i cannot believe i had missed out on the nekoma vs nohebi game because i started reading the haikyu!! manga after season 4. this game was so thrilling, especially since both nekoma and nohebi share the same tenacity and strong defense. once again, furudate and his team demonstrated why haikyu!! is such a special manga, that not only makes you root for both teams, but treats all of its characters so humanely. here’s my thoughts on the game <3
one of haikyu!!'s greatest lessons is that you can never win alone. from kageyama enabling hinata to “fly even higher,” iwaizumi telling oikawa that there are six of them on the court, atsumu relying on all of his spikers for better support, and kageyama wanting to “go further with this team,” even the most skilled and ambitious characters never fight alone, but bring the best out of their teams just as they are themselves supported by their teammates.
yet in the beginning of the nekoma vs nohebi arc, kuroo tells lev that teamwork is complicated too. each team has its own dynamic, there are players who want to stand out, like tora or lev, and those who give them the capacity to do so. there is no formula to make the whole team come together harmoniously.
haikyu!! masterfully brings out that complexity underlying teamwork and the fact that individuality and collectivity are not mutually exclusive, but enable one another. i used the term “enabling” before when describing hinata and kageyama's partnership, and i think that this is symbolizes haikyu!!'s conception of teamwork. lev and shibayama demonstrated this in chapter 204, while lev had been concentrating on becoming “one yaku” together with shibayama. yet their true strength was only fully unlocked once lev understood that they can never be yaku, the only way to work around the problem is to make most out of shibayama's and his own abilities. each adapts to what makes the other irreplaceable, and by doing so, they give each other the possibility to play their best, enable each other, rather than suppress that uniqueness to fit a predesigned scheme.
volleyball is the perfect expression of this because, materially, “every play is connected” - as lev says, no one can be blamed for a lost point. every position is important to the game and it is only by fulfilling their role to the fullest that each player can keep the game going. with lev baiting the opposite hitter into targeting shibayama, haikyu!! takes teamwork from abstraction to materiality, which lends it even more weight, and strikes a powerful balance between individuality and collectivity, as one cannot be without the other.
and furudate's expressive art style transcribes the characters' states of mind so eloquently. kuroo and lev's thoughtfulness, kuroo's intimate conviction that lev will be okay, then his smile, both content for lev and threatened by his awakening, have us feel the same emotions as the characters. furudate's storytelling and art are inseparable, it embodies the essence of manga as a genre.
foreshadowing kenma's trajectory in the karasuno vs nekoma game is kuguri's budding care for volleyball. as tsukihima or kenma, kuguri is presented as a laid-back character, whose talent doesn't entail a particular love for volleyball. at the beginning of the game, nohebi's coach attempts to fire him up (to no avail), and kuguri remains coolheaded. but as the game progresses, kuguri seems to care a little more, which is why this small gesture of pumping his fist after a good play is so precious. love for volleyball is at the heart of haikyu!!, and i love how differently it is portrayed every time: tsukki blocking ushijima was an insane play that got him hooked on volleyball, playing beach volleyball with hinata in brazil reminded oikawa how fun trying new things is, karasuno overcoming kenma's strategy had him try harder and made the game fun for kenma. kuguri's growing enthusiasm is subtler, but it hits really hard, especially because he seemed so uninterested at first.
and his teammates' reaction, their smiles and furudate's signature lines under their eyes, which signal emotion, show us the cohesion in nohebi's team. although nohebi don't seem particularly likeable at first, as they are not above “dirty” schemes such as deliberately targetting tora or buttering up to the referee, these moments humanize them. it has us rooting for both teams and shows the opponent's dignity, the fact that they too have hopes and believe in their teammates.
my favorite detail about kuguri's arc was when numai comes to comfort him after their loss. the fact that we don't see kuguri until the last panel, where he is pictured crying, gives the scene even more emotional weight. numai's words are especially powerful, because haikyu!! always makes a point of showing that sadness and disappointment are legitimate emotions to feel. instead of telling kuguri to cheer up, numai acknowledges his frustration and confirms that of the entire team. even more than this, numai is “relieved” at the sight of kuguri's frustration because it means that kuguri cares, which is the first step toward trying again.
and of couse, lev also senses his potential and how much he can still grow. those panels are some of my favorites in haikyu!!, the characters' voracity and thirst for more always give me a boost to keep improving too, all while keeping in mind that growth starts with health.
what distinguishes nohebi from other teams is that they are not above “dirty” plays. at the same time, even if they use exterior factors such as the referee to their advantage, the story does them justice by highlighting their volleyball technique. it would have been easy to take this game into the classic fair play vs. dirty play direction, but here once again haikyu!! subverts manichaean plotlines by treating the opposing team not as a stepping stone for the protagonists, but as subjects in their own right. even if it is is implied that kuroo and suguru don't get along (i love them), or rather see each other as rivals, kuroo insists on nohebi's impressive volleyball skills. while the team that lost against nohebi kept focusing on their dirty tricks and disregarding nohebi's other strengths, this scene rightfully draws attention to the fact that nohebi also earned their place in the spring tournament through hard work, and at the end of chapter 206 mika also emphasizes all the time spent by suguru in practice.
the way that rival teams, however minor, are always treated with dignity and respect by the storyline is what makes haikyu!! so good. there is a place for everyone's story in haikyu!! and there is room for compassion. every character has walked a different path, which makes their approach to volleyball and their philosophy different, but no point of view is dismissed, all are equally valuable, whether they are about pursuing volleyball or something else. looking at those panels of the winning team celebrating or the losing team crying will wrench your heart in both directions, the strong friendships in haikyu!! will never fail to move me.
ultimately, what prevails is getting attached to both teams over the course of the game - and i now have a new bunch of characters to appreciate and gush about!
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