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Man desires money and thus, long lives the king!

— Kazutaka[1]

Kazutaka Hyōdō (兵藤 和尊) is a major recurring character in the Kaiji series, where he serves as the main overarching antagonist. He is the father of Kazuki Hyōdō and Kazuya Hyōdō and the widower of Sophie.

He also appears in the spinoff manga called Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa. Despite the series focusing on the Teiai Corporation, he still takes the role of antagonist as he constantly gives Yukio Tonegawa stress through his unreasonable demands.

Personality

Kazutaka is a wealthy socialite and the president of the powerful financial consulting firm Teiai Corporation, not to mention the owner and the sponsor of numerous underground gambling tournaments like those on board the Espoir. He primarily hosts and sponsors countless underground projects.

He is believed to be seventy years old and worth several hundred billion yen. Driven mad by wealth, conventional hobbies fail to entertain him, so he funds gambling tournaments to watch the destitute of society struggle against overwhelming terror and despair.

Even though he is incredibly wealthy and actively working to obtain more money, he has stated that he has a low value of money. He believes a true wealthy person is able to live wealthy no matter the circumstances. He acknowledges that the value of money will be worthless if there is a war. He views money as a means to build an underground empire in a bunker in case there is a war.

He enjoys doing bizarre and often disturbing stunts, which are mostly at the expenses of his own employees, like forcing them to drink from a bowl of wine that he put his feet in, and often goes far enough to humiliate anyone to get a laugh out of it.

It is shown that he also has favoritism toward his eldest son, Kazuki, while mostly neglecting his youngest son, Kazuya. However, in general, he is mostly a terrible father for both of his sons as he reprimanded them for things out of their control.

It is shown that it is possible for him to be in a good mood and be uncharacteristically nice and kind. However, something as tiny as a pebble can break this mood. He also has a soft spot for kittens, puppies, and small birds.

History

Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji

Kazutaka Hyōdō first appears at the climax of the Espoir arc, where he comments on Kaiji Itō's unique abilities to survive, however only his silhouette can be seen. His first full appearance comes at the end of the Steel Frame Crossing gamble, where he invites Kaiji to play a game of E-Card.

Infuriated by Yukio Tonegawa's loss at E-Card, he subjects Yukio to the Kneeling Plate Grill and has him escorted away. Tired, he congratulates Kaiji on his win and starts to make his way to bed, only to be stopped by Kaiji. Intrigued and amused, Kazutaka agrees to Kaiji's proposition and the two play the Tissue Box Raffle.

Being an experienced shyster, he detects Kaiji's foul play. Kazutaka slyly imposes seemingly innocuous rules that work in his favor, ruining Kaiji's plan and giving him the opportunity to fold the winning lot. Beating Kaiji at his own game, he amputates the fingers on Kaiji's left hand and takes all of his winnings from earlier that night.

Tobaku Hakairoku Kaiji

He later appears in the arc watching Kaiji challenging The Bog via live feed while visiting the underground labor camp. He is seen calling Seiya Ichijō warning him about not permitting Kaiji to challenge The Bog and that he will be sent to the underground labor camp if The Bog loses.

Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji: 24-Oku Dasshutsu-Hen

After Kaiji's victory in One Poker, Kazutaka is furious and overcome with grief. He believes that Kaiji, Mario Garcia, and Chan saving Kazuya was only done as self preservation, fearing what he would do to them after the death of his son. He views their mercy as disobeying the rules of the game, therefore rendering their win invalid. He orders that Teiai Corporation create a manhunt division to get back the money and take the trio into custody. Inconsolable, he spends his days in Kazuya's hospital room in a neighboring bed. Frustrated by his power and resources being unable to wake Kazuya from his coma, he flips between depression and rage.

Following weeks of no results, Kazutaka calls the manhunt division leader Yūji Endō to the hospital building. Not buying Endō's insincere commiseration, he orders Endō to commit suicide by jumping out of the hospital window. His mind is only changed when Yoshihiro Kurosaki steps in and says Endō's suicide being so close to the hospital might effect Kazuya negatively.

Gallery

Kaiji Wiki has a gallery for Kazutaka Hyōdō.
Visit this page to see it.

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  1. Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji chapter 94
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