breaking all my bones on the soccer field

- @soccerpunching

absolutely I'm doing this it's fun :DD

Oh boy do I have thoughts about Genda. I don't talk about him a lot because sometimes I feel like I don't interpret him correctly? Which is a slightly wild thought, king barely has more screen time than like Henmi, so pretty much anything I come up with could very well be the truth. I also base like all of my thoughts on him on the og series, even if he gets more screen time in are/ori, but honestly, ja gardzę are/or,i so I don't much care about his portrayal in that show (however the only reason i'd watch are/ori is to see more of him and other Teikoku people)

Anyway, onto the actual thoughts! I always saw him as a pretty intimidating guy (not a delinquent by any means, just...imposing) but with a huge soft spot especially for his teammates. It's so clear how much he loves his friend, even despite how little time in the spotlight he gets. My man snapped out from the influence of a fuckass magical rock from space (don't get me started on the meteorite, I have a whole document where I try to analyze the neurological and physiological effects it has on a person, it's my personal nightmare) because he saw Sakuma pass out during the match with Shin Teikoku like BRO--

The fact that he appears in NEO Japan and it's just never elaborated on is crazy to me. Y'all. What are we doing? Personally to me it seemed kinda out of character? But I could be wrong. But if we already have him there then why didn't we go anywhere with it? So much potential! He would be the perfect person for Saginuma to bond over trying to overcome an insanely unhealthy relationship with winning at all costs. Oh well. Such was the will of Level-5 I suppose.

Uhhhhh headcanons, headcanons, I have so many! but I'm gonna share two here 'cause they are kinda correlated in a way?

First one: while Genda is an only child, he lived very close with his extended family and the sheer amount of younger cousins makes it so that he has that older brother energy, despite not being one.

Second one: (this one might be more out here, i'm stressing over here) in my mind he's a year older than most of the people on the team. He got held up once and it hit him very hard. He proceeded to develop an even unhealthier than before relationship with academic performance and the concept of failure overall. Kageyama fucked over all of these kids and I feel like that's not really talked about (which is understandable, most of the members of Teikoku are background characters. Just like...man...I feel so bad for them)

gooooood I have so many thoughts about him apparently, this is just the tip of the iceberg. maybe I should start posting more text posts about this show. I definitely have the material for it.

It's not outright spelled, but a trait prominent in Genda one can see in Everyday!! is Pride. He takes deep pride as Teikoku's goalkeeper and someone who assures his teammates that their goal, and the team are safe. It's not necessarily his flaw although it /can/ be his flaw, but same trait is also his strength. It's just what make Genda, Genda.

So to answer the questions, my theories are that 1. Because Genda is the third most prominent goalkeeper in the series; and 2. Genda hasn't fully recovered from the blow on his pride, especially in Shin Teikoku.

Genda fell for Fudou's taunting because he blamed himself for his failures during Teikoku vs Zeus, and for Kidou's transfer to Raimon. Then Shin Teikoku happened and Genda's pride took another blow. But not as a goalkeeper, it's his pride as teammate, a friend, and as Genda Koujirou.

First he had to see Sakuma destroying his body, the result of his failure of keeping others safe. THEN he saw the same person he failed to protect immediately asking their best friend Kidou "let's play soccer again". My theory on why do they show a frame of Genda in upset expression is that the whole Kisaku convo makes Genda blame even himself more. He feels weak, less in physical skill, but in mental strength. In his eyes, Sakuma (and Kidou) became the embodiment of strength (of heart). He feels absolutely wrecked. And that frustration translate to him eventually joining Neo Japan.

It's also important to note that Genda has animal motif of big cats that are usually solitary animals (and male lion hunt solitarily instead of in pack like female lions do). Gayuma (aka soccerpunching and the asker) pointed it out in my and their convo that Genda uses a group hisatsu in Neo Japan. His desperation leads him to finally participate in group instead of working alone!

As for why is Neo Japan interactions aren't elaborated on is that it was because the mini arc was made to fill time slot so that they could time start of FFI along with game release hahah. But if you're interested you can read this fanfic featuring Genda and Saginuma :}

for lyion:

ok firstly sorry it took me this long to reply but im going over my replies currently

🤝 on the idrc about the areori counterparts bcs who the hell are those guys...

OMG DO YOU HAVE THE ALIEA METEORITE EFFECTS DOCUMENT AVAILABLE? i'd love to read that!!

also i get that it seemed ooc for him to be in neo japan but it was mostly bcs it wasnt elaborated on and they didnt give him any screentime at all aside from a few scenes prior to what happened 😔😔

and YES who doesnt like the intimidating guy with a soft spot!!!!

i agree sm with the saginuma bonding over they have so much in common. like they're both traditional and conforms and play with traditional values in very specific ways. like they're traumatized by it both. which would have resulted in their relationship with winning/losing.

I LOVE THIS MANY COUSINS INTERPRETATION OF GENDA SM. that would explain a lot of things. but especially how most people in Teikoku who are most obviously only children or being from a small nuclear family as rich kids acts towards him (with full respect and looks up to him).

oughh his teammates being all younger than him fucking him OUGHHHH. . that one is so painful... and right you are. kageyama when i get yoouuuu... and i do feel like the reason a lot of these kids were with kageyama in the first place is because their parents have values that agrees with kageyama (toxic masculinity + patriarchy) so they either chose to be there or their parents did. that's also how kageyama had free reign other them.

YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY POST MORE TEXT POSTS. I NEED TO SEE

to kari:

KARI ADDED ALL THAT TO MAKE ME CRY SPECIFICALLY (LIE).

thank you for adding that genda frame.bcs it was so. the entire stretcher scene hurts me sm. yeah :(((

OMG GAYUMA JUMPSCARE MENTION

as someone with npd i never see aphrodi with the intentions/mindset/motivations that people with npd would have. and right you are with his struggles with empathizing with people but still knows (from experience) that people, especially children, shouldn't be left with those conflicting feelings on their own (because I feel like that's in large part of why he accepted kageyama and kami no aqua). i loved that you mentioned his seeming neutrality with fifth sector because i think that was a really good show of his character...

It felt wrong not to draw SOMETHING for victory road FINALLY RELEASING.