1, 2, 5 And 23 With Kaito!!

1, 2, 5 and 23 with Kaito!!

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

This is a loaded question because I have Many Reasons for liking Kaito as much as I do but I'll try to keep it short hehe . Surprisingly enough he was one of those characters that I needed time with after completing v3 to actually fully appreciate , and it was kind of funny how little regard I used to give him because he's like an amalgamation of All of my previous favorite characters lol .

That being said: He is unapologetically strange . I love his academic prowess and avid interest in science (and his need to infodump about it) but his less-than-conventional ways he navigates social interactions. He spins tales of traveling the ocean and Defeating Whales and adventures as a pirate when it was probably a roleplay he used to do in a playground sandbox when he was five . Shuichi goes from thinking that he is some kind of escaped lab homunculus to being his #1 fan in less than one chapter . He feels big emotions and Cares A Lot all the time - like he runs on nothing but stubbornness and love on a constant basis . He likes little houseplants .

The timing in which this character kind of stumbled into my life was weirdly poetic -- I have months of mini essays in my notes app about this guy just dissecting him and growing to appreciate him more and more as a character; It just gradually became more obvious why he resonates with me . He is an alien . Literally . Unapologetically strange .

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

That we have not one but two walking contradictions in this game .

I've talked just a little bit before about Kaito's fear of vulnerability and failure and the extent to which he goes to avoid confronting his internal problems . He's very earnest and hands-on with helping his friends and quick to confront everyone else on when he believes they aren't at their full potential -- but he can't extend that virtue to himself and instead lies by omission that he is suffering at all-- save for the one time in which he extensively apologizes to Shuichi and Maki for having a phobia and reacting accordingly (which, if that's how he is when he DOES confide in someone, you can imagine he's not being very kind to himself about having a weird space virus .

He also ends up being wrong . In front of everyone . He goes through an entire trial in which his worldview is completely dismantled and mocked . Worse , people know that he is sick now and in some desperate attempt at damage control he ends up pushing away his best friend . In that he spends almost the entirety of chapter five unable to look at Shuichi in the eye not because he's angry at him but at himself -- for slowly dying and being unable to do anything about it , for dealing with the shame that maybe Shuichi doesn't actually need him anymore . Which he would've probably stopped believing if he had just . Talked to him .

What he classifies as weak is obviously very paradoxical and I will never not point out the narrative choice of Kaito being a living self-fufilling prophecy

hm . That's Really Interesting . I hope that doesn't come back to bite you buddy

Unrelated: I also like that he has fangs .

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

It's surprisingly difficult to assign songs to him (mostly because I think he would listen to Imagine Dragons. Very unfortunate) . But one that comes to mind is Sin Triangle by Sidney Gish . Give it a listen ^_^

23. Favorite picture of this character?

duality