Kaido Is Better Than Anyone Realizes (One Piece Video Essay)

there are a few characters that can justifiably stake a claim for this but in my eyes at least from what I can glean given my limited perspective on fan reception as I've slowly been catching up kaido is without doubt the most misunderstood and underappreciated character in one piece but while it is a shame when writers are not properly given their flowers when it comes to the quality of their characters this reception makes sense given the style of his writing and presentation kaido is unquestionably the most subtle subtextual understated and interpretive character in one piece with Oda putting together the comprehensive picture of who he is with little breadcrumbs slowly unveiled throughout the story from his introduction and on while a lot of characters throughout the narrative are front loaded through prominent characterization or simply but very effectively laid out with extensive backstories kaido goes for ages without much but little lines and Tiny glimpses of his past such that by the time it does hit in the minimalistic way it does it is more of a confirmation of what we know already rather than a revelation but only if we're properly paying attention katakuri another of one piece's best characters was also very much a nudge into this Direction with a lot of the subtext associated with him at the end of H cake Island but kaido has Oda going full on Togashi with this peac meal integrative puzzle piece driven approach he is one of the best and most complex characters in the story so much so that streaming my journey from his introduction onwards had me Gob smacked at the Quality here and along with this learning about the general lack of appreciation for him was the final straw in making me break my rule of not making any video essays on one piece because kaido deserves it but this is the first and last time this will happen definitely through this video I hope to change your mind on kaido for the positive to some extent in case you aren't a fan of him to help you reach conclusions you may not have otherwise assist you in piecing together the complexities of his psychology or just generally enhance your appreciation for the character and story like always he is a challenging personality to understand and love but he is so rewarding for what he adds to wano what he says about the main themes of the series and how he justop poses multiple characters throughout the story let's start at the beginning as we know from flashbacks and little details kaido was someone who dreamed from the start with the Catalyst for this being a disillusionment with the systematic layout of the world and how it functions dictated by those unsuited for power he held Ambitions of becoming the king of the Pirates he wanted to change the world and turn it on its head he had dreams and hope and a desire to be free and he liberated many on the way to this as they got caught up in his storm just like a certain straw hat and this is important because the kaido Luffy Dynamic is without doubt one of the most telling and revealing in the entire series but more on that later along with this desire to change the world this hope this dream kaido was a lover of honorable duels and combat the type representative of the purest form of Shonen simply put kaido loves fighting testing himself against the best in battle and key to this is that he loves these fights to be fair as he lives in a way that strictly adheres to a set of moral principles that he holds close to his chest honor binding words and vows a classic sort of respect between foes with no underhanded or dishonest means and in conjunction with all of this kaido also wanted to leave a legacy and Mark on the world that was loyal to himself an impressive one that showed that he walked the Earth lived free and honestly and heartfully and made an impact consistent with these ideals and he learned of Joy boy learned of what he represented took solace in his Legend and in my opinion desired to some extent to become that symbol This era's Joy boy at least in part because in addition to all that I just stated kaido also wanted to be loved he wanted people to Hope in him he wanted connections and he hated the idea of being lonely that was kaido and that still is kaido to an extent however the Crux of kaido and what caused him to spiral and despair is that while he held these principles and reached out for them he was rarely if ever able to grasp them the world and life itself always took it away from him in one way or another whether it be through his own actions or weakness misfortune the whims of greedy underhanded men or anything else when faced with hurdles kaido was never able to live the way he wanted and have his ideals actualized and as a result he slowly but surely saw his Ambitions rought before him he gradually realized how big the world was how agonizingly difficult it was to achieve any dreams at all let alone ones as big as his and every obstacle he met he combed not with determination and unflinching belief in his path but with despair this ultimately led to him teaming up with someone diametrically opposite to him and his views on the world odoi and it continued to spiral until he reached what was in my opinion the most pivotal moment of his life where he met Odin a man seemingly after his own heart Odin lived louder than anyone else he was fierce and free with dreams of conquest and exploration and that is how kaido always wanted to live before his meagerness took hold after having taken over Odin's home in wano he began fighting with this man who embodied his ideal and he started feeling something he had long since seemingly forgotten this pure ascending combat is what he desired however odoi with his cowardly devious plan to distract and [ __ ] Odin stole this fight from kaido and the latter wound up devastated as again life took from him what he yearned for and again partly as a result of his own actions kaido killed the heg resp responsible for the farce tried to compensate and agreed to honor Odin's wish of allowing all his men to not be executed if he survived the Boiling Pot trial for an hour unhonorable agreement between the two and yet again odoi even took that away changing the rules right when it became clear that Odin had won kaido deeply respected all that Odin was and continuously tried to convey that respect but he was taken from him again and again and by the end the best he could do was provide the mercy of the shot that ended the life of the soul of wano when it comes to Odin kaido looked on in envy and admiration for how he lived and this nuanced mix of emotions is how he feels for people who Embrace Life enact true change make connections live freely and generally reflect the ideal that he strove to meet but was never able to Odin was the most prominent for obvious reasons but that's also how he felt about Roger and most recently Luffy for kaido looking at these exploits feels like looking into an alternate universe and seeing himself living the way he wants to these are complex feelings with many aspects to them filled with a sort of vicarious fulfillment and a respect but also tinged with immense envy and bitterness that he is not strong enough to live that way Odin drinks with others and kaido drinks alone and Odin's death here carried out in a way that cemented his legacy garnered widespread love and appreciation impacting kaido tremendously and making him adopt the philosophy that death completes a person from here on this caused kaido to seek out death seeing it as a potential salvation and a last resort to Fast Track to his dreams hoping with desperation that it would somehow reverse the person he had become he wanted to cement his legacy and maybe make people think differently of him by going out in a blaze of glory loyal to the type of person he wanted to be he thinks can no one kill me can I not go out in this blaze of glory in a fight with someone Toe to Toe and with that possibility gone he wonders can I not even do this myself am I cursed to this forever kaido is left with nothing and this futility is truly sobering even if a large portion of this is his own fault he wanted to die in a way loyal to who he wanted to be to leave a legacy and complete himself in a way that he desired but the problem here was core to his problem as a person he was forcing it he didn't understand that the people who he views with envy and admiration who died and were completed were completed because they died as they lived and everything came naturally and followed to leave a legacy of the person that they were kaido ruled with Terror represented darkness and dominated with power such that the vast majority of those around him only followed him because of fear but it meant that he was living a dead life purposeless not worth living due to how it spurned his goals dreams hope ideals and connections with others even if he died a perfect death that would not change the fact that his life was Hollow because he made no accumulating connections to solidify a legacy that would live on after he died and so kaido's efforts to die and complete himself here were futile and desperate considering his goal he had become an antithesis to his heart he had undercut himself and I can't imagine how painful that must be but he can have no complaints and the pain of this does not at all morally excuse him he gave up and colluded with the one he would and should never have in odoi and it led to him doing heinous disgusting evil things to wano the world is tough but the truly spiritually strong don't give up as he did and become an antithesis of their heart when faced with challenges they persevere and live loyal to their ideals like Luffy did and Roger did and Odin did and hook did but outside of one important exception which we'll discuss later because of kaido cutting himself he isn't able to inspire people in the way others were inspired by those men and so death would not complete him beautiful deaths follow beautiful lives while kaido is physically strong he is spiritually weak for how easily he compromises on his ideals and the weak do not get to choose how they die because even if this wouldn't work kaido cannot even achieve this feeble martyrdom not only can he not find the perfect way to die but no no one is able to kill him even himself death eludes him everything eludes him and in addition to this to rub salt in the wound with finality kaido's child yam is inspired and aspires to be a great man that man not being kaido himself but Odin the man kaido admires and envies with a fervent passion and bitterness of course as a father he wanted yam to reflect himself maybe thinking of this as a final chance to leave a proud legac of his own but no because of the cruelty he imparted and how he lived yam Rebels and Odin always gets the last laugh but interestingly in a gesture that reflects the man kaido was and still wants to be kaido respects Yamato's identity and Endeavors and tests those Endeavors accordingly by putting yam through a very similar trial that Odin went through one of intense endurance and once again kaido loses a huge theme tackled throughout the wano Arc is that of Yearning a nostalgic yearning for a home lost for people gone a drift in the animals of time for freedom and dreams and kaido is one of the foremost examples of that for he is full of yearning for his ideals and Ambitions for honorable Duels for respect and honesty for Pure combat and battles full-blooded till the end for a beautiful death but his yearning always goes unfulfilled stolen from him sometimes by himself and this leaves him as a despairing husk wondering if he is destined to always yearn but then as he has done to so many others Luffy Alters kaido's life the man who inspires Freedom Hope and Dreams in others does the same for his adversary in the process of fighting back against him and liberating wano and this changes kaido despite defeating him handily at first he senses something in Luffy this perseverance and enduring hope this ferocity despite defeat and this spurns him to have faith that maybe Luffy could be the one to make his heart dance that maybe he is Joy boy and with this being the Catalyst kaido changes his approach completely he loves bouts and honor and fights he desires hope and ideals for himself he wants to become king and change the world and he wants friends yet he has none of this at least in his eyes and so he decides that if the world does not have anything for him he will make a new one this brings forth new onigashima a battling ground for the strongest a true new world that will not take his Hope from him where he can live as he wants and ultimately die as he wants sensing that it may not actually be too late in the process of formally declaring this he cuts the head off odoi the man symbolic of all that antithesis him and stole from him and all that he hates in the world and unable to stop himself from hoping he gains a new lease on life he barrels towards this telling others of his Agony that people don't follow him because they love him but instead due to fear he hallucinates of a beautiful ideal battle that he seeks with Luffy all the while pouring his soul out about the loneliness of strength seeing nothing at his Peak but a Barren Wasteland this is his dying gasp for Hope but in reality he beats Luffy again and it is so bitterly disappointing so lamentable Luffy whom he admires and envies not even he could give him the battle he seeks and through all this he states that human beings cannot give up hope and that he sees that as a problem and that is the Crux a summary of why kaido is an antithesis hope the struggle is an encapsulation of the entire detour theme present throughout one piece the joy of a never-ending Journey the lack of a desire of the knowledge of the one one piece being actualized the experiences and struggles on the way to that goal are far more important than the goal itself even if they are difficult and painful at times Luffy and his crew embrac the endless Horizon wondering if they'll reach the end of it one day but not thinking of it as necessary and enjoying the ride along the way kaido laments not being able to reach it and sees that Horizon as the most painful thing in the world when he says that he thinks hope is a problem it is because he is speaking from experience he knows that hope too well and he knows that it is the problem because he hopes consistently and all it does is provide him with pain Kido and Luffy are extremely similar in some ways similar end goals similar World Views similar passions but they are Polar Opposites at the same time as kaido is agonized by the journey while Luffy celebrates it however kaido can't help but continuously strive for it regardless it's almost like a muscle memory in the face of futility and going back to his second victory over Luffy he thinks to himself that he should have killed him because now despite his defeat people all over will keep believing in him and he's right and it's because of what we just discussed Luffy hopes and celebrates the long journey kaido hopes and despairs over that journey and because of that given the choice even tossing aside the horrific implications of kaido's plan people will always hope for Luffy for as long as he breathes people will hope for him he is the son but kaido is the darkness when he couldn't reach his ideal he brought the night while Luffy brings the day no matter what and that is why Luffy will always win in every sense I don't know if kaido wanted to be a hero but he definitely wanted all the things that came with being one but having resigned himself he will play the villain and the gatekeeper for that which he failed to reach a hopelessly sad existence this is summed up beautifully through a line he speaks towards the climax of that fight that Victors need no epithet the losers the ones who die are mourned and spoken of romantically to compensate for their defeat but winners need none he says for everyone knows of their strength yet he wants an epithet he wants people to speak of him like they do of those who die and are defeated he would know better than anyone that no one speaks about the Victor because he is the quote unquote strongest and never loses yet he never gets the love and is filled with loneliness and yet he's wrong because many Victors are spoken of he isn't not spoken of because he's a Victor it's because he's isolated himself it's because he's the kaido he has become that is the Crux here kaido holds an ember of hope within him but acts against himself due to Despair and fear Luffy with the hope of the connections he's formed due to his enduring Spirit never undercuts himself kaido is the gatekeeper of Joy boy searching for the one who will give him what he wants thinking of the one to defeat him as The Faded NAC and declaring all those who fail to not be him but why specifically does he seek them out well firstly he believes that the one person who will bring him freedom is the embodiment of freedom but secondly I think he wants to see his ultimate ideal his Horizon In the Flesh if he yearned to be Joy boy once but did not achieve his goal if he could not be him he will simply admire and envy that's all that his life has become and he has condemned himself to just watch from the sidelines as as a stepping stone and that is key it's all about his mindset he is not the antithesis of Joy boy because of any other reason than the fact that his mindset condemns him the way he views the world maybe he could have been Joy boy or at least something close to it if he had been stronger and while Luffy is the perfect foil to display this kaido's Dynamic with MOS tells a tale as well here we have two dragons one is far more fearsome physically than the other but the other is far stronger spiritually with a conviction and perseverance foreign to kaido and an honest soul that pulls people around him and helps them see him as a true Shogun and leader someone to love and as such we have core similarities and perfect opposites true foils once more and another detail I love is that Luffy and yam two people core to kaido's complex psychology at this point help guide Momo through his fight when he ages up and becomes the giant dragon showing the importance of connection as he is able to see clearly literally due to those he has garnered bonds with kaido's physical strength and spiritual weakness are contrasted by the fact that Momo gets spiritually stronger with every second he spends with Luffy a connection that which kaido seems to have cast off and given up on in Odin in Luffy and now in Momo he sees this ideal that he strived for but hasn't been able to reach what good is all this strength if it just isolates him and undercuts him he is empty and Hollow and while kaido considers his power something that isolates him Luffy strength inspires others to grow stronger and fight and it begins to seem even more like a curse when cpz in the full-blooded Passion of the fight interfere and prevent kaido from settling his fair duel with Luffy just as was done to Odin ages prior at this point despite the uptick in his Ember of hope it seems inevitable and karmic that he is to always yearn always be cheated from this for history to always repeat itself and yet and yet in a world where kaido has not perished there is more to this I did liken this to muscle memory and going through the motions as kaido continues to seemingly fruitlessly stride towards the top but is it more than that he talks from experience about how people cannot give up hope perhaps thinking about how he wishes he could lose hope but just can't while I do say that he despairs not every part of him has completely given up because he still searches he still hopes for Joy boy deep within he still tries to achieve his own goals it's a dark despairing complexion a paradoxical hope but it is their regardless a flame still within him sometimes all it takes is one thing one person to turn things around and change a life and luckily for kaido he has multiple and first is the person we've been talking about all this time Luffy in the legendary moment where he became the embodiment of Joy boy where he was almost reborn as the one he's always been all the this time the sun god naika things shifted permanently not just for the story for Luffy and for the world but for kaido he sees him and is defeated by him and all the regular feelings apply for sure admiration and envy but something else is added to it more awe and perhaps inspiration I think that in finally seeing his final ideal come to life kaido is inspired from one Viewpoint it doesn't quite make sense that he would feel that way upon being beaten to the ground in multiple ways but from another it really does Luffy doesn't make traditional sense na doesn't Joy boy doesn't they are these unexplainable figures and that enigmatic nature is why they Inspire freedom and hope regardless and so kaido in seeing that he does exist through being defeated by him felt his Ember of belief heating up I think that he realized that it isn't too late for him to become what he wanted to become because in this fight through their blows traded and through the way that kaido almost coached Luffy to combat him in the end he had fun Luffy liberated him and granted his dream Luffy allowed kaido to touch the heavens before becoming that heavenscent boy in totality Luffy gave him what he wanted and fostered a belief that he could become stronger but that can only take him so far and I think that just as if not more important than that could be kaido's relationship with King King whose life of subjugation and inhumane experimentation was changed infinitely for the better due to kaido's storm who revered him and dedicated his heart come what may to his cause King was a genuine connection for kaido one not unlike Luffy and Zoro who have one of the strongest Bonds in the series but kaido just can't see it kaido also arguably has connections with the likes of Whitebeard and linlin to an extent not super intimate nor as powerful as kings but enough of a bond to be notable but he just doesn't see these either which renders them invalid from his perspective but his relationship with King is special unique and tinged with meaning from the perspective of King it is extremely sad even if he doesn't think so he serves kaido due to his love for him and how he saved his life he believes that kaido will be king of the Pirates even if kaido has all but given up himself kaido's ambition of this is buried so deep within that he resembles a husk and yet King is indebted to this ghost but the thing is as I said as long as there's a Time tiny glimmer of hope all it takes is one person to believe in you to reignite it and so maybe kaido can believe again thanks to King believe in actualizing his ideal becoming the king of the Pirates in not compromising on his morals and principles and yearning for all that he values maybe this connection this karmic belief that took root due to kaido's belief in King will come back around and save him in the most poetic way to bring him back for one last chance Luffy Odin Momo and Yamato are all essential parts of kaido's Journey but they're all combatants and kaido needs to realize that he has at least one person by his side that truly believes in and loves him kaido is King's Joy boy and King is proof that kaido is still going through the motions for a reason and that is why King could be most important of all seeking nothing but kaido's Victory and cementing of his legacy as the strongest no matter what that may mean now I don't know if kaido was to make it out of that volcano but if he is and if afterwards he is to survive and fight and gun for his dream and turn his life around if it really isn't too late I think that will be in large part due to the karmic belief of King who he saved all that time ago fueled by a belief in this Mythic figure of awe if Oda decides that kaido's story is not yet done he has every chance to stop yearning and start achieving and wano is where that shift occurred kaido Majestic form is that of the Azure Dragon representative of Enlightenment Harmony perseverance and prosperity and this is beautifully ironic because that is the ideal he strived to reach it is everything he wishes he could be but isn't because of his weakness and yet he masquerades as a symbol of what he wishes he was anyway but he isn't fooling anyone and it is up to him and yet unclear if he will ever live up to the station he set for himself through his Beast form in the early days of his time time in the narrative kaido stated that life is not a series of simple questions and simple answers and along with that doubling as a very meta comment on what it takes to properly understand and dissect his character in context he knew this better than anyone how can I live in a way that I can be proud of how can I feel how can I stop acting against my heart what caused me to sink like this these are all questions that he no doubt asked himself and none of them has a straightforward answer but the key here is in the perseverance and conviction to stay true and that is something he lacked this man who strived for the sun soon became representative of the Knight because of his inability to deal with the unfairness of the world and what that contrast says for him for Luffy for wano and for One Piece as a whole it's more than words can say kaido is a difficult character to understand but the more you give it an honest go the clearer the realization becomes that he is one of the very best characters Oda has ever crafted and more profound than anyone really realizes many thanks for watching

Channel: Aleczandxr

Views: 47,306

Keywords: one piece, luffy, nami, zoro, robin, doflamingo, kaido, wano, crocodile, alabasta, whole cake, dressrosa, law, shonen, anime, analysis, review, reaction, oda, manga, chopper, franky, brook, thriller, sabaody, skypiea, romance, baratie, punk, egghead, timeskip, marineford, enies lobby, water, jimbe, blackbeard, shanks, roger, imu, reverie, chapter, sanji, ace, death, warlord, emperor, strawhat

Id: pjpd5AsYf54

Length: 26min 53sec (1613 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 15 2024