Kaoru Kaidoh
(海堂 薫) |
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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. Kaido 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 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. 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 bandanna and Inui's notebook, special juices and the trousers he used when being the "coach" of Seigaku after losing his regular place to Ryoma Echizen.
Techniques
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 he is seen using a backhand to hit the Snake. This is also called a Buggy Whip Shot, and is said to be used often by pros. By swinging the racquet upwards, Kaido 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.
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. It was still effective when playing doubles. After that, he needed to spend a lot of time training in order to hit it properly during a singles match.
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. Kaido 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..
Reverse Snake
A Snake Shot that goes in the opposite direction of a normal Snake Shot. Kaido 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.
Tornado Snake
Yet another variation of the Snake, the Tornado Snake has a gyro spin version. Kaido 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. Kaido 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.
Laser Beam
This an extremely fast forehand shot developed by Hiroshi Yagyu of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. When Kaido 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.
Jack Knife
The Jack Knife, which is one of the signature shots of Kaido'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.
Devil Mode
this technique is similar to Kirihara's improved Devil Mode. Kaido activates this state when Kirihara continuous hits the ball cause more injuries to his respective senior, Inui, during the national final D2 match.
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.
