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Kai Hiwatari: our photograph of the Collision card #033, Kai, Focused Fighter

Pictured: Collision #033

Character file · Original series

Kai Hiwatari

Kai Hiwatari · 火渡カイ

Rival Bladebreakers (captain); briefly the Demolition BoysBladebreakersBBA Revolution, then Blitzkrieg Boys; briefly BEGA BeybladeBeyblade: V-ForceBeyblade: G-RevolutionBakuten Shoot Beyblade (manga)
Bit-beast
Dranzer · Fire · Phoenix (Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird of the South)
Style
Attack
From
Japanese (partly raised in Russia at Balkov Abbey)
First seen
Beyblade, Episode 1

4

series

143

episodes on record

7

Beyblades

16

special moves

18

cards across 4 games

Biography

Cold, proud and privately haunted, Kai is the trilogy's second lead: introduced as the tyrannical champion of the Blade Sharks and Tyson's first real obstacle, then captain of a team he never asked to join, then a defector, then its leader again. His story is the abbey in Moscow where his grandfather Voltaire and Boris Balkov raised him as a weapon and taught him to hate the sport, and it is Black Dranzer, the power that nearly swallows him whole in the Russian finals before he commits to his own phoenix instead. Every season he leaves the team and every season he comes back on his own terms, chasing a decisive rematch with Tyson that finally arrives in the G-Revolution decider. He ends it by burning out Dranzer's strength against Brooklyn, in a self-destructive rematch many consider the finest battle in the trilogy, and by then the lone wolf is a guarded but genuinely loyal teammate.

Appearance and personality

What They Look Like, and How They Behave

The tallest and oldest of the Bladebreakers, and the one whose look changes most: pale, dark-haired with blue-grey bangs that deepen as the series runs, usually in a tight tank top over baggy purple or black trousers. Two things mark him out. The cobalt triangles on his face are paint, not birthmarks — V-Force shows him without them at school — and they are war paint, first worn when he set out to destroy Beyblade, and kept long after he stopped meaning it; the shape is shark teeth, for the Blade Sharks he once led. The other is the heavy white scarf, absent in V-Force and, by G-Revolution, weighted enough to crack the ground when he throws it.

Proud, quiet and willing to give up a great deal to win, though he would rather earn it than take it. Losing frustrates him badly, and he comes back from it harder. In the manga he is colder than the anime version and barely develops; in the anime he wants power above everything, which is what leads him to Black Dranzer. He keeps a deliberate distance from his team — Emily reads it as a fear that he might come to like them — and his upbringing as heir to the Hiwatari company taught him to put power first whatever it cost other people. The wall comes down at Lake Baikal: trapped in the ice after betraying them, he watches the teammates he insulted try to save him anyway.

Blader Profile

Kai Hiwatari, rated

  • Attack 10/10
  • Defense 6/10
  • Stamina 7/10
  • Technique 9/10
  • Spirit 9/10

beybladewiki.com editorial rating — based on on-screen performance, not official stats.

The most precise attacker in the cast, whose only real weakness is how much of himself he burns to win.

On file

The record

Blading style
Attack
Nationality
Japanese (partly raised in Russia at Balkov Abbey)
English voice
David Reale
Team
Bladebreakers / G Revolutions (formerly Blade Sharks, Blitzkrieg Boys, Demolition Boys)
Beyblades
Dranzer S; Dranzer F; Black Dranzer; Dranzer V; Dranzer V2; Dranzer G; Dranzer GT; Dranzer MS; Dranzer MF
Bit-beast or avatar
Dranzer (Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird / Phoenix)
First appearance
Beyblade, Episode 1
Japanese name
火渡カイ
Romaji
Hiwatari Kai
Occupation
World-Class Blader / CEO (Manga Special: New Generation)
Gender
Male
First anime appearance
The Blade Raider
First manga appearance
Go Shoot! Battle Start!!
Voice (Japanese)
Urara Takano
Voice (English)
David Reale

Bit-beast & Beyblades

Dranzer, form by form

  1. Dranzer S S1 · ep 1
  2. Dranzer F S1 · ep 33
  3. Black Dranzer S1 · ep 42
  4. Dranzer V S2 · ep 8
  5. Dranzer V2 S2 · ep 43
  6. Dranzer G S3 · ep 4
  7. Dranzer MS S3 · ep 46

Special moves

Called shots

Black Flame SaberBlazing GigsBlazing Gigs TempestFire ArrowFlame SaberFlame ThrowerReverse Flame GigsVolcano Excellent EmissionFlame Gigs TurboSpin FireSpiral ArrowSpiral FireballThe End of FireVolcano EmissionBlazing GigBlazing Gig Tempest

Story by season

Where the seasons take them

Beyblade (2001)

Bladebreakers (captain); briefly the Demolition Boys

Leading the Blade Sharks, Kai disciplines his own underling for losing to Tyson and then dismantles Tyson's Blade himself, only for their rematch to end in a draw that first calls out Dranzer and Dragoon together. A regional final loss to Tyson earns him, oddly, the Bladebreakers' captaincy, and he carries the team through Asia and America while barely engaging himself, losing once to Johnny before evening the score in Europe. At the World Championship a visit to Balkov Abbey reopens old wounds, and Kai walks out on his new teammates to rejoin Voltaire's Demolition Boys and reclaim Black Dranzer, a power that nearly consumes him before Tyson and the others reach him on a frozen lake and pull him back.

Beyblade V-Force (2002)

Bladebreakers

Wyatt's collapse in the Battle Tower drags Kai out of the quiet retirement V-Force opens with, and he throws himself against Dunga's earth-type power again and again, unable to close out a decisive win. Cyber Dranzer, a corrupted copy of his own bit-beast, forces a stranger fight still, one he ends by destroying it outright rather than risk it further. Paired with Ray for the World Championship's tag format, Kai reaches the semi-finals and earns a fiercer Dranzer V2 from King and Queen along the way, only for Zeo Zagart to beat him and knock the Bladebreakers out short of the final.

Beyblade G-Revolution (2003)

BBA Revolution, then Blitzkrieg Boys; briefly BEGA

Chafing at the tag format that would pair him with Tyson, Kai walks out again to captain the reformed Blitzkrieg Boys, chasing the decisive one-on-one rematch he has wanted since Moscow. He gets it in the world final and loses, a defeat that barely has time to sting before Brooklyn shatters Dranzer and leaves him nearly broken in the BEGA qualifiers. Training alone with a rebuilt Dranzer MS, Kai returns for the Justice 5 and forces the rematch with Brooklyn anyway, burning out everything the phoenix has left to win it, a victory that costs him almost as much as the loss did and leaves him, for the first time, someone his team can actually count on.

Briefing

What to know

  • Grandson of BIOVOLT boss Voltaire Hiwatari; raised at Balkov Abbey to despise Beyblading.
  • Led the Blade Sharks before becoming Bladebreakers captain and later G Revolutions leader.
  • Defected to the Demolition Boys and used Black Dranzer before returning to his own Dranzer.
  • Lost and regained Dranzer once per season across the trilogy.
  • His signature face paint mimics shark teeth from his Blade Sharks days.
  • Fights Brooklyn twice in G-Revolution, losing the first match and narrowly winning the costly rematch.
  • Manga version keeps a colder, less redeemed personality than his anime counterpart.

Notable battles

  • vs Tyson Granger in Beyblade Episode 2 — Win
  • vs Tyson Granger in Beyblade Episode 7 (World finals) — Lose (1-2)
  • vs Johnny McGregor in Beyblade Episode 37 — Lose
  • vs Johnny McGregor in Beyblade Episode 39 — Win
  • vs Spencer in Beyblade Episode 48 — Lose (0-2)
  • vs Dunga in V-Force Episode 5 — Draw
  • vs Brooklyn in G-Revolution Episodes 41-42 — Lose
  • vs Brooklyn in G-Revolution Episodes 47-48 — Win

Key episodes

Watch these first

  1. S1E02 Day of the Dragoon Beyblade (2001) · Japanese Regional Tournament · Jan 15, 2001
  2. S1E07 Thirteen Candles Beyblade (2001) · Japanese Regional Tournament · Feb 19, 2001
  3. S1E42 Drawn to the Darkness Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Oct 22, 2001
  4. S1E45 Breaking the Ice Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Nov 12, 2001
  5. S1E48 Victory in Defeat Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Dec 3, 2001
  6. S2E05 Guess Who's Back in Town? Beyblade V-Force (2002) · Mister X and the Men in Black · Feb 4, 2002
  7. S2E24 Ghost in the Machine Beyblade V-Force (2002) · The Battle Tower · Jun 24, 2002
  8. S2E43 Kai's Royal Flush Beyblade V-Force (2002) · King, Queen and Zeo's Turn · Nov 4, 2002
  9. S3E06 You're the Man, Kai! Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · The Bladebreakers Split · Feb 10, 2003
  10. S3E30 Let the Games Begin... Again! Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Jul 28, 2003
  11. S3E42 When You Wish Upon a Star Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Justice 5 · Oct 20, 2003
  12. S3E48 The Beyblading Spirit Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Justice 5 · Dec 8, 2003

Sightings

Episodes they appear in

From our own episode records — the cast, Beyblade and debut lists we compiled show the name here.

Also on record

Where they first appear

Resolved against our own episode records, so the pointer the entry carries as text is a link you can follow.

Rivals & bonds

Known associates

Cross-references

Teams, places and more

Bit-beasts & avatars 2

Organisations 1

Places 6

Teams 3

Tournaments 3

Attributed, not verified by us

Claims We Could Not Check

  • Has belonged to more teams than any other Original Series character.
  • Received the most redesigns of any character across the three anime seasons.
  • In-universe birthday is August 1, per creator Takao Aoki and Beyblade: Rising.
  • The Japanese side manga gives him a female counterpart, Otori Asuka, who also controls Dranzer.
  • His G-Revolution Beyblade changes (V2-G-GT-MS) tie for the most in that season with Tyson's.

In the card games

Kai Hiwatari on cardboard

All card games

The character 4

Xtra-Rare Foil PSA ×1 #033 Kai, Focused Fighter
Promo Foil #135 Kai, Bladebreaker
Cards Inc. · #05 Kai Character
Kidys · #13 Kai 1500 Ataque · 1450 Defensa

Their bit-beast 1

Cards Inc. · #06 Dranzer Bit Beast

Their Beyblades 11

Starter Premium Foil PSA ×1 #006 Dranzer, Kai's Beyblade
Promo Foil #132 Dranzer, Power Beyblade
Cards Inc. · #51 Dranzer S Top
Character Card Game · 006 Dranzer Spiral ドランザースパイラル
No photo yet
Character Card Game · 009 Dranzer (Auto Change Balancer) ドランザー（オートチェンジバランサー）
Character Card Game · 089 Dranzer Flame ドランザーフレイム
No photo yet
Character Card Game · 151 Black Dranzer ブラックドランザー
Character Card Game · CN-036 Dranzer Volcano (Gold-Plated Ver.) ドランザーボルケーノ(ゴールドメッキVer.)
Character Card Game · PR-003 Dranzer Spiral ドランザースパイラル
Character Card Game · PR-013 Dranzer Spiral (Clear Blue Ver.) ドランザースパイラル(ブルークリアVer.)
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SP-019 Black Dranzer ブラックドランザー

Their moves 2

Character Card Game · 052 Fire Arrow ファイヤーアロー
Character Card Game · 231 Flame Saber (2002 Ver.) フレイムセイバー(2002Ver.)

The Blader Profile is our own reading of how the character performs on screen or on the page, not a figure from the makers.