incredible how haikyuu has so many themes of hunger and food, and when that hunger translates into tending of the body. you can look at it in various ways, of ukai telling them to build themselves after a match, of ukai taking food to hinata after kamomedai, of hinata grocery shopping in the brazil arc, about kita and providing and osamu and giving and atsumu and taking, about msby who love cooking for themselves and each other, of kageyama loving curry because kazuyo taught him about self maintenance through that. and then, again we get back to love, love and hunger for volleyball and food, for moving past the limits you have already surpassed
the use of team banners in haikyuu to highlight a character or team’s personal philosophy at key points in the story is so sexy. we have the incredible chapter 400 with the banners of the msby and adlers players as a demonstration of the culmination of their growth and a final statement of who they are and who they grew to be, but it works so well because it was something that was done throughout the course of the series.
we have karasuno’s revival at the same time shimizu finds their banner to put on display again. we have daichi laying a solid foundation for his team to fly in johzenji’s match, complemented by their “SIMPLICITY AND FORTITUDE”. the concept of task focus (fukurodani’s ”GIVE EACH PLAY YOUR ALL”) is revisited with akaashi’s acknowledgement of kamomedai’s “HABIT BECOMES SECOND NATURE”.
inarizaki’s banner (my personal favourite) in the manga had been completely hidden until That moment, when the twins pull off their reverse quick, when inarizaki makes the statement that the past is nothing to dwell upon or mourn, that the past is food that builds your muscle, that it’s always good to search for how you can build upon it and improve. tsukishima looks at the banner and smirks before he hits a serve that’s barely in and someone comments “he’s always been about the ‘just get it in serve’ before now!”. daichi does something completely unexpected after kita figures he’ll do something predictable and his spike hits off of kita’s receive and lands directly on the banner.
oikawa’s re-introduction as the setter of argentina’s olympic team hits so hard because of the amount of times he has stood in front of that “RULE THE COURT” before hitting karasuno with a no touch service ace. there’s one moment where he’s in front of karasuno’s banner before a serve and he completely obscures it!
basically these banners are the perfect punctuation marks to a display of someone’s character n it’s one of my favourite aspects of haikyuu!!
Anything and everything about the anime/manga HAIKYUU! that I have written.
OIKAWA TOORU
↪ Break My Heart
Story Format: mixed media; social media & written.
Summary: Everyone, well almost everyone, here knows how much of a flirt Aobajohsai High’s Volleyball Captain is, right? He’s got the skills, and most definitely, his looks, and he knows it. Never settling down, so what happens when he meets his match?
Status: ongoing | Parts: 4/???
AZUMANE ASAHI
↪ conversations about babies
HINATA SHŌYŌ
↪ conversations about babies
KAGEYAMA TOBIO
↪ conversations about babies
NISHINOYA ȲU
↪ conversations about babies
SAWAMURA DAICHI
↪ conversations about babies
SUGAWARA KŌSHI
↪ conversations about babies
TANAKA RYŪNOSUKE
↪ conversations about babies
TSUKISHIMA KEI
↪ conversations about babies
MIYA ATSUMU
↪ Homesick
Story Format: mixed media; social media, sims pictures (lol) & written.
Summary: Six years ago, L/N Y/N wouldn’t exactly say that she loves her life. It had always been problematic but her best friend, Miya Atsumu, since she was eight when she moved to Hyōgo, has always been there for her, and she wouldn’t change it for the world. However, things would always fall apart for her ever since, so she should have expected of such. Running away from her problems seemed like the easiest route to take at the time, so what happens when the past comes barging back into her life demanding answers? Will she be able to confront her demons?
so i’ve been thinking about how cool Nishinoya’s entrance was (as one does) and i thought from a writing standpoint how interesting it was that our knowledge of him leading up to his first appearance was reliant on things established about other characters to build him up. 7 episodes into the series we know this:
Daichi can be stern but is overall a responsible leader and someone you can look up to
Tanaka is often seen as a loud delinquent and loves starting fights with people
Kageyama is a volleyball prodigy with a killer serve
Hinata is short
the scene where the team discusses Nishinoya’s return builds up a lot of mystery about the kind of person he could be: We learn that he was awarded with the title of “Best Libero” in middle school. Daichi himself has high praise for him, calling Nishinoya “Karasuno’s Guardian Deity”. Tanaka tells Kageyama that he got suspended and implies that his over-enthusiasm could be worse than his. Kageyama even thinks to himself, “If Tanaka calls him ‘overzealous’ then he must be really bad”, and we’ve seen that Hinata and Kageyama’s overzealousness in the second episode is what got Daichi to kick them out of the gym and ban them from playing, yet Daichi still approves of Nishinoya. At this point, Nishinoya comes across as someone very intimidating, especially with that dramatic shot of him from the back in the storage closet holding the broken mop. But then Daichi tells Hinata and Kageyama, “Call him senpai, he’ll get as much of a stupid kick out of it as Tanaka”!
and finally, his entrance in that last minute of episode 7 cements him as someone who stands out with his physicality: as someone who can perfectly receive Kageyama’s serve without even starting anywhere close to position he is very impressive, and as someone who fits in an extreme -- after 7 episodes of knowing that Hinata is short for a volleyball player we are introduced to a player who’s even shorter than him -- not to mention his dyed fringe making him look even more memorable within the few seconds we see him.
in the beginning of the following episode, we get to see how he acts and thinks: he’s a volleyball prodigy just like Kageyama, and by now we’ve seen Kageyama’s explanation for choosing Karasuno, and we’ve seen another highly skilled player (Oikawa) play in a powerhouse team. We have observed other skilled players and how they act and we can assume high level volleyball players such as them have their best interests at heart for choosing a school whose team they can thrive in. Nishinoya’s best interests? the school uniform.
What’s more, we learn what the libero’s role is in the team: Nishinoya doesn’t get to participate in the spectacular plays like the spikers, but the position is incredibly important to keep the ball up in the first place so those plays can be done -- and as we learn later, the best defensive players do their work without us even realizing it.
We see him babbling on and interacting with Tanaka and Shimizu and see that he’s a ball of energy and a bit immature, leading up to one of my favourite lines said by Daichi, “Loud, isn’t he? But his play style is surprisingly -- quiet.”
In his first 5~ minutes of screen time we’re given an explicit outline as to the kind of person he is as told through our preconceptions about other characters and Nishinoya’s actions -- he’s undoubtedly a powerful force with the potential to take the team to a new level, with an energetic and carefree personality in the body of a 5′3″ teenage boy, who chooses to play (and excels in) a position that doesn’t seem to attract much of the spotlight, and i live for it
i cannot post the pictures right now bc im not reading on mobile but im chapter 368 there's a part where saeko tells tenma how hinata had been wholly influenced by one mere jump of his and he replies how "he might have created a monster" but - reiterating what he said before "its not bad" by any means - hinata still has that hunger. but i also interpret that "not bad" as an extension and echo of the before and the after - before hinata saw tenma and after he saw tenma, hinata by no means is a unique player, he's an extension to tenma's passion and hunger despite never knowing him personally
and! the best part is how in the next page sakusa talks about how "a small meteorite fell from the sky and hit someone in the head, you could say what a pity about him. other than that though i've no use for that pity" he says that it's a pity that others feel sorry for those who have been injured in some way - i interpret that again as an echo of what tenma previously just said; to create a monster is to create a being which learns in its own unstoppable unpredictable way. and yes being injured is not a testament to the passion of oneself, it's rather condemnable how these people forget about themselves in the larger narrative of things. what i interpret sakusa as saying is that is the monstrousness which comes with that hunger is not a pity, rather what one cannot predict to see is pitiable
Whisper of the Heart and Haikyuu!!, both being feel-good stories about personal growth with a foundation of interpersonal support and self-care, how very special places in my heart. Whisper of the Heart’s storyline of two people inspiring each other to pursue and improve in their crafts and Haikyuu!!’s focus on human connection and relationships, specifically revolving around Hinata and Kageyama’s relationship, led me to realize that there are A LOT of parallels between Shizuku & Hinata, and Seiji & Kageyama.
Shizuku and Hinata are the protagonists of their respective stories and therefore undergo the most growth. Shizuku sets a goal for herself to finish her novel by the time Seiji returns from Italy, and Hinata aspires to be good enough to beat Kageyama, the “King of the Court”, declaring that even if it takes ten or twenty years, he will do it.
Seiji is very good at making violins and has high aspirations that will take him elsewhere on the globe to improve. Kageyama is hailed as being a prodigy setter and has a strong drive to become the best there is. (I think the moment these parallels clicked for me was when I realized that their aspirations brought the both of them to Italy: Seiji to be an apprentice violin maker in Cremona, Kageyama playing for Ali Roma). They have worked hard for what they love and their goals have been set for a long time, in contrast to Shizuku and Hinata. Shizuku and Hinata acknowledge they need to catch up; Shizuku says “it must be nice to know what you want to do with your life. Me, I just go from one day to the next” and Hinata, having started playing volleyball later than Kageyama (and playing in a proper team even later), learns along the way what he wants to do and HOW best to do it
Seiji and Kageyama start farther ahead in their personal progress but give Shizuku and Hinata the inspiration and the means to start theirs. They create a place for them to use their talents -- Kageyama using his precise setting to make use of Hinata’s incredible speed/jump height/overall natural athleticism, Seiji being a part of Shizuku’s connection to Baron and part of her inspiration to write. They open up their viewpoints to a world they could have never seen without them.
And these relationships spark passion and drive and inspiration between every individual. Kageyama makes Hinata promise that he will meet him at the world stage one day. Long before Shizuku even noticed him, Seiji admired her talents and checked out dozens of library books hoping she would see his name on the cards. They excel on their own but with Shizuku and Hinata there, they can become even greater.
These relationships are about having someone around who makes you want to be better, who makes you want to dig deep and learn about yourself and go through the hard work of improving without the glamour and glory. I got into it briefly with this post but there’s a whole lot more i want to talk about (especially after seeing this beautiful piece of fanart by hazwqste !)
i got carried away and this got super long so i’ll be going into this in more depth (and including haikyuu manga spoilers!) under the cut:
First of all, they meet and get off on the wrong foot, and don’t get along very well.
They get to know each other and are soon able to fully express themselves around each other and allow each other to excel at what they love. Seiji shows Shizuku Baron’s eyes twinkling in the light and the violin he made, Shizuku excitedly tells him about things feeling like they came from magic or a storybook and even sings the lyrics she wrote when Seiji plays Take Me Home, Country Roads on the violin. Hinata and Kageyama have a love for volleyball in common and once they figure out how to put their skills and abilities together to make their freak quick attack work, they practically glow with excitement and become almost inseparable.
An event separating these two pairs act as catalysts to their growth (Seiji to Italy and Kageyama to the week-long All-Japan Youth Camp in Tokyo), because Shizuku and Hinata realize how far behind they are and how much they have to work to catch up. They even have similar running sequences that express their fear of being left behind.
Shizuku and Hinata both express the desire throughout their stories to be at an equal level to Seiji and Kageyama. Shizuku tells Yuko, “He wants to find out if he’s talented enough. Well, so will I! ... if he can do it, so can I!”.
One example of this with Hinata is that he wishes to complete the new quick attack during the Tokyo training camp arc so he and Kageyama could be on equal footing: during the Inter-high preliminaries, Hinata an Kageyama’s freak quick attack was something that was uniquely theirs, but it was something that Kageyama controlled. Heck, even Coach Washijo tells Hinata, “Without Kageyama as your setter, I can’t say I see any worth in you.” Hinata expresses a desire to evolve, to be able to pick his shots and stop closing his eyes, to learn from the best in the prefecture and work on everything he needs to improve on.
Shizuku and Hinata set off to go on journeys of their own to improve: Shizuku writing her novel with only Yuko and Nishi knowing, and Hinata in the ball boy arc and Brazil arc. They work hard, but realistically go through periods of doubt.
Here I noticed even more parallels between Shizuku and Hinata: Shizuku ends up skipping dinner, staying up late, and letting her grades slip while she works on her novel. Hinata has a history of not taking the best care of his body -- he practices all the time and needs to be reminded to take a break. He doesn’t start fully paying attention to the food that he’s nourishing himself with until he’s denied food at the Miyagi select rookie training camp. And he has a bad habit of not changing out of sweaty clothing and not wearing a jacket when he should, which leads to -- you know.
They feel discouraged and alone and end up thinking about Seiji and Kageyama’s hard work.
But they learn the importance of balance and self-care and soon feel okay again with wonderful scenes where a mentor figure brings them food to comfort them.
Most of Whisper of the Heart and Haikyuu!! are told from Shizuku’s and Hinata’s perspectives. However, the inspiration taken from Seiji and Kageyama does not go unreciprocated. In fact, even before they met, it’s like Seiji and Kageyama had been waiting for Shizuku and Hinata. Kageyama’s grandfather tells him at a young age that if he gets really good, someone even better will come find him. And it’s not until he gets to high school that Hinata tells him, “I’m here!”. It’s not until 6 years after that that Hinata is able to match/surpass his skill level and they have their fateful rematch to decide who will stay on the court the longest. Seiji hopes Shizuku will notice him a long time before they properly meet, and he waits right by Shizuku’s window right when he returns from Italy. They work hard because of Shizuku and Hinata, too. It’s almost like fate brought them together and keeps them together even when they’re apart.
For as long as they have known each other, these relationships have made them want to work hard in their respective crafts and really think about how to best nurture their growth -- whether the reasons are to become the best of the best, to beat the other at the world stage, to prove their worth in something they choose to pursue, or to follow their aspirations to the other side of the world
until finally,
they meet each other again
after a period of being apart,
ceaselessly waiting for each other and inspiring each other
brazil arc is specifically about the balance between desperately wanting to be in a place you love more than anywhere else and gradually learning to believe the place you are in is necessary to be in at certain points of your life
i don't think i will ever stop raving about how profoundly self-aware chapter 372 becomes by establishing a foundation that not only takes into account that there are things possible despite difficulties but also that "from time to time fun stuff comes" (i forgot that volleyball is fun) - i love how it's almost a callback to ballboy arc where hinata is having fun despite the difficulties he's facing. learning things on your own, learning to take the next step and understanding your own self, holding yourself accountable and also having responsibilities on top of that - it's all a lot to take in, but when you are at the foundation of starting something - it becomes clearer each time
there's freedom in knowing yourself externally and internally - both the past and the present make you (as is constantly emphasized during flashbacks)
