Daigo Kurogami: Character Arc Breakdown: The Loud Whisper of Guilt
Time for another character arc breakdown. I did Silas last time, this time around I'm tackling Daigo.
Outside of Japan Daigo doesn't seem to be much of a fan favorite, which is a shame because he's another example of the excellent character work Burst has employed.
Initially an antagonist to his future teammate Valt, in short order after his loss to Valt, Daigo joined the bey club and befriended the members of the team.
After some time, it became apparent to Daigo in the face of Valt's growing skill and power, that he was falling behind. This led him to make a choice the he never envisioned himself making; he cheated.
The normally cool under pressure blader let the pressure to succeed as a blader, lead him to this choice. We see Daigo struggle with the guilt of his decision. As a result of this guilt he began to distance himself from his friends. He experienced constant flashbacks to the choice. Due to the shame of his mistake, after trying to make things right by seeing to it the blader he cheated would take his place in the tournament, he quit the Bey Club and was going to give up on blading all together.
It wasn't till he was reminded of his brother and the joy he got from blading with his friends in the bey club, specifically Valt, that he decided not to give up. With Valt's forgiveness and him forgiving himself, he eventually was able to put the shame and guilt of his mistake behind him and move forward as a blader.
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During the events of Season 2 we see how much Daigo appreciates that Valt didn't give up on him despite his mistakes. He's resolved to never make that mistake again. He thought he was ruined as blader, but it was because of his friends that he was able to move forward and eventually start blading on the world stage.
Daigo's character arc was among the many highlights of Season 1&2 and is a prime example of Burst's excellent character work. This is one of many wonderfully relatable character arcs Burst has employed. Many people can relate to what's it's like to make a serious mistake and struggle with the guilt of what you've done, the decision playing on a loop. This arc illustrates that we can come back from a wrong choice. Daigo is one of my favorite characters in the entire franchise and watching his journey was one of the many highlights of Burst.