Crow 3.0

Okay first of all, let’s get this out of the way. Aoi is a brat. I kept thinking so all throughout the movie. Do I love her anyway? Yes. But she’s a brat and I got irritated with her self-centeredness.

Akane, on the other hand? I love her so much. She’s so sweet and I was rooting for her and Shinosuke the whole time. Honestly I admire her. She’s got such a good heart and an amazing work ethic and she’s so selfless. It’s inspiring!

I’m gonna mention Tsugu because I loved him throughout the whole movie. He’s probably one of my favorites. I could tell pretty early on he had a thing for Aoi, and I was glad to be proven right. He’s a good kid and he’s good for her and when he‘s older I think they’ll be a great match! (When I tell you I turned to AO3 and was crushed to discover that not only are there no fics about them, there are no Her Blue Sky fics in general.)

I don’t like Shinosuke. I just can’t bring myself to. He’s an arrogant jerk and a drunk. But the scene where he played for Akane and made her laugh made me happy. And if she still loves him and he makes her happy and if he’s going to get his head screwed on straight and treat her right, then I’m happy they’re together.

Now, time for my favorite character…

Shinno!

OH MY GOSH I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. WHAT THE HECK. He’s such a sweet guy and he cares so much about Akane and he’s such a good big-brother-figure to Aoi!! He’s such a goofball and so optimistic and a bit childish and he’s got so much golden retriever energy, but he’s also really mature.

I think I have a new fictional crush, y’all.

Look at this idiot /affectionate

Like SIR. WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO BE SO GOSH DARN FREAKIN’ ADORABLE!?

have I convinced you to watch it yet?

Seriously. It’s well worth it even if only for him (Akane and Tsugu are so worth it too btw. I love them both.)

Okay Shinno is definitely the best character!!! I agree with everything you said except I think he would be a lot better if they solidified him as the older brother figure. There’s that strange, random, out of nowhere romance/crush situation with him and Aoi and it confuses me so much. I get her likening him but I feel like it would have made more sense for him to shut it down and say “you’re like my little sister” rather than say “it wouldn’t work out” yk? But other than that HE IS SO SWEET AND CARING ENDUHCRENEHURFC ITS GREAT. I also really really like his conversation with Shinosuke.

I also wish they showed the concert at the end!!! Even if it was just while credits rolled I would’ve loved to see it!!

Overall I got a little lost sometimes during the movie but I liked it!! It was sweet and pretty funny :D

OH MY GOSH I THINK THAT HAS TO BE MY FAVORITE SEASON YET!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Okay. Okay. Breathing. Let me go over my thoughts.

Let’s start with the opening and ending. WOW!!!! This is definitely my favorite opening so far. It was so intense and so beautiful and it was the perfect representation of this season! That scene where Hinata is spiking and it turns into a crow flying with the sun in the background is just gorgeous and made my eyes teary <3 In the same vein, the ending is my favorite ending. I love how chill and laid-back it is, a much needed breather before jumping into the next episode or transitioning into doing something else. ALSO ALL THE BOYS ARE HERE!!! AAAHH! I was stoked to see all the teams we’ve played against with all their players! It made me so so happy! Two things in particular that I just could not get over every time I watched the ending credits (which was nearly every time, unless I needed that time to process or Netflix automatically skipped before I could tell it not to): 1. Nishinoya was flying. 2. OIKAWA. They did an AMAZING job on him because I could visualize him walking to the beat of the music just off of that one frozen pose. I could see his little nonchalant strut even though he wasn’t moving, and I was just continuously blown away by that.

Okay, moving on to the actual show itself.

LITTLE THINGS THAT I LOVED:

• OUR BOYS FINALLY GOT THE CHEERING SECTION THEY DESERVE!!! I nearly teared up at this. I’ve always been so upset that the other teams have all these people cheering for them and our boys don’t. Not that the people we do have aren’t doing a good job or aren’t special, because they are, but the boys deserve to have a cheering section just like everybody else. They’ve worked SO HARD. • I loved how all the boys had their own special high-fives with Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda! That was so sweet :) • TAKEDA GETTING THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES! • Suga getting more and more unhinged • Daichi got to spike! • Saeko calling Hinata “Shoyo” • Suga, to Kageyama: *doing adorable little jumps* “If you’re exhausted I can switch with you at anytime!” • BABY SENIORS!!!! (I know they’re only first years there but shhhh) BABY SENIORS!!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! They’re so cute!!!! • SUGA CAN SPIKE!? HECK YEAH!!

NOT-SO-LITTLE THING THAT I LOVED:

Oikawa and Iwaizumi coming to see the match. Aside from the fact that they were both rocking their casual clothes, I loved their commentary on the game! Their analyses were really neat, and I loved getting to see them one more time, especially together! I love their dynamic. Also Oikawa shooing Iwaizumi out of the gym saying “I’d rather die than see the awards ceremony” made me cackle.

PEOPLE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT A LITTLE MORE IN-DEPTH:

Starting with…

My boy <3 I will readily admit to being worried about him pretty much through the whole season. When he had trouble with that receive right at the end of episode 1 and I saw the look on his face, I started panicking. And then the above gif happened and I was overcome with relief, because that little smirk told me he was going to be fine. Except he kept struggling, and he was getting frustrated, and I kept worrying because A) He’s my favorite and I’m very emotionally attached, so watching him struggle (mentally) would’ve hurt (worse), and B) I knew that if he got stuck in his head there would’ve been no way we could’ve won. That’s not a dig at the rest of the team, and that’s not my favoritism talking. The team needs Noya to be on his A-game mentally and physically because he’s their safety net. I wasn’t sure what to make of his “the only one equal to Ushijima is me” at first, but then Tsukki agreed (and I think Ukai did too) and Noya reminded me that he can back up that claim. HIS SAVE IN EPISODE 9 WAS AMAZING!!!! I adore his relationships with the first years, but especially with Tsukki and Hinata. His dynamic with Tsukki really got to shine this season and I loved it!! And of course I’ll always love the shorty duo and the fact that Noya calls Hinata by his first name. Last thing I want to say before I move on: I said I was worried about him pretty much all throughout this season. Truth be told, I still am. You wanna know why? Because of this line right here from episode 5: “I can’t let us keep losing.” It immediately stood out to me and set off my alarm bells. He’s trying to carry the weight of the end results by himself. THAT’S SO MUCH PRESSURE! And I think the other part that concerns me is that it sounds so reminiscent of the line of thinking that eventually led to Asahi quitting after the match with Date Tech. Am I worried Noya will quit? No. Am I worried that he’s going to hit a wall and have a really hard time because he’s still putting so much pressure on himself? Absolutely. Time will tell, but I hope I’m wrong.

I love Tanaka so so much. I don’t have very much to say but I wanted to talk about him a little bit. First: TANAKA GOT SOME AWESOME SPIKES IN!! He’d better be the ace after the seniors graduate! He’d be so good in that role! Second: A moment of appreciation for Tanaka getting smacked in the face with the ball, knocked to the floor, hopping up, and going “yeah I totally meant for that to happen, that was my plan all along!” Third, and the main thing I wanted to talk about: Tanaka and the first years. I love how even though he doesn’t have a biological younger sibling he is such an older brother. He loves being someone they can look up to and come to for help, he loves teasing them and messing with them, and he’s so proud of them when they succeed! His proud little smile when Ukai’s talking to Tsukki about being the mvp, him supporting Hinata during a block, his haiku! Even more than his relationship with the first years in general though, I love his relationship with Hinata and Kageyama. I love that in season 1 he basically looked at them and went “is anybody gonna adopt those two?” and ignored everyone who answered. I love that he’s the one who got them to Tokyo, how he ruffles Hinata’s hair, that he’s the one who got Kageyama to start high-fiving people. And I love how when all was said and done with this match, it was the two of them he hugged. I just love how much Tanaka loves, okay? He’s got such a big heart even if he hides it behind an attempt at an edgy exterior.

We interrupt our compilation of Karasuno focused thoughts to bring in the one character from Shiratorizawa I really want to talk about…

Yep. That’s right. We’re gonna talk about Tendo. Okay, from the minute he appeared on screen something about his vibes and facial expressions made me incredibly uncomfortable. I disliked him on principle as a result. Him blocking Hinata and being smug irritated me, but more than anything at this point something about him just made uncomfortable. I can’t even tell you what it was because I don’t exactly know. Something in the way he carries himself and in the faces he makes. Then Yamaguchi finally got swapped in, and then immediately got swapped out, and Tendo sang a song about it deliberately loud enough for Yamaguchi to hear and THAT was it for me. No more “you’re irritating.” No more “you make me uncomfortable.” It was now 100% “I hate you.” I hated him more than I ever hated Oikawa (the only other character I used that word for). And then we got backstory on his past in volleyball. And I saw him being outcast because he was “the weird kid” and I guess maybe that kinda hit a little close to home even if it didn’t register as I was watching. Because I immediately felt sympathy for him and that combined with his dynamic with Ushijima was enough to change how I looked at him. Was I still mad about Yamaguchi? Yeah. But I couldn’t look at Tendo anymore without seeing someone who’d finally found his people and his place doing something he loves after being “the weird kid nobody wants to hang out with”. His dynamic with Ushijima, the fact that they’re actually friends?? So endearing. So yeah. I like Tendo now that I’ve gotten to know him!

Back to our regularly scheduled Karasuno…

Tsukki.

He’s grown SO MUCH!!! AAAAAHHHH!!! I’M SO PROUD OF HIM!!!!!! Okay so first the entire “oh look, it’s the normal guy” “Hi I’m the normal guy” exchange was gold! And when Tendo was talking about how much Tsukki was irritating him and Tsukki’s just like “Thanks! :D” I kid you not it’s in my notes as being the thing that made me love Tsukki. Honestly the amount (6) of “YES TSUKKI, GET HIM!!!”s in my notes is self-explanatory to my thoughts. So I’ll talk about the other notes I made on him :) HE DID IT!!! HE BLOCKED!!! And he got to start leading the timing on the blocking and IT WORKED!!!! HE’S IN!!! HE’S FINALLY ALL IN!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! Oh, I’m so proud!!! I love how when he got pulled out of the game he didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay. He’s come so far from “it’s just a club” I think you should know that the only thing from episode 8 I found important enough to make a note about was, and I quote, “TSUKKI IS BACK!!!” And I LOVE how in episode 9 he went right to Ukai and was like basically like “Put me back in the game right now” but in Tsukki language. I love that Noya and Yamaguchi both ran straight for Tsukki after the win! And he didn’t really fight them on it! AND THEN UKAI CALLING HIM THE MVP!! AND TANAKA AGREEING!!!

Tsukki has changed so much and I absolutely love him now :)

Alright, post-win details I want to talk about:

• THE SENIORS HUGGING AND BREAKONG DOWN TOGETHER!!! AH MY BOYS! <3 • Noya and Kageyama dragging Hinata to go line up XD • Yamaguchi yelling some sense into Tsukki!!! That made me so happy and so proud of Yamaguchi!! • SUGA GOT TO HOLD THE TROPHY!!!!

• I like the addition of Yachi! She fits in nicely and her friendship with Hinata is adorable!

• Tanaka is such a good big brother figure. He came running to break up the fight when Yachi asked, he got his sister to drive Hinata and Kageyama to Tokyo, he’s generally just got people’s backs, and he’s encouraging. I love him <3

• I NEED TO KNOW THAT OTHER PEOPLE RECOGNIZED THAT NOYA CALLS SAEKO “Saeko-nēsan” BECAUSE IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. Noya is an honorary Tanaka and I love it!!!!

• Just because it was my two favorites interacting, appreciation for Suga tutoring Noya! It was a small scene but it made me very happy.

• Training camp Arc was AWESOME!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!! • Nekoma is pretty cool. I didn’t have any strong opinions on any of them initially but I like them more now. Kenma seems like a sweetheart, and I love Kuroo. I also like Yaku, even though he doesn’t get much screen time. • BOKUTO. THAT’S IT. JUST. BOKUTO. AAAHHH I LOVE HIM!!!!! He’s got so much golden retriever energy and he seems like such a genuinely great guy! I loved his dynamic with Kuroo and Tsukki, and also his dynamic with Hinata!

• Appreciation for Yamaguchi yelling at Tsukki! I stand by my theory of Tsukki being Yamaguchi’s safe person, and speaking from experience, it is not easy to confront your safe person about anything. • Appreciation for Tsukki actually listening to Yamaguchi!!! This is where I went from not liking him to wanting to see him grow more. Is he a jerk? Yeah. But he’s a sympathetic jerk and he’s doing some growing as a person. I want to see where he ends up!

• Appreciation for Noya teaching Hinata diving receives. Like yeah he laughed at him first but then he said “here, let me show you” and did and Hinata can do them now!! Big brother vibes honestly, in a different way from Tanaka’s, but still there.

• Appreciation for Tanaka and Noya ganging up on Hinata. And honestly just for their trio in general? Their trio is so fun and gives me warm feelings :)

• Getting into tournament stuff now, let’s start with Hinata being ganged up on outside the bathroom. That was hilarious! XD

• WHY DO I ACTUALLY LIKE THESE OTHER TEAMS?? Like I’m over here getting emotional over the other teams trying their best and still losing! • I just want to highlight Johzenji specifically because I personally really enjoyed watching them. They were so entertaining!!! Like yeah I know all the teams love the game or they wouldn’t be playing, but Johzenji looked like they were having fun, and it was contagious. Yeah, they had to learn to take it more seriously if they wanted to go further, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying the game. They’re the only team that seems to legitimately be having fun playing, and it really set them apart. Like after Karasuno they’re probably my favorite team. Anyways, Johzenji ramble over, moving on.

• Love Hinata protecting Kiyoko! He was so scared but it was so sweet :)

• I don’t remember where exactly this happened but I’m gonna talk about it now because I can: Suga being a little gremlin. He karate-chopped Asahi in the stomach for being negative, and then when Daichi came back from the medic Suga punched him in the gut for no reason. • You might be thinking, “Crow, you always talk about how sweet Suga is and how that’s why you like him so much. Does this change anything?” The answer is no. No it does not. He’s still a sweetheart, he’s just also a gremlin and I think it’s funny.

• LET’S TALK ABOUT DAICHI!! • The other reason the Johzenji match is my favorite is because of how much Daichi got to shine. THAT SCENE OF HIM WITH THE JOHZENJI BANNER IN THE BACKGROUND!!!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! • Listen, I liked Daichi from season 1, but he was always kinda just there for me. This match changed that SO MUCH! Like the reasons he didn’t stand out (No personal struggles of his own, no obnoxious defining trait, kinda works in the background) are the same reasons that he stood out so much during the Johzenji match! To quote the banner, Daichi is “Simplicity and Fortitude”. He’s simple, in that his defining traits are being stable and hardworking (traits that don’t grab a lot of attention), and he’s fortitude, in that not only does he keep going, but he keeps the team going. AH I LOVE THAT MATCH!!!! • Also I’m gonna talk about the incident here really quick just from the perspective of why Daichi is so important. And that’s because he keeps the team together. He’s their stability. He works in the background, but he’s SO ESSENTIAL. I’m glad he’s okay and he’s back now.

• Just wanted to make sure I mentioned that I’m so proud of Ennoshita! He did a good job filling in and he’ll be an excellent captain after the third years graduate.

• Also poor Tanaka felt so bad about running into Daichi. I think my favorite thing about him is just how much he cares about his teammates. He’s a big old softie <3

• I don’t remember when exactly this happened because all the episodes run together when you binge them like I did, BUT, Noya’s libero set!!!!!! It made me so happy!!!! He did it!!! • Additional remark on this: I loved seeing him work with Suga and Asahi on it! Also him scolding Asahi for trying to make him feel better instead of telling him how to be better.

• Yamaguchi!! I would like to say that when he didn’t do his jump float serve and Ukai got mad at him my reaction was basically this:

Like the boy has only gotten to serve in one other official match and he missed. You thought he was anxious the first time you swapped him in? GUESS WHAT! NOW HE’S GOT THE ONLY OTHER GAME HE PLAYED IN HANGING OVER HIM TOO! Oooh, I was so mad. There is no reason for Ukai to have been yelling at this boy, especially when Yamaguchi is clearly anxious already and THEN Ukai keeps swapping him in only at crucial points. That’s a lot of pressure, especially for A FIRST YEAR who spends the majority of his time ON THE BENCH. Sorry. I have a lot of feelings about this. I’m moving on now because it’s making me mad again. • Alternatively, when he did do his serve and he kept scoring!? AAAAHHHHH!!! HE DID IT!!!!!!!! I was so so so excited and so proud of him!!!!! He’s grown a lot and it’s been so delightful to watch :)

• Suga and Kageyama’s two setter move was SO COOL!!!!

I’m gonna wrap this up because there are so many things and I can’t possible cover them all. So, two more things I want to touch on:

• Seijoh. Both the match as a whole and with a focus on Oikawa. • This match was SO INTENSE. WOW. I loved it! But it was so intense. It was really amazing seeing how everyone had grown! • I think Mad Dog is the only Haikyu character I dislike. He irritated me because he’s arrogant and entitled and disrespectful. I appreciate how Seijoh managed to work with him though! Props to them. • Small pause from the Seijoh focus to appreciate that Noya’s reaction to Oikawa’s serve was a starry-eyed “I want to receive that!” • Speaking of Oikawa, I… honestly don’t quite know what to say? But I knew I wanted to talk about him some, so I guess I’m just gonna start. • I hated Oikawa through all of season 1 and most of season 2. By all rights I should still hate him for how he treated little Kageyama. So why the heck do I like him now? I can’t even explain it. I just looked at him one day and went “Stupid (/affectionate)” and that was that. • I’d like to appreciate how determined his was during those last few points. He launched himself backward with his final set, CRASHED BACK FIRST INTO A TABLE AND CHAIRS, and still got back in there. • Last thing I want to talk about is how his last set of high school was to Iwaizumi. He didn’t have to set across the whole court, but he chose to because he wanted to set to his best friend, the team’s ace, one last time. I loved that! And I loved that he hauled off and whacked Iwaizumi on the back after they lost and Iwa was breaking, because it’s what Iwa would’ve done if the roles were reversed.

Okay. Last thing I wanted to talk about was this:

The amount of happiness this scene brings me is just… ah! I replayed it multiple times. The team already huddling up and waiting on Noya and Hinata to complete the group hug. Noya and Hinata with 0 prior communication deciding “Yes, we should jump at our teammates to hug them” and then doing it in sync. THEM TACKLE-HUGGING THE ENTIRE TEAM AND LAUGHING ABOUT IT. The way that I’m sure after the initial shock wore off the rest of the team found it endearing. The joy from winning. The camaraderie. The relief. The way it’s the ENTIRE TEAM, including everyone who was on the bench. Man. I love this scene.

Alright, that’s all I have to say about season 2. If there’s anything I didn’t talk about or something I touched on but didn’t get into and you’d like to know my thoughts, feel free to send an ask!

Okay, I’m not gonna structure this by episode or anything. I’m just gonna talk. Starting with…

Kageyama

HE’S GROWN UP SO MUCH SINCE THE BEGINNING!!! I’M SO PROUD OF HIM!!!! I love that he used his time on the bench to learn from Suga (I’ll circle back around to him in a while, don’t worry) instead of just getting more into his own head!! He fought so well and he’s really becoming such a team player! THAT ONE HANDED SET THOUGH!!!!!! WHAT!? I love that for the last hit of the match he set it to Hinata. I mean like, yeah, protagonist stuff and all, but if we just ignore that, it shows how much he trusts Hinata. It was do or die, and he placed full trust in Hinata to do. He trusted Hinata, the decoy, to do something that typically falls to the ace. Additional things I loved: Kageyama trying to smile, checking with people about sets, getting Tsuki to help him out with blocking, AND HIS ADORABLE FACE WHEN HE WAS PREPARING TO SERVE AFTER JUST GETTING BACK ON THE COURT!!!!

Hinata

Admittedly I don’t have much to say about Hinata’s growth right now because it’s been so steady. He’s doing such a good job as a decoy!!! I love the point where Asahi talked about doing his best as the ace and Hinata promised to be the best decoy he could be! AND KAGEYAMA TALKING ABOUT HOW HE NEARLY GOT TRICKED BY THE DECOY HIMSELF!!! Hinata realizing “when I’m upset Tanaka always says something” and then working himself up to say something to Tanaka was so good!! (Even if he didn’t actually get to say anything) I love that as Kageyama gets more and more stuck in his head Hinata just keeps bickering with him and bringing him back out :) Also just a moment of appreciation for Hinata getting the ball and then falling, like when he face-planted after saving the ball when it hit Tanaka, and when he only managed to brush the ball with his fingers during his spike and then landed really hard. And both times got right back up and kept going!! Hinata did great and I’m excited to see how he does next season! I’m also interested to see how he’s going to handle this loss, if he’s going to be able to brush it off or if it’s going to haunt him a bit.

Tanaka

I’M SO PROUD OF HIM!!! He didn’t let being blocked get in his head and he pushed through it AND SCORED!!! HE DID SUCH A GOOD JOB!!! I loved the coach talking about how Tanaka had the qualities of an ace. Knowing that the third years will be leaving after the spring tournament, and knowing Hinata isn’t ready for the role of ace yet, I think Tanaka would be a really good choice. He keeps himself and his teammates hyped, he works well with Nishinoya, he can spike hard enough to get through blocks, and he’s able to pull himself out of his own head! Also can we just appreciate Tanaka messing with his teammates during the match despite everything else going on? Goof. I love when Kageyama gets back on the court and Tanaka goes for a high-five XD Kageyama being oblivious, Tanaka doing nothing to explain himself, and Tanaka’s voice during that part (I watched the sub) had me dying laughing!

Yamaguchi

HE GOT TO USE HIS SERVE!!!! (and yeah it failed BUT HE GOT TO BE ON THE COURT!! HE GOT TO TRY!!!!) I was so so happy they let him try!! Also he picked himself up after the loss and continued learning his serve AND showed up at not-practice with a smile on his face!! And on top of that he’s been doing such a good job cheering his teammates on from the sidelines!! I felt so bad for him though when he was swapping out with Hinata and shaking like a leaf. But I’m glad he got to try :) I think that experience will be really good for him! I’M SO PROUD OF HIM!! HE DID HIS BEST!! He deserves a super big hug!

Nishinoya

I love that when Oikawa targeted him in order to try and break the team’s morale, Noya went “nah” and received the ball and ruined Oikawa’s plan. That’s my boy!!! ALSO THE FACT THAT IT WAS NOYA HE WENT AFTER TO BREAK THE MORALE!!! Like I get it probably had everything to do with Noya being the libero, BUT Noya’s role is more than that. He’s also their on-court hype man. (Tanaka does this some too and I’m glad that’s acknowledged in the show). He’s their safety net. He’s the one that pulls them all out of their heads and reminds them “hey, guys, don’t freak out. I’ve got your backs so just go for it!” If Noya had gotten stuck in his own head from Oikawa’s serve the team wouldn’t have lasted as long as they did. He’s so incredibly important despite being unable to score any points, and I’m glad that was recognized. WHAT WAS THAT SAVE!? HE CAUGHT IT WITH HIS FOOT!!!!! AAAHH!!!!!!!! And finally let’s just appreciate a couple things: - Noya yelling Hinata’s name and high-fiving him after Hinata’s barely-touching-the-ball hit scored! - Noya rubbing people’s heads (Tsuki, Kageyama, and Hinata) after they score! - Noya sticking his tongue out while waiting for the serve Oikawa directed at him - And finally, Noya doing handstands on people while celebrating! (I think he likes to be tall)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Before I finish this up, I wanted to bring up a few other characters who I don’t have near as much to say about, but who still deserve recognition.

• Tsuki - Hey! I think we’re getting somewhere!! I’m looking forward to seeing how he starts fitting into the team better next season :)

• Daichi - Major respect, he tried his hardest to keep everything held together and he spent the majority of his time in the back with Noya, unable to spike for himself. That has to take a lot of trust in your teammates!

• Asahi - I appreciate his confidence and his promise to do his best as the ace! He got some good spikes in!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Sugawara

Me, the instant Kageyama starts getting stuck in his head: *muttering* c’mon c’mon c’mon switch out switch out switch out! Let Suga play! Them: *switches out* Me: YES!!!! *Spends the next 24 minutes in awe of Suga and SO EXCITED HE’S PLAYING* EEEEE!!!! HE GOT GAME TIME!!!!!!! :D I WAS SO WORRIED HE WASN’T GOING TO GET TO PLAY!!! Oikawa is right to call him Mr. Refreshing. THE ATTITUDE SHIFT THE INSTANT SUGA SET FOOT ON THAT COURT!?!? Everything changed!!! Can we just appreciate Suga roughing up all his teammates (except for Noya, who gets an adorable high-five!) and then having the audacity to turn around and give us such an innocent “I can do no wrong” smile I LOVE HOW HE CHECKS IN WITH EVERYBODY!! And the fact that every time you turn around he’s talking to his teammates about different strategy things AND IT ALL WORKS!!! He is just so supportive and so sweet and every time we see him I love him more. Finding out he didn’t get to be a starter last year either and he STILL doesn’t begrudge Kageyama for being the setter despite the fact that it’s his third and final year is just…. AGH! AND NOT ONLY DOES HE NOT BEGRUDGE HIM, HE ACTIVELY TEACHES KAGEYAMA TO MAKE HIM AN EVEN BETTER SETTER!! Really quickly I just want to touch on his dynamic with Hinata. The fact that he got Hinata to slow down and think!? Hinata being so adorably excited about Suga’s compliments?? LEARNING THAT SUGA CAME UP WITH THE SIGNS FOR HINATA AND KAGEYAMA’S QUICKS!!? The last thing I want to talk about is just how crucial Suga is to the team, regardless of whether or not he’s on the court. He can read people so well and he uses it not to figure out what the opponent is doing and thinking, but to figure out what his teammates are thinking and need. He’s there to cheer them all on throughout all of it, and even once he’s on the court and playing himself he doesn’t stop. He keeps tabs on them all and is aware of where they’re at mentally AND he figures out strategies at the same time! He offers advice from the side of the court when he isn’t playing, and despite having so little game time he has a really good dynamic with all of his teammates! I don’t know if this was their intent or not (I’m thinking so because to me it just feels so obvious??) but Suga really comes across as being the heart of the team. He keeps them all connected to each other because he’s so in tune with all of them! (You can also argue that it’s the combination of Suga, Noya, and Tanaka that make up the heart of the team. They’re the ones who are keeping everybody else fired up and going and out of their heads and willing to fight. I look at it both ways :] Noya and Tanaka are essential to the job as well, but Suga is special because of how he reads people.)

That loss was hard. It hurt. But they can come back from it! I can’t wait to see how the Spring Tournament plays out!!! AND ALL OF OUR THIRD YEARS ARE COMING BACK!!!! EEEEEE!!!!!

OKAY OH MY GOSH WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO WATCH THIS!??! I LOVE IT!?!?

I’m AMAZED by the handling of the characters and the subversion of expectations!! They’re all clearly defined and have their own unique personalities and there’s so many of them!! I’m gonna talk about my top five characters real quick because I love them all so much

In NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

Hinata

I DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO BE SO GOSH DARN ADORABLE! LIKE WHAT!? SIR, WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT??? Absolute ray of sunshine!! Precious bean!! He’s trying his best and he’s doing it!!! Golden Retriever energy mixed with Chihuahua energy???? Especially when he gets riled up and starts picking fights. I love him. He is my son.

2. Kageyama

Oh my gosh I love him so much XD I didn’t expect him to flip and start vibing so well with the team so fast! I thought for sure he’d be stuck in his ways for a while longer, but I’m so glad that isn’t the case! Also the GIF I picked doesn’t do him justice but he’s very adorable in his own way!!

(I really do love him so so much, it’s just hard to pinpoint why which makes it really hard to caps scream about him XD)

3. Tanaka

Confession time: I fully expected to not like Tanaka at all.

Confession number two:

This is the scene that changed my mind. LOOK AT HIM!!!! LOOK AT MY FERAL BOY!!!! HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE HIM???? The first time I saw this scene I had to rewatch it once or twice just to fully appreciate Tanaka XD Dude literally went “Oh? You don’t like me, huh? SYKE GUESS WHAT YOU LOVE ME NOW!! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT, HUH??!” And I just shrugged because welp. He’s right. What am I gonna do about it? Not find him completely endearing and hilarious??? I don’t think so. ALSO his big brother vibes towards Hinata are just *chefs kiss* perfection.

4. Sugawara

Listen. Listen. From the minute we met him I KNEW I liked him. Like, had him singled out as most likely to be my favorite character (not expecting to fall in love with so many of these boys). And despite the fact that he got sidelined so bad, I WAS (mostly) RIGHT AND I LOVE HIM! HE’S SO SUPPORTIVE AND SWEET!?! AND IT’S AN ABSOLUTE CRIME HE HASN’T GOTTEN TO PLAY IN A SERIOUS MATCH YET (as of Season 1 Episode 17). IT’S HIS SENIOR YEAR AND I WANT TO SEE HIM PLAY, DANG IT! >:c Reminds me of clouds :) Also has excellent big brother energy!! He’d better get some game time soon though or I’m gonna riot.

LAST BUT MOST CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

5. Nishinoya

OKAY HE WASN’T WHAT I EXPECTED AT ALL BUT THAT’S OKAY BECAUSE HE’S 20X BETTER!! AAAAAHHHHH I LOVE HIM!!!! He’s a shortie!!! And he’s so ENERGETIC and HYPED and he LOVES HIS TEAMMATES and he’s so. Feral. But not in a “I’M BIG I’M BIG I’M BIG” kind of way and I LOVE IT. He’s small but deadly and ADORABLE! He’s just incredibly endearing all around, and WE HAVE MORE BIG BROTHER VIBES! Also his dynamic with Tanaka is just hilarious XD Tol Feral and Smol Feral.

Conclusion: I think for my top favorite it’s a tie between Hinata and Nishinoya! I love all five of the characters listed here, but those two in particular have something a little extra about them! (Me, realizing halfway through that sentence: They’re short. That’s it. It’s because they’re short.) After them it’s a three-way tie because I love the other three for such different reasons that I can’t really compare them, y’know? :)