Kai Hiwatari
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| Kai Hiwatari | |
 Kai, as he appears in the third season. |
|
| Japanese name | Kai Hiwatari |
|---|---|
| Age | 14 (English Version), 12 (Japanese Version) Beyblade
15(English Version), 13 (Japanese Version) V-Force/2002 16[citation needed] (English Version), 14[citation needed] (Japanese version) (G-Revolution |
| Hair color | Dark blue(seasons 1),Blue and grey (seasons 2),grey (seasons 3) |
| Eye color | Auburn (First Series), Grey (V-Force), Violet (G-Revolution) |
| Bit-beast | Dranzer (Suzaku) |
Kai Hiwatari (火渡カイ Hiwatari Kai?) is a fictional character from the Beyblade manga and anime series.
Kai is the captain of the BBA Revolution (Bladebreakers in the dub) throughout most of the Beyblade anime series and the keeper of the phoenix bit-beast Dranzer, or in the original Japanese version, Suzaku, the phoenix god of the South in Chinese/Japanese legend.
Although rather introverted, Kai is far more expressive when he beyblades, depicting the great importance that blading holds over his life. As the series progresses, he matures and becomes more open with his team-mates and grows more comfortable around them. In the end, despite his differences with many of his peers in the Beyblade community, Kai sacrifices a great deal to free the world of the influence of Boris Balkov and his BEGA company. Following this introduction is a semi-detailed history of Kai's role in the Beyblade anime.
Kai is voiced by David Reale in the English dub and Urara Takano in the original.
Contents |
[edit] First season
Kai appears in the end of the very first episode of the show; at the time Kai is the team captain of the Blade Sharks (a group of beybladers that terrorise others who play the game by defeating them and stealing their blades), as well as the beyblade world champion. Tyson Granger, the main protagonist of Beyblade and Kai meet after one of Kai's 'underlings', Carlos, loses to him. Kai defeats Tyson as easily as Tyson did Carlos, though he does not use his bit beast for this victory. Later on, Kai kidnaps Tyson's genius friend Kenny), and is challenged by Tyson for his freedom. The fierce battle ends in a tie thanks to Tyson's new bit-beast, Dragoon. Kai releases Kenny anyway and flees. No further confrontation occurs between Kai and Tyson until the Regional Tournament, in which Kai participates and defeats many of Tyson's friends on the way to the finals, including Max.He is a legend in animation.
In the finals, Kai and Tyson battle a close match but Tyson wins. After the battle the director of the BBA, Mr. Dickenson, offers Kai a position as team captain of the Bladebreakers, due to Kai's position as world champion and his great experience in the sport. Though Kai is unconvinced, his pride pushes him into accepting leadership. The Team goes on to win the Asian and American tournaments; they also defeat the top European team: The Majestics.
At the World Championship, after visiting Balkov Abbey, Kai begins acting strangely. In a bold step, he leaves the Blade Breakers and joins with his grandfather Voltaire, and his team, the Demolition Boys. Here, Kai reunites with a powerful bit beast he had become enraptured with as a child; the seemingly perfect Black Dranzer. With this new bit beast Kai is able to get the Demolition Boys all the way to the finals. Before these, Kai issues a challenge to his former team, even sending a helicopter to escort them to the frozen Lake Baikal. There, Kai battles Tyson, Ray, and Kenny, overwhelming them all with his power. Just when Tyson's Dragoon blade seems about to be demolished, Max arrives on the scene with his brand new, much stronger Draciel blade. Tyson takes the opportunity to launch Kai's abandoned Dranzer blade, and Dranzer's anger, as well as the combined determination of Ray, Tyson and Max, pushes Kai into realising the true power of friendship. The ice begins to crack, but Kai, frozen in realisation of his stupidity, refuses to move. It is only after a few words of support from his team that he sheds a tear and allows them to pull him back onto solid ground. After this near-death experience Kai acknowledges his role as leader of a great team and rejoins the Bladebreakers for the championships.
He reveals the profound impact that the encounter upon the ice has had on him when he loses to Spencer of the Demolition Boys. Rather than rail against his loss, he graciously accepts defeat and manages to come out smiling. Proving his new-found team spirit over the last few episodes of the season, Kai offers Ray the words of advice and support needed to ensure the Bladebreakers the win they desperately need, before later helping Tyson to prepare for his final confrontation with Tala Valkov, along with the other team captains they have met throughout the season.
Special Attacks:
- Spin Fire (Dranzer Auto Change Balancer)
- Fire Arrow (Dranzer Spiral)
- Spiral Survivor (Dranzer Spiral)
- Flame Saber (Dranzer Flame)
- Flamethrower (Dranzer Flame)
[edit] Second season (V-Force)
After the events of Season 1, Kai decides to retire from beyblading to attend the Whitney Prep School. During his time there, though, he is attacked by a mysterious blader and saves a fellow classmate and his admirer, Wyatt, in the process. The intense fight Kai has with this blader rekindles his interest in beyblading and inspires him to return to the Bladebreakers. To his surprise, all of his former team-mates have been attacked by mysterious bladers too. These turn out to be the Saint Shields, a group that wish to capture the four sacred bit-beasts. Later, Kai and the team encounter strange cybernetic bit beasts that are exact copies of their own bit beasts. One of those to wield a prototype of these beasts is Wyatt, who challenges Kai, but is instead fought by Dunga, the Saint Shields member who attacked Kai earlier. Wyatt loses and falls into madness and later dies (though this is not revealed in the English dub). Kai blames himself for Wyatt's suffering, since he had previously refused to acknowledge him as worthwhile competition, driving the boy to seek other ways of gaining Kai's attention.
Later, the Bladebreakers finally fight a team that can survive the awesome power of the cyber bit-beasts: Team Psykick. They are former friends, but their minds are taken over by their bit-beasts. Kai manages to break the bit-beast's hold over Goki, the user of Cyber Dranzer, despite having hallucinations of battling Wyatt. With Team Psykick freed from the hold of the cyber bit-beasts through the efforts of the Bladebreakers, the friendships are restored.
The next danger was the final confrontation with the Saint Shields. In this, Kai once again takes on Dunga in an effort to return Driger to Ray, as he had lost it in a previous episode. Kai and Ray fight in a 2-on-2 battle against Dunga and Joseph, eventually reclaiming Driger and defeating half of the Saint Shields.
For this season's world championship the tournament is a 2-on-2 tag-team-style format, meaning that the Bladebreakers must compete in pairs. Kai gets paired with Ray for the competition and they make it all the way to the semifinals, but are stopped abruptly by the duo Gordo and Zeo. During Kai's battle with Zeo, his bit-beast Burning Cerberus takes Dranzer. This upsets Kai greatly, but later his bit-beast and companion returns to him when Tyson defeats Zeo in the final round.
Overall, Kai seems, surprisingly, at his most mature in this season. While still quiet, he is happy to voice his opinion and not shy of offering support and even comfort when needed. He also seems to develop a lot more in personality by acting quirky occasionally, for example, lounging around in bushes, making the odd joke and teasing Goki after the Team Psykick showdown. He does not retake his position as team captain, but there seems to be a tendency to not have anyone in charge during the 2002 season, although Hilary Tachibana arguably took it upon herself to fill the role from time to time.
Special Attacks:
- Flame Saber (Dranzer Flame)
- Volcano Emission (Dranzer Volcano)
- Volcano Excellent Emission (Dranzer Volcano 2)
[edit] Third season (G-Revolution)
At the start of this season, Kai follows Ray and Max's lead and, in an effort to prove to himself that he is a better Blader than Tyson, leaves the team. He joins the newly re-formed team Neoborg (Blitzkrieg boys in English dub), which is now out of Balkov's control. Kai and Tala team up in this double-elimination, round robin, tag-team format tournament and make it to the finals with only one loss. In the finals Tyson and Kai face off after Daichi ties with Tala. The battle is more fierce than any of their past fights against each other. It is so extreme that the arena starts to crumble. It comes to the point that Mr. Dickenson asks that the two call it a tie and share the title, but this does not go over well with many, Kai especially. "No way! You can't do that to me! Are you telling me that this tournament has been nothing but a complete joke? That everything that we did doesn't count because you decide we get punished for working hard?" he shouts at Mr. Dickenson upon the announcement of the decision. Ray votes for the match to continue, quickly joined by Max and many fans and bladers. After some coaxing the two are allowed to finish their battle. Kai and Tyson match each other blow for blow, eventually releasing powerful finishing attacks. They stare each other down afterwards, but Kai collapses, losing the battle.
Kai is missing for some time and does not reappear again until the qualifier for the BEGA Justice 5 Team. He stays in this tournament until the final round where he goes up against the top class blader Brooklyn. Kai does his best but is greatly overpowered by Brooklyn's skill and dark bit beast Zeus. Kai goes into hiding once again, only to emerge as the Bladebreaker's 5th member. He battles Brooklyn again using his upgraded Dranzer MS blade. It is a hard and torturing battle for Kai, but in the end he emerges victorious. The victory does not come without a heavy price, however. Kai only survives to make his final attack through his bit beast's, his beloved friend Dranzer's, sacrificing its life to protect him. This shatters Kai's morale, although the effect is lessened by Dranzer's reappearance in the last episode, engaging Dragoon in battle. This does however follow the trend to have bit beasts play a more incidental role in this series. After Tyson's and Brooklyn's match, everything returns to normal, almost coming full circle, with Tyson owing Kai a rematch from the tournament.
It should be noted that Kai returns to his more moody and introverted persona relative to Season 2, though his softer side is revealed by his recurring moments of caring for stray cats.
Special Attacks:
- Blazing Gig (Dranzer Gigs)
- Blazing Gig [Zan] (Dranzer Gigs/Gigs Turbo)
- Blazing Gig Tempest (Dranzer Gigs/Gigs Turbo)
- Spiral Fireball
[edit] Manga
In the manga, a lot more is revealed of Kai's past. It is entirely debatable that Kai has any Russian in him at all; his father's name is Susumu Hiwatari, and little is seen of his mother.
Kai is even nastier than in his initial anime appearance. It is revealed that Kai, as a child, had a very close relationship with his father, a man who enjoyed engineering beyblades. The two played many battles together, delighting the young Kai and making him adore his father. However, when Kai's grandfather, Voltaire Hiwatari, learned of his son's playing rather than working, he dragged him and Kai both to his office at Hiwatari Enterprises. There he issued an ultimatum to Kai's father – to abandon his silly love for toys, or lose his position as heir to Hiwatari Enterprises. Kai's father chose beyblades, voicing a desire to make children smile as his reason.
Kai tried to go after his father as he walked away, but was held him back by his grandfather. At the tender age of ten, Kai took this to be rejection by his father and takes it upon himself to change his attitude. Donning face-paint, Kai begins his quest to destroy beyblades – the toys that 'stole' his father away. While his mother is present at the confrontation in the office, she seems to serve no role, neither aiding nor trying to prevent this rebellion.
Later, during Kai's and Tyson's battle in the regional championships, Soichiro turns up, demanding that the tournament be stopped. At this Kai's father steps in and tells him to leave Kai alone. Throughout the manga – unlike in the anime – however, Kai shows little personal development. His attitude remains largely coldly indifferent.
At the end of the manga, a time several years later is depicted in which Kai had a son called Gou. While Gou is extremely cute (and almost identical to his father), no explanation of his parentage is offered. Gou does however seem to have a rivalry with Makoto (Tyson's son) which brings the manga full circle and perhaps gives it a sense of closure.
[edit] Relationships
Kai interacts with many characters to varying degrees. Most of which he treats with a cool disregard.
There are a few exceptions:
Tyson Granger[1]: Kai's main rival throughout the series; Tyson was the boy who snatched Kai's title of world champion away from him. Though Kai initially strongly dislikes Tyson, he later accepts him as a friend, though this does not diminish the rivalry between them in any way when they face one another across the beydish.
Ray Kon[2]: Closest to Kai in age and mentality on Team BBA. Kai states early on – when Ray lost Byakko in the Chinese arc – that he had higher expectations of Ray. As the series develops (especially in 2002/ V-Force) Kai tends to know when Ray needs words of support.
Max Tate: Though Kai initially barely interacts with Max, as the series progresses (more so after the battle on Lake Baikal) Kai reveals that he has a deep respect for and faith in Max's defensive style. In G-Revolution, Kai is the first to come to Max's defence when the crowd boos the blond due to propaganda spread by Barthez.
Hilary Tachibana: Hilary is the only female character that Kai has any significant interaction with, though this only really occurs in the second season. Despite her loud and often bossy nature, Kai accepts her presence without argument. Though he doesn't speak to her that often, he is happy to offer explanation whenever she needs it, and treats her as another member of the team. At the beginning of and – debatably – throughout the second part of the series, she has a crush on him.
Tala Ivanov: When they first encountered one another in the Russian arc of the first season, Kai and Tala disliked each other intensely. It is only in the third season that Kai begins to warm to him a little more, though until Tala's fall at the hands of Garland, Kai claims that Tala is not his friend. However, after both suffer painfully at the hands of BEGA, they develop a sense of understanding that many see to be a form of friendship.
Brooklyn: Kai's other great rival. After losing horribly to Brooklyn, Kai loses the will to beyblade. However, upon regaining it, Kai's spirit burns with the desire to beat him at any cost.
[edit] Similarities to other characters
Though not canon or really discussed, Kai's G-revolution wardrobe has some semblance to the character Piccolo Jr from the very famous anime Dragon Ball Z. In fact when Ray and Kai battle and later, when Tyson and Kai battle for the championship title and Kai throws away his scarf it hits the ground and makes a metallic noise - a same incident occurred in the Dragon Ball Z series when Piccolo throws away his scarf during a battle and the main protagonist Goku comments on it.
Some have also compared Kai to Ruki Makino(Rika Nonaka) from Digimon Tamers because they had to deal with the lack of a father figure for most of their life and developed rebellious, cold-hearted personalities because of this. Other comparisons that are made are Ken Ichijouji from Digimon 02 and Ayumu Narumi from Spiral because of their cold hearted sourpouss personalities, their high intelligence and their constant self doubt in their abilities. Another comparison that can be made is Cloud Strife from Final fantasy VII because Kai seems to adopt some of Tyson's personality in season three and has a rival in Brooklyn who at one point looks a lot like sephiroth. Another lone wolves are Matt Ishida and Koji Minamoto from Digimon.
Two of the most obvious resemblances to Kai are Chaud Blaze and Sasuke Uchiha
Most of these similarities are most likely due to the "loner" archetype, which Kai is based off of.
[edit] Name
The Ka in Kai, and the Hi in Hiwatari both mean "Fire" in Japanese philosophy, and represent the energetic, forceful, moving things in the world. Animals, particularly predators, capable of movement and full of forceful energy, are primary examples of Ka objects. Bodily, Ka represents our metabolism and body heat, and in the mental and emotional realms, it represents drive and passion. Ka can be associated with motivation, desire, intention, and an outgoing spirit.
'Kai' can also be interpreted into the Japanese kanji meaning 'ash' and 'destruction'
- 'Kai' is also Japanese for sea/ocean, which oddly is the opposite of the original disired meaning for his name
- Hiwatari means "walking over fire or burning coals"
[edit] Quotes
(First Season - Training in the Mountains) "You can dream all you want, kid, but it won't do any good 'cause when you wake up again you'll realized nothing has changed."
(Beyblade G-Revolution - Battle against Brooklyn, Kai wins) "Kai. That's my name. And I'm a beyblader. You might think that you are too, but you're not. You learned from the best but you forgot about a billion worth lesson, beyblading is not just about overpowering your opponent with fancy moves. That's only part of the game. There's more to it. Much more. That's why I have something you don't."
(Beyblade G-Revolution - Battle against Brooklyn, Kai wins) "I learned from every battle I've ever fought. Every friend, enemy and spectator has always had something to offer me. And I'm a student of this game and I always will be. Through the hards of training, competitions, the wins and losses, they all taught me something. And I'm taking this knowledge and use it to my advantage. That's why I can say that I'm a true beyblader. That's what keeps me going and that's my strength."
(Beyblade G-Revolution - Battle agains Brooklyn, Kai wins) "I don't think you ever will because you're not a true blader. You have the power and the skill but something's missing from inside of you. You don't have the beyblading spirit!"
(Beyblade G-Revolution - Battle against Brooklyn, Kai wins) "That's why I have to win this battle because beyblading means more to me than you could ever understand. IT'S NOT JUST A GAME TO ME!"
(Beyblade G-Revolution - Episode 4 - We Were Once Bladebreakers...) (Talking to Hiro when they meet for the 1st time) "The only person who'll decide my path is ME. Nobody else!"
(argument with tyson) "You still think you're the best?"
(Beyblade G-Revolution - It's a Battle Royale!) "Tyson don't take it personally, but I came to win the finals, and I can't do that with you. Seriously do you really think your pathetic little team stands a chance at all? I do have my reputation to consider, you know."
[edit] Trivia
- Out of all of the Bladebreakers, Kai says the least.
- Kai has been on more Beyblade teams than any other character; BladeSharks, Demolition Boys, Bladebreakers, BEGA League.
- Although a tough guy, he is shown giving a cat milk, bringing food for a family of cats and in the first ending for the third season, feeding a dog.
- He is one of only three characters designed for the original Japanese Beyblade game when Beyblades were first made to transfer over to other stories in Beyblade. The others were Jin of the Gale (Hiro) and Tyson. In this game, Kai didn't have his trademark face paint until the final closing picture of him and Jin.
- Brooklyn and Kai share a distinct rivalry near the end of G-rev. Brooklyn acts a lot like Kai used to in the beginning of season one and their rivalry could be compared to Tyson and Kai as it was in the beginning of season one with Kai being the 'Tyson' of the relationship. Maybe it's a plot device to show that Kai's greatest enemy is someone who is himself or is himself.
The name "Kai" can mean "shellfish" which is part of the name of his gang in he original manga,the Shell Shark Killers.The members were Suzuka,Tokubo,Fuji,Hiruta,and Billie.
[edit] References
- ^ A biased analysis of Kai's relationship to Tyson.
- ^ A biased analysis of Kai's relationship to Ray.
| Beyblade | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Hiro Granger | Tyson Granger | Kai Hiwatari | Kenny | Ray Kon | Daichi Sumeragi | Hilary Tachibana | Max Tate | Others |
| Teams | Bladebreakers | Blade Sharks | White Tigers | All Starz | Dark Bladers | Majestics | Demolition Boys | Team Psykick | Saint Shields | King & Queen | Barthez Battalion | F-Dynasty | BEGA League |
| Media | Season 1-Beyblade 2000 | Season 2 - V-Force | Season 3 - G-Revolution | The Movie: Fierce Battle | Manga |
| Games | Beyblade (GBC) | Beyblade (PS) | Beyblade 2 | BeyBlade: Super Tournament Battle | Beyblade: GRevolution | Beyblade Ultimate Blader Jam | Bakuten Shoot Beyblade 2002: Takao Version, Daichi Version |
| Other | Timeline | Bit-beast | Toys | Trading card game |
