There’s a local communist on campus, I have nothing against commies, but he kinda goes a bit too far with his pins. He kinda looks like those North Korean generals with all the medals, but instead, they’re three inch diameter aluminum pins.
He kinda looks like this, but the pin density is way higher. He has a bag where the entire surface is covered in pins.
Haikyuu!! K-Pop AU, HQ20 Member Profiles 1: Karasuno
Follow on from my Haikyuu K-Pop AU main post.
DJ
Real Name: Sawamura Daichi
Nicknames: Dadchi, 2020Dad, Puppy King
Age: 22
Position: Leader, Hip-Hop Unit Leader, Main Rapper
Unit: Hip-Hop
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Mandarin, Basic English
Height: 5′10
Weight: 70.1kg
Training Period: 6 years
Fun Facts:
His stage name comes from the first letter of his real name and the Kanji of his name (地) which alone is pronounced ‘Ji’ and means Ground or Earth. He says it represents the responsibility he has to take in the group, having to be the most grounded one, but also DJ just sounds cool. (It was pronounced D-Ji until they started gaining more Western fans, and the pronunciation changed to D-Jay.)
He was a former member of IMITATE, before Karasuno was created, and is only member to have been in two different J-Pop groups prior to HQ20.
He has the deepest voice in the group.
He got the name ‘Puppy King’ through his love of dogs. Every member of the group says that if they ever come across a dog in the street, Daichi will have to go up and pet it, no exceptions.
He loves food and claims to be probably the third biggest eater in the HQ20.
He’s the oldest and most responsible member of the group and says, because the other members misbehave so often, he always has to be around to stop them.
He dreams of some peace and quiet from his 17 children.
He is a black-belt in Taekwondo.
According to the other members in the group, there is nothing scarier than Daichi when he is angry.
Suga
Real Name: Sugawara Koushi
Nicknames: Sugar, Team Mum, Angel, Mr. Sunshine, Mr. Refreshing
Age: 21
Position: Performance Group Leader, Main Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
Unit: Performance
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Korean, Some English
Height: 5′9
Weight: 63.5kg
Training Period: 4 Years
Fun Facts:
He’s head of choreography for HQ20, meaning he choreographs nearly all their (very complicated) dances. He works incredibly hard to do this but when asked about how he manages choreographing dances for 19 people, he always answers that he is just incredibly thankful that he gets to work with such good dancers on a daily basis. (Secretly it’s because he got used to choreographing dances for all the crazy 12 original members of Karasuno, so 19 doesn’t seem like that much more of a jump).
He has 12 years of classical dance training, from the age of 4, before he started training for K-Pop.
He’s ranked 3rd best visual in the group by the other members, but says he doesn’t necessarily believe that’s true.
He says he strives to gently guide the younger members in the group and make sure everyone stays well. For this he is often called the Group Mum.
Despite this, he can be incredibly mischievous at times. He also doesn’t know his own strength and many of the other members say they’ve gotten bruises from his ‘supportive punches’.
He did Judo up until the age of 13, when he got his black belt. He says he doesn’t really remember much of the moves but the rest of the group say that he could probably take them down anyway.
He was voted the most flexible in the group by the other members.
Asahi
Real Name: Azumane Asahi
Nicknames: Goatee, Big Guns, Samurai, Scaredy-Asahi, Negativity, Jesus
Age: 21
Position: Vocalist
Unit: Vocal
Nationality: Japanese
Height: 6′2
Weight: 75.2kg
Training Period: 3 Years
Fun Facts:
There are a lot of rumours about him, ranging from him being part of a gang, to him being a drug dealer, based on his appearance. Due to this, it was originally part of his contract that he had to keep clean-shaven, but his goatee kept growing back too fast. Therefore, the production company decided to make it a part of his ‘look’ and started marketing him as the ‘scary’ or ‘mature’ one, but the other members, if asked, all say he’s the least scary of any of them.
He was originally supposed to have a stage name but, because of how he looked, all the suggestions had something to do with mafia or bikers, so he decided maybe he was better sticking with ‘Asahi’.
He says of all the other members, he ‘s probably closest to Noya, because the pair have been through a lot together.
He was originally supposed to debut as part of a group called TME, but it was brutally cut at the very last minute. Because of this, Asahi almost gave up on his K-Pop career, but it was Nishinoya (who was also supposed to debut with TME, and looked up to Asahi as a hero back then) who, after a huge argument, convinced him to stay.
He currently ranks 3rd in arm wrestling in the group (they have weekly competitions between the members of HQ20).
He has more phobias than he can count on one hand.
Noya
Real Name: Nishinoya Yuu
Nicknames: Noya, Guardian God, Little-God, Nishiya, Yu-chan, Thunder Boy
Age: 19
Position: Main Dancer, Sub-Rapper
Unit: Performance
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese
Height: 5′4
Weight: 51.1kg
Training Period: 1 Year 11 Months
Fun Facts:
He’s the shortest in the group and, even though he gets teased about it, he’s very proud of his short stature. He says it’s what makes him so good at dancing.
He’s been dancing hip-hop since he was 5 years old, and used to participate in Junior competitions for it, but he still says that until he met with Suga’s choreography, dancing had never felt so good.
Next to Suga, he’s the best dancer in the group.
He started training for J-Pop because his dance teacher suggested he should, and when he went for auditions at the nearest academy he saw Asahi practising for an audition for a J-Pop group and from that moment he decided he wanted to do that, with ‘that scary looking guy’.
He got into the same academy and, when he heard Asahi had been invited to audition for TME, he worked incredibly hard to get an audition too. They both got accepted, and Noya has never been happier to be working with someone.
However, He says he’s never been more angry than the moment when Asahi confessed that he was thinking of giving up J-Pop when TME was pulled from showcasing at the very last minute.
His favourite dance move is what he calls ‘Rolling Thunder’ and involves jumping into a headstand, spinning three times, and back-flipping out of it.
He’s one of few members of HQ20 that can do crazy breakdance moves like backflips, headstands, etc., but it’s only due to so many years of practice.
He’s a proud member of the HQ20 Attack Squad.
Alongside Tanaka, he gets some of the least solo singing/rap lines in the group.
But, when he debuted in Karasuno, he was one of their Lead Rappers.
Ryu
Real Name: Tanaka Ryuunosuke
Nicknames: Ryu, Buddha, Attack Squad Leader, Loud-Mouth, Lady-Killer
Age: 19
Position: Lead Dancer, Sub-Rapper
Unit: Performance
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Basic English
Height: 5′10
Weight: 68.8kg
Training Period: 2 Years 8 Months
Fun Facts:
He’s the leader of the HQ20 Attack Squad (the loud-mouths of the group who get fired up way too easily are referred to as ‘the Attack Squad’ by the others, and happily hail Tanaka as their leader)
He’s known as the ‘lady-killer’ as a joke by the others, not only because he’s the most straight member of the group, but also because he once tried to help a girl who looked lost by calling out to her and she started to cry (he has no luck with the ladies, bless his heart).
He has incredibly good hearing.
Like many of the group, his English is very limited, but one phrase he does know and love, is at the beginning of concerts when he will shout “R YU READY?” as a joke on his stage name. Daichi sighs every time.
Alongside Noya, he gets some of the least solo singing lines in the group, even though he was a Main Rapper in Karasuno.
His sister is part of a really well known Fem J-Pop group, known as Sisterhood.
He was voted biggest eater in the group, overall.
Hina
Real Name: Hinata Shoyo
Nicknames: Sunshine Child, Number-One Shorty, Shrimpy, Chibi-chan, Mini Spider-man, True Maknae, Dumbass (by Kageyama)
Age: 18
Position: Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
Unit: Performance
Nationality: Japanese-Korean
Languages: Japanese, Korean
Height: 5′5
Weight: 51.9kg
Training Period: 1 Year 4 Months
Fun Facts:
Even though he’s not the youngest, he’s often treated as the official Maknae of the group because of the way he acts. The fans refer to him as ‘Sugamomma’s baby’
He has the highest pitch voice in the group. Some people question if it’s actually dropped at all in his teen years, but, to be honest, his managers would rather it didn’t at this point. As a result, he often gets the high solos & harmonies, even though he is mainly part of the performance unit.
He likes to spread positive and happy energy.
He’s the most excitable member of the HQ20 Attack Squad.
He wishes to be taller.
He has the worst English in the group. A lot of people think, because he can already speak two languages, he should pick up a third easily, but he only knows Korean and Japanese because his parents talked to him in both languages from when he was little.
He still sometimes forgets to differ between the two languages and accidentally says something in Korean, and the others have to tell him he’s not speaking Japanese, and vice versa.
He’s been dancing since he was little, and always dreamt of being part of a J or K-Pop group, but could never afford official training until he was 16. Therefore, some of his movements are described by Suga as ‘erratic’ but the group recognise he has a lot of talent.
Tobiyo
Real Name: Kageyama Tobio
Nicknames: King, Selfish King, Genius, Milk/Calcium, Tobio, Bakageyama (by Hinata)
Age: 17
Position: Lead Vocalist
Unit: Vocal
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Korean, Some English
Height: 6′0
Weight: 66.3kg
Training Period: 3 Years
Fun Facts:
He’s the youngest member of HQ20.
Even though he is so young, he still has the strongest vocal in HQ20, followed closely by Kuroo. It pisses Oikawa off no end.
His parents moved him from Japan to Korea to train for K-Pop when he was only 10 years old, even though he didn’t speak much Korean at the time. They enrolled him in Kitigawa Daiichi Academy, which was supposed to be one of the best training facilities for K-Pop stars in the country, and is also where he met Oikawa Tooru.
Aged just 11, he made his first debut with the Kitigawa Kings, which was the academy’s Junior K-Pop group, which only had a three year contract and was pooled from the best students at Kitigawa to showcase the academy’s talents.
He was nicknamed by the rest of the Kings as the Selfish King because he had an oversized sense of his own talent, having been trained for such a short period of time, and often insisted on getting the best singing roles.
After his contract ended with the Kings, he tried to audition for multiple K-Pop groups that were supposed to be the best in Korea, but failed to get into anywhere due to his selfish nature, and was eventually invited back to Japan to debut in J-Pop as part of Karasuno.
His parents decided his stage name, and he still doesn’t know what the inspiration was. He used to hate it but has grown into it.
Given a choice of beverage, he always picks milk and drinks a lot of it. This is what got him the nickname Milk or Calcium by the other members.
He’s not nearly so selfish as he used to be now, and he says Hinata was a big part of his development as a person, and is thankful for that.
K
Real Name: Tsukishima Kei
Nicknames: Tsukki, Glasses, Salt King, Saltyshima, Stingyshima
Age: 17
Position: Rapper, Sub-Vocalist
Unit: Hip-Hop
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, Mandarin, Some English
Height: 6′3
Weight: 68.4kg
Training Period: 2 Years 4 Months
Fun Facts:
His stage name came about because management told him ‘Tsukishima’ was too long and wasn’t fit for a stage name, so he wanted to be known as ‘Kei’ but people kept pronouncing his name ‘Key’, so he decided to just be known as the initial ‘K’.
His brother was part of a popular J-Pop group, but worked himself too hard and had to quit for health reasons. For that reason, Tsukishima judges people who insist on overworking themselves and will only work as much as he has to to keep up.
His brother was the main reason he got into J-Pop at an early age as he would watch his brother’s group regularly.
He is well known for his ‘bored rapping style’, where he raps in an incredibly passive manner, and his facial expression changes very little in comparison to the others. It’s known by the fandom as ‘k-style’ and Iwaizumi has admitted, at this point, he tries to avoid writing overly emotional rap for Tsukishima, because his style doesn’t account for it.
In one of the hip-hop unit’s music videos, Tsukishima looked directly at the camera and smirked at the end of his rap. It broke the fandom.
He loves dinosaurs.
Of all the group, he says he’s closest to Yamaguchi because he’s known Yamaguchi the longest. Yamaguchi is also the only person Tsukishima allows to call him ‘Tsukki’, however, even though Bokuto and Kuroo also try to and at one point it was even suggested he should use it as his stage name.
Suta
Real Name: Yamaguchi Tadashi
Nicknames: Star-Boy, Freckles, Yams
Age: 18
Position: Lead Dancer, Sub-Vocalist
Unit: Performance
Nationality: Japanese
Languages: Japanese, English, Some Korean
Height: 5′11
Weight: 63kg
Training Period: 2 Years 7 Months
Fun Facts:
His stage name was chosen by his parents. ‘Suta’ was picked because it is how the Japanese spell ‘Star’ in Katakana, and his parents always planned for him to be a star.
He feels a lot of pressure to please his family as they expect such big things for him.
His parents travelled a lot when he was little, and he grew up mostly with his Aunt and Uncle, but, since his parents were travelling to English speaking countries a lot, they insisted Yamaguchi learn English fluently.
He suffers from severe stage fright, but is learning to manage it.
He’s had classical dance training since he was little, and used to get bullied for it.
He met Tsukki in Junior High School, when he was being bullied for his dancing and Tsukki called out his bullies on being ‘lame’. Yamaguchi recognised him as Tsukishima Akiteru’s brother, who was one of his J-Pop idols, and says that he thought of Tsukki as his ‘hero’ at the time. Overtime, the pair became best friends.
He was voted as the shyest member of the group by the other members.
He looks up to Suga as a mentor, as they both came from classical dance backgrounds and Suga admits he also used to suffer from bullying for it, but has since learned that polishing his talents and enjoying something he loves is far more important than what other people think.
