"He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home.....but he was HOME. Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known, he and Voldemort and snape, the abandoned boys had all found home here"
Kageyama Replaced You Too?: a look at Sugawara Koushi, Oikawa Tooru, and Pride
Within Haikyuu, there are two characters who appear to mirror each other in a very specific way, leading to one of the best ways to portray how differently pride can make people act from one another. This mirror is within the characters Sugawara Koushi and Oikawa Tooru, thanks to their differing relationships with Kageyama Tobio. The two of them are both third year students who end up getting replaced by the prodigal player, which leads to very different reactions. While Oikawa’s pride leads him to strive to be the best and therefore jealous of Kageyama, Suga’s pride is in helping his younger teammates grow to be the best that they possibly can be. In the end, it leads to extreme differences in their characters, and shows that while Oikawa was the mentor that Kageyama wanted, Suga was the one he needed - even though they had such similar skills and strengths on the court.
Pride is a fickle thing, a tool that can destroy someone, or guide them to the success they crave. While both Suga and Oikawa are led to success later on in their lives, their high school careers can be seen in a very different light. Pride is wielded by Oikawa and Suga in different ways, showing off their opposing goals in life. Oikawa Tooru allows his pride to hurt him, allows it to let jealousy fester within him, lets it lead him to sleeplessness in hopes of becoming the greatest, because his pride focuses on personal success - on wanting to be the best. Sugawara Koushi lets his pride warm him, allows for it to help him help others, lets himself do what he’s good at by helping his team, as his want is for his team to succeed rather than for himself to be the best. Both of their goals are valid, Oikawa’s ambition is admirable, and Suga’s guidance is a rock for his team. It simply leads to different ways that they view their teams, and most importantly - how they act towards with Kageyama.
Oikawa Tooru is iconic. He’s easily the big antagonist throughout seasons one and two of Haikyuu, as Aoba Josai is Karasuno’s biggest competitor. He’s an inspirational captain, one who knows exactly how to draw out the strengths of his team, and he takes pride in the skills he’s worked so hard on. This is, of course, what becomes the issue when it comes to a tentative mentorship with Kageyama. Really, it can’t be called a mentor-mentee relationship, as it’s purely one-sided with the young prodigy admiring Oikawa. This is because of the hubris that writhes within Oikawa, tainting what had potential to be a beautiful opportunity for growth for the two of them. Sadly, the way that pride is presented within Oikawa is toxic, with him outright resenting what he views as pure talent from Kageyama, and therefore refusing to help nurture the younger boy’s skills. Oikawa is known to bring out the best in his team, his own abilities allow him to always support those he plays with however they need. Yet, he couldn’t do this for Kageyama, he couldn’t reign in his pride and need to be the best to try to help Kageyama grow as well. Oikawa was undoubtedly the mentor that Kageyama wanted, but he couldn’t be the one who the younger boy needed. It’s not that Oikawa had to be the perfect mentor - there’s no such thing, especially when dealing with young teen boys - but he outright rejected Kageyama, was almost driven to violence, because of his pride stirring up jealousy at the other boy’s skills. It shows off that Oikawa could sense Kageyama’s potential, one he could help to bring out like he did with the rest of his team, and therefore he tried to stifle it in the only way he could - by ignoring him.
To oppose Oikawa’s pride in himself, comes Suga. Suga shows many of the same skills as Oikawa does - he’s known to bring out the best in his team (both on and off-court), he’s one of the best analysts for Karasuno, and he helps come up with strategies even though he isn’t the starting setter. Suga is an extremely competent player, but his strength isn’t shown on the court, as his pride has him in a different role. Rather than wanting to be the best, Suga wants to see his team be their best - and that includes Kageyama. Suga doesn’t look at the younger setter as competition, but as an apprentice, someone who needs guidance that he can provide. As much as he may want that starting position, and want to be the setter who gets his team to nationals, he doesn’t need to be the best or be the setter who bulldozes his way through the competition. Suga is fine with being on the sidelines, his pride comes from guiding his team through the competition by helping Kageyama learn how to be the best setter he can possibly be. Suga knows his strengths, and he’s by no means lying down and giving up when Kageyama becomes the primary setter - rather, he’s reassessing the situation. Suga sees that he can be more useful when he’s off to the side, teaching the younger setter how to uplift the rest of the team, how to put emphasis on their skills rather than forcing them to bend to his own orders. At that, Suga isn’t only seen helping out Kageyama - rather he also took pride in helping Hinata learn how to receive before Nishinoya came back to the team. Suga is shown to be the mentor that was needed because his pride comes from helping his team, even if that means he has to take a step back and be a guide rather than the star.
Again, Suga and Oikawa have extremely similar skill sets. They’re analysts who know exactly how to bring out the best in their teams, they’re both brilliant players - and they acknowledge each other as such. The difference between them is their pride - with Oikawa’s being why he’s such a skilled player, while Suga’s is shown to be why he’s a great mentor. This also makes it important to note that neither of these prides - self-focused and team-focused - are negative. Rather, any negativity that one could blame on either of the boy’s pride is caused by another factor. Oikawa is a show of self-focsed pride, he wants to be the best, and it acts in his favour to make everyone else the best when he’s playing with them. That being said, it isn’t outright his pride and ambition that become the issue when it comes to Kageyama - rather it’s the fact that his pride joined up with jealousy. Had Oikawa’s pride been based on a more secure foundation, he likely could’ve been an amazing mentor. Sadly, he was dealing with insecurity at the idea of Kageyama being naturally talented, which led him to grow jealous of the younger boy. His pride made him ambitious, his insecurity made him jealous. Suga’s pride is more team-based, he serves the team because the team is where his pride lies. While some may think that him telling Coach Ukai to use Kageyama as the starting setter was a show of weakness or humility, that isn’t quite right. Suga is shown to be prideful throughout the series, but these moments always come when he’s helping others and watching those he’s mentored succeed. His pride shows in a way that lets him know when he needs to back down, including from the starting position. Him being the secondary setter is done out of pride for having a different way to help out, for finding a better way to be on the team - it’s not a completely selfless or weak decision.
Overall, pride within Haikyuu is shown to be a double-edged sword. Both Oikawa and Suga show off why pride is such a powerful weapon to wield, be it for one’s own ambition, or one’s want to serve those around them better. It’s shown to affect how a person will serve their team, as well as how it’ll affect relationships with those who look up to them. Both Suga and Oikawa are admirable characters, and both of them always have an undeniable drive to succeed - even if it’s shown in opposing ways. The two of them mirror each other in terms of skills, in how they bring out the best in their teams, and they show how pride can guide characters to success in completely different ways.
