Michael the Angel
This post is my theory on Kaiser's awakening, and his possible arc in the future. I wanted to share this after learning about the title of the next chapter "One to Infinity" (you'll see why). I just want to say that while I have my biases being a kiis/iski shipper and Kaiser being one of my favorite characters, I'm going to try and be as objective as possible here. I think this is going to be a long one, so sorry in advance!
Previously on Blue Lock...
Okay so we all know that Kaiser's whole awakening was based on the fact that he was going back to "zero", that he let go of everything he earned and was returning to his roots as the scrappy, starving kid that yearned for "love" and for things bigger than himself.
He felt that he got too comfortable in the life that he had built up, and so he had to throw everything away in order to get better at soccer and for him to rebuild himself up. This is known, and is directly stated in the manga.
However, as we all know things do not go to Kaiser's plan. He is unable to truly let go of everything, which is why he loses to Isagi and is unable to read Ness's last pass.
Isagi and Kaiser both have different explanations for why they think Kaiser lost; Kaiser thinks its because he had too much fun playing with Isagi, and Isagi thinks that its because he couldn't let go of his view of Ness, in a way they are both kind of right. At some point, Kaiser stopped looking to beat Isagi (he says it himself, he let go of his "malice") and just wanted to play soccer with him because of how for the first time of his life he actually felt good about himself (🥹), and he also heavily projected the "feeling" of worthlessness ("im a piece of shit") that he directs toward himself onto Ness, so much so that he believed that Ness couldn't change his ways, which he was wrong about.
This is the last reflection we have about Kaiser's loss, in Chapter 301, we see Kaiser talk about how he abandoned Ness to go win but ended up losing again, and Ness saying that he is still going to stay by Kaiser's side, but this chapter is the last time that Kaiser's actual mindset in the match is discussed.
Zero to...?
Now okay heres the thing, I think it is true that Kaiser letting his emotions get to him was a big reason as to why he lost, but I also really think that his whole basis of "going back to zero" was wrong in the first place.
My main supporting argument for this is Mr. Jinpachi Ego himself. In the very first couple of chapters, during the First Selection, Ego states that what he wants the Blue Locker's to do is to rebuild their soccer from zero, and go from "zero to one".
The "one" Ego is talking about here is the individual talent of a striker brought out by their weapons that can cause a chaotic team where no one is cooperating to come together as "one" (Isagi figures this out after his Team Z loses to Barou's team after Barou showed himself to be the best striker on the field).
Later in the Second Selection, Ego says that he now wants the Blue Lockers to go from "one to one hundred". Nagi and Isagi later figure going to "one hundred" being about a players individual abilities being able to change the course of a match and dominate the field, like Rin did in his introduction.
As I mentioned, the next chapter title is "One to Infinity". Now it hasn't come out yet, but given that the numbers keep on getting higher (lmao) and we have gone from "zero" to "one" to "one hundred" to now "infinity" its probably something about becoming stronger and using your own strength and ego to become even better.
I hope the point that I am trying to make is slowly coming across, Kaiser went back down to zero while Ego, Isagi, and the rest of the Blue Lockers are going up.
Now, I do not think that Ego is absolutely one hundred percent correct all the time, one of the subplots of this arc seems to be about the Blue Lockers questioning his teachings, and he has frequently talked about how he wants the Blue Lockers to go beyond his ideas, but I do think his general thoughts and analysis are correct, and he is one of the author's stand in's for soccer exposition for a reason.
Kaiser's main problem with going back to "zero" in my opinion wasn't that went there or that he threw everything away; we have seen Isagi do this multiple times to great success, it was that he was content with staying at "zero" that was the problem.
What Ego was saying about "zero" was that he wanted the Blue Lockers to think of it as a base, and then go up and rebuild from there. Isagi does something similar every time discards pieces of himself, he doesn't really throw every thing away, he just discards what doesn't work and then adds whatever new thing he learned to his arsenal. Kaiser in going back to zero wasn't him learning anything new, it was him just accepting the fact that he was a piece of shit and that he was worthless.
(I didn't realize how similar these panels were until I put them together holy shit my kaisagi)
And there lies the whole problem with Kaiser "going back to zero". People call this Kaiser's "awakening" but its not an awakening at all, its a total regression, and its a regression that Kaiser would have felt completely content to remain in had events not transpired differently.
We see Kaiser tell Ness straight up that he thrives in Restriction, and this is very much due to the fact that abuse, violence, and hatred is the only thing that he has known all his life, which is why he doesn't know how to accept any kindness or goodwill. This in a way is also the "satisfaction" that Ego warns against and that Nagi fell pray to. Kaiser is satisfied and just content to just think of himself as trash and a piece of shit and at staying at this "zero" state where his hunger is totally dimmed. We see this in his backstory too, he just takes whatever abuse his father gives him for years and years (like the ball!), and even when he was framed and got all his money stolen, he doesn't get angry, doesn't fight back, he just accepts this and decides to start over. He only finally snaps when his precious ball is in danger. (Note: I'm not blaming Kaiser for staying in this abusive situation like this at all, this is something very common for victims of abuse, and why it take so long for them to leave in the first place.)
A lot of people have asked what would have happened if Kaiser had gotten that last goal in the PXG match, and it literally would have been exactly like what happened to Nagi. Kasier would have felt validated in his belief that he is a piece of shit, been content with beating Isagi, and just completely crumbled later on because of how stagnant he had gotten. Ego comments on how Yukimiya's shot getting blocked by Chris Prince in the Manshine match is the best thing that could have happened to him because it forced him to evolve, and that is the same thing for Kasier, losing to Isagi actually forces himself to take a good look at himself because he can't act all high and mighty like an Emperor any more because that doesn't work , but he also can't just regress to how he was as a kid and think of himself as a piece of shit because that also doesn't work.
So...What's Next?
So these next parts are just me speculating on what Kaiser's arc is going to look like in the future. Currently, there are only two people who have pushed back against Kaiser's idea that he is a piece of shit: Ness who has directly called him "flesh and blood" and a "human", and Isagi who has called him a "superstar" and a "god". Out of these two, Ness is the one who has pushed back the most since he actually tells Kaiser staright up that he is worth something unlike a certain someone with a sprout who will sing Kaiser's praises to space itself but never say it to his face. Noa is weird in that he clearly thinks that Kaiser is worth something because he literally participated in the NEL just to awaken Kaiser, and he also straight up says that Kaiser has the potential to be stronger than Loki and that he wants to battle him in the future. But this is kind of Noa thinking of Kaiser as a pawn and just wanting to use him to get stronger, which Kaiser straight up calls out and fights against.
Now, a lot of people think that Kaiser's arc is going to be one where he heals with the power of friendship and love or something like that, especially after chapter 301 which is why so many people got confused when the Cola chapter and the interview extra came out where its clear that he is no where near better or healed.
To that I say that this is Blue Lock, and not your typical sports manga. Kaneshiro has described it more as a death battle/game shonen manga type of thing and he's absolutely right, if you base character arcs on what has happened before in typical shonen manga I'm afraid your going to be disappointed. Like Rin straight up rejects a power of friendship moment in the vs U20 match and framed like your typical sports manga "I have my teammates!, I'm not alone!" moment before its completely shattered.
Blue Lock is meant to be subversive on purpose, characters get stronger by leaning into their worst impulses. Isagi has talked so many times about how good it feels to win and destroy people, Rin's entire ego is based on the fact that he wants to defeat someone stronger than him while destroying himself in the process, Nagi wants to play soccer again so he can feel like a god, Yukimiya is still playing soccer despite knowing that it is going to make him go blind faster, and I could go on and on about how 99% of this cast does not have a healthy mindset at all.
Now this does not mean that I think that Kaiser is never going to heal, I definitely think that his arc is going to end with him on better, or working towards being on better terms with Ness and Isagi, and in general have a much better view of himself and the world around him, but I do not think it is going to just have him be like "What? I've been loved all along and I'm not a piece of shit?? Oh wow I'm so happy!!", and like if it does I'm so sorry but that is so boring to me, and I really hope Kaneshiro does not take it that route.
I Reject My Humanity!
I know this is going to sound very far fetched, and stick with me here, but my theory on his arc is that while Kaiser is going to stop believing that he is a piece of shit, he is also not going to settle for the simple definition that he is a human just like everyone else in the world, and instead fully embrace the "Superstar", "God's Chosen Emperor" persona, but instead of just acting and performing a role like in the beginning of the NEL, he is actually going to believe it.
Like I mentioned before Kaneshiro likes to do the subversive, and right now everyone thinks that Kaiser is just going to accept that he is "human", but what would be extremely interesting and fit right in with Blue Lock's crazy writing is if he were to go the opposite direction and instead develop a sort of god/angel-complex.
My main argument for this is that in the current U20 World Cup arc, the divine has been brought up so many times, and it is clearly something that is going to hold a lot of weight throughout the arc. The "God of Soccer" is literally the biggest Chekhov's gun if I have ever seen one too.
Other mentions of god and divinity have been Nagi's (the other protagonist!) new ego being to want to feel like a god, Isagi once again being mentioned as a "Demon Lord", Noa and Lavinho's duel in the Barcha match being called a "Duel Between God's", Loki straight up being called the "divine sprinter", and so on. The "Goddess of Luck" and the "Goddess of Victory" have also been mentioned several times.
Michael Kaiser means "God's Chosen Emperor". Kaiser is the German word for "Emperor" while Michael means "Gift from God" or one "Who is Like God" as well. Michael is also most famously the name of an archangel in the Bible, the chief archangel if I may be specific. (I know that using the meaning of a characters name in an analysis may seem silly, but Kaneshiro does take care when naming his characters. Yoichi Isagi means "the worlds purest/best", Ego being named after "ego", Bachira meaning "happy bee" when thats his aura and personality; look at the meaning of any Blue Lock characters name, and I can guarantee you that it describes their personality in a way.) Kaisers actions in the beginning of the NEL are very clearly him putting on an act that is composed of this persona as an "Emperor". He has his loyal right hand man/magician in Ness, he has soldiers/knights in the other Bastard players; the team is literally his kingdom, and he often also talks about scripts, and a stage, and mentions the audience watching as well. Its only when Isagi starts posing a serious threat to him that the mask falls off, and by the end of the NEL, everything crumbles.
The "Kaiser/Emperor" persona has fallen, and in its place I think that he is going to embrace "Michael", the part of him that has a connection to the divine, and that stands above humans. Kaiser has talked about how he can't understand humans which is why he places himself below them, as a "piece of shit", but what if he starts to place himself above "humans"? In this case, the real reason that he can't understand "humans" isn't because he's worse than them, but because he's better. Kaiser also wants to become a symbol of the "impossible", something that shouldn't exist, and while being an "Emperor" is impressive, we have literally had people become rulers in Blue Lock, our one and only "King" Barou and Kaiser literally calls Isagi a "ruler masquerading as a clown" for example. An angel? Thats something that hasn't been done yet, and shouldn't exist in the mortal plain either. (Side note, I also really think it would be amazing for Kaiser to have a Rin-like transformation, but instead of it being grotesque and like a monster, its him portrayed as an angel, and with wings, I want to see Kaiser with wings Nomura)
ALSO, this is one of the things archangel Michael is famous for.
Now who in blue lock has been repeatedly called a "Demon Lord/King" , has wanted access to the "God of Soccer", and has also been named as Kaiser's greatest enemy, and is going to fight him in the near future?
Thats All Folk's!
Now all of this is just a theory of mine, and please take it with a grain of salt. Its influenced by how I see Kaiser's arc personally, and things I want to happen in his future arc, not neccessarily how Kaneshiro see's Kaiser or how his arc is going to play out. For all I know I could be totally wrong about everything and Kaneshiro decides to take Kaiser's arc in a comepletely different direction, idk. Anyways, I'm really excited (and nervous!) for Kaiser to come back to the manga, and for the Japan vs Germany game in particular. Kaiser is one of if not the best written characters in the manga so far, and depending on how Kaneshiro handles his arc, he legitimately has potential to be the best written sports manga characters of all time.
If you've gotten this far, thank you so much for reading my silly theory, I really appreciate it, and I would love to hear your opinions ❤️ ! Whether you agree, disagree, or have a different point of view, I love talking with people about things I'm passionate about; my inbox and comment section is open! Thank you once again, and so sorry for making it this so long, I actually have more to say honestly but I cut some out otherwise this would get truly ridiculous lol.
