Oikawa analysis as promised
in honour of my GOAT Oikawa’s birthday here’s the analysis I wrote in the plane at like 5 am or smth idk
Toru Oikawa is one of the most misunderstood characters in haikyuu (at least from what i‘ve seen up to season 2 😭NO SPOILERS I BEG YOU) i don‘t mean “misunderstood“ as in “everyone hates him”. i mean that people mistake the person he acts like for the person he actually is.
because if i asked someone who‘s only seen clips of oikawa what he‘s like, they‘d probably say:
and they‘re lowk not wrong tho 😭 . those are all things he projects. but they‘re also all things he chooses to show people. But It‘s not the same thing as who he is.
i think one of the smartest things Mr Furudate does with oikawa is make the audience fall for his act before slowly peeling it back.
at first, he just seems like this annoyingly perfect upperclassman: he‘s attractive, everyone likes him, girls literally follow him around, he‘s one of the best setters in the prefecture, he walks around with this stupid little grin on his face like nothing bothers him
you look at him and think, “oh. THIS is his personality” (like at first I HATED this guy bruh 💔)
because every single time the story lets us see oikawa when the performance drops, he‘s almost a completely different person. he‘s not thinking about how amazing he is. he‘s thinking about everyone who‘s better than him.
and i think that‘s an important distinction. people call him arrogant, but i don‘t think arrogant people spend this much time worrying that they‘ll never be enough. arrogant people don‘t obsess over someone else‘s talent (atleast i don‘t think they do).
Anither reason in why he’s not arrogant is because arrogant people don‘t train until they injure themselves because they think working harder is the only way they‘ll keep up. Oikawa is repeatedly shown as someone who overworks himself and takes volleyball extremely seriously despite the playful front he puts on.
that‘s why i don‘t think his biggest personality trait is confidence—i think it‘s hyper-awareness.
oikawa notices EVERYTHING.
he notices blockers, habits, weaknesses, exactly what each of his hitters needs (like even in the practice game he played with the college students—he’d never met them before but he analysed them so quickly.).
He notices how people think, how people feel and he‘s basically constantly observing (this guy found out Hinata and Kageyama’s signal of the fast attack thingy so quickly 😭).
i think that‘s because he‘s always comparing.
he doesn’t walk into a gym thinking, “i‘m the best player here”
i think he walks into a gym subconsciously scanning the room for everyone who‘s better than him.
who jumps higher?who has better instincts?who has more natural talent? what do they have that i don‘t? It’s very exhausting (trust I’ve played these games before trust).
and eventually, if you spend enough time thinking like that, you stop seeing yourself as a person. you start seeing yourself as a list full of:
strengths, weaknesses, things to improve, things everyone else has, and things you‘ll never have.
I think that‘s how oikawa views himself. which is so ironic because everyone ELSE thinks he‘s incredible. he’s literally the captain.
he‘s the setter everyone talks about.
but the audience gets to see the one person who isn‘t impressed by oikawa.
oikawa. yeah the guy HIMSELF
i also think people massively overlook how emotionally intelligent he is. he understands people but not in some manipulative mastermind way (looking at you wifies).
he understands that everyone responds differently, and doesn‘t expect his teammates to become copies of him. he changes himself to bring out the best in them.
that‘s literally what makes him such an incredible setter. He‘s known for adapting to each teammate and maximizing their strengths rather than forcing everyone into one style. (my dream is to become a setter like him ngl 😭)
that says a lot about who he is because someone who‘s truly self-centred wants everyone to fit into THEIR world, but oikawa does the opposite.
he spends so much energy learning everyone else that i sometimes wonder how much energy he actually spends understanding himself.
ALSO iwaizumi literally says that oikawa‘s smiles are rarely genuine. that‘s such a tiny detail but it changes a lot. every joke feels a little different now. you start wondering,
“is he actually okay right now?“
“is this another performance?“
maybe that‘s why i like him so much.
i think oikawa is someone who‘s become so good at performing confidence that people stop asking whether the confidence is real. they just accept it. which is kind of tragic.
because imagine spending years making sure nobody sees your insecurities...
and then one day realising nobody sees them—not because they don‘t care, but because you‘ve hidden them too well.
that‘s why i don‘t think oikawa‘s story is actually about volleyball. volleyball is just where all of his fears come out. his story is about self-worth. it‘s about what happens when you convince yourself that your value depends on how good you are at the thing you love most. (cough cough I may relate cough cough)
it‘s about comparing yourself to people who seem effortlessly gifted until you can‘t even recognise your own achievements anymore.
i think that‘s why the season 2 loss hurts so much: because it isn‘t just a team losing. it‘s someone who‘s spent years trying to prove to himself that effort can stand beside genius and wondering if he was wrong (stupid ahh ushijma or whatever his name is bruh I don’t like him don’t come for me I’ve not watched s3).
He doesn't believe that he is good yet (atleast where I am in Haikyuu 😭 pls pls pls oikawa character development give him a happy ending this is affecting me more than nanami’s death somehow. pls)
I was gonna sign off but okay another thing i don't see people talk about enough is oikawa's relationship with seijoh.
(and before anyone comes for me i am NOT saying his teammates don't love him 😭 😭)
they absolutely do: they trust him as their captain, they believe in him, they know he's an incredible setter—that's never in the question.
what I am saying is that i think they get so used to “oikawa being oikawa” that they stop asking whether he's actually okay.
(they say where is oikawa they never ask HOW is oikawa type shi. idk I remembered that where’s perry meme ignore)
think about it: every time he's being loud, dramatic, teasing someone, acting over the top, etc—everyone just rolls their eyes.
“ugh, there he goes again.”
they don't take him seriously because he's created this image of himself as the unserious, annoying guy. kinda tragic (not their fault though)
when someone is always joking, people forget that they're capable of hurting too. i think oikawa accidentally traps himself in that role. he becomes “the dramatic one.”
and after a while... everyone expects him to stay that way. even his teammates tease him constantly 😭 makki and mattsun make fun of him.
iwaizumi literally throws volleyballs at him and calls him names.
and don't get me wrong—i LOVE their dynamic. it's obvious they care about him. Iwaizumi, especially, is one of the only people who can tell when Oikawa's smile isn't genuine, and he's constantly trying to stop him from overworking himself or doubting himself.
but i also think there's something a little sad about the fact that oikawa rarely gets treated with the same softness that he gives everyone else. he spends so much time understanding his teammates. he knows exactly what kind of toss each hitter needs. he notices when someone's confidence is dropping. he adjusts himself for everyone around him.
but... who does that for him?
who's watching oikawa as closely as he watches everyone else?
the only person who consistently seems to notice is iwaizumi.
and i think that's because they've known each other for so long that iwaizumi can see through the act (woah this line so tuff).
he knows the smile isn't always real (FAKE SMILE AHH IM SORRY 😭 💔 ).
he knows when oikawa's pushing himself too hard.
he knows when he's spiralling.
everyone else sees "our annoying captain."
iwaizumi sees TORU (and the iwaoii crowd goes wild [personally like platonic iwaoi]).
i also think oikawa makes this problem worse without even realising it because whenever he's upset: he hides it. he jokes. He smiles, he deflects and he performs (spoke is here is that you).
you can't expect people to comfort someone who's pretending they don't need comforting. that's why i don't think seijoh ignores him because they don't care.
i think they ignore it because oikawa has become too good at making sure nobody notices. he spends years building this confident, untouchable version of himself… and then one day, everyone believes it. even when he needs them not to.
that's why his character hurts me so much. he isn't just misunderstood by the fandom. he's misunderstood inside his own team bruh.
I think this part was just a rambling apologies. same point but in the context of Seijoh. I’m falling off chat 😔
GOOD BYE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY OIKAWA!!!!
