This article covers:
- Explaining the “Bagua” used in Kaido’s techniques
- The 7 patterns of Sake Dragon Bagua
- The rule of first and last scenes in each arc
- The 8th drunken form and Kaido’s predicted end
Bagua (Eight Trigrams)
The “Bagua” (八卦, Eight Trigrams) used in Kaido’s techniques like “Thunder Bagua” and “Sake Dragon Bagua” is a diagram from ancient Chinese divination called “Yi” (I Ching).
You know how fortune-tellers sometimes say “Whether it hits or misses, it’s all the trigrams” (当たるも八卦、当たらぬも八卦) — it’s that kind of thing.
Digging into the history of Yi… it’s a system that tries to capture change in the past, present, and future, and the character itself supposedly comes from lizards, which change their skin color…
Another theory is that “Yi” combines the characters for sun (日) and moon (月), representing yin and yang…
It’s full of Wano-sounding language.
For now, just think of it like “you never know what you’ll get” — less like a fortune and more like an omikuji (fortune slip). That’s the vibe.
Sake Dragon Bagua (酒龍八卦)
“Jogo” (上戸) refers to someone who can drink a lot, or to their particular drunk personality and habits.
Among the many types of drunk habits, “whichever comes out is the surprise” — that’s the “drunk omikuji” known as the Sake Dragon Bagua.
Rinrai (Laughing) Form
This is the very first — and most “significant” — form.
Instead of his usual “Worororo” laugh, he breaks into “Fuhihyahyahya!!”, “Hohohoh!!”, “Fuhihi”, “Uohohohoh!!”, “Uohahahahahah!!” — a completely different kind of laughter.
Even the kanji used is not “laughter” (笑い) but “ring-thunder” (輪雷). We’ll dig deeper into this later.
Depressed Drunk Form
Personally, I love the Depressed Drunk form of Kaido the most. There’s something deeply relatable about a supremely powerful being furrowing his brows and sulking.
When someone overwhelmingly strong shows a weak side, their fanbase explodes, doesn’t it?
Crying Drunk Form
Being depressed is still kind of cute, but full-on sobbing like this “crying drunk” form is the type that gets you shunned.
“What a handful,” people say, and everyone keeps their distance.
Angry Drunk Form
This is the worst kind. The type who starts a fight with strangers at a bar, sobers up in a holding cell, and wakes up full of regret.
Clingy Drunk Form
Getting pummeled with Haoshoku-imbued fists and still pulling off a relaxed wink. Notice the ☆ from the right eye!
A clean ☆ from a wink was something only Hancock had done before. Which means the Clingy Drunk Kaido is… at Hancock’s level of adorable…?
Thieving Drunk Form
After taking Luffy’s Gum-Gum Cannon, Kaido says “curving the attack’s trajectory,” “that’s impossible given the nature of rubber…”, “you’re not the only one who can see the future,” “want me to copy you?” — and mimics the move.
This reveals Kaido can use Future Sight Observation Haki. But HOW he bent his body at a right angle remains unexplained.
“That’s impossible given the nature of biology,” you’d think… yet here we are.
Massacre Drunk Form
This “Massacre Drunk” form is essentially what appears to be the second, strongest type of the Human-Beast form. Unlike the earlier Human-Beast forms that had no eyebrows, this one features the dragon-style curling eyebrows.
In other words, it’s a Human-Beast form that more strongly reflects the power of the dragon.
What’s the 8th?
Come to think of it, Kaido’s weapon is named “Hassaikai” (八斎戒, the Eight Precepts). Look up what that means — everyone’s going to crack up.
Buddhism has many things related to the number “8” — the Eightfold Path, the Eight Precepts, the Eight Great Hells — but “Bagua” is more like an omikuji, so it doesn’t strictly mean exactly 8 types.
But! Rinrai, Depressed, Crying, Angry, Clingy, Thieving, Massacre…
When 7 forms of the Sake Dragon “Eight”-grams have been shown, you can’t help but wonder: what’s the 8th?
So!
Here’s my prediction for the 8th form of Sake Dragon Bagua, combined with Kaido’s death wish, and the conclusion of the Wano arc.
Beginnings and Endings
Oda-sensei has a pattern: each major arc ends with a scene that mirrors a key moment from its opening.
For example, the Alabasta Arc — which began with Vivi boarding the ship — bookended itself with the “pirate flag and X marks.”
The Skypiea Arc featured “ships falling from the sky” and the “Brocken Spectre” as its opening and closing images.
The Fishman Island Arc used “extreme blood loss” and “blood transfusion” — blood-related events — as its bookends.
It was Sanji who nearly died from blood loss at the start, and the Splash-Splatter brothers who did the transfusion — but a variation had Luffy and Jinbe swap in.
So What About the Wano Arc?
There’s no way Zoro’s “attempted seppuku” from the arc’s opening is left unresolved.
So my prediction: the Wano Arc begins and ends with “seppuku.” Kaido is the one who goes through with it. Zoro — using Enma — is the kaishaku (the one who delivers the killing blow).
Kaido, whose hobby is attempting suicide, now has a reason to go through with it: he lost to Luffy. And luckily, there’s someone who can definitely behead him.
For the death-seeking Kaido, this is the chance he’s been waiting for.
A True Pirate Laughs at the End
The final form — the true “Laughing Drunk” of the Sake Dragon Bagua — will appear in the seppuku scene, I predict.
Moreover, Oden’s death poem may serve as foreshadowing for Kaido’s final moment.
Gathering the threads of foreshadowing scattered throughout the Wano Arc, here’s the conclusion I’ve arrived at:
- After suffering total defeat at Luffy’s hands, Kaido is ordered to commit seppuku — and accepts
- When he drinks his final drink, the true “Laughing Drunk” form appears
- Pleasantly drunk, he becomes talkative and recites a “jisei no ku” (death poem) as seppuku tradition demands
- Remembering Oden’s death poem, he thinks something like “That was the finest side dish of my life. Worororo”
- He performs seppuku; Zoro delivers the kaishaku with Enma
- His head is honorably enshrined in Wano
Kaido drinking one last cup before death — it feels like it would evoke Hiriluk in tone.
Come to think of it, Hiriluk revived by cherry blossoms doesn’t feel unrelated to Wano, and with Hito Hito no Mi back in the spotlight, maybe the end of the Wano Arc will touch on Hiriluk’s past too!
And on that note, that’s all for today!