Kaoru Kaidō | |
---|---|
Kanji |
海堂 薫 |
Rōmaji |
Kaidō Kaoru |
Nicknames |
Mamushi (Japanese) |
Gender |
Male |
Age |
14 |
Height |
173 cm |
Weight |
57 kg |
Birthday |
May 11 |
Horoscope |
Taurus |
Blood Type |
B |
Family |
Shibuki Kaidoh (Father) |
Junior High |
Seigaku (2nd Year) |
Class |
2-7 |
Seat |
4 |
Club Position |
Regular |
Elementary School |
Okutama River Primary School |
Japan U-17 Camp |
Court 2 |
Dominant Arm |
Right |
Play Style |
Counter Puncher |
Doubles Partner(s) | |
Racquet(s) |
HEAD (T1.S7) |
Shoes |
PUMA (CELL FACTOR PTO634) |
Manga Debut |
Genius 4 |
Anime Debut |
Episode 3 |
Movies |
Atobe's Gift |
Voice Actor |
Kōhei Kiyasu (Japanese) |
Kaoru Kaidō (海堂 薫 Kaidō Kaoru) is a second-year Regular at the Seigaku tennis club and is renowned for his long reach and stamina. His nickname is "Viper" ("Mamushi" in Japanese) and his signature shot are his Snake shots.
Background[]
Kaidō is mostly known for his "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. He usually plays the Singles 3 position, though he is most often placed in one of the Doubles slots.
In Genius 379, the last chapter of the manga, Kaidō is seen as a third year and the new captain of Seigaku, with Momoshiro as his vice-captain. Their rivalry has, apparently, somewhat mellowed with time. He lives with his brother, his mother, and his father. He and his brother bear a striking resemblance to their father.
Appearance[]
As an athlete, the first thing to note about Kaido is his long arms and legs, which gives him a great reach and allows him to perform high-level shots such as the Snake. He has short dark brown hair and brown eyes (black hair and green eyes in the anime). His lips are also defined in the series, with him breathing heavily ("Fshuuuu~") in many occasions.
Outside of class, Kaido is almost never seen without his bandana, with the colors ranging from blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. In the manga and video games, the bandana is shown to be blue, while in the anime, he primarily wears a green bandana, although his first few appearances had him with an orange one.
Personality[]
Kaidō'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. Kaidō does not like it 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). Despite his tough personality, Kaidō does have a soft spot for animals, as seen when he attempts to play with Ryoma's cat Karupin and becomes depressed when he is rejected. It is shown in the sequel series, New Prince of Tennis, that Kaidō is actually terrified of ghosts (this may be due to the anime's portrayal of him).
His soft spot for animals is further emphasized in the anime. In episodes 116-117, when he is on the way to the regional finals against Rikkai Dai , he leaps into a river to save a puppy.
Kaidō 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.
Kaidō and Inui make an excellent doubles pair, mostly after beating Inui himself during the same line-up matches where Ryoma Echizen had became a regular. Inui has seen Kaidō'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 Shūichirō Oishi) and the several green items associated with the Emerald Pair, such as Kaidō'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 Ryoma though those colors are often only seen in the anime.
Anime[]
Kaidō is sometimes shown to be timid at different points of the anime series and he blushes very easily whenever he is praised. He is also seen as surprising sensitive seeing as he can get watery eyes from just listening to a touching friendship speech. Kaidoh is also portrayed to be extremely afraid of ghosts and is quite superstitous as shown in episode 99 "Cursed Racket" when he tries to run away when Inui tells them a horror story, and when Fuji scares everyone with a mask, and in episode 106 when arriving at the cottage. His fear of ghost, however, is only ever seen in the anime, and not in the original manga until te sequel series in chapter 20.
Despite having these characterstics, Kaidoh still pretends to act tough as if nothing fazes him.
History[]
Tokyo Districts[]
Seigaku head into the District Tournament as favourites and cruise through to the finals against new upcoming team that are the surprise finalists, Fudomine Middle School. Kaido is placed in Singles 3 against fellow 2nd Year Kamio Akira. Kamio's speed gets the better of Kaido as he jumps out to a 5-3 lead. Kaido however refuses to give up and warns Kamio that the match is far from over. Kaido eventually climbs back and wins 7-5 thanks to his immense stamina.
Tokyo Prefecturals[]
Kaido and Seigaku head into the Prefecturals as the 2nd seed behind Hyotei. They somewhat comfortably advance past each of their opponents with their Quarterfinal opponents being St.Rudolph, another Tokyo school. In Doubles 2 against St.Rudolph in the Quarterfinals, Kaido pairs up with Momoshiro.
Regionals[]
Prior To Nationals[]
Just prior to the tournament he went to a Professional tournament which happened to be hosted by Japan and just so happened to be se sitting near a pair of Murigaoka students who were insulting both Rikkai Dai and Seigaku after hearing that Seigaku won the Nationals and heavily and coldly insulted Yukimura which greatly angered Kaido who overheard which resulted in a brawl which was stopped by the arrival of Yagyuu Hiroshi who explained that Kaido was in fact a regular at Seigaku and that he himself was a Rikkai regular and also that any Nationals players involved in violence would be punished.
The Murigaoka pair understand this and decide that they should settle their problems on the tennis court. Yagyuu and Kaido crush the pair however it is revealed that the pair had organised their school colleagues to record the match so if the situation arose in the Nationals they could prepare to shut down both Yagyuu or Kaido. However Yagyuu was one step ahead and had organised them to dress up as each other and play with swapped identities which meant they had to use each other's Special techniques.
After winning, switching back identities, Yagyuu then questioned Kaido what he would do if Snake was shut down before leaving.
Nationals[]
Kaido went to the Nationals with Seigaku and his tournament began in Doubles 1 against Higa Chuu pair Shiranui Tomoya and Aragaki Kōichi. Kaido paired with Inui Sadaharu. However in answer to Yagyuu's question, Kaido decided that he would not use Snake during the whole match. He then gave himself another enourmous handicap by asking Inui to not play during the Doubles and allow a 2 on 1 game. Nevertheless, Kaido won 6-3 against Shiranui and Aragaki and with Seigaku winning 5-0 in the encounter between Higa they went through to the Quarterfinals with ease.
Nationals Quarterfinals[]
Kaido paired with Inui Sadaharu again for Doubles 2 against Hyotei and was fired up after watching Momoshiro Takeshi and Oshitari Yushi play a passionate match. The match was against Hiyoshi Wakashi and Mukahi Gakuto who are players that are low on stamina and specialise in quick matches. Mukahi begins the game by taunting Inui and Kaidoh arrogantly as he usually does to his opponents which gets the better of Kaidoh who swings at him, however Hiyoshi blocks and suppresses Kaidoh's racket threateningly and warns Kaidoh to calm down as the match is yet to start.
Hiyoshi/Mukahi begin by playing unlike their usual habits therefore Inui's data did not work for a total of 7 games. During those games, Kaidoh simply made all his shots have all of his power into them. Making them require more energy and stamina to return.
Hiyoshi and Mukahi waste energy and stamina by returning every shot that they get and constantly aim for winners. This tires them out drastically as the game count reaches 5-2 Match point. However, Kaidoh unveils his new technique Tornado Snake. Hiyoshi and Mukahi are unable to react to this and go back to their normal mannerisms as they had ran out of stamina. However, once back to their normal habits, Inui's Data Tennis took effect again immediately which meant Inui and Kaidoh took the score to a 7-5 win almost instantly.
Nationals Semifinals[]
Kaido paired with Momoshiro Takeshi in Doubles 2 against Shitenhouji pair Hitouji/Konjiki at the Semifnals of the Nationals. They play against the Idiot pair which consists of Hitouji Yuuji and Konjiki Koharu who are a homosexual couple and Doubles pair at the same time.
The two play what they call Comedy Tennis which completely throws off Momoshiro and Kaido off course time and time again during the match. However Kaido and Momoshiro refuse to give up despite being cornered by their opponents silly tennis. Eventually Momoshiro comes up with a plan to trick his opponents by wearing masks since their oppononents thought it was funny to play with wigs on. Thanks to wearing masks, the opponents are unable to tell who is Momoshiro and who is Kaido and they eventually win.
Nationals Final[]
Kaido paired with Inui Sadaharu for Doubles 2 against a similar style pairing of Yanagi Renji and Kirihara Akaya after Tezuka Kunimitsu lost to Sanada Genichiro in Singles 3. The pair forfeited due to Inui's critical injuries caused by Kirihara being in Devil Mode.
Prior To U-17 Camp[]
U-17 Camp[]
Kaido along with his Seigaku teammates recieves an invitation to the U-17 Camp due to the high quality of middle schoolers in this years tournament. He arrives at the camp with his teammates only to find that several other middle schoolers that the team have faced before are also invited to the camp. Kaido like all of the 50 middle schoolers invited is able to retrieve a ball that the helicopter drops which was the requirement to be allowed to stay in the camp.
Right after the first official shuffle match, having Momoshiro losing against Oni and resulting in having pain in both of his wrists, the mental coach for the U-17 camp appears: Saito. He asks all the present middle schoolers to pair up with whoever they want, leading them to believe they are to play a doubles pair, Kaido pairs up with Tezuka but right after the couples having been setted, the coach informs that every pairing will have to play against eachother. Saito also tells everyone that all the losers will have to leave right away after the match.
Tezuka takes seriously his match with Kaido, to the point to wanting achieve the goal to transmit him something important, but apparently ending up in an humiliant one-sided game, showing Kaido loosing.
All the losers get adressed to this bus, supposed to take them back home. While on the return trip the guys ask the driver a second chance, see themselves dropped right in front of this mountain where the coach Saito awaits for them together with Ryoma and Kintaro. All of them gets challenged to climb that mountain with nothing but their own hands, having the incentive to have a second chance and join again the U-17 camp if they'd succeed in this mission.
Mountain Climbing[]
During the climb Momoshiro reaches his limits, still having an evident pain to both of his wrists, and right then, after an usual "encouragement" where Kaido tells him to be a coward if he gives up here for "just that", Kaido offers his help to bring Momo on his back while climbing. Somehow Momo accepts and Kaido starts to climb having his friend on the back. After a while Kaido also reached his limits by bringing a double weight, right when it was looking like a critical moment, Niou fakes "Keigo" and orders Kabaji to bring Momo on his back. All the losers show a really strong team's spirit wanting noone of them loosing here too and helping each other.
On the top of the mountain, Kaidoh meets the Drunken Coach who orders him and the other middle schoolers to do odd tasks. He trained in the Drunken Coach's Mountain with the Drunken Coach with his extreme methods. Later on, the 27 middle schoolers in the mountains steal the Coach's sake, angering him to the point he decides they should all go back to the camp and start a revolution within the U-17 Camp.
The Losers leave the mountains and come back to the Camp and end up defeating and replacing the 2nd Court.
Genius 10 Challenge[]
Kaidoh and the majority of the camp play audience to the match between Top 10 and their Middle School challengers and he and the data players comment on the players of the 1st match No.10 Juzaburō Mōri his former Rikkai teammate in the year above him and No.9 Ochi Tsukimitsu.
Tennis Record[]
Playing Style and Techniques[]
Personal Information[]
- Favourite Subject: English
- Hobbies: Marathon, collecting bandanas
- Strong Subjects: English
- Worst Subjects: Mathematics, Science
- Frequently Visited Spot at School: Weight room
- Favorite Color: Blue
- Favorite Food: Yam soba (zaru), yogurt, 100% fruit juice
- Favorite Movie: Japanese movies
- Favorite Book: Japanese literature from the Meiji era
- Favorite Music: Traditional Japanese musical instrument groups
- Preferred Type: Someone who eats food like it's really delicious
- Favorite Date Spot: Zoo (wants to see the polar bears)
- Currently Most Wanted Item: New training equipment
- Daily Routine: Roadwork, cleans his room
- Something He's Bad With: Monsters, ghosts
- Special Skills Outside of Tennis: General housework
- Tennis Bag: Gosen
Daily School Life[]
- 05:00 - Rises from bed, roadwork (jogging)
- 06:00 - Breakfast (handmade soba and homegrown fruits)
- 06:50 - Goes to school. Morning practice
- 08:20 - Cleans the teacher's desk, etc. on his day shift
- 08:40 - First Period: Science 2; Astronomy
- 09:40 - Second Period: Physical Education; Short Distance Run
- 10:30 - Does running in the schoolyard during break time
- 11:00 - Third Period: Japanese; Modern Literature
- 12:00 - Fourth Period: Home Economics; Sewing (Apron)
- 12:50 - Lunch break: Multi-tiered bento (Hollandaise sauce on Japanese spiny lobster)
- 13:00 Muscle training in the weight room
- 13:20 - Fifth Period: Mathematics 2
- 14:20 - Sixth Period: Sociology; Civics
- 16:00 - Club Activies: Foundation practice
- 18:00 - Returns home, dinner, bathes
- 19:00 - Cleans his room, irons his shirts
- 20:30 - Appreciation of the DVD "The Artic Continent ~Polar Bear's Ecology~"
- 21:00 After training in his own room, roadwork (jogging)
- 1:00 - Goes to bed after taking a light shower
Note from Momoshiro: His cleaning is always excessively perfect. When that guy's on day shift he even makes the blackboard seem like it's sparkling.
Note from Ryoma: Whenever I see him during break time, he's training. I was surprised when he was doing chin-ups on the tree in the schoolyard.
Bag Check[]
- Bandannas
In order to immediately switch bandannas when one gets dirty, he always has 2~3 bandannas.
- Writing implements
Instead of mechanical pencils, it seems he only uses ballpoint pens to take notes.
- Notebook
In order to easily file away important sections, he uses the ringed-style notebook.
- Bento box
A splendid lacquer, multi-tier bento box wrapped in a furoshiki (cloth). Of course, he brings chopsticks and the chopstick rest.
- Sewing set
Sewing tools and nail clippers are stored away here. He always keeps his nails clean so he makes an effort to practice.
- Handkerchief & tissue paper
The hygienic Kaidoh, he carries a handkerchief and tissue without forgetting. It seems he has a methodical personality.
- Pass case
A pass case with proof that you're a Seigaku student. Is Kaidoh's picture as scary as one might expect?
Etymology[]
- The name Kaoru means "fragrance, fragrant" (薫).
- Kaoru is a unisexual name, in which Koharu Konjiki somewhat mentions on his exposition on Kaidō's data.
- Kaoru's surname Kaidō means "sea, ocean" (海) (kai) and "temple" (堂) (dō).
Trivia[]
Character Trivia[]
- A Running Gag about Kaidoh shows that he actually is afraid of ghosts and horror related stories. (See ep. 99 "The Cursed Racket", 106 "Off to the Cottage"..)
Other Trivia[]
Quotes[]
- "Fshhhhhh..."
- "Finish!"
- "Don't get cocky, you imbecile!" ("Joshitsu ki aga te, kono boke ga!")
- "Don't underestimate Kaido Kaoru!" ("Kono Kaido Kaoru wo, namenja ne!")
- (To Kamio Akira) “Who said that this was finished? As long as there’s a point left, I will never give up.” (“Dare ga mo owari da tte ita? Tatoi no kori one point ni nattemo, zettai akirameze no kora.”)
- (When talking to Momoshiro) “You wanna go at it?” (“Yarun no ka, kora?”)
- (Against Hyotei, Kanto) "First of all, I will make them shut up!" ("Mazu wa, yatsu wo damaro seru ze!")
- “I don’t like this.” (“Kiniinare.”)
- (To Kentaro Aoi in Manga) “Sorry, but I’m also strong under pressure.” (“Warui ga, ore no pressure ni wa tsuen da yo.”)
- (When using Short Cross against Jackal) "I guess this is the only thing I can do." ("Yappa ore ni wa koreshi ka ne ga.")