Kaoru Kaidoh
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| Kaoru Kaidoh (海堂 薫) |
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Kaoru Kaidoh (海堂薫 Kaidō Kaoru?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga The Prince of Tennis. His name is rendered Kaoru Kaidou in the original Japanese anime, and Kaoru Kaidoh in the English manga.
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[edit] History
Kaidoh's nickname is "Mamushi", or the "Viper," which fits him well. He wears a bandana (in the anime, it's orange until episode 12 when it changed permanently to green) and often exhales making a "fshuuuu" sound, similar to a snake. Understandably, Kaidoh does not like this nickname, and often reacts badly when called that within earshot, 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).
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 Inui's advice and by working with him in doubles. Kaidoh trains rigorously, increasing the training program given to him by his mentor Sadaharu 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 Sadaharu Inui also make an excellent doubles pair, mostly because after beating Inui himself during the same line-up matches where Ryoma became a regular, Inui has seen Kaidoh's potential and has taken him under his wing.
[edit] Techniques
[edit] Snake Shot
An abnormal curving baseline forehand and a variation of the buggy whip shot. This move is used to keep opponents running, therefore draining their stamina.
This is also called a Buggy Whip Shot, and is said to be used often by pros. By swinging the racquet upwards, Kaidoh puts intense topspin on the ball with centrifugal force. The Fudoumine players refer to it as a buggy whip shot in the manga as does Sadaharu Inui. In the anime, while Echizen Ryoma is playing Kaidoh, 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.
[edit] Boomerang Snake
Similar to the original Snake. The Boomerang Snake is a move from in which the tennis ball swings around the net instead of going over the net. It was initially performed by accident when he slipped while diving for the ball. After that, he needed to spend a lot of time training in order to hit it properly during a singles match.
[edit] Short Snake
A variation of the Snake shot which has a much greater curve than the original. Instead of going deep into the court, the ball curves a lot more and a lot more quickly so it lands around the service line with much more curve, making it harder to return. Kaidoh first uses this move in his doubles match with Momoshiro against Bunta Marui and Kuwahara Jackal of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku.
[edit] Reverse Snake
A backhand Snake Shot that goes in the opposite direction of a normal Snake Shot. Kaidoh develops this shot in order to counter Kuwahara Jackal's usage of the Snake.
[edit] 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 0.02 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.
[edit] Laser Beam
This an extremely fast forehand shot developed by Hiroshi Yagyuu of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. When Kaidoh and Yagyuu play an unofficial doubles match against a pair from Murigaoka, they disguise themselves as each other and each hit each others signature shots.
[edit] 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 poweful, but fast as well, and it was stated a normal Junior High School student wouldn't be able to keep up with it.
When Kaidoh and Momoshiro play against Hitouji and Konjiki of Shitenhouji, and they are disguised, Kaidoh hits the Jack Knife in order to cause the opponents to think he and Momoshiro have switched places.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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're 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 always weirds out his schoolmates.
- Kaidoh normally wears a green bandanna except when at school or home. From time to time, though, he wears other colors, such as grey, yellow, orange, and blue. In the manga, Kaidoh appears by first time without a bandana; he starts wearing one for the tournaments.
- Kaidoh seems to be VERY naîve when it comes to personal relationships, always blushing when older women praise him more or less directly, or when his friends speak about sentimental matters. During the fake date between An and Momoshiro, Inui called him and cryptically said "it's a date", but Kaidoh mistakenly thought Inui was asking *him* out and freaked out.
- Kaidoh adores animals, especially cats. He's seen playing with Karupin, Ryoma's cat, when he reaches the Seigaku grounds, and 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.
- 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.
[edit] Actors
- In the Anime series, Kaidoh's seiyū (or voice actor) is Kohei Kiyasu.
- For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, actor Kousuke Kujirai portrays Kaidoh.
- In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Kaidoh is portrayed by actors Naoya Gomoto (2003-2004), Kousuke Kujirai (2005-2006) and Tomo Yanagishita (2006-current)
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| Tennis team members: | Ryoma Echizen | Kunimitsu Tezuka | Shuichiro Oishi | Shusuke Fuji | Eiji Kikumaru | Takashi Kawamura | Sadaharu Inui | Takeshi Momoshiro | Kaoru Kaidoh |
| Schools: | Seishun Academy Middle School | Fudomine Middle School | St. Rudolph Gakuen | Yamabuki | Hyotei Gakuen | Midoriyama | Jyosei Shonan | Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku | Rokkaku Chuu |
| Supporting characters: | Sumire Ryuzaki | Nanjiro Echizen | Masashi Arai | Satoshi Horio | Kachiro Kato | Katsuo Mizuno | Sakuno Ryuzaki | Tomoka Osakada |
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| List of Prince of Tennis episodes | Tennis no Ojisama - Futari no Samurai | The Prince of Tennis (film) | The Prince of Tennis Musicals | Takeshi Konomi | |
