Kaido. The man who wanted to become Joy Boy at any price but couldn't.
The experiment form Punk Hazard that was so successful they couldn't contain him.
And on top of all that probably the best villain we will get in the entire story.
We're talking about all of that today. But, if you aren't caught up with the manga yet,
click off this video right now, run to your local book store, buy all the current manga
volumes of one piece, catch up to the story in one session and then come back to this video.
But if you are, let's begin.
Here's a quick recap:
Kaido is the physically strongest being in the One PIece world. He was experimented on by the world
government, got his Dragon devil fruit from Big Mom during the God Valley incident and spend his
life obsessed with awakening JoyBoy and changing the world. At some point he went from eager and
always laughing to a suicidal drunk, that wants to start the largest war the world has ever seen.
How did Kaido get that strong? Well, I'm pretty sure that Kaido's flashback is
just around the corner or maybe already here when you watch this. If, so please
let me know in the comments how wrong I was, but here is what I think has been hinted at.
Kaido, and also King in extension, are experiments from Punk Hazard. We know that
he has been captured by the navy multiple times and that he escaped from a research facility.
And not only is punk hazard the largest facility we know, but it is connected to Kaido
in a number of ways. The research conducted there basically can all be seen in Kaido's character.
We know about the research on gignatifications, including the numbers, who stem from the island.
Vegapunk was researching ancient giants in this facility and
Kaido clearly resembles the general appearance of the likes of Oars. We literally see a skull
like Kaido's on the door to the lab as well.
Then there is the fact that Kaido is a dragon. Not only do we see an artificial dragon on the island,
but Momonosuke literally finds a perfect copy of Kaido's fruit in the lab. These are
also connected to Caesars artificial devil fruits, another product form punk hazard,
together with the numbers, Kaido has been using to build his army. So it seems very likely that
VEgapunk was experimenting with his devil fruit powers after the God Valley incident.
Maybe that was where he got captured in the first place, betrayed by rocks.
Now the question is, is Kaido related to the ancient giants by blood and
they made the numbers based on him, or did he receive his horns and size during that time.
Based on the rocks sellouts we got and Yamato having horns, I would suspect
that former. But Oda seems to be holding back Kaido's younger appearance on purpose,
like in this short flashback in chapter 1041.
But what does this all mean for his character and his connection to joy boy?
Now I have heard people whining about Kaido being a one dimensional villain basically for the first
two acts of Wano straight. And fair enough, because until the start of the raid we have
gotten only very very little characterisation for his character, though I personally think that Oda
right from the start had set him up to be the most interesting villain in the story so far.
But ever since...those voices have mysteriously vanished.
Because I think it's fair to say that his real characterisation started with act III.
We saw Kaido establishing his power in Wano during Oden's flashback,
unhonorably defeating Oden after getting his scar form him. How he formed an alliance with Big Mom,
how he got rid of Orochi for being the most annoying character in the story, announcing
the new onigashima project, taking out all of the scabbards, revealing that he knows about JoyBoy,
taking on his own child, showing us his first encounter with the Lunarian King
and finally having fight of his life with Luffy, the first person that could
seriously challenge him since oden, until he got robbed of that by CP0.
Over the course of, what in the story is just a single night, Eiichiro Oda,
the author of One Piece, has pulled back the curtains on the final villain of the
yonko saga, that has lasted the entirety of the new world so far.
Why do I say that? Well, I was getting to that part. Jesus. *grin*
What's up, I'm Manu and Let me start this with a prediction: I think Kaido's arc
will end with him laughing during his fight with luffy, liberated from his heavy burden.
I think it's pretty clear that Kaido, just like Big Mom, has been portrayed as someone
who originally had good intention to change the world by finding the one piece. Making it a better
place. Big mom wants to create a world where all races can live in harmony. And it seems like Kaido
wants to end the rule of the world government, most likely after having suffered at their hands.
In chapter 1036, Kaido says that he is the only one who can change the world implying that it's
a responsibility he has to the world and later asks King if he still considers him to be JoyBoy.
It seems pretty obvious to me, that Kaido wanted to become JoyBoy, the person who will bring the
dawn. Actually, fun fact, a common kanji reading for Kaido in Japanese, is actually joyful boy.
He seems to have some idea of what it takes to become or awaken JoyBoy. In his mind it seems to
require being the strongest in the world and maybe even dying. This would be supported by
his repeated efforts to get killed and Luffy possibly dying in chapter 1043.
He even tells Luffy very disappointedly that it seems like he couldn't be joy boy either,
after knocking him out in chapter 1014. Even after fighting strong opponent after strong opponent,
Kaido couldn't become Joy Boy until now. Many of his big hopes died before he could face them. And
not only that, they all had grand achievements before their death. Roger became pirate king and
started the great pirate age. Whitebeard, whom he wanted to fight at Marineford, rekindled the
dream of the one piece. Oden, who was strong enough to face him, died as an inspiration
to the people of Wano. Meanwhile Kaido only defeated him after someone else distracted them.
I think that Kaido had one of two goals. He wanted to try to either become JoyBoy himself
by facing of against the strongest possible opponents, or help them awaken JoyBoy in return,
by being the strongest possible opponent for them. His great responsibility. But no-one ever did,
including him. That, and his trauma of his inglorious victory over Oden, made him lose sight
of his dream for a better world. Just how Big Mom became a monster in the name of a better future,
so did Kaido. Using and enslaving the people of Wano for the greater good.
Kaido basically is the embodiment of strength and toxic masculinity. He doesn't allow himself
to be soft or vulnerable. He drowns his fears and doubts in alcohol and forces himself to be
hard. He can't openly love Yamato, but be hard so she can help him with his duty. He still finishes
Luffy and Oden, despite hating himself for having been robbed of a fair fight. He willingly takes on
the role of the villain, in order to fulfil his goal, even if it eats at him every single day.
What I love about this, is that not only does it
make Kaido one of the most complex and multi-layered villains in the story,
but that it also draws a very interesting parallel to Luffy's fight with Katakuri.
If you want the full breakdown of Katakuri's character
and that fight, I did make a whole video about it.
WHat's important for us here,
is that Luffy liberated Katakuri from the mask he put on to protect his family.
He needed to be the strong older brother that takes care of everyone, not allowed to show any
weakness or any of his dreams. Luffy with his unique ability to see people's true feelings,
understands this over the course of their fight and pushes Katakuri to drop his mask,
quite literally by throwing away his scarf and being himself, freeing him.
The difference to Kaido is that when Flame interferes with the fight,
Katakuri has already started to shake off his duty and wants to continue this fight fairly,
which is why he does one of the most badass things in the entire story. []
Now, to understand how this is connected to Kaido,
let's take a look at Kaido's state of mind after Luffy's defeat with the help of
CP0. There was a really interesting breakdown of this by a Korean One Piece fan, that actually
also references the Katakuri connection, that I complemented my thoughts almost perfectly.
In both battles Luffy was knocked down but came back stronger
Both Katakuri and Kaido are hiding their true selves,
Katakuri to protect his family, and Kaido to protect his dream.
And most importantly, both battles were interfered by someone else and Luffy almost died from it.
Basically, after finally meeting another suitable candidate to awaken JoyBoy after Oden, the fight
once again is sabotaged by an outside force. And just look at Kaido's face, the strongest being
in the world. This is just pure pain and trauma. After taking out the CP0 agent and descending into
the castle, it seems like he's back to his old self, reassuming his role as the hard villain,
who is worse than Orochi, someone he despises, saying the most tyrannical things.
But he is not recovered from the shock at all. Because in chapter 1042,
Kaido says things like 'Winners need no justification' and 'Those content to die
for honour are losers'. But isn't kaido the one yearning for an honourable death the most?
Kaido wants to die for honour. He hates winning in disgrace.
He wants to change the world. And I would even go so far as to say that he wants to be
the good guy that brings peace and freedom to the world. But he can't acknowledge it,
because he is the only one who can do it, no matter at what cost.
Btw, if you want more breakdowns like this and stay up to date with what's happening,
I make videos like this every single week, so consider subscribing if you're a real madlad.
So what will that mean for the remaining battle? Well, not only is Luffy alive,
but he seems to have awakened JoyBoy and his devil fruit in the process as well.
I actually think that Luffy will liberate Kaido in a multitude of ways.
First of all, just like against Katakuri, Luffy will make it clear that he doesn't think that a
fight between pirates needs to be fair, lifting Kaido's guilt for his earlier victory. Second,
in whatever shape or form that will be, Kaido will realize that Luffy has become JoyBoy. And so
no matter, if that was his hope all along or if he wanted to become JoyBoy himself, this burden will
be lifted form his shoulders. JoyBoy has returned. This will finally give Kaido the achievement, that
Roger, Whitebeard and co had before their deaths, being the one to bring about the return of the one
who will bring the dawn. But most importantly, Luffy will understand Kaido's true feelings,
all that shame and guilt and tell him exactly what he needs to hear to finally drop his tyrannical
tough guy shell. And I personally believe that Kaido will have to die at the end of this arc,
hopefully in an effort to help Luffy and his crew, maybe against the marines or Blackbeard or whoever
will be there to pick on the survivors. The well-deserved honourable death he always wanted.
And so the tragic reason that Luffy was able to become JoyBoy after all, and Kaido and the rest
couldn't, is because Luffy lived the principles of JoyBoy all his life. Liberating people,
creating joy and protecting those who need protecting. By trying to force JoyBoy back
into existence and using the people of Wano, Kaido betrayed the core values of what it means to bring
the dawn. Luffy has already started to change the world right from the beginning of the story.
And so the video isn't enough by itself. If you really want to know
what made Luffy the only possible candidate to become JoyBoy,
you can't ignore this video here, where I break down why Luffy could awaken the
sun god and what this awakening means for the past and future of One Piece.