An addictive madness looms under the surface of Hyakkaou Private Academy. Watch it through the eyes of our otherwise wholesome boys and girls from Haikyuu.
Tooru Oikawa, President, 3rd year.
As the title implies, Oikawa is the top gambler at the academy. He's known by most as the "Great King", a nickname given to him as the King is one of the highest ranks in a stack of playng cards. As goofy and douchey he is, thereâs no surpassing his quiet observation and calculation when he plays. Heâs famous for his poker face because he always looks like he knows something he shouldnât know when he plays, and is very difficult to read.
Koushi Sugawara, Vice-President, 3rd year.
At first sight, Sugawara as the second seat of the student council would seem impossible to most because of his gentle and kind nature. But everybody who has watched him in a match knows that he is in the council for a reason. When he has the chips and the cards and the stakes at hand, there's only a smile to cover up for his mercilessness. Not that he's a bad person since he is genuinely nice and liked otherwise, it's just that he uses it well as a cover up when it's necessary.
Yuuji Terushima, 3rd year.
Thrives with attention and fun and often takes his rightful place in the spotlight as a commentary during big matches, such as elections, announcer when there's big news happening, and so on. But if there's one thing better than being in the spotlight, it's being in the spotlight with life and dignity at stake in a mad game of gambling. His playing style is reckless and seems to be very impulsive, but every move is carefully thought out by the help of observation and gut-feeling.
Tetsurou Kuroo, 2nd year.
Looks unapproachble, is a little less unapproachable. Without being exactly hostile, Kuroo looks for competition wherever he goes. He finds great stimulation in gambling and, along with Terushima, usually leads the riskiest matches. If thereâs one person heâs genuinely inspired by, itâs Kenma, whose main principle is to connect psychologically (ref. Nekomaâs banner, « çčă »/ «Connect») with his opponents. Not necessarily as in being friends, but to stay on the same wavelength in order to read them, and then conquer them.
Kenma is often teased about being the academyâs «urban legend» due to the fact that nobody ever sees him gamble. The reason for that is that he gambles where nobody watches and has risen to the top without anybody witnessing it. He spends a lot of time people-watching from hidden places to learn their habits and has come to realize that heâs a bit intrigued by Tsukishimaâs, who goes to his class, cunningness and confidence.
Everybody wants him out of the council because heâs way too happy, chirpy and wholesome to be associated with such a nasty authority. When he plays, heâs kind and genuine to his opponent and gives them words of encouragament when they lose. Although he has a high count of victories that ended with his opponent being a housepet, his sunshine-kind of personality has many wanting to play against him again.
Started as a housepet and swore to himself heâd rise to the top once he got out, which he did. Nowadays only the most daring students go against him because he absolutely lives up to the nickname that he's been labeled as; The "Guess Monster". When Tendou plays, he relies on pure and thorough observation to read his opponents, his intuition following up and "guessing" their next move. He has built up a broad repertoire of experience and recognition, making his intuition fairly reliable, and quite frankly, the reason he rose to the top so quickly.
Nishinoya is a filthy rich student, but doesn't use his money the way most students at the academy would. Through all his years, he's been meaning to become the student council president to abolish the terrible hierarchy system. His fortune therefore allowed him to gamble over and over in order to rise in ranks. Because of his intentions, he's often refered to as some sort of "Guardian", making him popular among lower rating students. Heâs also friendly through and through, bouncy and likeable by nearly all. He spends a lot of time hanging with first years to be a good upperclassman.
Hajime Iwaizumi, housepet
For a long time, Iwaizumi was considered a quite high ranking player and there used to be a big audience whenever he gambled. Courageous and good-natured, many underclassmen looked up to him. Because of his daring and sporty nature, he lost a bet to MatsuHana and ended up challenging the student council president himself. Caught up in the adrenaline rush, Iwaizumi lost and was unable to repay his debt at the end of the match, making him a housepet.
They come as a package to say the least. Nobody has ever seen them separately and whenever they play matches, they play 2-on-2. Theyâre also fairly good at gambling and rank high among the students, using sheer acts and sarcasm to deceive their oponents and thus win the match.
Ranks relatively high on the gambling ranks due to nearly impeccable observation skills, resulting in a lot of popularity. She has been challenged by Terushima a few times but declined every single time. One reason is because she isnât confident enough in her own skills to set the stakes as high as his type of match allows, the other, and subsequent, reason being that she knows that if he wins, heâll want to take her as his wife.
A name on the lips of many students. He ranks among the very top students when it comes to gambling, in addition to having excellent grades. He has played against the student council (specifically Kuroo and Tendou, who are both somewhat scared of him now and would love to play against him again), and lost by very small margins every time. This has made the student council extremely wary of him. He has a lot of secret challengers, but nobody has seen him lose except to the student council.
Along with Tsukishima Akaashi ranks among the top students in gambling and grades. He is very nice and humble and apologizes to whoever he wins against in a match, and also has a lot of spunky students who want to challenge him. Once, he had caused Bokuto to end up a "housepet", and the worst thing that happened was, after a lot of hesitation, asking Bokuto to buy him a lunch. Once. Then he paid of half of Bokutoâs debt to free him form the title.
Akaashi and Tsukishima share a common fear of each other because they acknowledge each otherâs skills, and a match between them is an event that many students are waiting for.
Another "pair" with reputation, but not because of their victory count. It is simply about pure spunk and absolute fearlessness of going against opponents out of their league, and there is usually a big audience with their fun, spontaneous and risky matches. Their most anticipated match among other students is a re-match to settle the tie they had with MatsuHana a few months back. Otherwise they follow Nishinoya religiously and always rooted for his presidency, because they had themselves started out as housepets.
Far from the best but also far from the worst gambler. Gambling is quite new to him but he absolutely loves the thrill of it. He has already gambled a lot against other students and experienced being a "housepet", having to stake his virginity, body parts and other risky things. Being a housepet was just the result of not being daring enough yet to follow through with the stakes. However, he often thanks his friends for stopping him when he's about to go too far.
Frequently wondering what in the world sheâs doing at this school. Yachi has not gambled yet because sheâs terribly afraid to do so, and therefore likes hanging around Bokuto who goes to the same class as her, and who gladly welcomes her to join him. And through club activities Yachi met Kiyoko, whom immediately took a liking to her and is now «preparing» Yachi for when Kiyoko graduates.
Because heâs in the same class as Yachi and Bokuto and is curious as to see what this school is all about, he likes to occasionally spend time with them. He gambled once and miraculously won by faking absolute confidence, not knowing the rules of the game. Other than being feared by other first years, he spends his time watching matches with Yachi and Bokuto, or reading.
Kenjirou Shirabu, housepet
Becoming a housepet right off the bat has its toll; They have a tough start when it comes to making friends. Besides, Tendou loves screwing around and teasing him for his title since he was Shirabuâs last opponent. The only friend Shirabu has is Ushijima who doesnât care much about hierarchy. Ushijima once initiated eating lunch together when Shirabu was eating alone, and they've had a sort-of friendship ever since. Shirabu has sworn that once he gets out of the «housepet»-title, heâll defeat the whole student council. Not that it matters, since he kinda sucks.
An association working under the student council. They deal with problematic students, such as delinquents, and have the authority to arrest and interrogate them.
Koushi Sugawara, 3rd year, Head
Daichi Sawamura, 3rd year
Responsible for the school papers, gossip any sort of commentary on matches, interviews through the school's broadcasting channels.
Yuuji Terushima, 3rd year, Head
Koutarou Bokuto, 1st year
The photography and journalism club are often refered to just «the journalism club» because of their frequent collaborations. The photography club are the ones to film the matches, events and broadcasting interviews that are being hosted or commented by the journalism club members. They also take photos for the school newspaper.
Kaname Moniwa, 3rd year, Head
For the students who need some mental sparring, or like to watch others, the debating club hosts new topics to debate every week. Sometimes they bring their debates to the cafeteria to engage in bigger discussions with bigger audiences.
Issei Matsukawa, 3rd year
Takahiro Hanamaki, 3rd year
Chikara Ennoshita, 2nd year, Head
Probably the kindest club at the academy, its essence being good laughs, togetherness and sportsmanship. They play different sports every week and the club has many members due to its welcoming atmosphere.
Yuu Nishinoya, 3rd year, Head
Hajime Iwaizumi, 3rd year
Ryuunosuke Tanaka, 2nd year
Taketora Yamamoto, 2nd year
Kenji Futakuchi, 2nd year
Tsutomu Goshiki, 1st year
Wakatoshi Ushijima, 1st year
Kanji Koganegawa, 1st year
The assignment club is often looked upon as something weak or lame, but the member count is high since many of the members are also from of other clubs. The club activity happens in the library where whoever needs, and is a member, can join others doing homework, either to help or to get help.
Koushi Sugawara, 3rd year, Head
Ryuunosuke Taketora, 2nd year
Taketora Yamamoto, 2nd year
Koutarou Bokuto, 1st year
Tsutomu Goshiki, 1st year
Wakatoshi Ushijima, 1st year
