Theory Kaoz' Random Theories

[Kaoz]

@Artsci
I know where you're coming from and I don't even really disagree with your argument, but for the sake of leaving the possibility open: maybe Saitou meant that they hadn't met Ryoga in person at that point. They could've just known that one more person would be returning than the 18 that left the camp and it was a roundabout way to say "Introduce this guy to us."

 

[meowmachine]

Speaking of which, what would be the punishment for Irie given that his attempt to bring out Atobe's potential turned out to be not exactly good for the Japanese team, at least at the moment?

I don't think there will be a punishment other than maybe Inui juice/Akuto riceball. Konomi has shown that any other than strong, gentle team camaraderie is not a winning strategy. Hyotei used to have punishments, they got better after they stopped. Yukimura has a change of heart during the final match and this later inspires him to overcome yips.

Point is, the odds of a serious punishment are quite low.

 

[-Ken-]

I don't think there's going to even be any punishment for Irie for this match loss, light or big.

 

[Kaoz]

A crazy idea just came to me - what if Ochi had the no. 5 badge after Oni abandoned his position and before Kaji took it? There are two reasons for this theory:

1. Kaji's 10.5 profile:
   
   

   Speed - 7: He has absolute faith in his speed, but when faced with the presence of Oni, he had no ability to answer him because he could not see through to his real level.
   
   Power - 5: His power is average. While away on the expedition, it seems his power rose considerably, however in his match with Oni, it was completely useless.
   
   Stamina - 5: Before the expedition, stamina was an insufficiency he was tasked to work on. However, after he returned home, it seemed he has conquered this problem. However, his body fat percentage seems to have increased some. It would seem while he was abroad, he destroyed his body balance through poor eating habits.
   
   Mental - 4: He has keen perception, but on the other hand, his weakness is that his power of concentration drops when faced against an opponent he isn't suited for.
   
   Technique - 5: He has a vast array of skills in his repertoire. While on the expedition, it seems like he worked out a new technique too. However, he was defeated before ever being able to show it.

   I've colored the important parts. While whether or not adding a new special move to his arsenal increased his Technique is debatable, it's undeniable that his Power and Stamina have risen throughout that time. I'm not sure if "rose considerably" means it could've been more than 1 point, but a conservative estimate would put his total at 24 at the highest before the expedition.
   
   What's more, the HSers' generally don't seem to have much to show in terms of stat improvements over shorter periods of time, as evidenced by the fact that the 3rd court players' stats didn't change between the team shuffle and the return of the 1st string. So it's possible that Kaji improved whereas the rest of the 1st string stayed relatively static or at least improved less.
2. Basically since their first appearance, a lot of us have felt that Ochi seems stronger than Tohno and Kimijima at the very least. With the matches against Greece, I guess that impression was reinforced, not only by Ochi using a pro level serve, but also by him having the dust cloud appear during his match which didn't happen for Tohno.

So what if Ochi was the no. 5, then while the 1st string was overseas Kaji - who was previously ranked 9th - challenged Ochi to a match, won and the two switched positions? We don't know when Mouri started forming a pair with Ochi, so that's a potential issue here, but on the other hand they could've been one for only a very short period of time. That said, of course it would be incredibly ironic if Kaji rose 4 spots only to get crushed by Oni as soon as he returned from the expedition.

 

[Hardy]

While I don't think it's the case, there is a lot that backs it up to make it an interesting -and at the same time, fun- theory

Look what I found btw, if we combine both of your theories:

1st Match: Tohno/Kaji
2nd Match: Kimijima
3rd Match: Ochi/Ohmagari
4th Match: Oni
5th Match: Duke/???
6th Match: Tanegashima
7th Match: Byoudouin

Oni leaves

1st Match: Kaji/Mouri -CURLY HAIRED ALLIANCE
2nd Match: Tohno
3rd Match: Ohmagari/Kimijima
4th Match: Ochi
5th Match: Duke/???
6th Match: Tanegashima
7th Match: Byoudouin

It's said that Kaji didn't like the name Mouri gave to their pair. Maybe it wasn't that he just didn't like the name: he wanted to go higher, and at the same time finally play singles. Having this idiot giving their pair a name only made it worse.

Edit: although there is another translation that says that Mouri kept that a secret from Kaji. Still, the name is there '-'

 

[Kaoz]

It's said that Kaji didn't like the name Mouri gave to their pair. Maybe it wasn't that he just didn't like the name: he wanted to go higher, and at the same time finally play singles. Having this idiot giving their pair a name only made it worse.

Yeah, that's another point I had in mind. I wasn't sure how valid it would be though since Mouri could've still done that without them being a pair. But if we're piling on minor supporting points, there's also that Ochi and Ohmagari are the only two guys outside the top 2 with multiple stats above 5.

 

[Hardy]

Yeah, that's another point I had in mind. I wasn't sure how valid it would be though since Mouri could've still done that without them being a pair. But if we're piling on minor supporting points, there's also that Ochi and Ohmagari are the only two guys outside the top 2 with multiple stats above 5.

Well, when Oni left it made Mouri move to the 10th spot, finally making it to the top 10 and playing with new people -if what we saw so far of the 1st string being divided in halves is true. I doubt that in that little time -between Oni leaving and Kaji playing Ochi- Mouri would make up a random name for a person he doesn't even play with.

How do you think Oni ended up in the 5th place btw? Do we know what was Byoudouin's path to be the number 1 -did he go straight for it or had some matches before?- Silly theory ahead:

Spoiler

Date was the original number 5.

-Byoodouin comes back from the mountain camp and beats the number 13 player -Nakagauchi, Irie, some fodder, it doesn't matter.
-Byoudouin beats Date, giving him his first scar. Date becomes the 13th, Byoudouin goes to the number 5.
-Oni, the number 1, is defeated by Byoudouin. They switch places.
-Date tries to get his 5th spot back, but gets destroyed by Oni, getting his second scar.
-Due to this match, Oni decides to step down to strengthen the camp.

A huge problem with this is that Date is too much of a scrub to be the number 5, but welp '-'

 

[Kaoz]

I doubt that in that little time -between Oni leaving and Kaji playing Ochi- Mouri would make up a random name for a person he doesn't even play with.

Fair point. Oh and also, when Ochi used Mach for the first time, it was Ohmagari who commented on it. More food for thought.

How do you think Oni ended up in the 5th place btw? Do we know what was Byoudouin's path to be the number 1 -did he go straight for it or had some matches before?

We don't know. It's possible that things happened as you said, Byoudouin went to no. 5, then challenged Oni for the top spot and the two ended up switching places. My idea was more along the lines of Oni just gradually being surpassed by Duke, Irie and Tanegashima, but right now you could say your theory has a bit more support since Oni is one of the team leaders in the group league instead of Duke. Maybe this will be further explained when we get some more of Irie's backstory, but it'll probably take quite some time until we get there.

Regarding Date, it's possible. The Genius 10 might not have existed in their current form yet and Date just got left behind over time. I'd rather think Date challenged Oni when he was still no. 1 though. I don't have any particular reason, it just seems more interesting if Date had a great start into the camp and then got stopped only when going after the very top. Maybe he even was one of Oni's final challengers before Byoudouin returned.

 

[Hardy]

Fair point. Oh and also, when Ochi used Mach for the first time, it was Ohmagari who commented on it. More food for thought.



We don't know. It's possible that things happened as you said, Byoudouin went to no. 5, then challenged Oni for the top spot and the two ended up switching places. My idea was more along the lines of Oni just gradually being surpassed by Duke, Irie and Tanegashima, but right now you could say your theory has a bit more support since Oni is one of the team leaders in the group league instead of Duke. Maybe this will be further explained when we get some more of Irie's backstory, but it'll probably take quite some time until we get there.

Regarding Date, it's possible. The Genius 10 might not have existed in their current form yet and Date just got left behind over time. I'd rather think Date challenged Oni when he was still no. 1 though. I don't have any particular reason, it just seems more interesting if Date had a great start into the camp and then got stopped only when going after the very top. Maybe he even was one of Oni's final challengers before Byoudouin returned.

I'm all aboard this conspiracy now. My deductive Shiraishi avatar even fits.

I don't really think that Oni was ever surpassed -at least officially- by anyone but Byoudouin.

Well, tbh, before you posted I was thinking that if Date got injured twice maybe he needed to recover after the second time, which would fit with him getting behind the rest in terms of progress as you just said.

You were thinking that Date challenged Oni to be the first, got scarred, then challenged Byoudouin when he came back to be first, got scarred again? your Date doesn't learn does he '-'

 

[Kaoz]

You were thinking that Date challenged Oni to be the first, got scarred, then challenged Byoudouin when he came back to be first, got scarred again? your Date doesn't learn does he '-'

Ah, no, I meant that Date got up to no. 5, challenged Oni, lost and got the first scar. Then Byoudouin returned from the mountain, went for the no. 5 spot and gave Date the second scar in the progress. Then Byoudouin challenged Oni for no. 1. I guess, if anything, to me it makes more sense if Date got the smaller scar first - like if you look at it from a hyping up point of view, it makes more sense to go "look, our top guy is so strong, he gave his challenger a scar" and then "look, this other guy is so strong, he gave the guy a bigger scar than the top guy did."