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Kanbei (Japanese: キクチヨ, Kikuchiyo) is a CO of Gold Comet. He is the father of Sonja and the emperor of Gold Comet.

Appearance[]

Kanbei is a light-skinned man who has brown hair tied into a ponytail at the back. He has thick brown eyebrows, a mustache and some stubble. Kanbei wears a yellow uniform with a brown cape. His uniform has a belt with a silver buckle and a yellow color with some sort of red insignia. He also wears brown boots and carries a sword with a sheath in Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising.

Personality[]

Kanbei is somewhat stubborn and uninsightful; Often more than willing to throw caution to the wind without her daughter's advice. However he is devoted and well honoured to do, what he believes is right for him and his nation; Even showing care and passion for the people and often passes this wisdom to Sonja. Being a father, he has shown an obsession towards protecting her from harm; Even going as far as actively protesting against her wishes wether she dares to go out in the field.

In Advance Wars 2, it is discovered that he was Sensei's student and thus, becomes more leninent towards Sonja, out of respect of his former master's wishes to let her do what she wants. He never questions his mentor's words but still retains his ruthless charges against a more organised opponent; No matter the cost.

Advance Wars[]

CO abilities[]

All Kanbei's units have the offense and defense of 120%, but they also cost 20% more to deploy.

CO power[]

Morale Boost - Increases Kanbei's Universal ATK to 140% and Universal DEF to 130%.

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[]

  • Buff Global mechanic: terrain DEF boosts are now additive with CO DEF boosts instead of fractional
  • Buff Day-to-day global ATK 120% -> 130%
  • Buff Day-to-day global DEF 120% -> 130%
    • The +10% boost for both also applies for CO Power "Morale Boost"
  • Buff CO Power "Morale Boost" Base Cost 50000G Defensive -> 4 Stars (36000G defensive)
    • Offensive Charging Base Requirement 200000G -> 72000G
  • Buff Introduction of Super CO Power "Samurai Spirit"

CO abilities[]

All Kanbei's units have the offence and defence of 130%, but their price is also 20% higher.

CO power[]

Morale Boost - Increases the firepower of Kanbei's Units to 150%. Their defence also rises to 140%.

Super CO power[]

Samurai Spirit - Increases the firepower of Kanbei's Units to 150%. Their defence rises to 160%. Firepower is multiplied by 5/3 when inflicting damage in counter attacks.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike[]

  • Nerf Day-to-day global ATK 130% -> 120%; does not affect CO Powers
  • Nerf Day-to-day global DEF 130% -> 120%
    • Reduction also applies to CO Power "Morale Boost" but not Super CO Power "Samurai Spirit"
  • Nerf Global: Black Bomb existence
  • Buff Global: Tag Breaks existence
  • Buff CO Powers global ATK 150% -> 160%
  • Buff Super CO Power "Samurai Spirit" global counterattack ATK 250% -> 320%

CO abilities[]

All Kanbei's units have the offence and defence of 120%, but they also cost 20% more to deploy.

CO power[]

Morale Boost - Increases the offence of Kanbei's Units to 160%. Their defence also rises to 130%.

Super CO power[]

Samurai Spirit - Increases the offence and defence of Kanbei's Units to 160%. Firepower is doubled when inflicting damage in counter attacks.

Tag Breaks[]

Kanbei has Tag Breaks with the following COs:

Tactics[]

The mantra of Kanbei is essentially, "pay more for quality". His stronger than average units will put up a good fight between enemy units of the same type. Kanbei's extra defense is really the major threat here; having Kanbei park his units on terrain such as cities and the like can make fighting against him almost impossible. In Advance Wars 2, Kanbei is considered to be very over powered, as his new 130/130 unit stats are just too much for most COs to match up against. With significantly higher defense, Kanbei's units can hold their own even against unfavorable matchups (i.e. Tanks v.s. Medium Tanks). Kanbei also has a tendency to absolutely crush enemy units if he gets the first strike. Terrain like cities bolster his units to brutal 130/160 stats, making properties extremely difficult to contest with. His CO Power is good, making his already high stats even more threatening. In Advance Wars 2 and Dual Strike, his Super CO Power is most preferred as his defense is enought o make him invincible for 1 turn.. In fact, units on four-star defensive terrain during the Super CO Power actually become immune to damage! If there was any need for further incentive for the opponent to want to stay away from Kanbei's units during his Super CO Power, the counter-attacking bonus is great too.

Due to the high price, the biggest concern to watch out for with Kanbei is maps that depend on sea battles due to the high price that makes it less affordable for Kanbei; naval units and planes can also deplete Kanbei's income very quickly. Additionally, large maps that depend on transport captures hurt Kanbei since transports being expensive and without fighting power hurt in value. Worse, Kanbei is hurt the most out of all of the COs with non-battle damage such as CO Powers that reduce HP.

In pre-deployed maps (such as many Dual Strike missions), he is one of the best CO's, since deploying (his main weakness) doesn't matter.  Even in maps where the player must deploy units, he's an excellent CO.  His offense and defense boost is universal.  He has Sami-like Infantry units, Jess-like vehicles, Eagle-like aircrafts, Drake-like ships and he's like Javier with two Comm Towers.

Kanbei, especially in Advance Wars 2, can be a nightmare to fight against. Due to his superior troops, only a few COs like Max can match Kanbei in a battle of pure combat strength. It is practically a given that Kanbei will have less units than the enemy on average since they are more expensive. Despite higher defense, indirect units can still do decent damage against Kanbei's troops or at least whittle them down. While Kanbei can handle swarms of weak units with his higher stats, the inverse is also true. Even the mightiest of beasts can fall eventually, so Colin and Sensei are examples of COs who can just completely overwhelm him with infinite floods of troops. Large maps and maps reliant on naval units tend to hurt Kanbei, since the already expensive naval units become all the more costly while he is forced to pay more for transport units that do not become much better. Despite all this, Kanbei's incredible unit stats and insane Super CO Power make him an excellent CO, even in Advance Wars 1 and Dual Strike. Be careful of the introduction of Missile Silos, however, as non-battle damage is Kanbei's weakness.

Kanbei in Dual Strike lowered his stats back to 120/120. The mechanics in Dual Strike can work in favor or against him. The newly introduced Black Bombs hurt his value a lot; while Black Bombs are expensive, opponents building them to counteract battle engagements will force Kanbei to build units that counter Black Bombs, which cost even more money. Kanbei in singles is harder to use. Where he really shines, however, is in Tag Battles, where his partner can do all of the purchasing while swapping him to do the heated engagements.

If you want to use Skills in Dual Strike, make it the ones that reduce costs. It is possible to spend 97% instead of 120% for powerful 120/120 units. using 3 skills. If you chose Soul of Hachi as the 4th skill, it would make things even more terrifying for your opponent.

Overall, if you want to utilize Kanbei's strengths, use it at its maximum potential to make the expensive prices worth it.

Quote[]

Dual Strike[]

Power

"Observe the heart of a true Samurai!"

"True Samurai do not know the meaning of retreat!"

"Kanbei is here! All hail the emperor of Yellow Comet!"

"I hope you thoroughly enjoy the taste of my sword!"

"You have no discipline!"

"Mercy has no place on the battlefield!"

Switch

"Let us fight with honor!"

"Let me help our cause!"

Victory

"Listen to the foe from afar... Watch him up close."

”I’m Kanbei, Yellow Comet’s emperor!”

”On to the next fight! Wait… where’s my sword?”

(with Javier)

Javier: "Are my tactics of the pleasing sort, Sir Kanbei?"

Kanbei: "Stunning! I am in awe!"

Javier: "Chivalry is king!"

Kanbei: "And my sword is swift!"

(with Sonja)

Sonja: "I knew we would win. Didn't you, Father?"
Kanbei: "Indeed! Victory was a certainty!"

Kanbei: "I love you, Sonja! Do you hear, world? I love her!"
Sonja: "Father, stop! You're embarrassing me!"

Kanbei: "On to the next battle! Yellow Comet, away!"
Sonja: "Father, wait! You forgot your sword!"

Trivia[]

  • In both Japanese and English, he is named after two characters from Akira Kurosawa's movie Seven Samurai. In Japanese, he is named after Kikuchiyo, played by Toshiro Mifune, who does look like the AW CO. In English, he is likely named by Kambei, played by Takashi Shimura. While Shimura does not look like the AW CO, the character is technically the leader of the Samurai. His English name may also be pun on word "come by", meaning to get something, using effort - referring to the expenses required to play him.
  • In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, there is a glitch when using his super power where his units will still deal damage to the enemy by counterattacking, even if they are completely destroyed. It is unknown if it is possible to destroy an enemy unit by doing this.
  • In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, the CPU AI never attack his units (with or without CO Power) if he has 1-star terrain more than the attacking unit.
  • In Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising and Dual Strike, If Kanbei activates his Super CO Power, any unit he has deployed located on the HQ or on a Mountain is quite literally impossible to kill as they take a whopping 0% damage on those tiles. This is because Kanbei's troops receive 60% defense from the Super CO Power, then Troops receive 40% defense when located on an HQ or Mountain tile, meaning Kanbei takes 100% less damage, or no damage at all, meaning he cannot be damaged at all from any sources. However, this only works if a unit's HP is full, as the defence from terrain decreases as HP goes down.
  • The Advance Wars mission, Kanbei's Error, is well known for its humorous dialogue and Kanbei's horrible tactics. Several of his quotes such as "Kanbei must have bases too!" and "I shall deploy a mountain of troops!" have become well-known phrases in the Advance Wars community.

Gallery[]

Advance Wars[]

Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. Doolam, Liam (23 April 2023). "Advance Wars English Voice Actors Officially Announce Their Characters". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
COs of Wars World
Orange Star: AndyMaxSamiNellHachiJakeRachel
Blue Moon: OlafGritColinSasha
Green Earth: EagleDrakeJessJavier
Yellow Comet: KanbeiSonjaSenseiGrimm
Black Hole: Clone AndyFlakLashAdderHawkeSturm
JuggerKoalKindleVon Bolt
Yellow Comet
COs: Grimm | Kanbei | Sensei | Sonja
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