The first major story beats of Haikyuu are
as loyal to the soul of the rest of the story as any introductory chapter or episode could
hope for. Overcome by grief and pain at not just his
loss, but the fact that that loss meant that he would not be able to continue doing what
he loves most, Hinata makes a declaration of war to his adversary, stating that he will
beat him and stay on the court longer than him - and note that the framing here is not
“I’m going to win the most games,” but instead “I’m going to be able to play
the most volleyball,” which is a subtle but very key distinction that says quite a
lot about the spirit of Haikyuu. Unperturbed, Tobio Kageyama’s words of response
are quite simple. The one who stays on the court the longest
is the one who is the strongest. So to beat him, Hinata is going to have to
get stronger. And while it may seem relatively standard,
it’s a reply that is deceivingly profound and deeply important mostly due to the tone. Kageyama does not doubt Hinata’s resolve,
he doesn’t look down on him, and he doesn’t laugh at the bold words from a player who
is clearly far more raw and unpolished than him. He regards him as an equal and accepts his
challenge, embracing the potential for this battle, and he even provides Hinata with honest
advice - keep working at it. And as we know about Kageyama, he isn’t
some wise hermit capable of giving elaborate, abstract advice based on extrapolations and
theories. He’s forthright and honest and speaks about
what he knows - so the sentiment here is clear - What on earth have you been doing for three
years? You can be better than this. You CAN challenge me, and I wouldn’t be
accepting this challenge otherwise. You may think you’ve been working hard,
but clearly you can do more, and I know this because I’VE been doing more. I’m so much stronger than you right now
- so catch up to me. In acknowledging the possibility of Hinata’s
declaration coming true, Kageyama’s response is a gesture of sincere respect. Because he sees something in Hinata - not
just in his athleticism, jumps and agility, but in his intangibles, in his conviction
and determination. There were many things that compelled him
about the little guy during the game, but the thing that struck him the most in my opinion
was not any of his physical feats. It was his chilling, unwavering words of determination
when facing what seems like an inevitable loss. To me Kageyama’s response to this brings
forth the idea that perhaps he isn’t superior to Hinata in every regard. Maybe there are one or two things he can learn
from him, which could be a factor in his reaction. And though neither of these two are able to
articulate what any of this exchange means directly with words, it strikes a chord with
Hinata, and he understands this show of respect and acknowledgement. He wipes away the tears, thanks his dear friends
for helping him, and gets to work to back up his words. This unbelievable player, this king of the
court - he believes that Hinata has it within him to challenge him one day. And Hinata believes it too, but now he has
that extra bit of motivation to keep going, because if he does things right, he will have
someone at the end of this path waiting for him. From the minute we see him looking on in awe
and inspiration at the little giant, it’s clear that Hinata has this otherworldly hunger
for the court, but unfortunately for him, he had nothing but scraps to work with for
a great deal of his early childhood. He was unlucky to be born short, but he was
also unlucky in that he was raised in an environment that never gave him access to volleyball like
a lot of the other characters in the story. His family was never interested in it and
his school didn’t have a team, so he always had to go above and beyond even as a young
kid just to partake. Forming a mishmash of a team out of sheer
will where there wasn’t one, doing whatever he could and going wherever he needed to to
simply get some practice.. Hinata’s drive to make the best of a bad
situation was admirable and immediately makes him likeable and sympathetic. But of course, this approach had a very clear
ceiling, and the rallying call for Hinata to expand his horizons for the first and arguably
most significant time came in the form of both help and a challenge from the words of
someone who was very much a kindred spirit. After ramping up his own training, joining
Karasuno was a huge first step because it allowed him to play with a proper team for
the first time and experience what he dreamt about for so long. He formed a beautifully flawed yet symbiotic
partnership with the one who, due to his own faults, had been deprived of hitters who believed
in him enough to be on the end of his sets. And Hinata complimented that perfectly by
being the one who had been starved of sets and was grateful for anything coming his way. The weirdo duo was formed, and simply being
part of a team, something which a lot of people tend to taken for granted, was such a blessing
for this boy who had not ever experienced this before. It was all a huge step in the right direction
for him personally. But as we quickly learn, Hinata is never someone
to settle. Every time he reaches a goal, he revels in
it and fully takes everything in, before struggling with all he can to get to the next benchmark
in this arduous climb to the top - sometimes using very flawed and selfish methods to get
there, which we’ll explore in a bit. From joy at joining the team and being acknowledged
as a player that can contribute, to wanting to progress and develop his spiking technique
and quicks to improve, to wanting to defeat Seijoh and put the past horrors behind them,
to wanting to fulfill his declaration against Ushijima and go to Nationals. He is never satisfied with staying in one
place, always wanting to grow. But soon enough, he found that continuous
progression would not be possible without drastically changing something. Qualifying for Nationals was a huge landmark
for Karasuno and Hinata. The team had all cleared the huge obstacle,
the third years had achieved their dream and they were fallen crows no more. Needless to say, Hinata was on a huge high. But in the midst of their period of training
prior to the big tournament, he was struck with harsh reality. Kageyama was invited to an All-Japan youth
training camp for exceptional talents viewed as prospects for the national team, and Tsukishima
was invited to a program for Miyagi’s most impressive first years by Washijou, Shiratorizawa’s
head coach. But Hinata was left by the wayside, aimless
and devastated, with sky high ambitions disproportionate to his current trajectory. But what helped spur him to action were words
that were once again a strange combination of a brutal challenge, and an odd sort of
guidance that somewhat mirrored his first fateful encounter with Kageyama. Of course, this was framed in a much less
encouraging and much more cutting way, and there wasn’t too much here in terms of specifics,
but in spite of that there was still some extremely productive things to take away from
this that laid some uncomfortable truths bare. The worst thing about Washijou’s words weren’t
how petty they were, how disrespectful they are to the work Hinata has put in or how ignorant
they seemed. What hurt Hinata most about this is that deep
in his mind, he knew that there was a kernel of truth there. Washijou definitely could have phrased this
better, and while he was defiant in not respecting Hinata due to his pride which made his statement
highly exaggeratory, the core of what he was saying was something that Hinata couldn’t
find himself arguing against. And as a result, this can actually be viewed
as a very well-disguised way of assisting Hinata to help him reach his next checkpoint,
perhaps willed on by the small boy inside Washijou that once held the same dream as
the one he resents. It’s very characteristic of the man, with
the harsh language being indicative of his bitterness and regret, and the possible intent
of guiding Hinata to broaden his perspective reflecting his grudging respect for him and
his potential. Washijou’s sentiment was very true. While he learned to improve in the air and
adjust to all kinds of sets prior to the Miyagi qualifiers, Hinata was still a limited player. He was a fantastic decoy, a great scorer and
generally a terrific offensive weapon that kept things varied and dynamic for Karasuno,
but that was about it. Kageyama even said it in the midst of the
Shiratorizawa game - that most of his fundamentals were poor, and his only job was only to score
points. But that isn’t enough for Hinata. He is possessed by this insatiable hunger
and passion for volleyball, so much so that it bursts at the seams. He never wants to stop. He doesn’t want to simply be an important
player - he wants to be the best. And so he cannot take being stuck in this
role. Not only does it put a ceiling on his potential,
but it also does the same for his team, and on some level he realizes this before Washijou
even confronts him about it. It’s by far the lowest we see Hinata, as
he struggles to come to grips with such a frightening idea. What if he’s plateaud? The sticking point isn’t that he still has
a long way to go, because that has never deterred our boy - it’s that he currently finds himself
stuck and unable to understand how to progress and continue on that road as those around
him leave him in the dust. So out of desperation, he does something incredibly
reckless by sneaking into Tsukishima’s camp, and declaring himself to be ball boy after
Washijou’s challenge. Hinata is a kid with dreams that reach beyond
the stars, so naturally he is flawed and selfish and driven. He is this ball of sunshine and joy and kindness,
but he’s also tunnel-visioned and self-interested, which isn’t a bad thing in and of itself
and is actually necessary for his end goal, but it’s important to acknowledge that he
is human and he has a tendency to put his own needs first. The main reason he wanted to perfect the quick
was not because it would help the team, but because it would help him fight in the air
on his own and get better - which ended up being the right choice for him and the team,
which he may have foreseen, but is regardless an illustration of his self-interest. Though I have to stress that this does not
at all render his other traits void - Hinata is so obviously someone that pushes all those
around him to be better, who inspires everyone, who is unflinchingly kind and wonderful. Yet even still, Hinata wouldn’t be Hinata
without his tendency to put himself first, and those with lofty goals who hesitate to
be selfish will likely not brute force open the road to growth in the way Hinata does. Those who want to be the best need to be a
little selfish, and it is no crime whatsoever to put yourself first. As far as I’m concerned, this is a clear
and intentional element to his character that is commented upon by both the tone and events
of the story, and it isn’t an accident that Furudate refers to Hinata’s attitude here
as Greed through the characters’ reactions to his desire to grow. And this is far from the only example. He sneaks into the camp with no regards for
those around him who would be affected by this because to him, the most important thing
is that he keeps getting better - and he justifiably gets chewed out. Of course we love Hinata, but being completely
honest, a good deal of his treatment here wasn’t unwarranted. He wasn’t invited, so why should they accomodate
someone who broke the rules? Washijou is the king of petty and says some
things that cut deep, but the heart of his words were true, and not only was he not under
any obligations to adhere to Hinata’s desire to take part and play in the camp, but what
he ended up doing was far more valuable for him and nudged him in the right direction. However I’m getting ahead of myself, because
before Hinata came to these realizations, he was in the darkest place we had ever seen
him. From scoring the winning point to send his
team to Nationals, to being a ball boy for a training camp you were never invited to. Yet even though I’ve just gone to lengths
to talk about how reckless and foolhardy he was in sneaking in, it’s still a very understandable
thing that Hinata does here if you really put yourself in his shoes and conceptualize
how much inner turmoil he was going through. Of course he’d grasp for straws, and of
course he’d answer the challenge. And to his great credit, he is able to toss
aside his ego to stay at the camp as ball boy, stripped down to nothing and embarrassed
and humiliated. It’s a huge step for him to do this, because
as we learned throughout the series, evolution can only really be properly achieved through
taking a step or two back as you struggle to progress forward. And this is something like fifty steps back,
filling the bottles and fetching the balls for players who he’s beaten. I have utmost respect for Hinata for swallowing
his pride and accepting this, and humbling himself here ends up being a valuable lesson. But he still feels this gnawing anxiety echoed
by those around him. What is the plan? Why is he here? It’s great that he’s willing to do this,
but is this not just a variation of what he was doing before - Just charging in with no
real idea or plan of how to improve beyond his current limits? But then it all clicks for him. This is a new view - a fresh perspective he’s
never seen before. A far broader one than he’s ever known due
to having only ever focused on where his hunger directed his attention. Jumping ability, the traits of a great decoy,
nearly unrivalled passion and a telepathic connection with his setter are all great,
but most of those are elements that are highly dependent on Kageyama being able to bring
the best out of them. On his own, what can Hinata bring to the table? What can he do to balance out his reflexes,
hunger and jumping prowess with refined technique, strategic know-how and all-around quality? This is where Hinata exhales, takes a step
back and brings himself down so that he fully take in the mountain that he is trying to
scale. It’s a
type of patience and maturity that we aren’t used to seeing from him, and this changes
him as a player significantly by teaching him the value of taking in the entire court. Learning tactics, examining habits, seeing
how players react to different situations, observing the pattern of the game, honing
his defensive positioning and capabilities, and as a result, converting all of this into
polished intuition. He isn’t tall, he doesn’t have great defensive
instincts, and he’s mediocre in every regard aside from what it takes to be a great decoy. And because that just isn’t enough for him,
Hinata must make up for his disadvantages and insufficiencies. He is characterized by this near survival
instinct to stay on the court, but the Ballboy arc shows that he is far from one-minded - he
is self-aware and willing to break himself down and start from the bottom to build himself
up again from a more solid foundation, to be stronger than ever before. With the mentality and attributes that he
has, this was always something that he was going to have to do to continue to climb,
and by the end of the camp, he realizes this just as well as Washijou seemed to from the start. Although of course, significant improvement
such as this is a gradual process and the end results are not instantaneous. Putting what he learned into practice, Hinata
got in the correct positions, but wasn’t able to pull things off in the early stages
of the competition. But those around him saw that he was doing
the right things, meaning that it was only a matter of time before he got things right. The only question being - would he be able
to do it in the moments where it counted most, right here and right now in the biggest games
at Nationals? Well.. why the hell not. And in putting it all together in this moment
and examining how he reacts, in my opinion Haikyuu shows us a new side to Hinata’s
entire perspective when it comes to his hunger and how that relates to his playing style. Once upon a time, Hinata might have said and
thought that he was only interested in spiking. That was all he really focused on, and it
seemed as though scoring points was what he was hungry for. But in re-examining himself, he realizes that
as much as he loves scoring, what he loves even more than that is playing the sport of
volleyball as a whole. Being a limited player meant that scoring
was something that he could do, that came more easily to him than anything else, and
as such it was the most tangible thing he could conceptualize as progress towards staying
on the court longer and playing more, which is his consistent ultimate goal. You score points, you get closer to victory,
you get to play more volleyball. But in taking a step back, taking a breath
and seeing how much there is to the sport, he sees that he can channel his hunger into
so much more than rushing forward to hit some tosses. He sees that being able to prevent losing
a point is nearly as important as scoring one, and the story presents us with a bit
of a reframing here, as we realize that he wanted to spike and score not just because
he loved that action itself, but because he was hungry for the only way he knew to contribute
to playing more volleyball. He could hardly serve, he couldn’t defend
very well most of the time, and his fundamentals were all lacking in polish, so the only way
he knew to influence things so that Karasuno could keep playing was scoring. He may have liked it best, but he dove headfirst
into spiking partly because that was the only way he could contribute and his headstrong
determination to keep playing dictated that he channeled everything into contributing. He did work hard to make the occasional last
ditch save and the occasional block, but Hinata was still very much a player playing a role. But once the avenue opens up for him to play
a part in victory in alternate ways, we see that exact same look in his eyes that we’d
conflate with his spikes - now applied to how he feels receiving. That fire, that primitive need.. it’s the
same look in his eyes here as it ever was. It’s all volleyball, and now he has the
tools to satiate his hunger in all sorts of ways. Everything about playing in matches is his
lifeblood. And so what he wants more than anything is
to continue to stay on the court and keep playing so he can experience the joy that
the sport gives him. It is what he wants to be doing for the rest
of his life for as long as humanly possible, and while spikes are a huge part of that,
a narrow focus on them will not bring him the best results in that regard. Him being a better all-around player will. So not only does Hinata pull off a perfect
receive against one of the top aces in the nation, but he gets that thrill from it and
states with confidence that he will do it again. And he does. He is now hungry for receives as much as spikes,
because he desires to continue to push himself and see what he can do to play more. A world of possibilities is opened to him
at this point, and in a character journey that would please Kita, this end result is
the bi-product of the effort that he put in day-by-day prior to this. He’ll take anything that comes his way. Any type of set, any opportunity to block,
any chance to receive to keep his team in the game. Anything that provides him with the opportunity
to keep playing. And he’ll accept it all with that same grateful
smile. That is the greatest high for Hinata - those
moments where everything comes together and you almost transcend reality, whether it be
through blocks, receives or spikes. And if he can continuously find new and different
ways to achieve those moments, then you bet your ass he’ll try. A flame was lit when a young, idealistic little
boy first saw the little giant on TV all those years ago, and that little boy used that flame
to fuel himself. But the landscape of his volleyball world
changed in the bleak midwinter at a camp in Shiratorizawa, where that boy learned to step
back and finally takein the world of opportunities in front of him. And he learned, and pushed himself, and broke
down and rebuilt, and the moment all of these things came together.. I think it’s fair to say that a monster
was born, more hungry than ever before and equipped have his fill. For the first time in his life, Hinata Shouyou
has all the raw tools needed to achieve his dream, and the perfect challenge ahead of
him in the rest of Nationals. And if things go well, maybe he’ll eventually
be able to fulfill his declaration of war from all that time ago as repayment for the
first person who ever really showed true belief in him. Many thanks for watching.
