Kaoru Kaido

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Kaoru Kaidoh
The Prince of Tennis character
Created by Takeshi Konomi
Voiced by Kōhei Kiyasu (Japanese)
David Lodge (English)
Profile
Date of birth May 11
Class 2-7
School Seigaku
Style Counter-Puncher, right handed

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.

Contents

[edit] History

Kaidoh's nickname is "Mamushi", or the "Viper," which fits him well. He wears a bandana (in the anime, it is orange until episode 12 when it changed permanently to green) and often exhales making a "fshuuuu" sound, similar to a snake. 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 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 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 several green items associated with the Emerald Pair, such as Kaidoh's bandana, Inui's notebook, Inui's special juices and Inui's pants he used when being the "coach" of Seigaku after losing his regular place to Ryoma 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.[1]

[edit] Techniques

[edit] Snake 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 shot 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.

[edit] 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 against Hyotei playing doubles with Inui against Hyotei's Choutarou Ootori and Ryo Shishido.

[edit] Short 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.

[edit] 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.

[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 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 Torando Snake it could confuse his opponent on which would come and that he might become invincible.

[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 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.

[edit] Devil Mode

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

[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] Reception

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Kaidoh has placed on every single popularity poll taken for The Prince of Tennis. In the first poll taken, he came in 6th place[1], and moved up to 5th place in the second poll taken.[2] He fell to 18th in the third poll[3], however he moved up slightly to 17th in the fourth poll[4].

Anime on DVD praised Kaidoh for being unpredictable and borderline psychotic.[5]

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • 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.
  • When Kaidoh is set in doubles, he is often paired with either Inui or his rival, Momoshiro.
  • 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.

[edit] Actors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Konomi, Takeshi (2001). "Genius 83", Prince of Tennis　Vol. 10. Shueisha, 184. ISBN 4-08-873162-X. 
  2. ^ Konomi, Takeshi (2003). "Genius 158", Prince of Tennis　Vol. 18. Shueisha, 192. ISBN 4-08-873407-6. 
  3. ^ Konomi, Takeshi (2006). "Genius 276", Prince of Tennis　Vol. 33. Shueisha, 192. ISBN 4-08-874048-3. 
  4. ^ Konomi, Takeshi (2007). "Genius 333", Prince of Tennis　Vol. 38. Shueisha, 192. ISBN 978-4-08-874353-0. 
  5. ^ Jarred Pine (2005-05-09). Prince of Tennis Vol. #04. Manga Review. Anime on DVD. Retrieved on 2008-02-27.


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