Kaido Is Better Than Anyone Realizes (One Piece Video Essay)

I remember when he said he wouldn't make video essays on one piece... thank god he changed his mind

Kaido is also a character that unlike previous villains, doesn't belittle and ridicule some of the series core ideals and most striking elements, instead he's obsessed with them, he ideolizes them, but he's also misunderstood them and he's jealous of everyone else that can achieve those things he yearns for while he struggles endlessly without ever getting close. Even tho some things of Wano disappointed me, him having the duel of his life, finally fighting fairly like he wished for and meeting his end, but only for no one to notice and see it, was a fantastic way of denying him his dream.

If there was any character who deserved this kind of video from you to break your rule about not doing any non arc review videos for it's Kaido. What a magnificent character

I'm so happy that Oda finally decided to start writing antagonists differently post-timeskip. Hody Jones, Katakuri and Kaido are all so creative, different and well-written. Shonen meatheads will demand the same slop over again but I'm so glad we started getting such creative villains.

It may not be intentional but I love how Oden's flashback was so long and detailed, told through the perspective of others and at times almost felt like we were reading about a legendary larger than life figure reminiscent of folklore/myths. On the other hand, everything we know about Kaido's past was either through King or when his life briefly flashed before his eyes.

This explains why he never awakened his fruit, he focused too much on his strength (haki) that he forgot to achieve his dream (awakening)

My brain short circuited when I saw “Aleczandxr” and “One Piece Video Essay” in the same notification

Kaido is the personification of “if I can’t be loved, I’ll be feared instead.” Only a man who once held so much empathy, hope and ambition could be as broken, apathetic and empty as Kaido is

1:46 ''But this is the first and last time.... definitely...'' 👀👀👀👀

The way the anime animate him is insane ngl

I already thought Aj was the biggest Kaido fan for liking his flashback, now there's a whole video essay. Kaido's peaks are that powerful 👏

Kaido is the man who idolizes the strong and honorable (his top five, Joy Boy), yet his live lessons kept teaching him that the pragmatic and the dishonorable always win in the end (most of his top five have died without fulfilling their dreams, Joy Boy is lost to time). Furthermore, those wins ironically benefit him time and time again, beating these life lessons into him slowly until he can't imagine that this is a world where the righteous can ever win and that the most they can hope for is to die while having their wills passed on, with him left thriving in his castle built on corrupted soils, which he would burn to the ground along with the world of madness that made it all necessary when given the chance. One interesting thing I noticed is that Luffy does not care about the passage of will, he may have inherited the hopes of his forerunners, but he himself has no intention of passing them on: he neither writes regularly nor vocalizes his message, even when staring death in the face countless times, most he would say right before he dies is that "Sorry, I am a goner." - Chapter 99. While Kaido is obsessed with the meaning of life, dynamics of power, and the legacy we leave behind, Luffy (similar to Brooke and Usopp, and I am sure most of the Strawhats) believes that all that is left behind when one dies is bones (counter to the theme of inheritance of will, at least on the surface, but the reality is that will gets passed on because humanity persists, regardless if it has been passed on with intend, as long as a single soul hopes for freedom the will shall never seize to be), he would rather focus on the here and now, and would never wait for someone to carry his will because he rather do it himself, because unlike Kaido he never loses hope of the present world, to achieve his goal he might have to risk his live, but the dying part is never the intend nor is it worthy of even a thought (similar to Brooke's response to Big Mom in Wholecake Island). Most importantly unlike those loudmouth fresh faced dreamers whom will faulter without fail when the reality of the world come crashing down, Luffy has the will, the might and the destiny to make it come true (he will not die like Rocks when his crew abandoned him, Like Roger when his sickness took away his strength, Like Oden when his family became his weakness, Like Newgate when his own son stab him through his back) that makes him the perfect hero in Kaido's eyes, someone who should be impossible to exist in this corrupt world, the prove that all those life lessons he had been taught and have been teaching could be wrong all along, and that the one to surpass Joy Boy is really here. If so then "Kaido", this monster created by the corrupt undercurrents of the world may also be overcome with a pure touch, and so the death that completes a person name Kaido.

Kaido, the most misunderstood One Piece villain in the most misunderstood arc in the entire story. It really fits, doesn't it?😂

Very happy that you decided to apply your talents for video essay to the world of One Piece. There is a whole sublayer of narrative analysis that is left mostly untouched by OP Youtubers and I'm excited to see you tap into it.

Kaido is a criminally underrated antagonist. He always seemed way more pessimistic than the other One Piece villains. I say this because the first time he's actually introduced, he tries to off himself. In addition, he's an alcoholic. Then, we see his backstory, towards the end of Wano, it makes sense why he ended up the way he did. I always thought he was a well written villian. Glad to see Im not the only one. lol

Im glad someone understands the depth of Kaido’s character. You’ve earned my sub.

Kaido is one of the best exemple of a complex character portraying themself as simple( 1 dimentsional.

Awesome video! For the antagonist with arguably THE strongest introduction, Kaido is one of the most understated characters, and definitely one of the best. It's about time he got his due. The best aspect of his character, to me, is his position as a foil to others. He recontextualizes Doflamingo, a "celestial dragon" who was thrown from his position and is desperately trying to crawl his way back to the top. And yet Kaido, a literal dragon, throws himself from the highest heights (a sky island) in his introduction, because he doesn't need to try to rise to the top. Doflamingo is trapped serving someone who should be so far beneath him, who makes a mockery of his life by existing. His pathological need to crush others down makes more sense once we know Kaido and can grasp the nuances of their relationship. But most of all, he's an amazing foil to Luffy, because he IS what Luffy thought he wanted to be, way back when he was a kid on the first pages of the manga. Luffy is sick of getting pushed around by Garp, Kaido sends the Marines packing before reaching puberty. Luffy thinks hitting hard and enduring pain without flinching makes him tough? Kaido's bread and butter. Luffy wants to join Shanks' crew? Kaido was minding his own business and got recruited into the world's strongest crew (at the time) by Whitebeard himself. Everything baby Luffy thought would make him happy, Kaido got, and we get to see exactly how hollow that is. Above all, I think Kaido's character builds on the ongoing theme of how the people around Luffy influence him for the better. It's on the nose, but when OPLA Shanks tells Luffy that a man can't just be strong, he has to be good, that IS the recipe for why Luffy has what Kaido wants. Shanks' lesson on turning the other cheek and fighting for one's friends, on having spiritual/moral strength first, is what enabled Luffy to befriend Ace and Sabo, and later to bring hope to Coby while Luffy was still a powerless nobody. Then Luffy gets lessons from Vivi and Jinbei on being a leader and coming back from despair, which shape him even more into the man who would be Joyboy. Because no matter how strong you are, One Piece shows that you NEED good people around you to pick you up and set you on the right track when you feel hopeless, and that's exactly what Kaido never got. There's something really down to earth and haunting about the tragedy of Kaido's character. It makes him, I think, one of the most relatable antagonists. He had all the strength in the world to accomplish his dream, and none of that mattered because nothing in his life made him the kind of PERSON who could accomplish it. He couldn't give hope, joy, or freedom to anyone because he didn't have any himself. S-tier antagonist, S-tier video!

Peak Villain Breakdown from a Peak Essayist.

amazing analysis. this really changed my view on kaido. it makes him so much more human and insightful as his thoughts on humanity are thoughts on himself. kaido aspiring to be his hero and stand for his ideals yet failing to understand why he cant is relatable at least to me. the more i think on your thoughts the more it resonates with me. again amazing vid its gonna bounce around me head for a few days.