User blog:LunarSkyes/An Analysis of Gao Mikado: The Mighty Sun Fighter

Recently I submitted a defence post regarding Gao Mikado  http://fyeahcontroversialcharacters.tumblr.com/post/98743434439/in-defence-of-the-mighty-sunfighter-gao-mikado#notes regarding the fandom’s vast amount of hate towards the protagonist. I’ve gotten into quite a few debates regarding this subject matter as most of the hate is pointing towards Gao’s win streaks and I’m rather appalled that not many people are seeing the importance of his character. So I’m writing this analysis to explain Gao’s character and there is much more to him than meets the eye. He  is not boring and he is not bland. You’re very welcome to agree or disagree with me on this since our opin ions on character development may be different. But what I’m trying to prove here is that I’m hoping you’ll be able to see a different perspective towards his character. 

 So before I start, I would like to point out again that  WINNING  or wanting a character to lose because you think it’s boring and predictable is a  horrible  way for you to hate a character. Anyways, if you do hate Gao’s win streak, hate his matches not his character. They are two completely different things.

Th e most common argument I’ve heard in this fandom is that losing gives character development. To an extent I completely agree. Usually we’d want to see a character grow and become a stronger person but when you bring in a character who is Gao for example, he’s not going to be well liked. You know from the fandom I heard quite a bit of hate towards Aichi in Vanguard because he’s characterized as shy and weak and he lost quite a number a times too in season 1. But he got character development and people like him much more now. So what makes Gao different? I believe that Bushiroad was trying to do something different by bringing a character that is the exact opposite of Aichi; naturally talented and confident. He isn’t someone who wins by luck nor does Gao have it easy trying to prove this in the anime. Gao has shown time and time again that he is smart and thinks strategically this is why he wins his matches. It’s exactly why Drum chose him to be his partner because has an unconventional thought process. Why must we define losses as character development? From what I can see Gao has character development as well just not in a way some would expect.

Another common argument is that Gao didn’t get any character development. I’d like to argue that he did get character development just not in the same way you’d see other protagonists develop. Gao first got development when he changed his play style in the first few episodes, he didn’t like the idea of his monsters dying to protect him but he later accepted it. He got character development during his fight with Rouga in Episode 6 where he was caught up in trying to prove Rouga wrong that he ended up regressing into his old self who was obsessed with winning. And let’s not forget about his old self too, he was someone who was cocky, aggressive and power hungry; a parallel of Rouga. For him to change and become who is currently is quite amazing. He now acknowledges other people’s skills and even admits to having some of his wins as being lucky. He’s now humble, kind and helpful. And lastly, let’s not forget about the development between Gao and Drum’s relationship. Gao and drum would be at odds with each other because they both fighting over trivial things. But in episode 31 Gao had managed to reach out to Drum and that caused him to activate his buddy skill which is what Gao had been trying to get him to do for quite some time now. So yes, I’d like to say that Gao did have character development but because it doesn’t take him more than an episode for him to develop it’s not the same as others.

One thing I find really ironic amongst Gao haters is that they believe that the supporting cast is better developed and overshadows Gao because of this. I’d like to point out that if it wasn’t for Gao NONE of the characters would have gotten character development. I’ve mentioned this before in my defence post but I feel like I need to address this again. Noboru would still be indifferent towards himself and Gao and would try to handle things on his own without the help of his friends. Jin would still keep throwing his matches, Genma would never learn the truth about the Mighty Sun Fighter, Tasuku wouldn’t have a friend or a rival, Zanya started to become less of a lone wolf. Even Rouga is having character development again thanks to Gao’s influence. Rouga has finally acknowledged Gao to be his rival even having fun during his match with him and wasn’t as obsessed about winning his matches. The only people Gao had a negative effect on were Rouga and Kiri. The dilemma with Rouga has been slightly solved but Kiri’s development is still happening. What I’m interested in seeing in this show isn’t seeing an end for Gao’s win streak. It’s to see how Gao is going to reach out and help Kiri so he won’t feel so inadequate and inferior towards Gao. Even Drum, Drum had one of the most character developments on this show again thanks to Gao. Drum acknowledged that he couldn’t be a partner to Gao the way he was and he trained and got stronger for him. The list could go on. Regardless of this, Gao’s win streak needed to happen in order for Kiri to get his development.

And people have the nerve to ask “What is the purpose of Buddyfight if the protagonist keeps winning?” I cannot stress how frustrating it is to read this sometimes because the answer has been stated many times in the entire duration of the series. Gao is an allusion to the Mighty Sun Fighter which is a key theme reoccurring in plot. So what is the purpose of the Mighty Sun Fighter? To protect and help people in need. That is what Gao has been doing and I fail to see how this needs to be anymore clear.

I’d like to address that Yusei Fudo in 5D’s technically never had a loss. Excluding his flashback loss, he currently had no losses in the main timelines in Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s. So no, Gao is not overstating his win-streak. And secondly, no one gives a crap when it comes to Yusei but when it comes to Gao everyone hates his guts because of it. This is just not fair.

I once mentioned to someone in a debate that Gao can be depicted as character device because he’s able to give character development to the supporting cast. They asked “Then why have Gao as a main character if he’s just plot device?” Well the answer to that is why not? There is no accurate depiction of what characteristics and qualities need to be in a main character.

Conclusion:

I fail to see how losing for the sake of losing is anyway essential to the plot. I’ve seen people tell me that Gao losing would make the show better. But the real question is how would it make it better? It just seems more satisfying for the audience because he wins too much so now he must lose or he’ll be too perfect and unrealistic. Is the purpose for watching anime to find characters we can relate to? What about trying to find a role model? I think that’s a better category for Gao to fit into, after all he is the Mighty Sun Fighter. Losing an unofficial match would seem pointless because Gao already explained that he didn’t care if he wins or loses, all that matters is that you should be happy when playing.

I honestly feel that some people just want to see a poor 12-year old boy lose just so they can see him cry. But in no way do I feel that hating a character because of a win streak is a good reason for you to hate them. Gao isn’t bland nor is he boring, I personally find him rather enigmatic as a character because I enjoy seeing his interactions with other characters. If you want to categorize his win streaks as boring then go ahead, but his character isn’t anything but boring.