Kaoru Kaido

Infobox animanga character
name = Kaoru Kaidoh
series = The Prince of Tennis


caption =
first =
last =
creator = Takeshi Konomi
voiced by = Kōhei Kiyasu (Japanese)
David Lodge (English)
age =
born = May 11
class = 2-7
relatives =
aux1 name = School
aux1 = Seigaku
aux2 name = Style
aux2 = Counter-Puncher, right handed

nihongo|Kaidou Kaoru|海堂 薫|Kaidō Kaoru is a fictional character in the anime and manga "The Prince of Tennis". His name is rendered Kaidou Kaoru in the original Japanese anime, and "Kaoru Kaidoh" in the English manga.

History

Kaidoh's nickname is "Mamushi", or the "Viper," which fits him well. He wears a bandana while playing tennis (in the anime, it is orange until episode 12 when it changes to green almost permentanly--only in a few, recreational episodes does it change color) and often exhales making a "fshuuuu" sound, similar to a snake. Kaidoh does not like when his nickname isn't taken seriously, and often reacts badly when called that within earshot by someone he doesn't like, especially if the person uttering the nickname is Takeshi Momoshiro or Akira Kamio (he once even comes to try hitting Kamio during the Fudomine matches, placing Tezuka in a rather uncomfortable situation.) He usually plays the S3 (Singles 3) position, though he is most often placed in one of the Doubles slots.

His signature move is the "Snake Shot" (derived from the "Buggy Whip Shot"), a curving forehand that keeps his opponents running. He later develops the "Boomerang Snake," which is a shot that swerves out of bounds, around the net pole, and back in bounds. He developed the shot under mentor Sadaharu Inui's advice and by working with him in doubles. Kaidoh trains rigorously, increasing the training program given to him by Inui to give him unbeatable endurance. Both he and Takeshi Momoshiro are second year regulars and rivals. They constantly try to one-up each other, which is actually beneficial for the growth of their tennis skills; this makes them extremely powerful as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well.

Kaidoh and Inui also make an excellent doubles pair, mostly after beating Inui himself during the same line-up matches where Ryoma Echizen became a regular. Inui has seen Kaidoh's potential and kind side and has taken him under his wing. In the fandom, they are often known as the "Emerald Pair." This is presumably a pun based on the name of Seigaku's "Golden Pair" (Eiji Kikumaru and Shuichiro Oishi) and the several green items associated with the Emerald Pair, such as Kaidoh's bandana, Inui's notebook, Inui's special juices and pants he used when being the "training coach" of Seigaku after losing his regular place to Echizen.

In Genius 379, the last chapter of the manga, Kaidoh is seen as a third year and the new captain of Seigaku, with Momoshiro as his sub-captain. Their rivalry has, apparently, somewhat mellowed with time. [http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=331083217]

Techniques

nake Shot

A forehand or backhand shot that has an offset topspin that causes it to curve to the corners of the court, making the opponent run around and lose stamina. In the anime, Snake is only depicted by a forehand, but in the manga, Kaidoh uses a backhand Snake in his matches against Fudomine, Hyotei, and Rokkakku. The only times a backhand Snake is shown in the anime is once in the Fudomine match, in stand-still shots in the matches against Hyotei and Rikkai at the Regionals, and against Shitenhouji in the Nationals.

This is also called a Buggy Whip Shot, and is said to be used often by pros (i.e. Pete Sampras is mentioned in the musicals to have used it). By swinging the racquet upwards, Kaidoh puts intense topspin on the ball with centrifugal force. The Fudomine players refer to it as a Buggy Whip Shot in the manga as does Sadaharu Inui. In the anime, while Ryoma Echizen is playing Kaidoh in the ranking matches, the turning point of the game is when Echizen realizes, and actually states, that the "Snake" is the Buggy Whip Shot. Sometime later, freshman Horio was also commenting on the excellence of Buggy Whip Shot, presumably when performed by Ryoma, much to the irritation of Kaidoh.

Boomerang Snake

Similar to the original Snake, the Boomerang Snake is a move from in which the tennis ball swings around the net in a sideways arch out of the court and back into the court on the other side instead of going over the net. It was initially performed by accident when he slipped while diving for the ball against Fudomine's Akira Kamio. Kaidoh kept trying to use it after that, but the ball continually went into the alley, which in singles is out. It was still effective when playing doubles, where the alleys are counted as in, and it shocked all who were both in the game and watching it. The ref was even startled as it flew just below his chair. After that, Kaidoh needed to spend a lot of time training in order to hit it properly during a singles match for it to count. Kaidoh finally perfected the shot at the Kanto conference playing doubles with Inui against Hyotei's Choutarou Ootori and Ryo Shishido.

hort Snake

A variation of the Snake shot which has a much greater curve than the original. Instead of going deep into the corners, the Short Snake uses the curve to get around the net player. Kaidoh first uses this move in his doubles match with Momoshiro against Bunta Marui and Kuwahara Jackal of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku to break Marui's net play.

Reverse Snake

A Snake Shot that goes in the opposite direction of a normal Snake Shot. Kaidoh develops this shot in order to prevent Jakal Kuwahara from guessing where his shots were going and running to the corners before he even hit the shot.

Tornado Snake

Yet another variation of the Snake, the Tornado Snake has a gyro spin version. Kaidoh hits the ball with an upward facing backspin of a Magnus power and travel direction against a spin axis with a 45 degree entry angle. Because it's spinning, the ball barely receives any air resistance. Due to the spin, it's about 0.03 seconds faster than any other straight ball. Kaidoh first uses this technique at Nationals in the doubles match against Hyoutei Gakuen, which he and Inui defeat Wakashi Hiyoshi and Gakuto Mukahi. There are also different variations of the Tornado Snake.

Gyro Laser

Formerly known as the "Laser Beam", this is an extremely fast forehand shot developed by Hiroshi Yagyuu of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. When Kaidoh and Yagyu play an unofficial doubles match against a pair from Murigaoka, they disguise themselves as each other and each hit each others signature shots. Afterwards he asks Inui to help him hit the Laser Beam using the same form as the Tornado Snake. He is also seen using this move against the Yanagi/Kirihara Pair. He adds in the same gyro spin as he would to the Snake Shot that makes his Laser Beam faster than Yagyuu's. It was said by Inui that if Kaidoh could hit Laser Beam using the same form as Tornado Snake it could confuse his opponent on which would come and that he might become invincible.

Jack Knife

The Jack Knife, which is one of the signature shots of Kaidoh's rival, Takeshi Momoshiro, is a very high level backhand shot in which the person hitting it jumps off the ground with their left foot. It is not only powerful, but fast as well, and it was stated a normal Junior High School student wouldn't be able to keep up with it.

While disguised, Kaidoh and Momoshiro play against Hitouji and Konjiki of Shitenhouji. Kaidoh hits the Jack Knife in order to cause the opponents to think he and Momoshiro had switched places.

Devil Mode

This technique is similar to Kirihara's expanded Bloodshot Mode. Kaidoh activates this state when Kirihara continuous hits the ball causing more injuries to his respective senior, Inui, during the national final D2 match.

Hadoukyû Boomerang (Anime only)

This is a combination of the Hadoukyû technique and Boomerang Snake. The shot moves like Boomerang Snake shot, but it is very powerful and can knock the opponents racket out of their hand. Although the one-handed Hadoukyu is considered to be dangerous due to straining the arm, Kaidoh is seen to have no problem using the one-handed shot for his Boomerang.

Tournament Matches

legend0|#ADD8E6 = Win
legend0|#C4C3D0 = Loss

Reception

Kaidoh has placed on every single popularity poll taken for "The Prince of Tennis". In the first poll taken, he came in 6th place [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 10 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2001 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-873162-X |pages= 184 |chapter= Genius 83 ] , and moved up to 5th place in the second poll taken. [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 18 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2003 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-873407-6 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 158 ] He fell to 18th in the third poll [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 33 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2006 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-874048-3 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 276 ] , however he moved up slightly to 17th in the fourth poll [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 38 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |authorlink= Takeshi Konomi |year= 2007 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 978-4-08-874353-0 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 333 ] .

Anime on DVD praised Kaidoh for being unpredictable and borderline psychotic. [cite web |url= http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/manga/manga.php?manga_view=254|title= Prince of Tennis Vol. #04|accessdate=2008-02-27 |author= Jarred Pine|date= 2005-05-09|work= Manga Review|publisher=Anime on DVD]

Trivia

* Kaidoh lives with his mother Hozumi (40), father Shibuki (37), and younger brother Hazue (11). His father and younger brother are so similar in looks to him that they are practically just older and younger versions of Kaidoh, respectively. His mother is a sweet, calm, always smiling woman who looks younger than she really is and is famous for her excellent home-made meals. Kaidoh's school lunches are usually prepared by her, and to honor Hozumi's good cooking and dedication Kaidoh eats his home-made lunch in a highly ritualistic and solemn manner that weirds out his schoolmates. Hozumi is among the very few adults (aside from the coaches, that is) featured in the "Prince of Tennis" video games, too; the "Rush and Dream 2" one has her eavesdropping on Kaidoh and the main girl, Tomoe, as they prepare noodles.

* Kaidoh seems to be very naïve when it comes to personal relationships, always blushing when those older than him praise him more or less directly, or when his friends speak about sentimental matters. This is more pronounced in the anime; during the fake "date" between Ann and Momoshiro, Inui called him and cryptically said "it's a date," but Kaidoh mistakenly thought Inui was asking him out and was so flustered that he spent the rest of the episode pondering if he should go out with Inui or not, thus missing the Momo/Kamio v/s Ryoma/Shinji game in the street courts.

* Kaidoh adores animals, especially cats. He is seen playing with Karupin, Ryoma's cat, when he reaches the Seigaku grounds, and in the anime he and Momoshiro teamed up to save a drowning puppy just before the Rikkaidai match. In the dating sim "Gakuensai no Oujisama" he takes the main girl, Shizuka Hirose, into animal-related dates like an aquarium and a zoo, and is seen playing with a bunch of stray cats.

* In the anime, Kaidoh is easily scared of anything supernatural, as with the episode "Cursed Racket", and several other occasions where he backs out because of supposed haunted location, objects.

* In the TeniPuri Family chibi episodes, Kaidoh is the toddler of the family. Everyone refers to him as "Kaoru-chan" and he has yet to learn to speak, so he's always seen sucking on his pacifier and the only thing he ever says is his signature "fshuuuu" sound. He also has a very child-like view of the world, spending a whole chibi episode searching for Santa Claus. He is also the main subject of torture from his "older brother and sister" Ryoma and Momoshiro, normally tied to something. He is also seen making the family cat, Kikumaru, pull his sled.

* Kaidoh never wears socks with his tennis shoes, nor does he wear the blue pants of the Seigaku uniform. Additionally, in the National tournament, he never wears the Seigaku t-shirt and wears the black shirt that he works out in under his jacket.

* When speaking directly (or indirectly) with someone, Kaidoh rarely calls someone by their first or last name, simply "you", unless speaking to someone of a higher status than him or Ryoma Echizen (Ex: He called Inui "Inui-senpai" when realizing that Inui was there in episode 54 [:Kaoru's Special Training.] )

* Kaidoh is 14 years old, 5 foot 7 inches, and weighs 125 lbs. This information is accurately given in Season Six, Episode 145: Kevin and Ryoma. It's told at 20:06.

* Kaidoh's favorite brands are: shoes - Puma (Cell Factor PTO634) and racket - Head (TI.S7)

* Kaidoh appears to enjoys rock music.

* Kaidoh's favorite foods are yogurt, [yaki] soba, and 100% pure juice.

* Kaidoh's interests consist of marathons and collecting hair cloths (bandanas.) Meaning that Kaidoh wears a bandana during training, practices, and matches simply because he enjoys wearing and collecting them.

* Kaidoh's eye color is undefined in both the manga and anime, most people typically thinking it's a plain black or brownish in the manga. However, when looking close enough it can sometimes be some what of a dark, navy like blue or a dark green.

* Since Ryoma is 12 and a freshmen, that would place both Momo and Kaidoh in the "13-14 years old" category. All though Kaidoh's voice is deep, his emotional level is still at that of a 13-14 year old, so his immaturity may be a result of a his easy-angered personality. [In the original Japanese version of the anime, his voice is very deep and it's a little unthinkable that he'd be 13. In the English dub of the anime, his voice is still deep, but slightly lighter (yet presented with not as much emotion.)]

*Because of the differences in the manga and the anime, the match line-up is also varied. In the manga, Kentaro Aoi of Rokkaku – playing S3 – wanted to face Echizen because both were freshmen, but he ended up facing Kaidoh. In the anime, Echizen requests to Oishi to play against Kentaro, which he got granted. Kaidoh was set in S2 (Singles 2), and even though Oishi told Kaidoh to warm-up when it looked like Echizen might lose, Kaidoh refused, saying Echizen is the kind of player who wouldn't lose.

Actors

* In the Anime series, Kaidoh's seiyū (or voice actor) is Kōhei Kiyasu.

* For the live-action adaptation film of "The Prince of Tennis", Tenimyu actor Kousuke Kujirai portrays Kaidoh.

* In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Kaidoh is portrayed by actors Naoya Gomoto (2003-2005), Kousuke Kujirai (2005-2006), Tomo Yanagishita (2006-2008), and Yuuichirou Hirata (2007-current).

References