First impression: i actually don't remember too well for him. i think i thought he was meaner than he actually is but i didn't dislike him either. i do remember in the very first episode i was like "okay cool he's the rival guy we gotta take down" but then when he showed up at karasuno to be hinata's teammate i was :O and i immediately knew i was gonna like the fuck out of this show lmaooo.
Impression now: well he's not mean haha, just blunt and honest. actually, i feel like he's genuinely pretty caring and observant of other people, he just doesn't express it well. like every single time he yells at hinata to do better it's because he knows hinata can be better. and even though kageyama himself is super skilled, he never really acts pompous or better than others—he still wants advice from every setter he's ever met, and i really like that. there's surprisingly very little ego in kageyama imo.
Favorite moment: two things that have yet to be animated immediately come to mind lol, but this is actually really hard. i think it might be that little moment during youth camp when he's practicing with everyone and it's going really well and then all of a sudden he sets the ball insanely fast and no one is there to get it bc hinata isn't there aksjdks. 1 because i think it says something interesting about his mind has already adapted to a new kind of playing since playing with hinata and 2 because of the way he just says "sorry, habit" and walks away like nothing big happened, when in a lot of ways, physically, that was almost identical to what happened in middle school—no one was fast enough. the difference is that now he knows that there is someone fast enough, and he knows that his fast sets are actually an asset to him, not a detriment. it's a really nice small way to show some of his growth
Idea for a story: i find it really hard to write for kageyama, his voice-especially his inner voice—is hard for me to pin down, so i don't have too many ideas that are centered on him. but i do think that looking at his youth camp experience would be fun, i wanna know what he thought of everyone and if he considers himself friends with chigaya brocolli no 2 😆
Unpopular opinion: is this even unpopular? i just think he's not an asshole lol. don't really have one for him tbh lol
Favorite relationship: hinataaa. haikyuu is nothing without their dynamic and i love the way it's set up from day 1. the way kageyama sees hinata and immediately thinks 'this kid could be so great, why isn't he? he could be better!' and how that theme is really subtle but always present between them throughout the entire thing is so so so good. i said this in the hinata ask, but they're truly essential to each other's growth
Favorite headcanon: he has an irrational fear that one day he'll develop a lactose intolerance
Another Haikyuu ask! (Hope you haven't answered this one yet. XD) Which are your favorite ships and favorite platonic relationships? :3
I’m not sure about my favorite platonic relationship I’ll have to think on that more. However, I can do a meta on my absolute favorite ship in the series which is Bokuto and Akaashi. Everything I love about the ship is in the story itself. I think Furudate explains their dynamic perfectly. Let’s explore them some more under the cut.
1. We are the Main Characters of This World
What makes the relationship work so well is how much Bokuto and Akaashi complement each other, and contribute to each other’s development without really ever becoming codependent. They are two separate people with two seperate lives. They are total opposites. Yet, they’re kind of the same person.
One of Bokuto’s central flaws is how much of a weirdo he is. His eccentricities make him more needy than other people, more demanding, harder to deal with, harder to figure out. Bokuto has these dual aspirations to stand out more than anybody else (because he’s a bit of a diva), but also to have people surrounding him who can just keep up with him, because the reason his eccentricities are a flaw that hold him back is because his behavior can sometimes isolate him, or drive other people away.
Bokuto is uniquely driven, and he doesn’t find a lot of people who naturally share that drive. Bokuto can be a little confusing, but often people don’t really make the effort to try to understand him, or keep up with him. Bokuto seems like a big weirdo, but he’s actually quite serious and focused it’s just what he’s focused on is different than what everybody else focuses on.
Bokuto’s foiling with Kiryu is just that. Kiryu can’t really understand Bokuto so he kind of projects this false image onto him. That’s why he can’t overcome him at all or even face against him in the tournament. But, sometimes Bokuto’s own friends and teammates will do that too because they can’t keep up with him.
Bokuto’s flashback shows us, he sort of puts all of himself into the things he’s serious about. People who don’t understand that get left behind. So, what Bokuto both respects and needs in a person is someone who can put all of themselves into something and disappear into it, to take things seriously the way he does. Bokuto says he’s just having fun but nobody takes more fun seriously than him. He wants someone who puts their best effort into keeping up with him.
Which is why Bokuto so uniquely values Akaashi. On the outside Akaashi just looks like a normal person. He’s not a star setter like Oikawa, or Kageyama. He’s not someone who is playing volleyball in highschool who is aiming to be a professional or even in the top 5 like Bokuto. However, even though Akaashi is not a star player, when he does something he puts all of himself into what he does in the exact same way that Bokuto does.
These are the two things which are emphasized in Akaashi. He may not be a star player. He may not be an extraordinary talent. Yet, he always overanalyzes every situation, and puts a tremendous pressure on himself to give all of himself to the team and Bokuto.
On the outside they’re opposites. Bokuto is a star and Akaashi is just a normal person. Bokuto is the center of attention, and Akaashi is someone who quietly drifts to the side. Bokuto is high maintennance and Akaashi is low maintennance. Bokuto is loud and extroverted, Akaashi is quietly and extremely introverted.
However, inside they are incredibly similiar because they both put this tremendous pressure on themselves. Akaashi at first views himself as a star player, but when he meets Bokuto he starts to see himself as more ordinary.
I think much like Bokuto’s, Akaashi is also someone attention hungry, and someone who wants to stand out and be important he just never externalizes that desire because Akaashi keeps everything inside of himself.
However, when he met Bokuto he didn’t really lose his place as a star. He didn’t suddenly become a normal person. When he found Bokuto he found a place where not only he was needed, but his passion was needed, and his dedication meant something to someone else. He actually started to care about volleyball more because he felt like his efforts were being rewarded. That’s why he put so much focus on Bokuto’s compliments. Akaashi isn’t a star player, but he’s Bokuto’s star.
The Fukurodani even comment on Akaashi as a secret weirdo. Inside he’s a lot like Bokuto. He has the same sense of showmanship, the same desire to stand out, and he wants someone who puts as much effort into things as he himself puts in. So, Akaashi may lack that star quality, he might not stand out, but he still puts all of himself into what he does and Bokuto sees that, and recognizes it as a special quality of Akaashi’s. Which in turn makes Akaashi feel recognized.
But it’s not just Bokuto and Akaashi needing each other. The two of them work well together. Bokuto works better with people who will put the effort into keeping up with him. Akaashi works better with people who recognize him and his efforts when he’s so low key about everything.
They’re internally very similiar so Bokuto knows Akaashi pretty well. That’s part of why Akaashi feels so much from Bokuto’s praise, because he feels like Bokuto knows him. He feels recognized. More than that. Akaashi is a drama queen the same way Bokuto is. It’s just Bokuto externalizes all of it, and Akaashi keeps it inside.
It’s not a one way relationship. It’s not Bokuto being the baby and Akaashi being his caretaker. When Bokuto sees Akaashi break down, not only does Bokuto uniquely undertand the reasons why Akaashi is breaking down the same way that Akaashi puts so much effort into understanding Bokuto, but also Bokuto will perform better to pick up the slack because that’s what Akaashi is always doing to him. Neither of them ever really baby each other, because both of them expect so much out of the other. They’re always lookig at each other.
When Akaashi and Bokuto are together they’re both stars. Even though to everybody else it looks like Akaashi is a normal person, and Bokuto is a star player. Akaashi’s efforts mean so much to Bokuto, that they end up both uplifting each other to star status. They are the stars of this world.
Didn't know you've read Haikyuu!! too! What did you think of the ending? :3
As I said: hands down the best ending of a sports manga, possibly ever. With the general trend being either an immediate spin-off/sequel set at maximum a year later or just ending it post National competitions, Furudate just. Delivered so much in terms of character growth and exploration.
And I particularly loved the sheer variety of the characters’ walks of life: with people naturalized or contracted in other countries, people who continued playing voleyball as a hobby, people whose passions have given them carreers so out of the left field it gave me whiplash, etc etc.
ZeLink, Zenitsu x Nezuko, Tsukune x Moka, InuKagome, Sesshomaru x Rin, MutsUrie and NaruHina for the ask!
Zelink
The soulmates is actually Canon XD Zelda series is basically a successive cycle of death and reborn of two predestinate souls to stop Ganon
Zenitsu x nezuko
XD poor zenitsu worked hard for her, he was husbando material since the begining
Tsukune x moka
Sadly the ending got really weird when it came to the end with all the mother stuff lmao I am not sure what to think about it
Inukagome
XD not a hater but I don't like the ship as much, I liked more kikyo's character with a more mature personality and complicated relationship with inu. I suck for drama lmao
Sesshomaru x rin....
:'D this is pedophilia lmao hope it doesn't become Canon
Mutsurie
I kinda would have wished a different ending for them, it still worries me that theory saying the apple mutsu gave to touka hold the symbolism she didn't still let go of her feelings.
Naruhina
This one is a bit complicate bc I shipped them in the past, but they didn't get enough support by the end of Naruto shippuden and I don't like what happend to her character. So I like them and at the same time I don't xD