Kai Hiwatari

''This is an article about the Anime Character. For the manga counterpart of the same name, see here''

Kai Hiwatari  is the former captain of the Bladebreakers and his Bit-Beast is Dranzer.

Kai is the son of a noble family and heir to the huge Japanese military company "Hiwatari Enterprise". He is a hard worker who is a cool, serious and rather unsociable person, but is full of ability in beyblading and is one of the greatest bladers to ever play the sport. He is the captain of the Bladebreakers throughout most of the original series and the possesor of the Bit-Beast Dranzer.

Personality
Kai is a proud and very confident blader who is willing to sacrifice everything to get what he wants, which he usually gets through hard work, sweat or steel-hard determination, though he doesn't seem to mind stepping on some toes on his way up. He is also a quiet and mysterious person. However if he at any time doesn't succeed in what he wants to do, he is very likely to feel down, and stay down for a while, in a depressed state, even willing to give up what he holds so dear, beyblading. However when time comes he overcomes his defeat and rises stronger and even more determined than before.

Although rather introverted, Kai is one of the most emotionally driven beybladers in the series and far more emotional when he beyblades, depicting the great importance that beyblading holds over his life. Even as a the captain of the Bladebreakers, he always kept a certain distance from his teammates. According to Emily, Kai was afraid to get to know them as he might start to like them which, eventually, happens. He has always acted alone without making friends and appeared to not know the meaning of friendship after being alone and friendless most of his life, only caring for his abusive grandfather who continuously used him. But when Kai was stuck in the ice at Lake Baikal and his teammates, whom he had betrayed and insulted, desperately tried to save him, he was appalled to realize that they liked him and never stopped being his friends, finally shattering the 'invisible wall' he had created as stated by Kenny. As the series progresses, he matures and becomes more open with his teammates 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 and his BEGA company.

It is revealed that Kai really cares about his teammates. He saved Max from being smashed under a meter thick glass in Beyblade, brought Driger back to Ray during a fight with Dunga, he saved Tyson, Hilary, Ray and Kenny from Team Psykick's headquarters in V-Force, he saved Hilary couple of times on the island in V-Force, he saved his teammates from the cage that was falling due to Sickle Weasel and risked his life to destroy the BEGA league.

His most distinguished trait is his sense of pride and fairness.

Although a tough guy, he is shown to be feeding a cat with milk, bringing food for a family of cats, sitting with a cat in an alley and worrying over the safety of a cat whilst training near it. This indicates he has a soft spot for animals, showing the more human side of his nature than the cool, collected and silent front he usually has.

Relationships
Kai interacts with many characters to varying degrees, most of which he treats with a cool disregard. However, there are a few exceptions:

Tyson Granger: Kai's main rival throughout the series. Though Kai is initially antagonistic with Tyson and thinks of him as a rank amateur, he later accepts him as his closest friend, though this does not diminish the rivalry between them in any way. In V-Force he appears to have great understanding of the bond between Tyson and Dragoon stating the following "The bond between Tyson and Dragoon is almost impossible to explain. When one is hurt so is the other." In G-Revolution, Kai becomes obsessed with fighting Tyson as he believes this as the only way through which he can have faith in his own abilities. It can also be argued that even though Kai doesn't show it, he actually has a lot of respect for Tyson, as he was the first one to beat him. Their bond is supernatural, as seen when they fight during Beyblade G-Revolution, they can actually read each others thoughts.

Ray Kon: Ray is closest to Kai in age and mentality in the Bladebreakers. Kai states early on when Ray lost Driger in the Asian Tournament that he had higher expectations of Ray. As the series develops (especially in V-Force), Kai and Ray appear to form a sort of friendship. Even after their battle in G-Revolution, Kai acknowledges that Ray was an excellent opponent.

Max Tate: Though Kai initially barely interacts with Max, in the American Tournament he appears to have a bit of a soft spot for Max. 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 defense when the crowd insults him and his team.

Hilary: Kai is indifferent to Hilary. He is the one who got Hilary a job on the team in the first place. He has saved her life countless times. Whenever Kai is missing, Hilary is always the one to go and find him so she could talk to him and make him feel better. Hilary was revealed to have a crush on Kai. However, near the end of G-Revolution, she has a crush on either him or Tyson, it is left open for fans to decide.

Tala Valkov: When they first encountered one another in the Russia, they disliked each other intensely. It is only in G-Revolution that Kai begins to be a little warmer to him, 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. He challenges Brooklyn and defeats him in the BEGA Justice 5 League Match. After Brooklyn loses to Kai, he loses the will to Beyblade. Brooklyn and Kai share a distinct rivalry near the end of G-Revolution. Brooklyn acts a lot like Kai used to in Beyblade, being fairly aloof and arrogant and their rivalry could be compared to Tyson and Kai as it was in the beginning of the original series with Kai being the "Tyson" of the relationship. This is to show that Kai's greatest enemy is himself.

Physical Appearance
Kai is a tall and muscular. One of his remarkable features is his hair and eye-color that changes from season to season. However his appearance of season 1 fits the best with the manga flavor, which is red eyes, light blue-purple bangs and dark hair. He is probably the blader who changes his outfits the most, though he frequently wears a tight tank-top with baggy pants that is mostly dark in color (black or purple) with colorful details (like yellow buttons and red strings).

He has a scarf and cobalt blue face-paint as a trademark, even though he doesn't wear his scarf in season 2, nor his face-paint while in school. Kai throws his scarf away when doing a special move as it is filled with weights. He has an earring on his left earlobe.

Kai's skin tone is lighter in the anime than in the manga, however he is still considered pale either way. His arms were covered in scars in season 3, though they appear to have healed.

In season 1, Kai is seen wearing cerulean baggy pants with large pockets, with a black tight-fitting tank-top, with red ends and yellow buttons. His shoes are black with red stripes and resembles skater-shoes. He is wearing his signature scarf, and red arm-guards. His eyes are Carmine/brown and his bangs are Carolina blue, with Egyptian-blue short slick hair.

In season 2, he is wearing gray pants with red stripes above his knees, and a purple tank-top with a turtle neck, replacing his scarf, and with red stripes and yellow buttons. He is wearing purple on his arms as well. His shoes seems to be timberland or military boots. His eyes are blue/gray in this season, and his bangs a dark shade of gray while the back of his hair is almost black. He is also wearing a school uniform, a green blazer, white shirt, a red tie and gray pant. He is seen wearing an earring.

In season 3, he's seen wearing purple pants with a purple top, and a black west above with red stripes and yellow buttons. His scarf is back again and he's wearing black gloves and black shoes. His eyes are light purple, and his hair is a darker shade from his previous hair colour in season 2.

Family
Voltaire Hiwatari: Voltaire is Kai's grandfather and one of the main antagonists in the first season of Beyblade, alongside his partner, Boris. He runs the abbey where Kai was raised and is part of BIOVOLT. He is the source of all Kai's misery. He made Kai's father leave in the manga when Susumu chose beyblading over Hiwatari Enterprise. He is very evil, and his raising is the cause of Kai's other side.

Susumu Hiwatari: He is Kai's father, who is only mentioned once in the Japanese version of V-Force, episode 5, but he is shown in the manga. He was made to leave by his father Voltaire, when he chose to beyblade and bring happiness to children rather than inherit a large company. Kai tried to run after him, but was restrained by his grandfather.

Gou Hiwatari: Gou (Goh) is Kai's son in the manga. He appears in the last chapter and is seen battling Tyson's son Makoto and Ray's daughter, Rin.

Beyblade
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 terrorize others who play the game by defeating them and stealing their blades who has the following team members Carlos, Stuart and Trevor), as well as the Beyblade World Champion. Kinomiya Takao, 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 leaves. No further confrontation occurs between Kai and Tyson until the Regional Tournament, in which Kai participates and defeats both Kenny and Max among others on his way to the finals. 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 regional 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, although with little participation from Kai, At Robert's Castle Kai is challenged by Johnny although he is seemingly unconvinced at first he decides to challenges him and unexceptionally loses to Johnny. However Kai settles the score with Johnny in the European Tournament in which he defeats Johnny.

At the World Championship however after visiting Balkov Abbey, Kai begins acting strangely. In a bold step, he leaves the Bladebreakers 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 finals commence though, 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 manages to defeat Black Dranzer, pushing Kai into realizing the true power of friendship. The ice on the lake they're standing on begins to crack, but Kai, frozen in realization of his pride, 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, Kai accepts his Dranzer Beyblade from Tyson and head's back to the Boris HQ unleashing Black Dranzer destroying there machine's after that he 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 against Spencer of the Demolition Boys. Proving his newfound 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, along with the other team captains they have met throughout the season.

Kai's beyblades for this season were: Dranzer Spiral and Dranzer Flame.

Kai lost Dranzer for the first time against Spencer, but his Bit-Beast was later returned.

Beyblade V-Force
After the events of Beyblade, Kai decides to retire from Beyblading since he had already topped the world. He goes to a boarding school. During his time there, though, he is attacked by a mysterious blader and saves a fellow classmate and his biggest fan, 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, instead he is treated in hospital). 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: The Psykicks. 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 championship. During Kai's battle with Zeo, his Bit-Beast Dranzer was taken by Zeo. This upsets Kai greatly and he thinks of quitting beyblading.

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.

Kai's beyblades in this season  were Dranzer Volcano, Dranzer Volcano 2.

This was the second time Kai lost Dranzer, both his Bit-Beast and Draciel were taken away be Zeo, but when Tyson beats Zeo, Dranzer was returned to his Beyblade alongside Draciel who returned to Max's beyblade.

Beyblade 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, Blitzkrieg Boyz, which is now out of Boris's control. His team and BBA Revolution make it to the finals where he faces off against Tyson. The battle is more fierce,extreme and intense than any of their past fights against each other. It ends in a draw. Mr. Dickenson asks that the two call it a tie and share the title for their own safety.

Ray votes for the match to continue, quickly joined by Max and many other 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 attacks. Finally Kai loses but by a very close margin.

Kai is missing for some time and does not reappear again until the qualifiers for the BEGA Justice 5 Team, meaning that he won't battle with Tyson and the others in order to get rid of the BEGA League.. He stays in this tournament until the final round where he goes up against the top class blader Brooklyn. Kai does his best at  overpowering Brooklyn's natural talent but is badly crushed and his beyblade completely destroyed. Kai goes into hiding once again, only to emerge as the G-Revolutions' fifth member. He battles Brooklyn using his upgraded Dranzer MS blade. It is a hard and torturing battle for Brooklyn, and in the end Kai emerges as the winner.

The victory does not come without a heavy price, however. After the battle, Kai walks into the hallways where he falls on his knees while Dranzer dies because he sacrificed himself to win the battle.

He soon returns to support Tyson in his final battle against Brooklyn. At the end he and Tyson battle one last time and release their Bit-Beasts.

Kai's Beyblade's: Dranzer Volcano 2, Dranzer Gigs, Dranzer Gigs Turbo, & Dranzer Metal Spiral.

Spin Gear

 * Dranzer Spiral
 * Dranzer Flame

Magnacore

 * Dranzer Volcano
 * Dranzer Volcano 2

Engine Gear

 * Dranzer Gigs
 * Dranzer Gigs Turbo

Hard Metal System

 * Dranzer Metal Spiral

Gallery
For a full gallery of images of Kai, see Kai Hiwatari/Gallery.

Quotes

 * "Hn..."
 * (to Mariah) "Sorry, kid. You're not the problem I have with."
 * "If you think the fight was over, you're wrong!"
 * "Our Beyblades aren't ordinary. The Bit-Beasts are powered by incredible forces that are trapped within."
 * "If you think the battle is over, then you are sadly mistaken. It's only just begun."
 * "No."
 * (to Mariah) "Have you come to Beyblade or to chat?"
 * "How long?"
 * "Go to stage 2. Now!"
 * "Yes. That happens to be the plan. Unless you want to throw in the towel."
 * "Ready and, release!"
 * "Dream on."
 * "How do you expect to defeat me without ever attacking? Nice try, but you'll never conquer the power of my Dranzer."
 * "For once, I wish this tournament brings in half decent competition for me."
 * "This is starting to really bore me."
 * "Oh really? Well maybe you're not as smart as you think you are, maniac."
 * "What was I thinking? Letting themselves explore this place by themselves. They've been gone over two hours now. Something must've happened. I'm their leader. I'm suppose to be out there."
 * "Who's the loser now, Johnny?"
 * "I don't know if I can change."
 * "Well, there's no 'Kai' in team either. Hmph."
 * "That's my name!"
 * "Hn, and skip dessert?"
 * "They share history together, so how can we be sure that Ray won’t forget whose side he’s on when Mariah gazes into his eyes?"
 * "His entire focus is on Ray."
 * "I wouldn't go celebrating yet. Look. You just rattled the cage of the sleeping lion, Tyson. And now that he's awake, his claws will be drawn."
 * "Too tense for my taste. But you pulled it off, Ray, and that's what counts. Congratulations on another win, I guess.
 * "It's not like they did anything worth celebrating of."
 * "Not quite. Turns out you’ve all been used as lab rats."
 * "In losing you can learn a lot, and we did twice.
 * "What was I thinking, letting them go off on their own? I'm their leader, I'm responsible for them."
 * "What I do is none of your business."
 * "That is none of your business, Emily."
 * "I'm not scared of anything."
 * "You can’t play any music if your strings are broken. At least MY Beyblade does requests!"
 * "So, still think you’ve got me figured out, Emily?"
 * "Max. You've got some fans in the crowd."
 * "Someone has to subtitute Tyson for the last round."
 * "You said it."
 * "Huh, not me."
 * "I'm not afraid of you sideshow freaks."
 * "Yeah, sure, whatever. Enjoy your home cooked Kenny burgers."
 * "Will you learn to grow up? This isn't playtime remember?"
 * "Wha?"
 * "Hn. Why did I ever come here? I'm no babysitter."
 * "Buncha wise guys."
 * "The most important thing is to always have fun and believe in yourself."
 * "Quit yapping and get on board, we're about to leave."
 * "Excuse me but I have a match to win."
 * "I heard that!"
 * "Practice makes perfect."
 * "I'm not scared of anything."
 * "Whatever."
 * "You can tease me all you want, Tyson, but I couldn't care less."
 * "This is the last time I'm gonna say this..."
 * [shouts]"I don't need your help!"[walks off]
 * "I gotta make things right."
 * "I've traveled a long road to get here, Tyson. This is my life's work. Everything I've seen and everything I've done and it all starts and ends with you. From the first time you defeated me, I've known it. I've watched you grow ever since. Sometimes you won, sometimes you lost, but you always persevered. No matter how bad things got you always looked deep inside yourself and found the strength to continue. And when a member of the team fell,it was you who always picked him back up. When I realized I could never be like you, the only thing left for me was to defeat you. Only then would I have complete faith in my own skill and strength. I had no choice but to find a way to win, no matter what the cost to myself. That's why I had to leave the team. That's why I trained with Dranzer in the frozen tundra of Russia. And that's why I chose Tala as my partner when he would much rather battle solo. I hid myself away in extreme isolation forced to survive in the most hostile environment I could find. I gave up everything from my old life, and dedicated myself to training in mind and body to become the ultimate beyblading machine. Sometimes things got so bad that I was ready to throw in the towel but I just pictured you, Tyson. It all came flooding back. I learned that no matter how tall a wall stands,there's always a way to knock it down to size."
 * [shouts] "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?
 * "All I'm asking is to decide this in the bey stadium. Winner, if that's what you want you can have it! All I want to do is settle my battle with Tyson! What about you, Tyson? How do you want to settle this?"
 * I can't believe you want to leave this battle as a tie either! Especially being the World Champ and all. What do you say?"
 * [to Tyson] "The name is... Kai. I'm the leader of the Blade Sharks, kid.
 * [angrily] "Why did you do that?"
 * "It's winner take all time."
 * "If I win, that means you split, got it?"
 * "Game on!"
 * "Let it rip!"
 * "For once, I agree with Tyson. Let's beat these guys!"

Trivia

 * Kai says the least in the series, and coincidentally, gets the last line: "Go Dranzer!"


 * Kai is fond of old legends and prophecies, as stated by Max in the movie, Beyblade: The Movie - Fierce Battle.


 * Kai seems to be fond of nature, as he is often seen falling asleep in G-Revolution on soft grass or under a tree with a straw of grass in his mouth and he often helps animals like cats.


 * Kai's personality undergoes a dramatic change in Beyblade V-Force. He speaks more often and displays more emotion, often struggling with his battles.


 * Kai is the character that had received the most changes between each season, either in personality or his design.


 * Kai has been on more teams than any other character in the original series.


 * Kai's attack, Blazing Gig Tempest, has only worked successfully once when it was used against Ray.


 * Kai's Bit-Beast Dranzer, is based from the phoenix, a legendary firebird which was said to be revived from its own ashes.


 * In episode 48 (49 for the third season) of every season Kai loses Dranzer: once to Spencer, once to Zeo and when Dranzer Metal Spiral shatters into pieces after beating Brooklyn (but later reappears completely fixed to battle Tyson due to unknown reasons).


 * All of Kai's Dranzer Beyblades (except for Black Dranzer) are blue.


 * Kai's Beyblade Dranzer Gigs Turbo, can use a reverse spin attack with its Engine Gear called Reverse Engine Gear. The Engine Gear goes in the opposite direction of the rest of the spinning top. This can be seen when Tyson and Kai are battling each other in 'Let The Games Begin... Again'.


 * Kai has never worn his scarf while using the move Blazing Gigs Tempest.


 * Kai has only taken off his scarf for tough opponents: Ray, Tyson and Brooklyn, meaning it is likely that he does not consider Max and Daichi to be in the same league as them.


 * Before Kai battled Brooklyn, Kai stared fiercely at Hiro. At this point, you can see an image of Dranzer Gigs Turbo igniting in flames in Kai's eyes.


 * Among fans of the show, Kai is regarded as the greatest character. Dranzer was also one of the most popular Beyblades in the show and games.


 * Out of all the seasons, V-Force is the one were Kai says the most.


 * Of all the Bladebreakers, Kai is the tallest, at 5'6".


 * Kyoya Tategami heavily resembles Kai in the Metal Saga, for the serious, proud and solitary attitude.