HEY DON'T CRY. 8,008 SPECIES OF FROG IN THE WORLD PER AMPHIBIAWEB AND THE 8,000TH FROG WAS DESCRIBED BY TUMBLR'S OWN FROG SCIENTIST DR. Scherz, ET AL., PEACE AND LOVE ON PLANET EARTH ‼️‼️‼️
there's something so romantic about the fact that oikawa was the first and last setter iwaizumi ever had. like he can just say "my setter" and it will never refer to anyone other than oikawa for his entire life
etiquette i made up in my own brain that i for some reason observe religiously
"OP": equivalent to ma'am/sir. polite form of address for a stranger when referring to their post.
"[platform] user [username]" e.g. tumblr user corviiids: equivalent to Mr/Ms/Mx. polite, full title, used when talking to or about someone i don't know very well (or a friend, for emphasis).
"[name] [username]" e.g. rook corviiids: equivalent to a full name. addressing someone i know but am not really friends with. a polite amount of distance and regard.
"[name]": i know names are there to be used but calling someone i don't know by their name is a horrifically inappropriate intimacy akin to ogling their bare ankle under the hem of their skirt.
How Hoshiumi Quite Literally Brought the Light Back to Hirugami's Life: An Analysis of Haikyuu!! Chapter 351
Okay hi I'm all in my feelings about Hirugami (as is the norm for me nowadays) and something I hadn't realised until recently is how significant of a role light plays in his story — and, more specifically, its significance in his and Hoshiumi's relationship.
CW/TW: discussions/portrayals of self harm (nothing beyond the extent to which it is explored in chapter 351)
I started thinking about this after stumbling upon this post discussing how Hirugami's eyes usually lack any sort of highlights unless he's looking at or interacting with Hoshiumi (where his eyes literally light up like let that sink in for a moment oh my GOODNESS), but I want to take it one step further and examine how Furudate illustrates Hoshiumi as a presence that quite literally lights up Hirugami's life.
Furudate's panelling in chapter 351 alone warrants its own separate analysis, but for the sake of this post, I want to focus particularly on the recurring image of Hirugami walking down a dark, narrow hallway throughout the chapter. The first instance of this image in this chapter is in the panel above, with the only source of light in the hall coming from the gymnasium itself. A room where Hoshiumi is practicing.
And it doesn't stop there because we get yet another instance of Hirugami walking down a much darker, much more narrow hallway later in the chapter:
This time, there isn't a single trace of light in the hall — which, accompanied by how narrow the hallway feels, comes to represent Hirugami's psychological state at this stage in the narrative. As if the walls are caving in on him the further he spirals into this perfectionistic mindset that plagues him throughout his middle school volleyball career. This time, the hallway also feels much more constricted, and the perspective of the panel is positioned much closer to Hirugami than that of the previous panel, and it feels suffocating — a feeling only reinforced by the lack of light in this panel.
BUT THEN
The panel right after this features Hoshiumi entering the hall — however, this time, there is light, specifically coming from where Hoshiumi has entered. There has been no light in the hallway until Hoshiumi has entered it.
We can also tie this back to Hirugami's eyes being completely dark unless he's interacting with Hoshiumi in some way (be it looking at him or talking to/about him). It's important to note that, at the very beginning of chapter 351, Hirugami's eyes do contain light. It's not until he begins to spiral into burnout that the light leaves his eyes.
Case in point:
At some point, Hirugami did find volleyball "fun" (as he notes at the beginning of the chapter), and the light in his eyes reflect that. He wasn't burdened by the fear of making mistakes just yet; wasn't dedicating so much time and effort into the sport so intensely; hadn't realised that he might not be as passionate about volleyball as he once believed himself to be, pursuing it primarily out of a sense of obligation rather than genuine enjoyment. But the moment he begins to do so, that light fades:
Furudate continues to illustrate Hirugami with these pitch-black eyes until Hoshiumi catches him hurting himself:
All of that in mind, allow me to direct your attention to this specific spread:
Now, there are a few things I want to point out from this spread alone (from right to left):
A similar feeling of constriction is elicited (albeit to a much lesser extent) in the panel where Hoshiumi tells Hirugami that he's "probably just burned out on volleyball". The perspective is positioned in such a way that the background of the panel is solely the wall behind Hirugami — the one he dragged his knuckles across.
In the following panel (where Hirugami is processing what Hoshiumi has told him), the background is completely blank, except for a singular leaf blowing past Hirugami, turning his gaze away from Hoshiumi.
The leaf has blown in the direction of an open sky, accompanied by another leaf blowing in the same direction.
This progression of panels (from the wall to a blank background to a view of the open sky) comes to signify how those walls caving in on Hirugami earlier have crumbled away as "the whole world opened up to [him]" after Hoshiumi helped him realise that his life isn't tethered to volleyball, that he can stop playing whenever he wants to.
And the fact that this is also the moment where the light finally returns to Hirugami's eyes... all because of Hoshiumi's intervention... I'm so normal about this I swear.
I also think names play a significant part in this as well. I'm not Japanese, nor do I speak Japanese, so apologies for anything I might get wrong — but Hoshiumi's given name ("Kōrai") is comprised of the characters for "light" (光) and "come" (来), and means "incoming light". Furudate has also confirmed that they gave Hoshiumi his name "so that he becomes a shining person" (for additional context, the name "Hoshiumi" is comprised of the characters for "star" (星) and "ocean" (海), and means "star ocean") (seriously the name "Hoshiumi Kōrai" is SO PRETTY what the heck), and while this seems more in relation to his character individually... I can't help but also think about how that comes into play with his relationship with Hirugami, in a more literal sense. I'm most likely missing the full intention behind Furudate's decision to give Hoshiumi his name (since it's, unfortunately, inevitable that these extra details get lost in translation), but typically, a "shining person" refers to someone admirable; someone so brilliant it's inspiring. Hoshiumi, as his story progresses, becomes that "shining person" — going from a boy who spent his entire middle school career on the bench, to the ace of a powerhouse team coached by someone with coaching experience in multiple professional volleyball leagues, to a first-division V-League player who makes it to the Olympics.
He's inspired the crowd that cheers his name. He's inspired Hirugami — someone whose entire philosophy is founded upon what this boy he hardly knew had taught him:
(Yes, I'm aware that this is an analysis of chapter 351 and these panels are from chapter 360, but they're relevant nonetheless. This internal monologue is taking place while present-day Hirugami is surrounded by a blank background in a way reminiscent of the "burnout, huh...?" panel from that earlier spread. The chapter is titled "Teachings", and Hirugami is specifically reflecting on what Hoshiumi had taught him "that day". It's a different chapter, but it's all relevant.) (Also, is it really a cosmickoshi analysis if I don't go on at least one tangent?)
I know the Haikyuu!! fandom faces a lot of scrutiny due to "making everything about the ships", but the truth is... I don't see how you could discuss certain character arcs without mentioning the relationships said characters form throughout their journeys. No one got to where they did entirely on their own — volleyball is a team sport, after all — and Hirugami is no different! He explicitly refers to what Hoshiumi taught him in middle school as "the foundation" of his entire mindset!
And if we take the visual storytelling into consideration, much of Hirugami's panels following this moment contain much more light than the ones in the flashbacks. To examine this further, let's have a look at this specific page:
Considering everything I've discussed thus far, notice how (from top to bottom):
The earlier panel of Hirugami walking through the narrow hallway is paralleled by present-day Hirugami walking towards the net during Kamomedai's match against Karasuno. He's on the court, participating in a sport he doesn't care about, and yet no walls surround him. There's light all around him.
We get another panel featuring an open sky while Hirugami is still playing said sport he's not passionate about, except this time, the view has never been clearer — because, despite him continuing to pursue volleyball, he now knows he can quit anytime. He's no longer confined by the pressure to be some ideal player; no longer measuring his success as a player based on how many mistakes he makes; no longer spiralling into the pit of self deprecation he was once lost in. "All of my shackles have fallen away."
This is kind of off-topic, but I think it's also important to note the fact that Hirugami starts off the page looking down while reflecting upon the sense of obligation he felt towards volleyball, then tilts his head back up once that section of his internal monologue has concluded. Volleyball is a sport where you're always looking up and yet Hirugami only looks up upon acknowledging that his life isn't tethered to volleyball:
And!!!!! Look at the highlights in his eyes!!!!! There's light in his eyes from the second he looks up!!!!! Are you KIDDING ME.
TL;DR: there's so much great visual storytelling that is so central to Hoshiumi and Hirugami's relationship (and, more specifically, when it comes to conveying the former's impact on the latter) and Furudate is a freaking genius (though I'm certain we all knew that already).
kaledo-art
prguitarman
theartofmadeline
areudirty
yousharknotpass
izzy806
discoholicmusic
