Inui/Kaidoh: a manifesto... by Kimmie
So, here's my first manifesto... InuKai. My favorite pairing of all time, I believe. This is cut for spoilers, obviously. Discuss it to your hearts content, and don't be afraid to post your own later on down the line. This community is all about discussion, and good discussions aren't done just once.
Prince of Tennis was something that my LJ friends list introduced me to. They talked about it all the time, and I scoffed. Because, really... tennis? But I've loved every other sports anime/manga that I've come across, so, eventually, I gave it a shot. I distinctly remember that, at the time, those people were talking about how far downhill the show had gotten and remember reading, particularly, about the episode where everyone goes to visit Tezuka in Germany.
I know a girl named figbash from my Gundam Wing fandom days. I'm on her updates list still. So, when she posted that she'd written a fic for Prince of Tennis, a series I hadn't even started watching yet? I read it. And then, a few days later, I started watching the series. Since I hadn't had any basis about who the characters were, I didn't remember their names and I sort of assumed that the fic was about the first pairing I saw, MomoRyo. I, of course, did not yet know about the overall pervasiveness of slash potential in the show.
When Inui and Kaidoh entered, I remembered. "Ah, it was them! But, where's the basis for it? I'm still just seeing MomoRyo and Golden Pair."
Then? "It's A Date." It was a filler episode. Just something funny. But it went beyond that when Kaidoh took Inui seriously and angsted about it and couldn't make up his mind, but still went... knowing that there was a chance that Inui had seriously asked him on a date. The look of disappointment on his face when Inui wasn't there sealed it in my heart.
Suddenly, everything changed. Suddenly, there was Inui carefully planning for Kaidoh who respected his abilities, and there was Kaidoh taking Inui by surprise, and there they were -- just watching each other and helping each other -- and somehow forming a normalcy that did not otherwise exist for them outside of that relationship.
There's the green towel of love that passes between them when neither of them are considerate of anyone, really, no matter how good Kaidoh's manners can be.
When Kaidoh agrees to play doubles with Inui, it's meaningful. Sure, part of it is just that his Boomerang Snake needs work, and Inui can both help him with it and provide the venue for him to hone the skill. But Kaidoh still lets Inui help and still accepts his offer.
There is Inui watching wet, shirtless Kaidoh with his muscles straining, and getting into the water to help him. There is Kaidoh, protecting Inui in one of the filler episodes when Inui loses his glasses so that no one else can see his eyes... except Kaidoh. There is Inui having faith in Kaidoh to find everyone else while they're in Germany. There is, really, a lot of them having faith in each other.
There is Inui relying on Kaidoh for backup in the song "MILK". There is Inui's dead-sexy "Running Boy" and also "Michi". Kaidoh's "Sekai wa Kawaru" and "Chain Reaction". They all have that particular slant toward InuKai.
Inui and Kaidoh do not fight, and do not get in each other's way. They don't talk a lot, but a lot gets communicated anyway. They are almost a better doubles pair than the Golden Pair.
While arguments can be made about certain other pairings being "practically canon", InuKai is the one that's hinted at throughout, and perhaps the most blatantly. While most of the other "near-canon" pairings have elements to suggest that perhaps we're wrong to think it, Kaidoh has no other true foil except for Momo, and their rivalry is too pronounced to allow affection. Inui has Renji, but it is most definitely something that's been put to the past.
There are several pieces of official art that points toward this pairing. There is a shot of Inui under the trees with Kaidoh peeking out at him from behind another tree. There is this bromide from the Sakura series.
I think the fact that Kaidoh, who is abrupt and sometimes rude, never really shows any disrespect for his Inui-senpai (except the initial bit where Inui asks him to pair with him for doubles) means a lot. The fact that Inui never finds Kaidoh scary is also something to note. (The opposite however, is not true... but Kaidoh just seems to find Inui's *juice* scary.)
I don't have all of the episodes available to me at the moment or I would be giving episode numbers and finding other moments that solidified these two in my head as a concrete pair, but there are more. I fangirled every time there was anything InuKai on the screen at all and I know I made little happy squees about more moments than this.
LINKS:
inu_kai - The InuKai community on LJ.
A screencap - Doesn't this look like a poster of Kaidoh above Inui's desk? [by disutansu]
The notes series - by aaincognito A series of fan-made notes passed between Inui and Kaidoh. Very cute.
#1, #2, and #3 - InuKai-related hiragana worksheets by snowym
InuKai doujinshi - by figbash... she's a great writer *and* artist!
FICS:
Troublemaker - by Chibimono Akuno (fffshuu)
figbash stuff - by, of course, figbash (all of her InuKai is great... "Tsumi" was the first one I read)
Sesshoku/Condensation/Asu - by Monnie (Several of the universes have InuKai moments, but the arc of Sesshoku, Condensation and Asu is so wonderful.)
Discrepancy - by bookshop (So good!!!)
Distance - by megummi_chan
Tinkerer - by marourin
hanahadauncute - Haha! I'll rec myself because I've written a lot of InuKai.
Prince of Tennis was something that my LJ friends list introduced me to. They talked about it all the time, and I scoffed. Because, really... tennis? But I've loved every other sports anime/manga that I've come across, so, eventually, I gave it a shot. I distinctly remember that, at the time, those people were talking about how far downhill the show had gotten and remember reading, particularly, about the episode where everyone goes to visit Tezuka in Germany.
I know a girl named figbash from my Gundam Wing fandom days. I'm on her updates list still. So, when she posted that she'd written a fic for Prince of Tennis, a series I hadn't even started watching yet? I read it. And then, a few days later, I started watching the series. Since I hadn't had any basis about who the characters were, I didn't remember their names and I sort of assumed that the fic was about the first pairing I saw, MomoRyo. I, of course, did not yet know about the overall pervasiveness of slash potential in the show.
When Inui and Kaidoh entered, I remembered. "Ah, it was them! But, where's the basis for it? I'm still just seeing MomoRyo and Golden Pair."
Then? "It's A Date." It was a filler episode. Just something funny. But it went beyond that when Kaidoh took Inui seriously and angsted about it and couldn't make up his mind, but still went... knowing that there was a chance that Inui had seriously asked him on a date. The look of disappointment on his face when Inui wasn't there sealed it in my heart.
Suddenly, everything changed. Suddenly, there was Inui carefully planning for Kaidoh who respected his abilities, and there was Kaidoh taking Inui by surprise, and there they were -- just watching each other and helping each other -- and somehow forming a normalcy that did not otherwise exist for them outside of that relationship.
There's the green towel of love that passes between them when neither of them are considerate of anyone, really, no matter how good Kaidoh's manners can be.
When Kaidoh agrees to play doubles with Inui, it's meaningful. Sure, part of it is just that his Boomerang Snake needs work, and Inui can both help him with it and provide the venue for him to hone the skill. But Kaidoh still lets Inui help and still accepts his offer.
There is Inui watching wet, shirtless Kaidoh with his muscles straining, and getting into the water to help him. There is Kaidoh, protecting Inui in one of the filler episodes when Inui loses his glasses so that no one else can see his eyes... except Kaidoh. There is Inui having faith in Kaidoh to find everyone else while they're in Germany. There is, really, a lot of them having faith in each other.
There is Inui relying on Kaidoh for backup in the song "MILK". There is Inui's dead-sexy "Running Boy" and also "Michi". Kaidoh's "Sekai wa Kawaru" and "Chain Reaction". They all have that particular slant toward InuKai.
Inui and Kaidoh do not fight, and do not get in each other's way. They don't talk a lot, but a lot gets communicated anyway. They are almost a better doubles pair than the Golden Pair.
While arguments can be made about certain other pairings being "practically canon", InuKai is the one that's hinted at throughout, and perhaps the most blatantly. While most of the other "near-canon" pairings have elements to suggest that perhaps we're wrong to think it, Kaidoh has no other true foil except for Momo, and their rivalry is too pronounced to allow affection. Inui has Renji, but it is most definitely something that's been put to the past.
There are several pieces of official art that points toward this pairing. There is a shot of Inui under the trees with Kaidoh peeking out at him from behind another tree. There is this bromide from the Sakura series.
I think the fact that Kaidoh, who is abrupt and sometimes rude, never really shows any disrespect for his Inui-senpai (except the initial bit where Inui asks him to pair with him for doubles) means a lot. The fact that Inui never finds Kaidoh scary is also something to note. (The opposite however, is not true... but Kaidoh just seems to find Inui's *juice* scary.)
I don't have all of the episodes available to me at the moment or I would be giving episode numbers and finding other moments that solidified these two in my head as a concrete pair, but there are more. I fangirled every time there was anything InuKai on the screen at all and I know I made little happy squees about more moments than this.
LINKS:
inu_kai - The InuKai community on LJ.
A screencap - Doesn't this look like a poster of Kaidoh above Inui's desk? [by disutansu]
The notes series - by aaincognito A series of fan-made notes passed between Inui and Kaidoh. Very cute.
#1, #2, and #3 - InuKai-related hiragana worksheets by snowym
InuKai doujinshi - by figbash... she's a great writer *and* artist!
FICS:
Troublemaker - by Chibimono Akuno (fffshuu)
figbash stuff - by, of course, figbash (all of her InuKai is great... "Tsumi" was the first one I read)
Sesshoku/Condensation/Asu - by Monnie (Several of the universes have InuKai moments, but the arc of Sesshoku, Condensation and Asu is so wonderful.)
Discrepancy - by bookshop (So good!!!)
Distance - by megummi_chan
Tinkerer - by marourin
hanahadauncute - Haha! I'll rec myself because I've written a lot of InuKai.