Da Vinci April 2014 Issue - 10,200-word Interview with Haruichi Furudate
–To wrap up the special feature on Haikyuu!!, we’ll be delivering the words from the very author himself, Haruichi Furudate! How did Haikyuu!!, a series overflowing with the brilliance of youth and sports, come about? What sort of passion did Furudate weave into this series? Conducted in the pockets of time amidst their busy schedule, this is Furudate’s second-ever documented interview – delivered full-length, sans cuts!
Part 1 - The Miracle of Chapter 1: “Endings & Beginnings”
Early spring, 2012. I heard that a new story centred around volleyball had just started serialising in Weekly Shonen Jump. I was pleasantly surprised after reading the first chapter. The attacker, Hinata and the setter, Kageyama, first met each other in their third year of middle school as opponents during the Inter-Middle School Preliminaries, which cemented their fate as rivals. “If you are the “King” that rules the Court…!!! I’ll defeat you and become the one that stands on the court the longest!!!” “…The one that gets to stay on the court, is the victor…The stronger one. If you want to continue standing here, become stronger.” Despite exchanging such words, the both of them went on to enrol in Miyagi Prefecture’s Karasuno High School for high school and became teammates in the volleyball club. Hinata couldn’t help but exclaim, “Why are you here?!” When foe becomes friend – in a way, it’s a very Jump-esque development, but it has never happened so early on in the story before! The portrayal of the match was so realistic, it makes you want to continue following these two boys and their story. It was a perfect first chapter to hook readers in. So to begin the interview, we’ve asked a question about the first chapter. Let’s hear directly from the author of Haikyuu!! about the behind-the-scenes of how this story was conceived!
–Q1: Before this serialisation started, what sort of “spirit to challenge” or “ambition” did you have?
Furudate: Volleyball was a theme that I really wanted to work with, so I was only filled with thoughts on writing this story till the end without it being cut short. Personally, volleyball has a special place in my heart, so I might have felt that way much more strongly, but no matter what kind of manga I would’ve started, the feelings I have at the beginning wouldn’t have changed. I would’ve still been scared of having to cut my story short (laughs). Even when I heard that Haikyuu!! would be serialised, rather than feeling the joy of grabbing the opportunity of serialisation, I thought, “So it’s finally the beginning of the ‘ending’…” I’m always surprised by how pessimistic I can be. This would be my first and last chance to be able to write a story about volleyball in Jump, so if I ever lose focus, that would be the end. This positive pressure and negative urgency that I feel hasn’t changed since the serialisation began. However, when I receive letters from readers about how they joined the volleyball club in school after reading Haikyuu!!, or when I go down to watch matches for research and see elementary and middle school students who know of Haikyuu!!, I can see that this manga has become a springboard for many people to start playing volleyball or to continue playing volleyball, and that makes me happy and lifts me out of my pessimistic state. I feel that the genre of the manga, or whether the sport is major or minor, has nothing to do with how successful (or interesting) the story can be.
–Q2: Why did you choose volleyball, out of all the numerous sports? What is the charm of volleyball as a competitive sport?
Furudate: I didn’t want to write a story about sports. I started this series because I wanted to write a story about volleyball. I was a member of the volleyball club when I was student, and especially during my high school days, I only went to school for the sole purpose of playing volleyball. I am still attached and unable to let go of that period of time in my life, so via the medium of manga, I wanted to play a volleyball that would “come to an end once I lose” just once more. Volleyball is a sport where you’re not allowed to hold or drop the ball, so to be honest, it’s a really tough sport. It’s really difficult to feel a sense of accomplishment or to feel that it’s fun. The foundations are especially difficult, and at the beginning, it’s difficult to even get the ball to go where you want it to. In fact, I myself didn’t like volleyball that much at the start. However, it is precisely because of that that got me thinking – it’s the sense of ease that comes with the act of being able to control the ball freely that makes volleyball such an attractive sport. That’s why, even if it’s boring at the start, I want children to continue to play volleyball.
–Q3: Every single scene depicting a match is portrayed so realistically. For example, how “hands” are expressed. Or how the “sounds” are expressed. Do you often go down to do research?
Furudate: When I went to watch some high school matches for research, I was hit by the familiarity of the atmosphere and the sounds. It refreshed my memory and I thought, “Ah, so this was what it was like!” So I pay particular attention to the atmosphere and sounds while drawing. When I go down to research on tournaments, especially those such as the prefectural qualifiers, I don’t just pay attention to the matches themselves. I also take special note of the atmosphere before a match starts, and what the corridors and lobby are like. In the first match of the Inter-High preliminaries in the manga, there is a scene of complete silence just before the match starts. That scene was directly taken from the qualifiers for Iwate Prefecture, which I went to watch just before drawing it. As for the scenes depicting the actual matches and techniques, I can only say that I still have a long way to go for my drawing skills. I’m still unable to truly convey the beauty of the players’ forms and how cool volleyball is. I’ll work hard.
–Q4: By reading Haikyuu!!, I’ve come to learn that volleyball as a sport and Jump manga are highly compatible (some also say it’s because volleyball is a sport where you have to jump continuously…laughs). And I think that’s because of the sense of comradeship (friendship) in volleyball. Were there any instances where you felt this way?
Furudate: Volleyball is a sport where you can’t drop the ball, but if you connect it to the next player, it’s a game that can continue on forever. I think this characteristic is what makes volleyball a sport that allows for a dramatic showcase of abilities, but now that I think about it, all sports allow for a dramatic showcase of abilities (laughs). If you think about “friendship, hard work and victory”, almost every sport would fit these three terms. However, I do think that for volleyball in particular, the fact that it becomes unplayable without the existence of your teammates is something that stands out. If we talk about the most extreme scenario, it would probably be a single player scoring all 25 points by himself just by serving. But in reality, such a thing happening is close to zero. As long as not all the points are scored with service aces, you definitely have to “entrust” the ball to someone else. If the ball isn’t received, it would be impossible to set it and of course, it would be impossible to spike it. The game wouldn’t even be a game. So if bonds are forged by playing volleyball with someone, at the other end of the spectrum, one would also come to realise the pressure of not being able to do anything by yourself on the court. This is where people would start to butt heads, and I think this aspect of volleyball is what allows us to see the interesting developments and growth in characters. Other than the part about “friendship”, the “rotation” system in volleyball is another factor that can greatly change how interesting the manga can be, depending on how it’s drawn. During a match, every time someone gets to serve, the position of the players shift in a clockwise manner. That is the volleyball rotation. And because of this rotation, all the players except the libero have to be able to receive, block, spike, serve and sometimes even do a set-up. And of course, each player would have different strengths and weaknesses. There is the protagonist, Hinata, who is an exceptional attacker; Tsukishima, who while lacking in attack, is a great blocker; the captain Sawamura, a player balanced in both offense and defense but lacks decisiveness; the ace, Azumane, who has high attack power but a nervous mentality; and Tanaka, who although not the best in either attack or defense, has a rock-hard mentality that allows him to be decisive in stressful situations, and so on. With each player being so different, there would be rotations that would be stronger in defense or offense, and there would be a variety of ways as to how a match can progress, which makes it interesting. The players in the manga have more obvious differences in their personalities because they’re “characters”, which I think would be able to further highlight this interesting aspect of volleyball.
–Q5: Was the title decided smoothly?
Furudate: Because I didn’t really dwell on it, I ended up going with the most “straightforward” title.
–Q6: Round-eyed Hinata is short in stature, but is an attacker with exceptional jumping ability. The setter Kageyama Tobio who frowns and glares, has garnered the nickname, the King of the Court. Their appearances and personalities (as well as their names) are polar opposites. How did you come up with these two characters?
Furudate: I had the most trouble with finalising Hinata’s character within this series. On the other hand, Kageyama hasn’t changed much from when he was first conceptualised. In the first one-shot, Hinata was of an average build and had a timid personality (though he is still a scaredy-cat even now). As for his build, since Haikyuu!! is centred around the techniques (especially quicks), being “quicker” was more important than being “higher”. Hinata makes up for his lack of height with his jumping ability, but just that alone is not enough – this was resolved when he realised that in the first chapter. They key to winning against bigger players lies in how much faster he is able to reach the “summit” as compared to them. There is a limit as to how much physical abilities can compensate for the difference in build. So what will he do? This is where the story really starts, so that’s why I decided to give Hinata this handicap that cannot be compensated for. As for his character, I just doodled a lot of his different expressions. And while reworking the storyline, he slowly started to take form. There are two one-shot versions of Haikyuu!!, and even though I drew him myself, I don’t really like the Hinata in the second one-shot version of Haikyuu!! (laughs). I was overly conscious of making him Shonen manga-like, so he ended up becoming a bit “false”. I couldn’t grasp his character even at the very end. I couldn’t draw the storyboard as I had wanted to and the deadline slowly approached while I was worrying over it. Even now, just thinking of the three days before that deadline brings back nightmares. After that, I continued to panic because I still didn’t know what sort of character the protagonist, Hinata, was. But after reworking the storyline countless times, I felt that he started to become more human-like. And because I’ve worked so hard to come up with him, Hinata is my favourite character. Although Kageyama hasn’t changed much since the initial stages, I think personality-wise he’s become a quite a bit softer? Kageyama is a character that takes on all of the angst that I, the author, had when I was in high school, so in the beginning that was especially prominent. In the serialisation, after the match against Aoba Johsai, the character Shimada Mart had a line that goes, “Strength is needed to truly enjoy a match”. However, this was originally Kageyama’s line in the second one-shot version. I made Kageyama take on my own shortcomings. In the initial stages of the story, Kageyama’s mentality of “I should just do everything on my own” was actually the same mentality I had for a period of time when I was in high school. Although unlike Kageyama, I’m far from being a prodigy (laughs).
–Q7: What grasped my heart in chapter 1 was Hinata’s very first line, “The smell of Air Salonpas…!!” (laughs) It is a line that is reprised during the scene of the Inter-High Preliminaries. How did you come up with this line, and what were your thoughts and intentions in doing so?
Furudate: For both middle school and high school tournaments, the preliminaries are usually held in the gymnasium of a school, but sometimes they’ll be held at a bigger venue like the city gymnasium. When I was in high school, when we got to play in newer, bigger and cleaner venues like the city gymnasium, we would all get excited. And that gymnasium would always smell like Air Salonpas. So in my head, “a match -> the smell of Air Salonpas -> get even more excited” is the sort of correlation chart I have, so this line came really naturally to me. Even now, when I smell Air Salonpas, it sends chills down my spine. It’s a smell I really like. The newest version of Air Salonpas has a milder smell, so I’m a little disappointed.
–Q8: The manga-esque roundness (cuteness) of the characters and the increased head to height ratio to depict the coolness of the characters – these two distortion techniques synergise very well and makes your art stand out. How do you differentiate when to depict realness and when to use such distortion? Is there anything in particular you pay attention to while drawing?
Furudate: For scenes depicting the matches, my art tends more to “realness” in order to express the “weight” of the players’ bodies. To be honest, I don’t really take note of when I’m drawing “realness” or “distortion”, but I try to express actions and expressions with more exaggeration. Even in the match scenes, in order to express momentum, I would insert a lot of parses into the character’s body. Although it looks like I’m half-assing the characters’ caricatures in the comedic scenes, I actually am pretty much half-assing them. (t/n: i kid you not furudate actually says this) However, the half-assed expressions turn out the best when I draw them on the storyboard, but since I can’t paste them directly onto my manuscript, I’m a little disappointed. In my previous work as well as the initial stages of the serialisation of Haikyuu!!, I used a lot of elaborate angles and paneling so as to not bore the reader. But recently, I’ve been doing a lot of trial and error to see what is the most “readable”. My friends in other professions and my neighbours, just people of the general population, have told me many times that my art is difficult to follow and find my manga difficult to read, so I’m always looking to improve. Once, when I was on a Shinkansen, the person sitting next to me was holding on to the latest issue of Jump that went on sale that day. When I took a nervous peep at them, I saw them just completely skip over Haikyuu!! and it gave me such a huge shock (laughs). (t/n: oh no furudate ;-;) Once again, it really sunk in that nothing would start if I can’t even get readers to read my story. And in order to accomplish that, I needed to make my manga more readable. In recent months, in both the comedic scenes as well as the usual scenes, I’ve been making my lines thicker to simplify my art overall. I even have a paper stuck in front of my desk that reads “distortion” (laughs). While drawing, I pay particular attention to SFX. Although I always think about how powerful manga would be if it could incorporate sound in addition to art and words, but alas such a thing is unfortunately impossible, so I constantly try my best to express sound, momentum, atmosphere and depth via SFX. It’s something I’m trying to balance with “readability”, so it’s still in a stage of trial and error. However, the one thing that I’m always not satisfied with is the sound when a ball is hit. With SFX, the resulting sound is always subpar – the ball sounds “rubbery” and not realistic. Nevertheless, I’m trying my best while having high hopes for the anime adaptation.
–Q9: The first chapter of the serialisation of Haikyuu!!, is one of the most interesting and intense ones in manga history. What sort of thoughts went into creating and drawing this first chapter? And what were the reactions from your readers like?
Furudate: Both my editor and I were confident in the first chapter. When the plot was finalised, I thought, “This is it!!” But in the very crucial readers’ survey, I think the first chapter had a pretty average ranking (laughs). I conceptualised the first chapter for serialisation after drawing the second one-shot version of Haikyuu!!. I started by reflecting on the one-shot version. The core idea of “Why does Hinata want to play volleyball so badly?” was completely left out in the one-shot version, so it became a reason that was difficult for readers to empathise with. So in the first chapter, I wanted to delve into what sort of character the protagonist, Hinata, was. The story is as simple as it gets, and the key lies in how Hinata would make this story progress, and that’s what I focused on. Other than that, personally, I tried analysing how to make the series survive in Jump, and I think the most important key, or should I say the first stage, would be the fourth chapter.
–Q10: When you were conceptualizing the first chapter, how much of the story had you already thought of at that point in time?
Furudate: Until around the eighth chapter. In fact, at first, I didn’t even have the first chapter we have now – the first chapter I had was basically a summary of the events in chapters 2-8. I shouldn’t have done all 8 of those chapters (laughs). Other than that, I only had very brief memos about certain events that would happen in the story.
–Q11: If you don’t mind, please tell us more about yourself. Where is your hometown and what was your family like? What was your childhood like?
Furudate: I was born in Iwate Prefecture and lived there until high school. I lived in the boonies and was surrounded by mountains. I would make traps out of cans to fish in the river and ride my bicycle to the mountains to search for crystals (laughs). Other than studying, I think I did everything else with passion. (t/n: relatable) After graduating from high school, I went to a vocational school in Sendai and got a job. I lived in Sendai for about 8-9 years. Miyagi is my second hometown.
–Q12: Have you always been an avid reader of Jump? Was there any manga which you drew inspiration from?
Furudate: I’m sorry. The first time I bought Jump was when I decided to send in a submission in my mid-twenties. I didn’t buy any manga magazines regularly. I first watched the One Piece anime when I was in high school. I was so moved that I went to buy the manga. I definitely drew a lot of inspiration from One Piece. During my days as a student when I just wanted to rebel and act cool, I remember thinking, “So it’s okay to say things so straightforwardly,” “It’s so cool to say things so straightforwardly!” Also, I was really impacted by the feeling of cutting out “a still moment from something happening at great speed” in Matsumoto Taiyo’s works, so I really admire him. Recently, I’ve also been crying while reading Space Brothers sometimes (laughs). (To be honest, I’m not really a reader of manga, so I don’t really have much to talk about, I’m sorry…)
–Q13: When was the first time you drew manga? Did you let your friends and family read the manga you drew? When did you start to aspire to become a mangaka?
Furudate: The first time I drew a proper piece of manga on manuscript paper was in high school. I’ve never shown my friends or family the manga I drew. After retiring from club activities, I started drawing a lot more. I don’t know when I started wanting to become a mangaka, it just happened somehow before I realised. To be honest, I don’t remember much.
–Q14: Please tell us more about the events leading up to your debut as a mangaka. What did it feel like to have your dream come true?
Furudate: My first published one-shot was a storyboard I had submitted to my very first competition which, with a stroke of luck, had won. At that time, I was like, “What?! Really?! Are you sure?! It’s really okay?!” Of course, I was overjoyed, but since my first submission was done when I was 25 years old, it felt as if that I’d barely scraped by and managed to make it to the start line. Also, since I was a regular office drone back then, I was always worried whether I could make the deadline.
Part 2 - The Highest Point that Haikyuu!! is aiming towards
–Q15: This time, working on the Haikyuu!! special feature had motivated me to watch my very first Spring High Volleyball Tournament. Your art was everywhere at the station and at the venue! (I’m sure you were very happy when you received these requests!) I could feel the passion everyone had towards the impending match before them. And that got me thinking – is “High School Volleyball” something that holds a special brilliance? What is so attractive about about Boys’ Volleyball?
Furudate: When I heard about the collaboration with Spring High Volleyball, I was really excited. I was really moved when a boy of elementary/middle school age pointed at the panel display of Haikyuu!! at the venue and exclaimed, “Ah! It’s Haikyuu!!” (laughs) As to why I feel “High School” is special, it’s because the full-stop to “club activities” happens then. I think this applies to everything, not just sports, and also because for many people, high school marks the end of whatever they were doing as “club activities”. And as for what “Spring High” means to High School volleyball, if the third-years choose to stay on, it would be the last major tournament of their high school career. And for some, this might end up being the very last tournament in their lives. As for what makes Boys’ Volleyball so attractive, I have to say that it’s the power and speed when two top teams face off. The difference between Girls’ and Boys’ volleyball in high school is that by the time they reach high school age, Girls’ volleyball would have already reached a stage close to “perfection”, but on the other hand, Boys’ volleyball would have only just started “developing”. The factors that should have been shaved away in the process of leveling up and polishing themselves are still present in high school, so I think each team’s “personality” is much more prominent in Boys’ High School volleyball. For example, in Haikyuu!!, the technique that Hinata frequently uses (a broad attack) is one that you’d see in high school matches, but in higher level matches (for boys), it is hardly used. And I think being able to see the incompleteness and unstable stage of the players before they reach a level of perfection is one of the reasons that make Boys’ Volleyball so attractive.
–Q16: Thank you very much for answering our survey the other day! And…we’d love to go into detail about the “Issue with the fourth chapter” (laughs). The key idea in chapter 4 is, if “the strongest enemy” has joined the team, he becomes “the strongest ally”. And with such reverse thinking, the connection between Hinata and Kageyama did a 180. What’s important is the character that said this line – it is Sugawara-senpai, who became a substitute player when the prodigy, Kageyama, joined the team. One of the charms (discoveries) of Haikyuu!! is done through Sugawara – to express the feelings of a substitute player, the sadness and pride he had. What sort of feelings do you have towards Sugawara-senpai as a character?
Furudate: In short, Sugawara’s birth(?) came about when I was thinking, “If a first-year that just joined suddenly becomes the regular setter, then who was it before that? So let’s come up with a senpai setter!” I think the setter is a position that, compared to being a spiker, requires less aptitude. It wasn’t my intention to create drama here. It’s just that right now, Sugawara is the character whom I want the most to stand at the national stage. But I haven’t thought of whether he actually would actually do so, so I don’t know… (t/n: but now we know) Anyway, I don’t want to make Sugawara into a “sentimental” character (laughs). Although Sugawara may be seen as the “representative of common people”, I think he’s actually a pretty “straightforward” and “determined” guy. At least concerning the topic of talent, when someone with overwhelming talent such as Kageyama joined the team, he’s someone who’s able to think, “So what can I offer up to the table then?” However, I’m cautious as to not portray him as someone who is “unrealistically positive”. Though I do think that there are people who might sometimes think that all of the characters are too overly positive which makes it boring (laughs).
–Q17: I had an enjoyable time reading about how the Hinata & Kageyama combo of Haikyuu!! was conceptualised. How did you come up with the rest of the teammates? There are many characters in this series, and how did you come up with the rival characters?
Furudate: I incorporated a lot of characteristics that I picked out from my teammates in high school, my friends and the people I’ve interacted with so far. The play-style of the members of the main team, Karasuno, was conceptualised around the same time as when their characters were designed. As for the rival teams, I usually first came up with the play-style of the team. For example, Nekoma that is strong in defense, and Datekou that is strong in blocking, and such. Then, I would come up with the characters that personify the team and work from there. For the teams with an animal motif, I designed the characters’ appearances such that they also incorporate some sort of characteristic of their animal motif (for some).
–Q18: “There are things people have and don’t have the aptitude for.” “There is a role that only I am able to carry out.” Such lines come up repeatedly throughout Haikyuu!!. I think that the messages and beliefs conveyed via volleyball are ones that resonate with the realities of everyday life and the working world. What is the significance of having adult readers read a manga about high school volleyball? Please do tell us if you have any thoughts.
Furudate: I received many letters about how readers who were troubled over interpersonal relationships at work had re-thought the concept of “comrades” after reading Haikyuu!!. I think the interpersonal relationships that come with playing team sports are very similar to those in the working world. A teammate is different from a “friend”, but there are times that this connection can become something greater than friends, and a bond may form. That is the same for the working world as well. Even if you can’t do everything and anything by yourself, there is definitely something that you yourself would be able to accomplish. But at the same time, there will be someone around you who has an ability you do not possess. I’d be really happy if Haikyuu!! could become something that reminds people of this fact.
–Q19: How do you plan to draw the adult characters – the advisors, coaches, and those who played volleyball?
Furudate: I hope to be able to draw them as characters who grow alongside the players. After reaching the age where I can call myself an adult, I realised that adults aren’t very “adult-like”, so I don’t want the adults in the story to take on too much of a philosophical point of view on things too. Although there is an old coach in the rival team that seems to be able to see through everything, the main adults that appear in the story are still young, so it is more natural to depict instances when they make the wrong judgement, or aren’t confident in their decisions. In fact, the author of this story themself hasn’t thought of the story and developments of the match next week, so along with the coach and advisor Ukai and Takeda-sensei, we will mull over it together. It might be interesting if you could feel this very real sense of urgency (laughs). (t/n: furudate is us @ procrastinators)
–Q20: How do you come up with the developments and outcome of a match? (Your comments in vol. 6 were great! I definitely want to hear more about being in an indescribable state of mind)
Furudate: Before a match starts, I would have sort of decided how things would pan out, but while drawing, I would feel that something is “off” and change it as and when. So in other words, the outcome is not decided (laughs). A match is something that’s only possible if there is an opponent, so as the author, I draw the rival team with the same attitude as how I’d draw the main team, so my feelings would always change sides. And since it’s pretty rare to face off with the same opponent twice, I’d always think, “When would be the next time I’d see you guys again?” when I look at the opposing team, which leaves me in an indescribable state of mind.
–Q21: “To win” is to “grasp the chance to fight the next battle”. I was deeply touched by this logic. And at the end of this thought, there lies the desire to become number one. However, more than anything, it conveys the pure joy of being able to just play match after match of volleyball…How and when did you come up with such an idea?
Furudate: In the series, “loving volleyball and wanting to play many matches” and “wanting to become number one” are two inseparable ideas. So, the thought of being “number one” is of course, the very first feeling each of the players would have. And in order to become number one, it would mean that you would get to play the most number of matches, and at the same time, it would open up the path to the next stage. When the players love volleyball, and feel that matches are “fun”, what should they do next in order to play more and more matches? That would be “to continue winning and to become number one”. Although I believe that you don’t need a reason to justify your desire to win, if I had to raise one, I think it will be because “I can continue fighting the next battle”. And now, that has become one of the expressions in the series.
–Q22: I’m really touched by how much effort you put in to make your series “readable”. Looking back at the earlier parts of the series, the panels depicting play scenes have been inserted very well. The synchronisation between the movement of the characters and the trajectory and speed of the ball is just remarkable. Although you said that “you still have a long way to go for your drawing skills”, please do tell us the points you take special note of, what you put effort into, and any points you’re proud of while drawing the different volleyball techniques.
Furudate: I pay extra attention in depicting what the other characters who are not touching the ball are doing. Also, since volleyball is sport played with a net between the two teams, the angles at which I can draw a spike is limited (since the relative positions of the spiker, net and opponent blockers are almost always the same), so I try my best not to make it look repetitive.
–Q23: From the reactions of your readers, have you ever thought, “I see, so this is the type of manga I’m drawing”? Do you see the “cheers” from your readers as a source of support?
Furudate: I’ve received a huge illustration made up of 9 postcards from a pair of brothers, where the younger brother is a volleyball player. Soon after he was made a regular player, he broke his leg in an accident. While he was depressed, he started reading Haikyuu!! and cheered up. After undergoing rehabilitation and being able to walk again, he said that he’s working hard to become a setter like Kenma (setter from rival team). I’ve arranged those 9 postcards in front of my desk and they always bring me motivation. Whenever there’s something that makes me sad, or when I lose confidence in my manga, I would be reminded that the “cheers” of support I’ve received are undoubtedly sincere and would pick myself up again
–Q24: Now, they’re boys engrossed in sports, but will there be a day when we’ll see some romance bloom with girls? (I’m super curious about the cute manager! Of course, the captain of the girls’ volleyball team, Michimiya, is really cute too!) How is it? (laughs)
Furudate: Right now there’s a teeny tiny little scene, but I don’t know about the upcoming chapters. Everything is undecided (laughs). I definitely want to do an episode centred around the manager sometime soon.
–Q25: For example, in page 105 of vol. 6, there was close-up volleyball scene drawn at an angle that is impossible for any cameras to capture. How do you end up being able to draw such panels?
Furudate: I just keep thinking and thinking. What is the best angle to draw this scene so that it’s both cool and easy to understand? In my head, I’d keep changing the angles until I find the best one. Especially when I’m drawing big page spreads, even if I’m able to draw something that is satisfactory, as long as time permits, I’d keep switching the angles in my head until I find the best one.
–Q26: The outcome of the match against Aoba Johsai was revealed in vol. 8. In the last set, both teams were continuously at match point. When I went to watch the Spring High Tournaments, the last set would always be a very close match. It was intriguing. Have you ever wondered why is this so?
Furudate: Yes!! I think about it all the time!! Though I don’t know the answer!! (laughs) Of course, the side that is desperately trying to even out the score would give their 120%, and the side with victory almost in their grasp would, precisely because it’s just right in front of them, just by a little, start feeling rushed. Maybe it’s because of this? Since in the end we’re only human. When a match reaches deuce, it’s a battle of 120% vs 120%, so it’s difficult for it to reach an outcome. I’m sorry for giving such an ordinary answer (laughs).
–Q27: The TV anime adaptation will start airing in April. I think there will definitely be a lot of readers who will get into the manga after watching the anime. As the author of the original work, what are your thoughts and expectations for the anime adaptation? Please leave us an impactful message!
Furudate: Since I was also someone who started buying manga after watching the anime, I’m very happy to receive an anime adaptation. Even if you don’t buy manga regularly, the anime is a media that is accessible to anyone who has a TV, so I’d be really happy if that could become a springboard for people to learn more about volleyball as a competitive sport. I have really high hopes for the anime and look forward to seeing the characters move in colour, but what I’m looking forward to the most is the “sound”. The sound of volleyball shoes and the sound of the ball, all these sounds that I’m unable to express in the manga will be expressed in the anime, and since they said they would actually record these sounds, I’m really excited! The art in the manga has a more peculiar touch as compared to that in the anime, so I hope that everyone can get used to it! (laughs)
–Q28: Furudate-sensei, please tell us the “Highest Point” you’re aiming for with Haikyuu!!!
Furudate: In the future, I hope the players that would go on to play at the international stage would say that they started playing volleyball after reading Haikyuu!! as a kid! I hope! A one in a million chance! That someone would say that! That is my one true wish.
–Q29: Lastly, to all your fans and readers, please say a word about the future developments of the story! Please also leave a word for the new readers! Thank you so much!
Furudate: I’m hoping to make Haikyuu!! a series that can convey how cool and fun volleyball can be to those who don’t know and those who already know of volleyball. That is my number one goal for this series! Thank you very much!
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I wanted the publication of this to coincide with the publication of the last chapter so a mild warning that it’s not proofread! Will try to fix any errors in the following days, do give me a heads up if you spot one! sorry that this is a translation of old content (yes, it is 6 years old), I wanted to do something for the closing of hq! pls check out my pal @pala_bora on twitter for threads on interviews with Japan’s volleyball players regarding hq in the latest issue of monthly volleyball!!
Sekita Masahiro, Yamauchi Akihiro, Yanagida Masahiro
also hpbd oikawa!!!
(translator’s note down below)
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