Kaidou Shun Moment

this is mostly for me more than anything

I really love this trio fr fr

didnt even know they were a ship until I went on Pinterest

They share a voice actor,,, besties

Saiki K headcanons - Part 2.

This time, the Jet Black Wings.

This are just headcanons, I'm not forcing anything, i have my reason why I chose those headcanons for them but it's just me. You can headcanon him whatever you like :D.

+ More pics bcs he's my favorite character

New illustration from Asou-sensei to celebrate Hairo Day! (and Saiki's birthday)

Author's tweet: "I painted this as soon as I recovered from a cold. I'm glad I could make it in time for the anniversary💦 Happy New Year, Hairo!"

Artwork Translation:

[August 16th is 816 - Hairo Day!]

Hairo: Thank you for celebrating, everyone! Power!

Saiki: I don't care what day is it, as long as I get to eat cake.

[source]

Thinking a lot about Kaido today and his whole perspective about lying/telling the truth when it comes to your loved ones.

It's interesting to me that Kaido always seems to be the first to freak out in the scenarios in which they all find out that Saiki is a psychic, or whenever they're close to finding out (actually pretty similar to his reaction to finding out Kuboyasu used to be a delinquent too). There's an obvious element to it of him feeling like he's been deceived right away even if he can rationalize it eventually and realize that maybe it doesn't really matter.

The thing is he... isn't the most honest person out there either. There's his whole deal with his chuunibyou complex, for one, though like others have pointed out, in a way that's more true to who he is than –and this is what I was specifically thinking about– how he seems to present himself to his mother.

It's not that everything Kaido's mother thinks about him is completely wrong. People have different aspects to them and the vision she has of a Shun that can introduce himself easyly to people, who's sweet and obedient isn't necessarily all that wrong.

He seems to behave with his siblings in the same way he does with his friends but not with his mom. It stands out to me that she thanked Nendo and Saiki for being his friends because he's "shy", when we've seen him being everything but that. But isn't it true anyway? His whole act seems to give him the confidence to actually call attention and interact with people, but Saiki and Nendo seems to be his first friends in... well, who knows, maybe ever? (Not counting Raiden since he was more of like an older student he admired rather than a friend, I take it).

In the end both sides of who he is are partially true to who he is, but I think his more extravagant behavior is definitely him finding in it a way in which he can fit in and be himself, so it rings more true. He wants to be someone special, who belongs, someone who's well liked and brave and powerful. And in a way it works! Fake it til you make it. While he's not becoming an overpowered guy from another universe fighting against evil anytime soon, he does find courage in his act, and he ends up surrounded by people who might think he's being silly but they aren't bullying him because of his dramatics. He has a place there in which he can just be without any expectations.

He clearly does love his mom and his mom loves him, but the dynamic there is different. With the way he plays up the "polite boy who can't do no wrong" act around her and how she uses terms of such endearment with him, it feels more... contained. Kaido knows his mom expects a certain behavior from him and he wants to please her. Everything he does to indulge himself is in secrecy (again, his whole act) and it doesn't interfere with what his mom expects from him so most of the time that's not a problem, he can study at home and go to cram school and do what she expects him to do without it clashing with who he is outside of that.

But he can't be honest with what he wants or who he wants to be because he knows she won't approve. He braces himself when she starts talking to Nendo and Saiki because he already knew she wouldn't like them not being studious (makes me wonder if he ever did have a friend before and she didn't approve. If so, I imagine they weren't close enough for him to protest the loss like with these two).

Kaido does seem to be smart, not top of the class smart but it's stated he usually does get good grades since he has good options to get into university and his overall ranking is good. But he doesn't really seem to have any particular passion for his studies, that's something his mom wants for him. He doesn't seem to hate it either, but if anything he seems to gravitate a little more toward creative endeavors; he got excited right away with the idea of making a manga with Kuboyasu, he was trying too hard at the art gallery but trying nonetheless, and then of course his daydreamings.

That's not something he's sharing with his mom. It feels natural for him to be embarrassed of his act in front of his mom, but I mean... it's hardly like he's embarrassed about doing that in front of the whole class, so I do get the feeling it might be in part because that has nothing to do with what he's supposed to be doing with his time, especially since Saiki mentions Kaido's mom is right and his grades have been suffering.

Overall, it's quite ironic in that sense that despite seemingly loving his mom, Kaido can't bring himself to stand up to her for his own wishes most of the time, and he's not completely truthful about the person he is in front of her. And yet the apple doesn't fall far from the tree because both of them think the exact same when it comes to their loved ones being honest to them.

I think perhaps that's what makes a little difference when it comes to their views; Kaido does come to accept things like Saiki being an esper and not telling him for the longest time and Kuboyasu with his delinquent past. Because while he clearly has the same ideas about a person being completely honest with you in order to have a proper positive bond with them, he hides too. There might be some truth to who he is in his chuunnibyou act in the sense of what he wants to be, but even then he's still hiding from his mom.

He's the first to freak out at the thought of being deceived by someone he cares about, but I think, at the end of the day, he does realize that honesty does matter to him, yes, but in the same way he does want to protect people even if he's terrified out of his mind and his act helps him pretend in that way, Kuboyasu earnestly trying to live in a more respectable way isn't a lie, Saiki being there for them all and being their friend isn't a lie.

On that note, this particular moment with him and Nendo is very interesting:

Because here Kaido obviously was lying on purpose for April's fools and going overboard with it, but knowing Nendo trusted him about the camera incident when nobody else did? It meant a lot, and his way of sort of solidifying that trust is promising to himself that he won't lie to Nendo again.

He obviously does keep the whole Black Jet Wings persona even so, as he does around everybody, but I do think that's in part because that's not a lie to him, it's an act and a game, but in a way it is part of the kind of person he is.

I think everyone agrees that the most telling scene for Teruhashi and Saiki's relationship is the karaoke mixer scene (with Imu and Chiyo and the guys from the fancy school).

However, I also think it's the most misinterpreted part of the series. I haven't seen a single analysis of it that I agree with tbh, so I figured I'd write my own:

However, as Saiki points out, her understanding of him is completely wrong. She doesn't think he would have a good time or could make things more fun, when in reality, HE'S the one coming up with all the jokes the guys say, and their kind gestures like adjusting the temperature of the room for her. And to top it off, he was even doing actual karaoke during the mixer and killing it, based on his 100% score. Saiki was secretly being the whole life of the party, something that Teruhashi can't even imagine at this point.

Teruhashi appreciates that Saiki doesn't actively chase her, that he treats her like everybody else, that he isn't waiting for her to slip on her perfect pretty projection. However, while Teruhashi wishes Saiki was there with her at the mixer, she also thinks that he would just be there glooming it up with a dull expression in the corner. That seems to show that she finds Saiki's presence comforting but doesn't really think he can contribute otherwise to this kind of social situation. And based on what she's seen of him, it's a reasonable expectation tbh!

And that's because whenever we see Saiki at parties with his friends, he ISN'T charming and funny then. Saiki even feels bad about being so boring and unexpressive, sending in his father as a substitute for one birthday party. But that's because he's actively masking his powers and by extension, his real personality, to almost everyone.

We've only ever seen him at parties with people who DON'T know the truth about him. So we can't know exactly what he'd do at a proper party post power-reveal. But we CAN see the difference in interactions that he has with people who don't know about his powers and people who do.

People who know about Saiki's powers and who he acts genuinely around: his family, the Psychickers, and little Yuuta.

The biggest immediate difference between how he behaves with them vs with everyone else is that Saiki is a huge backtalker lmao. He has a smartass remark for everything but only says it "out loud" if he's comfortable. He disrespects his dad on the daily, roasts Toritsuka half to death, and repeats [no] at Yuuta every time he begs.

In fact, Teruhashi has never seen Saiki be genuine around her, which is why she has to dig desperately for something positive to say to Saiki's grandfather when she meets him. All she can say is that he seems studious (the man gets strictly average grades so this is kind of sad actually lmao) and that he has a lot of friends for some reason hsfjdlshfks.

Saiki is also a bit of a show-off / kind of prideful. We see it when he's a kid in the Time Leap episodes, we see him fly up to get Yuuta that balloon instead of using telekinesis, and we see him refusing to lose any games to his friends despite low or no stakes (and being a very sore loser when Akechi beats him).

My personal favorite example of him being his hilarious self is when he and Aiura are trying to keep Chiyo alive despite her death mark, and Aiura thinks to herself something like "well, there's no way he can hear my thoughts at THIS distance or he'd be some kind of god" and Saiki IMMEDIATELY replies [what's up, God speaking] like WHAT. THE LEVEL OF SASS. He's just naturally that fucking funny and repressing it all the time. And most of his friends have no clue that this guy is actually a hilarious mfer!

However, we as the audience actually *do* see Saiki be his genuine self around Teruhashi: that one episode where she's trying to find him but he turns invisible so her simps can't catch him. Instead of being a quiet, emotionless presence, he steals her milkshake and makes fun of how she can't see him and is generally silly. Maybe one day they'll truly know each other well enough to where Saiki feels comfortable being silly like that where she can see it, but due to all their circumstances (powers/crush/simps), he has to try to be as boring and off-putting as he can be instead.

Which all leads me to say that the end of the mixer scene is actually really bittersweet imo. It's Saiki realizing how much fun he *could* be having with his friends if he was able to be open and honest about himself around them, and if he didn't have to worry about inadvertantly encouraging an unwanted crush. That is the life he's always wanted to have, a normal one where he can just relax and be himself and hang out with his friends without risking cataclysmic consequences at every turn.

And at the same time it reinforces that most of the people he genuinely cares about and considers his friends don't really know him well at all. While they all clearly enjoy his presence and care about him, they don't know that he's sarcastic, selfless, incredibly clever, tsundere af, generally anxious, and kind of nosy.

Does that make all of Saiki's friendships fake? I don't think so. Everyone presents different parts of themselves to different people, this is a normal. We live in a society, etc. The same behavior and conversation isn't appropriate for someone who's a coworker vs a lover, half your age vs twice your age, etc.

But it sure hurts to know that a friendship was built under false premises and could crumble if the truth is revealed. And that's why Saiki even considers never stopping the volcano so he can stay in the same status quo with his friends, because he's certain that once they leave high school, they will all forget about that quiet, stone-faced guy in the background of their memories. He's sure that even if everyone finds out about his powers, after he's been made powerless, giving him the opportunity to be himself for the first time ever, that they won't like the "new" him.

That mixer was Saiki being his whole self with his friends, just through a different face, and while he had fun, it was with the full knowledge that this is essentially as close to being genuine with his friends as he can possibly get, for a limited time only. Because the volcano and their senior year are both looming large on the horizon.

Few mp100 doodles to finish the year!!

Kaidou manga panels I like: (pt 11)

Regret:

From: vol 1 ch 3