that Kagari is only pitiful because Yomi is making her pitiful. With this, Yomi finally gains the courage to confront Kagari and tell her to come out of her closed up life; however, Kagari protests, but suddenly stops at the moment Black★Rock Shooter beheads Chariot. Yomi opens the door, a tear trickling down her cheek, and Mato comes in. Kagari turns to her and smiles. She then falls over, and Mato runs to her with Yomi, finding that she is sleeping.

The next day, she and Yomi discuss Kagari's situation, and Mato finds that Kagari has become more calm and is now taking walking exercises, but Mato quickly runs into Yuu, her friend, who rushes her over to the meeting. Later, in basketball club, her captain Arata Kohata deems her suitable for becoming a semi-regular in the basketball tournament, and tells her she must go through training, something Mato fears as Arata tends to be rather strict.

As Mato washes her face and Yuu looks on, they hear Arata's footsteps, and spy her giving a love letter to a boy. However, Arata quickly catches sight of them and they run for it.

Mato prepares for her training, and looks at her book Li'l Bird Li'l Bird Colorful Colors. She muses about Black★Rock Shooter, the girl she saw in her dream, and wonders if the girl is like the bird, if her eyes change color like the bird who absorbed colors of many worlds into its wings. Yomi calls Mato soon after just to talk, but as Mato mentions Yuu quite a bit, Yomi is uncomfortable, and quickly ends the call.

Mato goes on the sports training trip. There, she goes through harsh training. The other girls question whether she can fill in the team's niche and become a semi-regular, but Arata has confidence in her - or at least, her friendship with Yuu.

That night, Mato has another dream of the Otherworld, this time of Black★Gold Saw raising strange figures from a watering can. Woken up in shock, she finds Yuu asking her what is wrong. They go out to get drinks from a vending machine and Mato tells her about her dreams; Yuu wonders if these are the people that take Mato's pain for her.

The sports team goes souvenir shopping, and Mato and Yuu see Arata buying a wooden sword for the boy she likes. Yuu asks Mato if she wants a boyfriend. Mato says that it's too soon and to wait for high school, but Yuu comments that she already has her "Tiny Bird" (Yomi).

Upon their return, Mato gives a box of sweets to Yomi as a gift, and Yomi in turn gives her a blue bracelet she made. Yomi is, once again, uncomfortable at the mention of Yuu, and Mato notices, telling her to talk if something is bothering her. Yomi mutters that she isn't Mato's best friend, which Mato hears but does not understand; Yomi decides to blow it off and they walk off together.

They see a large crowd gathering and they look in, only to see Arata coming in from behind. Her love letter had been taped publicly to the bulletin board for everyone to see. They watch Arata be humiliated by the other boys, but Arata laughs it off and walk away. Mato, Yomi, and Yuu go elsewhere and mull about their situation, and Mato and Yuu begin to cry, thinking about Arata covering up all her pain.

In basketball practice, Arata trips over and twists her ankle, which is serious because the basketball tournament is soon. Mato escorts her to the infirmary, and decides to get another teacher, though Arata is resistant to Mato getting Saya. As Mato runs off, in the other world, Black★Rock Shooter beheads a mysterious hooded figure, and Mato senses this; she runs back to the infirmary to find Arata, prone on the floor.

Kagari returns to school the next day, and Mato watches as she quickly becomes popular with the others. She also finds out from Yuu that Arata has recovered, and leaves a depressed Yomi. She is then put in charge of pushing the basketball team forward, since Arata is now unable to participate in the preliminaries, and she will have to practice more intensively.

As a result, Mato cannot walk home with Yomi anymore, and she informs her of this. The mention that Yuu is also with her in the club seems to significantly unnerve Yomi.

Mato attempts to meet with Yomi the next day, but instead meets with Kagari, who asks her to take her to school. She obliges, but watches as Yomi gets upset with Kagari because she had been waiting for Kagari so that she could walk to school with her.

After basketball practice, she sees Kagari handing her a towel. Kagari asks her what she should give to Yomi as a present, as she wants to repay Yomi for all the good things she has done for her.

Mato later has a discussion with Kagari, telling her that she should give Yomi something that she made at the cooking club that she has joined. However, the two run into Yomi, in denial that she's upset about Kagari having other friends. Yomi rushes away once she sees Kagari and Mato together.

Trivia

 * Mato's surname is sometimes misread as "Kokui" due to the fact that it would be the more common pronunciation of the kanji in normal wording: however, "Kuroi" as a surname is the proper pronunciation.
 * The kanji for her surname means black clothes. "Mato," with certain kanji, can mean target (as in target shooting).
 * Mato has a younger brother named Hiro who appears in a few scenes.
 * Mato's mother and brother are shown, but not her father. It is unknown if she still has a father, if he is simply not present, or if he is there and not shown in the OVA, although it seems most likely that he is no longer with the family. If this is the case, there is no hint as to the reason.
 * The name 黒衣マト (Kuroi Mato) is pronounced the same with 黒い魔都 (Black Devil's Castle).