When the 5th Haikyuu!! episode came out, I saw lots of people who read the manga (me included) being confused over Hinataâs words to Yachi after he had a fight with Kageyama.
The anime subtitles go like this
while the manga goes like this
I did a little research and found out that there wasnât anything changed in the anime â originally, what Hinata says is this: ćă㊠ćé ăăăȘă çžæŁ ă ćșæ„ăæ°ăăăŠăăă Â
Iâve consulted my Japanese teacher, just did some thinking and came to conclusion that what he says is a mix of phrases from the subtitles and the manga translation.Â
If you translate it literally, itâs gonna be along the lines of âItâs not like he was the first friend Iâd made, but I had a feeling that we could be partners.âÂ
If you get the gist out of Hinataâs words, it pretty much goes: âIt was the first time I felt like I had a partner (teammate), not a friend.â So âcouldâ from the first phrase transfers into âlikeâ here, because after the fight Hinata is shocked that Kageyama, of all people, refuses to give him a chance to grow and get better â most likely, he even feels betrayed. He doesnât know what happens next between them yet, hence this uncertainty.Â
Also, Iâd like to turn your attention to this:
Hinata didnât have a proper team through his entire junior high â much less an actual setter to toss to him. Sugaâs mentioned it, too â everybody takes the setterâs toss for granted, but for Hinata itâs something special. He only got to feel what itâs like â to be a part of the team with the same goals like him, to have a rival/partner, whom he learnt to trust at 100%, with the same burning passion like him to motivate him all the time â in high school, which is why he treasures it so much. And also why he suffers and cries after the fight on his way home â because that feeling, his partner was ripped away from him by their disagreements. Remember, he said before: âI donât like it when we donât get along.â And he owns his presence on the court to Kageyama, and his amazing toss, too, his brightness as a decoy â and now it was him to question, or rather dismiss his potential to grow further and get better. Sucks to be you, Hinata. Â
PS: when I asked my Japanese friend to help me out with this, she, not having any context, translated it as âItâs the first time I felt that I could make a âsoulmateâ, not just a friend.â  When I explained things to her, she said that âpartnerâ is definitely better, but I think I still earned myself a heart attack and a whole river of Kagehina tears.
