Haikyuu!! Observations: Chapter 402 & How to End a Series
**OLYMPIAN SPOILERS BELOW**
Y’all, I can’t tell you what Haikyuu!! has come to mean to me. I know that I haven’t been in this fandom as long as so many of you, but when I say this series has become one of my favorites, I sincerely mean it. I’ve already ordered the last two Shonen Jump issues to be shipped to me with the last chapters…
I’ve read manga and watched television shows, and been disappointed with the ending, but going into this last chapter, I wasn’t nervous. Furudate is a master class storyteller and this series has been a 10/10 from the beginning. However, I did NOT spoil myself at ALL for this last chapter, so it was all a surprise, and I’m so glad I went into it blind, so if you haven’t read the chapter yet…go to do that FIRST and then come back. With it being the final chapter, here are –
My Top TWENTY Thoughts on Haikyuu!! Chapter 402:
So, this is going to be my wallpaper on my computer all fall. Maybe longer. There’s so much to love about this color spread, but here’s my top observations:
* The parallels between Iwaizumi and Bokuto with Oikawa and Akaashi…Furudate is giving the shippers SO. MUCH. FOOD. this chapter!
* Tenma and Akiteru playing volleyball with Korai Hoshiumi! Because he’s the Little Giant now!
* Sakusa in the corner, opposite Ushijima pining away at him obviously
* Mika and Daishou together on Nohebi’s side, still together I hope
* Goshiki in conversation with Iwaizumi and Bokuto, who is still claiming Tsuki as his adopted child
19. Tendo’s a Chocolatier Now
I knew we’d have to see what Tendo had been up to after the time skip, but Furudate literally gave us the best dessert with this moment with Tendo and Ushijima. One, I LOVE the reverse of what Tendo predicted. Instead of Tendo being interviewed for Ushijima’s television special, it’s the opposite. Ushijima is a guest star on Tendo’s own television program…also, can we say that Tendo and Ushijima are STYLISH as all get out?! But then we get this –
Y’all. Ushijima flew to PARIS to meet up with Tendo. Yeah, yeah, y’all are best friend’s sure. Buttttttt, let’s just say I’m convinced that Sakusa is the one pining over Ushijima…and boy has competition. And that competition makes a mean chocolate volleyball.
But in all seriousness, I love that they’re best friends and that they still keep up with each other like this. Their friendship is one of my favorites in the series.
18. Nekoma, There You Are!
I’m so excited we finally get to see what the rest of Nekoma are doing! It makes SO much sense that Inuoka is working with little kids, just like Suga, and that Yamamoto is playing Division 1 (he IS the Ace of Nekoma, after all…and ROCKING that mohawk). Also, may I say that Shibayama going from being that timid second-string Libero to a Division 2 Libero – and looking SO grown up – is just heartwarming…the minute they mentioned Russia, though, I started to wonder about Lev…but I wasn’t ready, you all...I WAS NOT READY….
17. Haiba X Yaku, Living that Russian Life
Y’ALL. Yaku and Lev and THAT GLOW UP!
Seriously, Kuroo looked handsome in a suit, but Yaku working that Libero status in the Russian League and looking that gorgeous? Speaking of GORGEOUS, are we surprised that the Haiba siblings are models? But I have to wonder if Yaku went to the Russian League to hang with Lev? I mean…he likes short hair…which Alisa does not have…sooooo….let’s just say my shipping heart was about to burst (and burst it did later, but more on that…).
16. Amanai still thriving, and the Tanaka fan club!
I love, love, LOVE that not only do we get to see Amanai, Tanaka’s childhood friend, thriving at the ace of the Japan’s National Women’s team, but that Tanaka is STILL supporting her through it all, and so is Kiyoko! These two are too good for this world, and I love it so much that we get that confirmation, here.
15. The Third Year House Party
There’s a LOT to fangirl about on this page:
* The fact that Kiyoko and Tanaka are throwing house parties, and have a pet bird.
* The fact that Suguwara is all about teaching EVERYTHING, even birds
* The fact that Daichi and Suguwara are still close
* The fact that freaking Nishinoya and Asahi go on a WORLD TOUR together, and look the MOST stylish doing so…
* …and then I read the words “today they will take on Argentina” and I LOST. MY. MIND. Because…you all know what that means, right?
14. WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING:
But before we get to the main event, we get a brief glimpse into what everyone else has been up to – don’t think that when I saw Jose Blanco as the coach for Argentina’s National Team that I did FREAK OUT again – and I LOVE that Yamaguchi has Hinata’s National Jersey! I love how their friendship has grown over the years! It’s so adorable!!
13. THIS PAGE CAUSED MY ASCENSION:
I won’t lie. Last night, I woke up at 4 and 5 am, after having dreams about Haikyuu!!’s final chapter – and in those dreams, I kept seeing Oikawa and Iwaizumi…and it wasn’t clear, but they were there. And I thought it was just a dream…but…as I put in my last post, I wanted Oikawa to show up at least for one panel…just one final push to show him at the Olympics.
And then this page happened and I lost my ever-loving mind:
I didn’t know I needed the Iwaizumi reveal that he’s the personal athletic trainer for JAPAN instead of Argentina, but I did. After all, Iwaizumi said he’d be against Oikawa in the future. It alllll makes sense, now! How did I NOT see this coming? And then, damn, there’s that banner.
Furudate just NAILED THIS PAGE…and then, just in time for Oikawa’s birthday:
12. Oikawa Gets His Due Recognition:
I’ve wanted this for our trashy Grand King for so dang long…FINALLY, he gets recognized on the world stage. He looks GLORIOUS here, as does Hanamaki for that matter, and I absolutely LOVE his confidence. There’s no smug, fake smile here. It’s all genuine. And I friggin’ love it for him. I’ve wanted this for Oikawa this whole series, and here we are.
11. Furudate really said OiHina Rights:
That HUG?! Yes, please. I cannot WAIT to see this animated – I hope they add Kageyama and Atsumu’s reactions just for show, but seriously, who knew that Shoyo and OIKAWA would have such a wholesome friendship!? Especially with what I’m going to talk about below…
10. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE SENDAI FROGS
Okay, but SERIOUSLY. Furudate has shown us some Division Team Ups in the time skip, and Goshiki and Kiryuu together on a team is awesome, but THIS?!
Tsukishima as Middle Blocker
Koganegawa as Setter
and “MAD DOG” Kyotani as Opposite?!
Y’all. This team is broken. And I want to watch ALL OF THEIR GAMES.
Furudate, please do a spin off of this team. I need to see this team’s dynamic in action, ESPECIALLY because Tsukishima looks like he’s actually GETTING ALONG with Mad Dog?! And Mad Dog looks like he’s grown up and matured!?
So, we have our Olympic team (Aran not featured, but shown below – I don’t know why we don’t see him here) and I LOVE Iwaizumi looking so sinister in the background, like he’s so ready to take on Oikawa and Argentina.
Setters: Tobio Kageyama and Atsumu Miya
Liberos: Morisuke Yaku and Motoya Komori
Opposites: Hinata Shoyo and Wakatoshi Ushijima
Middle Blockers: Gao Hakuba and Yūdai Hyakuzawa
Wing Spikers: Koutarou Bokuto, Kiyoomi Sakusa, Korai Hoshiumi, and Ojiro Aran
I love it! This team is just GOAT. I wish we’d gotten to see them play!
Also, Kageyama just can’t leave Hinata alone, can he?! Haha!
8. Aran Returns and The Kita x Osamu Shippers Rejoice
I love that we get to see Heitor and Nice have three children now! AND even better, we get Kita and Osamu watching the game together…and Kita’s grandmother calling him Osamu-chan…oh my. Plus, I love that Atsumu has Aran back with him to keep him in line. Ahhh, I wish we could see those team dynamics. Furudate, you TEASE!
7. ONE OF MY FAVORITE COLLAGE PAGES
You know why I love this page so much? And it’s not just Tendo’s chocolate volleyball –
* WE SEE KUROO WITH HIS HAIR PUSHED BACK. *heart squeeze*
* Tsukishima and Mad Dog practicing so hard together…just…THE CHARACTER GROWTH. *heart squeezes again*
* Tenma doing his volleyball manga at rapid speed
* Coach Ukai being alive and thriving, watching the game with Nekoma’s coach
* Oikawa GENUINELY SMILING alongside the bubble about Volleyball being fun, a callback to not only his commentary in Chapter 374, but SUCH a beautiful reverse of all the panels before where we would see Oikawa’s back and the words “defeat” or “hurdle.” We DON’T see that now – just a confident man who is in his prime playing the sport he loves. *HEART EXPLODES*
* And then the callback to the manga title and our two protagonists…
You know what is so cool about this? Not only the confirmation that we’ll get to see this hopefully animated, but think about it! Oikawa NEVER competed at Nationals, so he would have NEVER competed against Sakusa. So seeing Sakusa pick up his serve is just SO cool. I love it. This is going to be so GOAT in animated form…
5. THE CONNECTIONS… *Que the FEELS*
…and before we see the result of Shoyo and Kageyama going their separate way on the court, we get this beautiful callback page. All the defining moments for Shoyo and Kageyama, all together here. Let me say, I LOVE the panels of Tanaka, Daichi, and Sugawara on this page in the new style, and the callback to Shoyo first realizing he’s on the same team as Kageyama…
4. The Final Quick of the Series
And it feels so good. I love that even after all those years apart, it’s still so satisfying to see these two players, at the top of their game, able to come together to pull that attack off. But you know what the best part is?
3. Shoyo and Tobio FINALLY CONNECT.
All these years. All these chapters. And FINALLY.
They finally look at each other, acknowledge each other’s ability.
And fist bump like the best friends and rivals they are.
This panel is probably one of my favorites in the series. It’s so perfect.
These two finally connected. And you know what? It’s not even the last page…
2. FURUDATE – YOU MAD GENIUS, YOU.
I thought the page with the fist bump was the end. But no. Because Furudate doesn’t play by the laws of humanity. Furudate GOES BEYOND. PLUS ULTRA.
I didn’t see this coming. 2022 – a year after the Olympics.
We don’t see who won the game, but that’s not the point.
The point is that our two protagonists are still rivals.
Friends, but also rivals…CHALLENGERS to each other. Forever trying to see who will top the other.
And here they are, facing each other again in the foreign leagues.
So Cons? Shoyo was only on the MSBY Black Jackals from 2017 - 2021, to our knowledge. And Kageyama was really only on the Adlers until 2018, because they said he was going overseas the next year after the MSBY vs Schweiden match in late 2017.
Pros? Uhm, Hinata ends back up in Rio – with Pedro, Heitor (likely as a babysitter), and facing/probably playing beach volleyball with Oikawa in South America…ahhh, the fanfics we can make from this, am I right?!
I just absolutely adore how Furudate left this series open for us – Kageyama and Hinata are going to keep challenging each other until they retire from Volleyball, and will likely then keep playing scrimmage matches…hopefully with Kindaichi and Kunimi joining, too.
I’ve not read a series with this satisfying of a conclusion in recent memory. Furudate created a manga that has been so consistently good from start to finish…it’s incredible. And these final chapters didn’t disappoint. At ALL.
And the best part? We get to keep the story going with our own fan fiction, fan art, and keep analyzing everything that Furudate has given us.
Which is exactly what I’m going to do. I’m have SO MUCH that is left to analyze and break down on Tumblr – who is playing what division – etc. I also have started to buy each of the volumes, so I’m going to break down each of those and connect back through the series with everything…ugh, I’m so happy with how this manga has ended.
I would probably be sadder if we didn’t still have all of this to be animated. I can’t express how excited I am to see these panels brought to life in animation and even MORE excited to see the “anime only” people FREAK OUT like we have.
It’s going to be a wild ride.
Furudate, thank you for this series. With all that’s going on in the world, I needed a ray of sunshine like Shoyo and his passion for Volleyball in my life. And this delivered and so much more.
Whatever Furudate decides to write and draw as their next series, I’m going to be checking it out. I hope you all do too. Seriously, THIS CHAPTER. 100/10.
jacobvanloon
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