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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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...'' 👀👀👀👀ooh

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 👏

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 RU-vidrs and I'm excited to see you tap into it.

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

Peak Villain Breakdown from a Peak Essayist.

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

Everyone is kidding about your statement of never making an essay about OP, which was legit since you already give it that much time. But I am genuinely glad you fell enough in love with a character which inspired you enough that you had the need to break your stand, and create a well thought and argumented analysis. That, too me, speaks volume for itself

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

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.

Not only has my perception of Kaido changed to see aspects of his character i never would have, especially since I read Wano week to week where I lost a lot of it in the gaps(so thank you for that), but I was surprisingly really able to relate to the Kaido you presented within this video. I feel this video has given me insight into becoming the person I want to be. So thank you AJ for this piece and the philosophy and wisdom within it.

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!

One aspect that always breaks me is his relationship to Yamato. The moment in particular when he gives them a beatdown and ends with "This is your lot in life Yamato" and he's masked in shadow with only his eyes visible. Very striking imagery for what type of monster his child sees him as and it probably hurt a bit to read for anyone with abusive parents. Also one interesting bit about Kaido is that it seems his devil fruit isn't yet awakened. As he himself stated it's when your mind catches up to your ability. In this case Luffy's yearning for freedom for himself and others or Rob Lucci's desire to kill matching up with his leopard fruit. Even though Kaido has that purple drunk form there are no cloud collars indicative of that powerup. So you could say it's a contextual clue for him lacking the things you spoke of like enlightenment.

Kaido has been my favorite character since I finished Wano. I completely agree, so many One Piece fans can't see the subtext behind Kaido's character and just think of him as a generic strong bad guy when he's really deceptively complex.

Great vid. Media literacy is pretty much dead and man children will call this overthinking and coping, but it's an incredibly valid interpretation that is substantiated every step of the way and that fits so well with everything in the ways you've said that I'm certain it was the intent with Kaido. People are too lazy to think nowadays, so that's why your work on here and Twitch continues to be extremely pleasing to experience. Keep it up, all the best.

Easily one of the best One Piece character analysis videos ever made. Kaido being severely underappreciated breaks my heart. I always felt like the odd one out for loving him and talking about his immense depth! Thank you for doing making this beautiful video. It was such a profound watch.

You just unleashed the floodgate. Pray that you can keep it close from now on.

Kaido's crime is being Kaido, it is also his punishment.

If no other video on One Piece was made, I'm happy that this was the one.

I would have been fine without one since your review videos are already very complete and very analytical but this is amazing :)

Kaido couldn't handle the cruelty and unfairness of the world, and thus lost his hope and conviction as his disillusionment with this false horizon of his ideals only bred despair. The only way Kaido could prove his worth is through violence and through being a one man army who relied on nobody. Very reminiscent of a key part of Eren's character.

This is what I've been saying for years! Kaido does have depth & is more than an unga-bunga dragon man swinging a club around! I'm so happy to see one of my favorite RU-vidrs share this thought with me.

The character analyzation that we needed and deserved.

There are many points one can add to this, but one that I find noteable is that after Kaido entered wano, he was motivated by the elders just like orochi. He was motivated by them to stay in wano and gather troops. Kaido killed also one of them. I think these two elders are very mysterious. I think they are more symbolic than actual characters. They might represent something from wano - japanese history like something from the system of the clans.

Did not expect to see this video today, but I appreciate one on my favorite villains. Thank you so much!!!!

Kaido is truly misunderstood

Ah man excellent point! I also felt some the same about Kaido, but couldnt entirely articulate it. But i've felt his character writing, comments, memories and personal thoughts can be unfortunately be eclipsed at times because of his most visible trait. His overwhelming vigour and strength. In his fight scenes even fans that watch them, his feats of strength draw so much attention and awe that it can be easy to forget or get the more human elements eclipsed just because of the spectacle of his might.

I'm a big believer in the idea that what you do to others represents how you feel about yourself. When you love yourself, you can love others. When you hate yourself, you can only hate others. Kaido enjoys capturing rookies and breaking their spirits, subjugating their dreams and making them hollow. Just like he is.

I always thought his reaction to big moms defeat was interesting. He spent his entire pirate career bickering with the one person who protected him, remembers their past, and can see eye to eye with him. They could have had a crew capable of finding the one piece for decades, but he was blinded by his despair until the moment she leaves

This was truly wonderful to watch. If there was one character you had to break the rule for, I’m glad it was Kaido. Because this video has truly cemented him as my favorite One Piece antagonist and Wano as my absolute favorite arc.

This video gave me so much of an appreciation for Kaido as a character in One Piece. I always struggled as to what Kaido's motivations, goals, ideologies were. Im glad you broke that rule cause Kaido is a perfect character to write an essay about and it shows marvelously Wish there be more one piece essay in the future but if this will be the only one then its still a banger video!

This is the best Kaido analysis, thanks a lot! I tried to dig into this character a lot to appreciate him after I finished Wano, but he still felt boring and your video solidified him for me

I used to not like Kaido but watching your streams really opened my eyes. Amazing essay, thank you AJ

People are to hung up on stories telling you everything literally with flashbacks, oda didn't do that with kaido and it makes his character so much better. People need to understand that characterization happens trough dialogue

I’m so glad Kaido is finally getting the recognition he deserves

Whaaat?!! I thought you said you wouldn’t be doing this! Lets Gooo!🤩

The Kaido brainrot pays off, this will be interesting

I knew you’d change your mind and do a one piece video essay eventually lol. Love it! So awesome!!

Finally, Kaido’s getting the recognition he deserves

Finally a video analysis about kaido! I was shocked to see how he was slandered by most of the community, I really liked him and saw some of the things you mentioned in him, thank you for your video, a well deserved one!

This is one of my favorite video's now, fantastic analysis, putting Kaido's beauty into words in ways that I wasn't able to before. What a special character.

Thank you for making me appreciate Kaido so much more as a character! I liked him before but I can't say I would love him as much as I do now without your streams and this video. Always thankful for the great content and happy that you enjoy this story I love so much and give me new reasons to love it all the time!

honestly, if there ever was a character to do a one-and-done on for OP essays, this is the one. I was literally rereading Wano to comb over themes, so this is perfect timing for me.

Great video it reminds me of how deep of a character kaido is. We lose that when we see how contradicting he can be. I realized that kaido wanted a legacy that's why he had Yamamoto. It reminds me of a man's dream never truly dies 🔥

Love your essays! Always amazing 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I'm so glad you made an exception with this one, love your videos/streams!

Yessss!! You’ve perfectly articulated the feelings I’ve had about Kaido ever since I saw his reaction to having his great battle with Luffy stolen. For me, his expression of pure despair there finally made his character click for me. The culmination of his disappointing, self-sabotaging journey. I wonder if Nika liberated him in some way or if he will remain bitter. Would love to see him come back having learned something from Luffy.

Thanks for this AJ, loved your takes on kaido in the streams and having them as a video essay is great!

Fantastic work and what a wonderful surprise. You have been singing Kaido's praises on stream for a while and I was satisfied with that, but this spotlight is beautiful.

tears in my eyes.... of all the characters to make you do a video like this it's the goat himself

Great video AJ My appreciation for kaido has increased a lot thanks to your streams and now this video

Kaido getting the love he deserves, you love to see it.

This is beautifully put together in both structure and editing

I can’t believe my boy is almost caught up I remember seeing you back in east blue

My underrated goat 🙏

I read Kaido as what could happen if Luffy were to stagnate, and King as Zorro if he didn't challenge his captain. I couldn't imagine Luffy being staying in one place for 20 years, and Zorro wouldn't stand for it.

This video is one of your best pieces. I am very happy for you, because being a Kaido lover feels fantastic. Also I told you this several times: You help me put into words some of my feelings about a character, feelings that WERE always there but I didn't know how to explain. Many thanks for taking your time to share your love for a deeply underappreciated character 👑

This is such a welcome surprise AJ, thanks for your work as always.

Lmao knew he'd crack eventually and make an essay. OP stay winning bros. Nice video too btw

Reading through the manga I never gave kaido this much thought, I like this perspective and oddly enough I’m kinda hoping he changes for the better.

You put me in the mood to draw Kaido, Thanks for this, its finally clicking on what I enjoy about this tragedy of a character

Well well well, it seems I was the April Fool all along. Acting against your own desires and giving into despair and failing to see the beautiful connections he's made with others are such fascinating parts of Kaido's character journey and sadly rather relatable to my own life at times. Kaido has such a tragic existence of his own making and the company he surrounds himself with. Even as he despairs and drinks his life away he knows that humans cannot give up hope, even if its a twisted, remorseful hope to see a better sunrise. But it's never too late to become who you want to be. "How can I live in a way I'll be proud of?" will be a question I think about for a while after this video, it's something I already think about but seeing you explore Kaido's inability to live life how he yearned to is something I relate to more than I like to admit. "King is endebted to this ghost" was a chilling line. I deeply yearn for Kaido to realise just how much his second in command truly cares for him and can be the man King saw in him all those years ago. If he ever makes it out of that volcano, he could be reborn into the man he desired to be for so long. Thank you for breaking your rule this once. Kaido deserves it.

If we're only going to get one One Piece video essay from you, I'm beyond glad it was on Kaido.

Even after playing pw4 and what clips of dub and manga pages i can i could tell there was so much more to kaido a man with great dreams hope and ambition only to be broken down by the negatives and evils of the world but still kept what he loved near and dear to his heart in a way i could argue that he was proud of yamato for wanting to be like oden

Honestly, Kaido reminds me of Il Buggy from Romances Down in some ways (only much stronger). In the sense that like Buggy, a character who was part of Roger's crew (The Pirate King) for years has settled in the Orange village, terrorizing the people, losing that sense of adventure he had as a young man, settling into a more easy to handle, but lacking in panache. This changes when he meets Luffy who, partly because of his personality and partly because he had Shanks' hat with him, awakens something in him. The same thing can be said of Kaido who has settled and stabilized in Wano for 20 years and no longer feels anything, until the arrival of Luffy who involuntarily brings Big Mom with him! And it rekindles that dormant flame, that desire to fight and conquer the One Piece.

THANK YOU AJ !!! THANK YOU !! Also Radman goat editing fr

It's like I am looking at your videos to know myself better. Many thanks🙏

I feel kinda sorry for him now😂

Great video as always. Love the music you used and loved the perspective you gave on Kaido. Made me rethink the character and actually start rereading Wano with this new perspective.

As always, banger of a video homie

I wasnt on the stream today or even on discord because of college and this caught me off guard lmao. We're finally having an edited one piece video in this channel, it's time to celebrate!

It was here that I looked back and realized how many people wanted to be the Joy Boy, but so fundamentally failed to understand what they were meant to be. No wonder so many failed. They aren't the one the world is waiting for.

Wow great video! That epiteth connection opened the gates in my mind for more Kaido thought.

Been patiently waiting on this analysis

Kaido has always been my favorite aspect of Wano, he definitely deserves to be gushed about. We really got an AJ OP analysis vid today is a great day!

What a pleasant surprise this video was. Definitely gave me more perspectives to think on.

I feel so bad for the amount of "you're overthinking" comments you're gonna get (and have already gotten) from people not at all interested in engaging with a work but thank you for this. This is a fantastic summation and analysis of Kaido's character and the themes associated with him and his relationships.

Oh thank God, Ive been losing my mind over Kaido disrespect ever since Wano ended. Hes still my favorite villain in all of OP and its great to see someone talking about it

AJ stepped up when no one else would

I’m so upset I’ve been saying kaido is a GREAT villian for 4 years and no one believed me this warms my soul

I can't believe you finally made a One Piece video essay after always saying you would never, very cool!

i am really glad you made this video. I really thought kaido was lacking but you allowed me to see it in a differently. I know you have said that you wouldn't do one piece analysis and you still don't have to its up to you but i really wished you did. I really do love the deep analysis of characters you did before tsukki and that one guy from atsuma team. I have always watched these in depth analysis and gained A LOT MORE appreciation for the way the author is telling the story or in awe on how one person can pick up on so much from a story. Even if you don't i still love what you do :D

my wedding day: 🧍🏼‍♂️ aj one piece video essay: 🕴🏼

Didn't watch the video yet but Kaido may be my favorite op villain... His dynamic with Joy Boy Luffy is basically One Piece's Griffith and Ganishka dynamic (one which is even more subtle), and this is why I'm sure he'll be back in a mad state (probably awakening) like Shiva Ganishka where he will finally get the "death" he always aspired for.

I think is part of why Kaido relished when strong people would end their dreams and submit to him. It meant that he wasn’t the only one suffering that same despair

I am in awe... I can't describe what I felt when I finished this video. This, AJ, is a MASTERPIECE🙏

Thank you for this wonderful video! I've loved watching luffy and Kaido fight but never fully understood why he was such an important adversary. Why wano took up almost 1/4 of one piece to date. Now I understand how important he was to the story and mirroring Luffy and being the one to show us Nika. This is genuinely one of the best character analysis videos I've seen and I'd love to see more! I know you said this is probably the only one you'll do, but I'll be here if you change your mind.

as a kaido fan, im eating good today

Yooo hahaha this was unexpected, great video AJ 👏

This is it! This is what we've been waiting for!!