Young Minoru Kagenou always dreamed of becoming the Eminence in Shadow; to this effect, he epitomizes the idea of effectively sorting things out in the shadows. However, Minoru quickly felt himself reaching his human limits. Desperately wanting to get stronger, he lost his life in an accident, as most isekai characters do. Fortunately, he was reincarnated as Cid Kagenou, the young child of an aristocratic family that trains up Dark Knights.

Now, in this fantastical world, he takes on the role of the Eminence in Shadow, albeit with some hitches. With the moniker Shadow, Cid takes off to defeat the shadows that lurk in the dark. However, his many antics and impulsive behaviors leave many wondering if his antics are a result of genius skills or borderline craziness.

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Cid’s Antics

Leaving with the double identities of Cid Kagenou and Shadow, Cid often has to separate his different identities, portraying them in different ways. While his Shadow identity portrays a person who is extremely powerful and knowledgeable and seeks to wipe out the Cult of Diablos while curing the demon-possessed, his Cid Kagenou identity takes on the life of a background character. As a background character, Cid seeks to portray himself as average as possible.

To do this, he often goes to extreme lengths to embarrass himself and portray himself as a nobody. He once asked out Princess Alexia Midgar with the sole purpose of being rejected so that he could be shamed and become more of a background character. Although that strategy backfired on him, that is one of the many antics that Cid has portrayed. Although many may think that Cid only portrays such antics in his background character persona, he also portrays such antics in his Shadow persona, although they tend to be seen as genius. But are they really?

Genius or Not?

So far, the Eminence in Shadow anime series has shown Cid to be a person who decides things on a whim. And so he can be seen as an impulsive person. Despite this, Cid has many moments when his ‘genius antics’ have protected his secret identity and the lives of others. One such example was when the Cult of Diablos attacked the Midgar Royal Academy. Using an ancient artifact, all magic usage was obstructed, and the students were in harm's way. While Rose Oriana tried to fight off some members of the Cult of Diablos, she quickly found out that her magic was unusable. As she was about to be struck dead by the cult, Cid promptly jumped in front of her and took the blow. As his blood was spilled and his heart stopped, Cid was taken for dead.

Unbeknownst to others, Cid simply decided to take the blade heading for Rose to complete his background character act, as he would be proclaimed weak for being the first person to die at the hands of the invaders. Whether or not he was aware, that was a genius move, as he managed to keep his identity secret while saving a student from being killed. Other moments when Cid’s antics showcased pure brilliance include when he appeared as Shadow to face Aurora during the Goddess Trial so that he would not have to answer the Church’s call to be one of the students who would summon an ancient warrior to fight against. As he possesses large magical reserves and extreme combat capabilities, revealing his abilities would have destroyed his background character act.

Maybe Crazy Is A Better Word?

While many of Cid’s antics could be seen as genius, many would argue that they tend to border more on being a result of extreme craziness and luck. There are many times when Cid’s antics have been crazy and only worked out due to luck. One such example is when his sister was kidnapped by the Cult of Diablos. As Cid gathered with the Seven Shadows to point out where the Cult of Diablos could possibly be holding his sister captive, he simply threw a knife on the map and declared the location where the knife struck the Cult of Diablos’ hideout.

Luckily, that turned out to be true. However, if he had been wrong, the consequences would have been disastrous, as Cid’s sister would have been left with the Cult of Diablos to be used for their experiments. Another such time where Cid displayed his crazy antics was when he fought against Rose Oriana in a duel and kept losing on purpose, injuring himself and spilling a lot of blood in the process. While many were concerned for the well-being of Cid Kagenou, Cid simply saw it as an avenue to display his ‘background character skills.’ While these are definitely crazy antics, what tops it off is when Cid lost his life to a truck, believing its headlights to be his long-sought magic. While his antics may be crazy, they could also be considered dangerous as they could lead to his death (again), and he might not be lucky to be reincarnated again.

What Do Fans Think?

Despite the unpredictability of his antics, many fans would agree that Cid’s antics are both genius and crazy, with some being more genius or crazy than others. While Cid often does things on a whim, he sometimes thinks about how to act before coming to a conclusion. His antics are especially genius when it comes to battling foes and getting out of ‘dangerous’ situations. In cases like this, Cid thinks about how to best utilize his magic to get the desired result.

However, looking through a broader lens, Cid's antics tilt more towards being crazy, as he often does things in the spur of the moment. In cases like this, positive results are often a result of luck, and should his luck ever run out, the consequences would be disastrous.

The Eminence in Shadow is available to stream on HIDIVE.

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