OKAY THIS WAS DEF NOT AN HOUR BUT I GOT CAUGHT UP WITH OTHER STUFF HHH,,, here’s my thoughts on oikawa!
oikawa, like OP said, is hated right from the start. there’s just no way you can like him lol. he’s made out to be this egocentric, loud ass person who steals the spotlight and immediately makes you cringe from how “charming” he can be. what i love about him, though, is that his facade is so convincing it convinces us as the watchers/readers that that’s all he is. no one questions it, even though this trope of the confident playboy being insecure is so so so so SO common. it’s in almost every story i know, in some way shape or form. but when we see oikawa (at least when i saw him) i didn’t think “oh he’s so broken inside.” i just wanted to scream in his face in frustration. he had us ALL fooled, which to me is so interesting, because he must’ve had so much practice to where he must even convince himself sometimes that he’s this all powerful human being. that he has no flaws. that he’s, basically, immortal.
but then you get to the eps where he loses. again, and again, and again. and suddenly you’re just- you’re whiplashed, because this isn’t the oikawa you were shown. it’s a completely different person; someone who cries in frustration from not living up to his own expectations, someone who breaks down easily, someone who almost punched his JUNIOR because he didn’t know how else to expression his anger with himself. in other words, oikawa has the biggest fucking superiority complex that i know in an anime character thus far. he acts like he’s the absolute best, but by god he doesn’t actually think that. and that’s where i personally start to relate, hardcore.
as someone who has grown up with parents who push their daughter to get good grades, i am someone who has naturally high standards for myself. i’ve had multiple people, ranging from close friends to teachers to even my own parents themselves, tell me, “stop being so harsh on yourself.” “you’re doing fine, don’t sweat it.” “you are your hardest critique!” but it’s never that easy! it is NEVER that fucking easy. i know this, which is why it’s so clear for me to see where oikawa comes from. that constant longing for more, the constant comparisons. i compare every little thing about myself to other people, and i see that in oikawa. oikawa just wants to be enough — and not for iwaizumi, not for seijoh, not for the entire world. he wants to be enough for himself.
oikawa has always worked so so so so hard for his goals. he’s overdone himself a hundred times over, but he’s STILL going. even now, past the haikyuu ending, i like to think he’s constantly improving because he is still not satisfied. that’s what i love about oikawa, but also hate. he is already enough for everyone including himself, so why keep going? i don’t even know myself, but i do know that i keep going because i feel like i need to uphold these standards i’ve set for myself. so i guess he does that too, with a mixture of wanting to prove himself over and over.
overall, oikawa is, to me, the stupidest character in haikyuu. he’s a bitch and he’s flawed and he’s a pain to deal with, but that makes him human. that makes him relatable. i love him for it. —🧸
dude you fuckign took the words out of my mouth i literally have NO WORDS i’m. CRYING BECAUSE YEAAHHHHHHHHH
i love oikawa too because there’s a part where if i were there and actually knew Oikawa, I would’ve seen him as someone with natural talent. But because this is a show and we can see the thoughts of every character... WE know that’s not true. Which also makes me wonder how many people we see as talented is actually just someone who put in work.
here’s the proper links to the post in reference: link