Whilst I don't plan on releasing a full review of DRS2 until the second half is out, I wanted to discuss Kai's character so much that I thought I'd make an analysis video on him. I hope you all enjoy it! :) If you want a place to discuss Dragons Rising S2 with fellow Ninjago fans, be sure to join the Digi-Verse Discord Server: discord.com/invite/Qa9Uxhyhw5

As a Kai fan, this was everything I wanted! My boy beat the fraud allegations and became a hero. I’m just so happy to see him grow as a character.

I love how Kai’s character has finally went from arrogance to confidence. His belief that he could do anything was always part of his character. Kai’s last scenes in this season show that while he’s gotten more selfless, his underlying trait of confidence is still there. I just hope he doesn’t have to wait a gazillion years to escape…

Kai literally becomes the person he thought of himself as in earlier seasons, and more. not only is he the definition of awesome in combat, he arcs from a more selfish, arrogant character to one of the most selfless in the series. the writers have honestly moved mountains with this one

Okay but can we talk abt how cool the scene where kai learns rising dragon technique? The music and everything was just so spectacular and amazing

I find it kind of ironic that Kai is the last to unlock his true potential, all the way back in Rise of the Serpentine: The Green Ninja, yet is the first ninja to master the Rising Dragon technique. I consider it a subtle example of Kai having a similar yet considerably different role compared to Ninjago's previous seasons.

They fixed Kai’s hair in the flashback, I think we finally course-corrected the timeline 😭

Man, seeing Kai completely turn a 180 from a hothead to a father figure was honestly a bit bizarre, but I’m glad it did since it made for some EPIC moments. Hopefully, Jay gets the same treatment, if he ever has his memories returned.

Kai was always my favorite as a kid. So to see my guy actually get stuff to do and meaningful moments in Dragons Rising is great to see

As a non-Kai fan (still like him tho) it was so refreshing to see the series treat him like an actually valuable character, not just comedic relief or a straight-up joke. Kai has been amazing so far, being calmer, being responsible with Wyldfyre, showcasing his great bond with both Nya and Lloyd... like argh, I can't even describe how good it feels to see Kai be portrayed like this!

One thing I really appreciate about Kai’s character is how silly and goofy he can be (elemental mechs shots as an example) but when the time comes for it, he can be insanely serious and level headed. For example Kai learning the rising dragon technique, fighting cinder, giving wydlfyre advice and especially being ready to sacrifice himself to save the others and also comfort and reassure bonzle in the final scene of ep 10. Some comic relief characters in media often forget when to act serious (which isn’t always a bad thing necessarily it depends how they’re written) but in Kai’s case I really love the contrast he has

As a big fan of Kai, you can't imagine how damn happy I felt seeing his arc in DR. They put THE MOST respect on my boys name

Kai’s lines in the first cinder fight before the shatterspin were so tuff aswell

Imagine showing someone back in 2011 the first 10 episodes of DR S2. Kai has grown so much.

Not to add at the end of episode 10 Nya says “my big brother is my hero”.

After Cinder takes down most of the team members, Kai being the one who owns him in battle in their first encounter, and later during the ritual was very satisfying.

Kai's personality COMPLETELY changed from the original series to Dragon Rising He went form being a hothot to a father figure Now THAT's what I call Character Development 👍

i love how the first encounter with cinder he says u know i beat the last master of smoke that was such a kai moment

I was never the biggest Kai fan, but the way the handle his character in Dragons Rising is incredible. When we first saw him in seasons 1, he already felt a bit more mature. We then get to see him interact with Lloyd and Nya. I love the sibling dynamic they have which we haven’t seen in a while. Having Kai being a father figure/mentor to Wyldfyre was one of the best things for his character. It again shows how Kai has matured, and shows how he dealt with Nya merging with the sea. I thought his character was already great in S1, but S2 took it to the next level. We see even more of his father-like dynamic with Wyldfyre, and way more interactions with Nya. I like how the argue and fight, but also help each other. The scene where Kai unlocks the Rising Dragon Technique is perfect. The way the music swells up, Nya helping him unlock it, and the flashback where we get to see the old hairpieces in modern animation! He is now one of favorite characters in the show. Also, I’m sorry how long this comment is, I had a lot of thoughts.

Imagine Kai getting mini show shorts with Wyldfyre those would be sickkkk. Them geting a conceptually similar set to the lloyd and arin mech too.

I love the detail, that Kai was always frustrated, that he's last in everything - last in full potential, last in gaining his gold weapon... Finally something, where he's first at! Altough it is a small detail, I am sure, that og fans will really appreciate it. + The way he learns the Rising Dragon Technique is stunning, the way he does it again is stunning, his motivation is stunning and last but not least - the way it looks (in combination with that epic theme) is also stunning!!!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. While I still had a few issues with his characterisation in season 1, it was definitely an improvement for Kai over the Wildbrain era. Season 2 knocked it out of the park in so many beautiful ways. I love how easily he takes out Cinder when they first meet (before Shatterspin) and how he does so again when he learns Rising Dragon. It’s as if they remembered that he’s actually a competent warrior (that and it’s a cool throwback to season 4). I love that through his passion and determination, he’s the first to learn Rising Dragon. It makes me think that he saw himself letting his team down or them all dying and he’s helpless to stop it in the cave of fear thus he needs to get this right (that’s my interpretation at least). It's also really cool that he was the first to learn a new move since he hadn't done so previously (spinjitzu, airjitsu, elemental dragons etc). And he finally beats a main villain! True it’s not THE main villain but a main villain nonetheless, I’ll take that dub for now. It's as if the writers woke up and got his core character traits right, his fiery passion and his over protectiveness of his team. Something that was severely lacking in the 11 minute era. The episode where Kai, Wyldfyre and Sora were paired together was charming as heck since it’s such an unlikely team up (with Kai and Sora that is) and it was so fun seeing him having to babysit/ chaperone them throughout that whole ordeal. Also, I know it’s a small thing but I really like how he immediately takes Bonzle under his wing once he meets her. It’s a cute little scene that once again shows how compassionate the fire man can be. His maturity is really felt in this season and you can tell that this guy has truly grown over the past 17 seasons and is no longer the amateur hot head running a small blacksmith. All in all, I just wanted to say that I fully agree with this video and that the writers cooked with Kai this season and boy was the food delicious! Kai hasn’t been this good since season 5 (and now he’s even better). All I can hope is that part 2 keeps the same energy and sticks the landing. But so far, this is definitely one of my favourite seasons, especially for Kai. My Fire boy has been redeemed!!!

They brought Kai's greatness back, just not in the way that us Kai fans expected. Because they brought it back better than before.

One thing I thought was really sweet was Kai gently waking up Wyldfire to tell her that they were leaving. It's sweet because they didn't just up and leave without telling her, he made sure she knew so that she wouldn't wake up confused. And he didn't just leave her a note saying 'yeah we left sorry' like he actually took the time to tell her in person that they were leaving. And it was such a cute father-daughter moment (or I guess big brother little brother moment)

Dragons Rising really is amazing, huh? After years of disappointment, I'm so glad to see him getting some fantastic storys! Great analysis and vid as usual, cant complain 🔥

Ngl I absolutely love how in the first fight of Kai and Cinder, Kai outsneaks just one shots Cinder. It's a great way to establish the skill, experience and power gap between ths new and old ninja through pure action alone

Kai is him, basically.

I find it funny that whenever Kai and Cinder are on an even playing field, Kai beats the tar out of him.

I have this theory that at the fear trial kai saw the others call him useless and leave him behind which has been his 2 biggest fears for a while , being useless and being left behind , so to avoid that he did everything to not be useless to everyone else including jumping off a cliff to the unknown and closing the only way back to his friends

Kai and Wyldfire are my favorite ninja in Ninjago dragons rising because of their relationship with each other and the potential Wyldfire has to have a 180 in her mindset just like Kai did.

I think kai was done amazingly which just pisses me off so much more that zane has been dumbed down to “just a robot” who doesn’t efen get sarcasm, he should get sarcasm, he used to! Like why does kai have to explain what a figure of speech is to him Nevermind the fact zane got left at the monastery in season 1 after only showing up in episode 9, AND GETTING LEFT IN THE MONASTERY AGAIN in season 2, even if he got an adventure with cole atleast Atleast kai is finally getting his spotlight and i hope part 2/season 3 focuses on zane and jay

I hope Kai returns to the team he’s one of my favorite characters in this series from the beginning and I was glad to see he’s character growth to be a amazing mentor and teammate as Kai said ninja never quit

I guess Kai always smokes the masters of smoke

Here's hoping Jay will eventually get the same treatment as Kai

Dragon rising really made me like kai so much more and I think they've done an amazing work making Kai's character better so far Also kai got the Gojo treatment at the end if you know what am saying

as a kai fan it's the best thing i could ask for. The 11 min episode era disappointed me with his character and DRS2 brought back the original kai glory for me

One character beat that I always appreciated about Kai was his mantle as the Blacksmith's Son. When he reforged the Golden Weapons in S10 and the Kai and Nya Family Theme played (from S7), it was an epic culmination of his craftsmanship. And man, it was great just seeing the relationship he had allowed to develop with Ray in Seabound.

Though they didn't mention what became of Ash, it was nice continuity that Kai mentioned him. Before proceeding to one-shot Cinder, proving he hasn't stagnated and is actually stronger than before. In general, the power-gap between the old and new ninja is also neat. Considering Ras and Lloyd fought evenly, his defeat by Arin and Sora seems more like bad luck

Kais, my favorite, i missed him being the main character he was left behind a little bit because of lloyd becoming the new main character, which was pretty devastating to me

Literally made me love the character again. So well written.

Kai is back. Dragons rising is a love letter to kai fans.

Kai was most like a big brother to Lloyd, at least before sons of garmadon season, so i really liked that scene were lloyd being unsure not wanting to lead his friends into certain death Kai was the first one to be like i gotchu bro geronimo into the mist i thought it was great

Perhaps they can even repair Jay? You hear it? JAY!!!

I myself have been a massive Kai fan eversince the literal start of Ninjago. To see my favorite character being treated as poorly as he´s been for such a long time made some of the (in my opinion) best Ninjago seasons that much less enjoyable. I am now a grown man, but it still brings me so much joy seeing Kai finally get the love and attention he deserves. Also I would like to point out, that when we´ve seen all of the ninja´s fears in episode number four I believe, we couldn´t see Kai´s and Wyldfyre´s. We already got confirmed what Wyldfyre´s vision was on twitter, but Kai´s is still unknown. I really hope they will reveal what he´s seen at some point in the future, because he seemed pretty effected by it. Great video Crusty!

It's really sad that Kai got sacrificed it made me cry when I saw it

Me: Kai is back baby! Kai in dragons rising part two: Uh i'm not finished

Crusty783 this is probably thr best character analysis of Kai on KZfaq and probably the best character analysis ever. FOR some reason I loved this video so much and realised why and ho kai actually achieved rising dragon. THE BEST VIDEO MADE BY YOU!

Kai got sealed got me ☹️, but then I remembered he's literally like Gojo 😂😂😂

Daddy kai is all i could wish for

I absolutely love this!! As someone who straight up considered Kai to be my least favourite ninja for _years_ (by a lot, too), I think he might be amongst one of my characters because of Dragons Rising _alone._ Alongside the examples you demonstrated, I think there’s another scene between him and Wyldfire that I think deserves an honourable mention: It’s kind of short, but when the ninja were sneaking into imperium during the last bit of season 1, there was a scene where Wyldfire began to sing her own little spy soundtrack to herself. Instead of telling her to shut up, he calmly suggests that she sings more quietly, even singing along to show a little animosity. Although really quick and perhaps insignificant to most, what stood out to me is that: 1. Kai’s had A LOT of development since his younger years (in regards to his tolerance with others). This is the same guy that got annoyed with the likes of Zane and Jay for _existing,_ mind you. 2. This is actually a very sweet parenting method, because Kai was able to communicate the gravity of the situation (and the need for stealth, which Wyldfire might not have fully grasped), allowed her to be herself (and did not shame her for doing so), and managed to find a solution this suited them both. Everyone should stop arguing about the best Ninjago parent ASAP, because Kai knows what he’s doing better than 70% of the other guys. 3. Kai and Wyldfire share a brain cell and I LOVE that for them.

I like the fact that Kai was the most successful in Rising Dragon technique, because, despite what majority of fandom believes, Kai is actually the most experienced fighter in the team. Yes, he was the last one to be found from og4, but in "The way of the Ninja" it was shown that Kai and Nya were alreаdy fighters, even before they started to train with Wu. And if you look at the context of intervals between seasons Kai had fewer breaks in trainings and fights than any other ninja.

Kai and Lloyd have always been my favorites. And this season reinforced that

KAI'S BACK!!!!

Kai in Dragons Rising Season 1 was Absolutely Great But In Season 2 Part 1 Kai was Done Absolutely Awesome and Amazing From Fighting/Battling Cinder in Episode 2 Shattered Dreams and Episode 10 Rising Ninja to Unlocking His Rising Dragon Technique in Episode 7 Fugitive From Madness I’m Absolutely Loving Kai in the Ninjago Sequel Series Dragons Rising and i Can’t Wait to see What Kai will Do Next in Season 2 Part 2 and Beyond in the Sequel Series. “Cool Trick Right You Wanna See More” Kai Dragons Rising Season 2 2024

I completely agree with you on how much they have improved kai's character and am so happy Ninjago did this.

Dragon's Rising really made Kai more interesting i loved it

I'm so glad that kai has more focused in this show, he's still not the main character. But he still has focused development in this show, I'm still wondering how will kai and bonzel will escape the never space in part 2 of season 2.

Us Kai fans are EATING right now!

Wow! I really appreciate the comprehensive and insightful analysis of Kai's character arc! Well done! I recall you telling us a couple of years ago that you were studying for your A levels. Well, this video is definitely an A* level analysis!

Wonder how WyldeFire is going to act without Kai in season 2 part 2.

I love Kai’s big brother and father role. He’s a big brother to Nya during their childhood and Lloyd when he was having visions, and he’s practically a father for wyldfyre and It shows how he’s put aside Any selfishness he used to always be called out on to look after people he cares about. Definitely still my favourite character

Dragons Rising has done absolute wonders for one of my favourite characters. So glad Kai got the attention he needed

As a Kai fan since the beginning nothing made me happier than him finally getting the respect he deserves in this show after so long

Lovely video! I also adore Kai's relationships with like EVERYONE in this season. I would like to ask if you could do a video on Cole as he is my favorite Ninja.

I knew there was something about Kai that hit different in dragons rising. The writing team deserves a raise for this much needed Kai attention. I can’t wait to see what they do with him and the other ninja in the future

Hey man, amazing analysis!

With Kai being my second favorite Ninja, I'm SO HAPPY that he got a better treatment in DR Season 2! The fact he was the first to master Rising Dragon Technique was awesome, and I'm happy the writers didn't make him the butt of every joke unlike the in the minute era. Him beating Cinder made me scream happily!!!

Omg Kai is my fav character and will always be the main character for me, when they gave all this character to Kai, and not just fan headcannons, like these are CANON CANON Kai interacting and just being the cool character everyone loves! Oh I want to watch it, but I haven't watched Ninjago since 2016-

Ok but.... how old is bros band-aid?

Dragons rising managed to make me Kai fan. I didn’t hate him in earlier seasons, but I wouldn’t say I overly liked him. but seeing his relationship with wildfire made me like him

Really good vid

We've been wanting for times like these as a Kai fan.

You've successfully made me want to watch Dragons Rising. I'm so happy to start watching this series and see Kai's growth, and have some light be shined on him! 😁

You know, after seeing the clip where the Netherspace portal closes. I noticed that one of the other forbidden 5 was trying to escape right after Bonzle went through it. I guess she counted as a sacrifice, even if it was for a split second.

The writers gone on a "mad scientists mode"

Finnaly the goat is back

8:49 I FREAKING AGREE!!! 😎

Great video,God bless you

About damn time , from the big bro from s1-7 to à npc, this is one of the reason i love dragon rising

Our boy finally get his own season

I mean Kai literally has to find a way out soon or else he'll starve to death

Amazing video. I will say even though he had been pretty stagnant for years at the very least he was still a good comic relief character un like Jay. Kia has some genuinely good jokes in the Oni trilogy and the 11 minute area. But now he is funny and interesting and I am so happy about it I cant stop smiling when he is on screen.

my heart is so happy to see my favourite character in Ninjago have the writing he deservs (if this Kai focused ark means that we won't see him in part two im still okay whit that)

FINALLY AFTER ALL THE YEARS THEY ARE USING THIS CHARACTER TO HIS POTENTIAL 😭

Its nice to now that i will get to enjoy the new season of my favourite tv show in a year 😢.

Kai being the one to get sacrificed was SO unexpected. I’ve never been more hyped for a new season to see his adventures in the other world!! My boy is finally getting his moments and I couldn’t be happier 🤌✨ he’s still the main character in my eyes

Been my favorite since day one, and they finally brought him justice

From his first line all those years ago, to his last line in s2 part 1, wow. Speechless. Honestly this extreme character development reminds me of how Ninjago was decreasing in many areas, around season 7 & getting the oni tikogy after. And then there’s…. Crystalized. Where again, a bunch was going downhill but a good bit of those issues have kinda been worked out? My point being, the execution is just, wow. All the characters that we have rn, almost all seem to have the same amount of screen time, also while focusing on the new main cast. 👏🏻

How did dragons rising a spin-off serise handled Kai’s character better than the serise he’s suppose to play a bigger role in?

"Trapped for an incomprehensible amount of time." Yeah, at least several months, until Season 2 Part 2 comes out.

THE REAL VIDEO TITLE IS HOW DRAGONS RISING IS SO GOOD Alternatively: HOW NINJAGO PERFECTED NINJAGO

Finally someone does a video about that

kai has beaten every elemental master of smoke on equal playing field. my guy is the goat 😭😭 im so happy thank you ninjago, even if you screw up s2p2 (which i hope not pls), id still be grateful for this season

as a kai fan since day one i was very impressed but sad at the same time cause what they did to him im glad they didnt kill him tho its the one time im glad they didnt actually kill a character

Kai beating the allegations was everything I could’ve ever asked for and more.

I love ninjago and I hope the fan base will never die!

Kai has actually been one of my least favorite ninja for the LONGEST TIME. Even in the beginning of the series i always just liked the other characters more than him. im honestly not sure why. Not to say i didnt like him or hated him no, ig i just think the other ninja’s where more compelling then him. But ever since dragons rising he’s actually gone up my list which was a shocker for me. His dynamic with wyldfyre is so cute, im all about found family trope. And seeing his development in these past couple episodes has truely changed the chemicals in my brain or smthin cuz i love seeing him on screen now and im excited to see what they do with him lol. Love the vid btw :) ❤

WoW! I Love Kai! That’s Tremendously Cool!

The main reason why i'm so in LOVE with this show is kai being shown as a much better character, and many points concentrated on him that i really like, for example him being the first one to unlock the dragon rising technique ;). Honestly, rn im just expecting an EPIC return from him , and i better be getting it!

Being someone who's been watching since the original two episodes, Kai has been my favorite the whole time, despite the fact I usually dislike his archetype. It was really nice seeing him have his own cool moment for the first time since... Hands of Time? The Fobidden Spinjistsu season? The fact he was the first to figure out Rising Dragon also seems to nod to another bit about him: He has the most experience out of the ninja there. Heck, he was all but babysitting Lloyd back in the day. Definitely curious to see how he gets out.