Haikyuu!! Observations: Chapter 396 and The Art of the Reaction
**SHOYO-CENTERED SPOILERS BELOW OF COURSE**
I’m currently in emotional denial that this is the final arc of Haikyuu!! but man, Furudate has given us so much greatness in these last twenty chapters. My only consolation is that the anime will at least extend our Haikyuu!! lifeline for years down the road...the hype is real, y’all, and this chapter just cemented HOW MUCH our human tangerine has grown over the course of this series.
I’m sure everyone is going to rave about Hinata showing off his left-handed spike -- what Furudate does in Chapter 396 that really cements its greatness is the art of the “reaction” by those around Hinata, specifically with two key points in the chapter:
First of all, this double-spread. This double-spread may be one of my favorites in the whole series. Everyone expecting Hinata to do one thing, play setter and toss or dump, and he tools us all (audience, us the readers, and the players on the court) and does the unthinkable with his left-handed spike. Koganegawa, of course, is the representation of us all having whiplash. Love my sunny rooster!
But can we just talk about the greatness of the Karasuno reactions here?
You have Daichi, Azumane, and Sugawara, who are all basically: thirdyears.exe has stopped working. Please Reboot.
You have Yamaguchi, who looks so proud. I love his and Hinata’s developed friendship over this series, and it makes perfect sense for him to be so happy seeing Hinata’s hard work come to fruition. If anyone knows the value of practicing something to be successful at it, it’s Tadashi Yamaguchi.
You have Tsukishima, who bears the best reaction (seriously, Furudate is having the time of their life giving Tsukishima the best faces of disgust this arc), staring with a look that clearly says: “How is it possible for you to get even MORE annoying?!”
And finally, you have Kageyama, who’s simultaneous thrilled/agitated expression clearly read to me the same as:
I just love Furudate’s focus on the crows and their reactions to their friend’s incredible growth as a player. But, I would be remiss not to show the next page, as we get a few more key reactions:
Hoshiumi looks completely stunned. You can tell he both wants to yell at Hinata for pulling something off he can’t, but you know he’s going to be practicing this now, too, so he can spike left as well.
I LOVE that we get the callback with Lucio Kato, who was clearly around when Hinata was practicing the left-handed spike back in Rio. As soon as that panel was in the collage, I had been waiting for Furudate to give us this moment.
And then there’s Ushijima. You can just tell he’s actually pleased with Hinata’s move, there, despite the frustration of it winning the set for the Black Jackals. From all those years ago when he was frustrated at Hinata’s confidence without the skill to back it up -- he now sees Hinata as a worthy opponent who can back it up -- and you can also see the little pride there that it was a left-handed spike to end the set: Ushijima’s calling card.
On the next page, we get a wonderful callback to Johzenji’s coach’s conversation with Washijo, The Ball Boy Arc Strikes Again, and I love that this whole time, the Johzenji coach as been a Hinata fan. Back in the ball boy arc, we saw that Coach Anabara originally wanted Hinata to come to the training camp, but since he didn’t meet Washijo’s “standards” of the players he invited, he was left out. I love that this chapter is proving that Anabara had reason to value Hinata’s skills from way back then.
And then our AtsuHina fanbase gets a spoonful of goodness, as we see Atsumu’s extended reaction here as he remembers Hinata looking like he was eating a good meal while playing volleyball. I want to point out that if you look at the original page when Hinata spikes, Atsumu is in the corner looking so cheeky, like “Bet you didn’t see that coming!” as if he’s seen Hinata work on the left-handed spike during practice and was waiting for this moment. Atsumu Miya looks really good in this side-profile, and he actually gets a considerable amount of awesome content in this chapter, with his serve, THAT SAVE, and this reaction! AtsuHina fans rejoice!
I’m not ready for this series to end. Thank the Lord we get hopefully two more sets of this game. The chapter ends with a solemn reminder that the game is going into the evening and it’s past the half-way point. I’m holding out hoping we at least get a finale that shows the members chosen for the Olympics, even if Furudate doesn’t end up showing us the Olympic match itself.
Regardless, what a chapter this was. Furudate, you continue to impress.
BONUS: My little crack pairing of Saeko x Akiteru lives on. ^_^
