"This guy overwhelms me"
Friends, is it gay to stare across the net at someone during a volleyball game? Yes, yes it is.
This week, em and rainbow cover season 1 episode 1, 'The End and the Beginning' and discuss the utter adorableness of Hinata Shoyo, the failures of the Kitagawa Daichi coaches, and point out the blatant soulmate behavior of kagehina. Over in the spoiler zone they get into the roots of Kageyama's anger. Finally, rainbow rambles about the heroine's journey for just a bit too long.
44:02 - Spoiler Zone Begins
54:19 - Spoiler Zone Ends
Podcast Socials:
twitter
bluesky
instagram
tumblr
Email us at flyhqpod@gmail.com
Transcript available on our website, if not included in your podcast app: https://flyhqpod.buzzsprout.com
If you have the means, please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Learn more about the Heroine's Journey:
https://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/
https://gailcarriger.com/2020/10/07/heroines-journey-special-extras/
"This guy overwhelms me"
Friends, is it gay to stare across the net at someone during a volleyball game? Yes, yes it is.
This week, em and rainbow cover season 1 episode 1, 'The End and the Beginning' and discuss the utter adorableness of Hinata Shoyo, the failures of the Kitagawa Daichi coaches, and point out the blatant soulmate behavior of kagehina. Over in the spoiler zone they get into the roots of Kageyama's anger. Finally, rainbow rambles about the heroine's journey for just a bit too long.
44:02 - Spoiler Zone Begins
54:19 - Spoiler Zone Ends
Podcast Socials:
twitter
bluesky
instagram
tumblr
Email us at flyhqpod@gmail.com
Transcript available on our website, if not included in your podcast app: https://flyhqpod.buzzsprout.com
If you have the means, please consider donating to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund
Learn more about the Heroine's Journey:
https://heroinejourneys.com/heroines-journey/
https://gailcarriger.com/2020/10/07/heroines-journey-special-extras/
Hello everybody and welcome to Fly: A Queer Haikyuu podcast. I'm Rainbow and I almost called myself Em. That's not me, [Em] that's not you. [Rainbow] No, I'm Rainbow.
Em:I'm Em. Oh my goodness, you thought we would have gotten this straight with our episode zero.
Rainbow:I know, yes. So if you listened to episode zero, you know that we, and if you have read the title of this podcast, you know it's a queer Haikyuu podcast. We are Haikyuu about season one, episode one, the end and the beginning, which is also the title of this episode of our podcast, and we are so excited.
Em:So do we want to just jump right in?
Rainbow:Um, yeah, so we are going to start off every episode with a fun little 30 second recap. Em is going to get 30 seconds on the clock for me and then I am going to do my best to recap this episode in 30 seconds before we move into our very detailed episode discussion. Let me know when you're ready. Okay, we are ready.
Rainbow:Okay. So, um, he needs to show you. Uh, he is a sunshine personified and it's his first volleyball game, but it's, uh, his third year of middle school and he's put together a ragtag team and they're going to beat everybody and they're going to get to the top, but their first opponents are Kitagawi dachi. I don't think I said that right, that's okay. They're going to be the top of the court and there's a really mean, tall guy and he had to fight with him in front of the bathroom and they definitely don't want to kiss, but they want to kiss, um, and then they play the game and he noticed his team is really bad and the other team is really good, but Kageyama, the tall, mean guy, wow wow, that was a failure.
Rainbow:Um, I might even ask that we do that again. No, no, we don't have to know. It's okay. We're probably going to turn this into a competition where we take turns doing the recaps and, um, so far, I'm already losing even though I haven't done one.
Em:Listen, this is our first go at it.
Rainbow:Anyway, it doesn't matter. We're about to tell you about the episode, and if you're listening to this, I assume you've already watched it. Um, I don't know why you wouldn't, even if you haven't watched any other Haikyuu at least watch episode one before you listen to this. Um, cause we're going deep dive into it. But episode one, the end in the beginning, um, initial thoughts and reactions the first time that you watched it.
Em:This is one of my favorite episodes, um, it might be my favorite episode. It's between, like this and season two, episode one, um, and it's such a great way. Like every time I'm like, oh, I really want to rewatch Haikyuu. It's just such a great, it's just such a great pilot, like it really sets the stage and Kageyama and Hina does relationship. You know, putting shipping aside is just so compelling and, like you can, from the jump, you see how they are like destined basically to fight together. So I, I enjoy this episode a lot.
Em:Shall we just start at the end and end the beginning. The end, end the beginning. Um, every time, so, oh, and another thing I think we mentioned this is that you're watching them in the dub and I'm watching them in the sub because I'd rather stick glass in my ears than watch this, uh, the dub. But, um, I love in the beginning and he does this in a couple of seasons where he talks about that tall, tall wall. And I do a lingo with Hina because I know when he's saying mean, oh, my mean to Kai, to Kai, come in that he's talking about that tall, tall wall that he's got to get over. But he can't do it alone. No, he needs a little help for his friends.
Rainbow:He does. He does Um, no, it's actually in the dub. Sometimes the dub does piss me off because it says in the dub he says uh, there's enormous, there's an enormous wall in front of me and I'm like, no, it's a tall, tall wall, um it just it needs to be a tall, tall wall. So sometimes the dub is wrong Um, and that's fair. But yeah, say it again, I love it when you say it.
Em:Me no money To Kai. To Kai, come back. And I'm skipping words and probably butchering it, but I have fun.
Rainbow:Yeah, yeah, we all have fun here.
Em:We see. So we meet Hina. I'm very excited because it's his first game ever playing volleyball. He's the captain of his little team, um, and what we don't know quite yet is how hard he had to work to to scrap this little team together, because no one at his school, for some reason, likes volleyball, and so it's just been him on his own. And we get to this little school and they're getting already in their lime green team jump like uh outfits.
Rainbow:And Hinata is so adorable, he's so excited and I was very termed by Hinata. Immediately, when I watched the show, I was like, oh, I'm going to love this guy. Um, and sister actually watched the first of Haikyuu.
Em:Yes, I posted her a reaction to it on Twitter. I'll have to find it again but it was very good.
Rainbow:But she had the same thought I did about Hinata, which is like this, is like a like Naruto type character which I think is probably a very common archetype in shown in anime, is like the protagonist who is like always uh, always, always optimistic and like ready to go. Like I'm surprised Hinata never says believe it even once. Believe it, um, so, yeah, so Hinata is just like he's so excited, um, but yeah, like M said, he has never had anyone to play volleyball with him. Like you see these flashbacks of him just like begging his friends to play, to just toss the ball to him and he just like has no team to play with and then, and he's the only one in the volleyball club, it's more of a volleyball fan club than an actual sports team One man club.
Rainbow:It's a one man club but then the first years join. He does have his little first years. I feel like we don't talk about them enough, the sweet little first years who joined Hinata on his volleyball team.
Em:I think we don't talk enough about the fact that so Hinata has his two little friends, koji and Izumi. Izumi and Koji looks like a mini Iwa. I think of that every single time.
Rainbow:He really does there's. There are certain characters where it's just like oh, this is like the same, like basic character structure, with just like a tiny little difference.
Em:Haikyuu has about like three to five like character bases that they reuse and then a few like outliers which, like, makes sense.
Rainbow:Honestly, like drawing is hard, it's all hand drawn, so I get it. You know the end. One thing about sports anime is they're almost always in their uniforms, which means you don't have to deal with that like typical cartoon or animation thing where it's like, oh well, they're always wearing the same outfit. It's like, yeah, they have to.
Em:Yeah, it's their uniform. So they're getting ready for their game. And then Kira Gawa Daichi arrives, the full grown men.
Rainbow:Yes, oh my God, for some reason, so tall, although I will say in the dub I don't know if it's like this in the sub because I don't speak Japanese and I don't know like the nuances of, like the language and like whether, like how people are supposed to sound at certain ages, but in the dub these middle schoolers sound like grown adults every single one of them, except for Hina, and this is the only one who's just like.
Rainbow:I believe that you are a young person. Everybody else sounds like a full grown adult. Even like the first years from Hina team, I'm like they are like 11. They should not sound so grown up, but they do. But the Kira Gawa Daichi guys look like adults.
Em:It reminds me of like. I have very specific memories of being either in like kindergarten or first grade and walking past the third graders in the hallway and thinking they are so grown up. These are like. They're like college students to me. Mind you, these are eight year olds, but I feel like it's the same kind of like. They're probably all like a year older and they're all just tall for their age.
Rainbow:Okay, so Kira Gawa Daichi arrives and it's just as like they're. They're talking about like, like Hina, just talking about how, like he's, their team is going to win. They're going to make it all the way to the end, and then the team walks by them that they have to face and they're all like everybody on Hina Tis team and I cannot pronounce that team and I'm so sorry. Oh, the Yu-Gi-Ka-No.
Em:It's really.
Rainbow:Yeah, it's a long name and we were going to try it, but I'll look it up and try to sound it out phonetically. But Hina Tis team is just absolutely horrified looking at these big guys. They're like they have the same reaction we do, which is like those are grown men. What do you mean? We have to play against them.
Em:And then that brings us to what I titled the first romantic moment of the episode, when Kageyama walks by Hina Tis. We don't even see his face, and at this point Hina Tis knows nothing about who Kageyama is, or really anything about the team, but just his sheer presence alone makes Hina Tis like stop and stare after him, which I'm just going to say with my gay agenda. It's a gay agenda moment. If one of them was a girl, this would be an end game relationship beginning.
Rainbow:Okay. Well, and here is also the thing is, not only does Hina Tis stare at him because of his presence, but he sees him as a king. He sees him in the crown and the cape. And then, right after that is when you hear people talking about like, oh, he's the king of the court. Everyone calls him the king of the court.
Rainbow:And I'm sure, in Hina Tis' head. Hina Tis going like king of the court is the coolest nickname I've ever heard and it fits that guy perfectly and it's just insane. And also that moment does not happen in the manga, because I'm also reading the manga as we're doing this rewatch for the podcast and like at that moment is like Hina, they just see them. There is like a moment where Kageyama like hears people calling him the king and then like glares at them, which I thought was smart, because I feel like you don't really in this we don't really find out till later how much Kageyama hates the nickname, whereas in the manga they make it very clear from the get go that Kageyama does not like this nickname. Also, like that scene with Hina Tis' seeing Kageyama as the king happening in the anime but not in the manga is proof of a theory that I have that with every iteration Haikyuu gets gayer and gayer.
Em:Yeah, I love noticing how, like the anime does, I think gay it up way more than the manga does.
Rainbow:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I don't know if part of that is like. I don't know if there are people who like work in anime, who like read these mongas and are just kind of shippers and are like maybe have their own little gay agenda, which I'm not mad about.
Em:And then we get to Hina Tis' first of many bathroom confrontations with the king himself and a couple of shitty first years. I guess from the other two there's second years. Oh, excuse me Because.
Rainbow:Kageyama calls them second years. I also so yeah, so Hina Tis' going to the bathroom because his stomach hurts and he's like then the second years from Kira Gawa Daichi are talking shit about him and he's like you have a note about it in here. He's about how tenacious he is.
Em:Oh yes, I love his tenacity. The fact that my man is doubled over prairie dogging and he's still telling off those kids like, hey, we're going to actually beat you as squirts are coming out of his butt. God bless him. I love that little ginger. He's just so well. He really volleys back and forth. Am I going to do that every episode? Maybe? I don't mean to he's like, but he really volleys back and forth between being a scared little shit and then also like I will fight you.
Rainbow:Yeah, he has like just so much audacity and he does have this confidence, but he's also like kind of just terrified of other people, anyone like bigger than him, and so these like second years are talking shit to him and like of course he's standing up for himself. And then Kageyama comes and is like hey, second years, hurry up. And he looks at Kageyama, looks at Hinata, for like really no reason. He like tells the second years to hurry up and get back to the team with their water bottles that they're filling up. And then he like glances quickly at Hinata. Hinata is like frightened for a moment and then turns around and like turns around to walk away.
Em:Yeah, this is what I call our second romantic moment of the episode, because we have that kingly moment again. When he first shows up, he's like it's that handsome stranger. Yeah seriously.
Rainbow:And then the stupid second years are like they continue to make fun of Hinata and Kageyama will not have it. He tells them off. He's like you guys aren't even on the bench, you can't talk. Like you can't talk shit about him. And this brings up one of my head cannons that I think because Hinata put together his team Like they don't even have a coach, they don't even have an advisor with them.
Em:It's just a gaggle of children, it's just a gaggle.
Rainbow:Hinata put this team together Like he did everything, and because this whole series is really like Hinata's perspective more than anything, it's like Hinata POV. You don't really know what's going on with Kageyama. So Hinata is hearing people talk about Kitagawa Daichi and I would argue, or I would theorize, that Kageyama and his team people are also talking about Hinata's team Because they're so like they look weird. They don't even have a libero I guess is what they call it in the United States libero for me. But I theorize that Kageyama heard people talking about Hinata and how he's the captain. He like, oh, they don't even have a coach, and maybe somebody overheard that. Oh, he put that team together himself.
Rainbow:And I think if Kageyama did hear that, he'd be like wait, what? I mean, this kid wanted to play volleyball. So bad, he put a team together. And I think with Kageyama and we can get into this more I think with Kageyama there's a lot of him wanting to believe things are true, but then being afraid to believe them, and so he kind of goes in the opposite and it's like no, this isn't true. And so I think he probably was like oh, this kid put this team together. Maybe he really wants to play volleyball and then he's like no, he probably just wants to play with his friends.
Em:Oh, I have in my notes. Making memories is so sassy.
Rainbow:That's what Kageyama says to him.
Em:He's like what are you here to do? Make memories? Ok, country boy.
Rainbow:Yeah, because here's the thing about Kageyama is he takes volleyball very seriously.
Em:Kageyama is so deeply misunderstood by the people around him in the universe and also by the fans, because he's autistic and they don't understand that his special interest is just volleyball and he's just really intense about it. But he doesn't mean to be mean to you about it.
Rainbow:Yeah, and he's angry and we will talk about the anger in the spoiler zone. Yes, but as of right now and I will admit that it was the opposite for me, with Kageyama, where Hinata I saw him and I was like, oh my god, I love this character. He's so cute and sunshine. And then Kageyama showed up and I was like I was like, is this another Sasuke character? Is this another Sasuke situation where he's a brooding, angry asshole and is always a jerk? Because don't get me wrong huge Sasunaru shipper here, but Sasuke is just such a jerk and I understand why. But I don't like it as much. But Kageyama is not that. Kageyama is just an autistic boy who just cares so much about the sport and doesn't understand why other people don't care as much.
Rainbow:And it makes him very angry when other people don't care. But then he thinks that Hinata is one of those people who's not taking it seriously and it's just there to make memories with his friends and have fun. And then Hinata is like no, I'm here to win, I'm here to stay on the court the longest I can fly. I love when he anytime he says I can fly, which again the dub fucks it up because they say I can jump which it's like no, he can fly.
Em:You have to get. The other thing is the dub doesn't always live up to the intensity of the original material.
Rainbow:No, I think they like some things, just get lost in translation and I don't know how much of it has to do with like oh well, if we said, fly like the mouth, flap wouldn't work or like you know, I'm sure that there are certain things.
Rainbow:I also think sometimes, maybe, like the American companies who are distributing this and doing the dubs, maybe they don't care as much about the story as they should. Brief sidebar I think Oran High School Hust Club is one of the exceptions to that where they really were very serious about like, making sure they were like, true to the like the meanings that the character said, even if they couldn't get the words exactly right. So, yeah, so Hinata tells Kageyama that he's there to win, and then Kageyama is like only the strongest get to stay on the court the longest. And they are like and Hinata at this point no longer has a stomach ache and is ready to go back to the game. And so Kageyama turns around and his coat flaps in the wind just like a cape, like a king's cape, and then the game begins.
Em:I love your first note for this section is Keita Daichi coach sucks.
Rainbow:He does OK, because they're like practicing, and Kageyama sets the ball for Kendiichi who is the spiky haired guy we don't know his name yet, but his name is Kendiichi and Kageyama does a quick for him and Kendichi doesn't get there fast enough and Kageyama yells at him because you know, which is poor communication on Kageyama's part. But then the coach just is like, hey, kageyama, don't worry so much about speed, and just leaves it at that. And it's like dude, your teammates don't know how to communicate with each other. It's your job to like that. It's not just enough for him to know how to play volleyball. He has to know how to play on a team, and you are not teaching him that. And we'll get into later episodes in this season where we talk more about how the Keita Daichi coaches have failed to their students.
Em:Well, yeah, and a lot of like. It's kind of an ongoing theme of how the adults either fail the students or like step up for them and what a big difference it makes. And, yeah, and I think and we'll have to get into this in the spoiler zone but knowing what you know about Kageyama, and probably a part of why he's acting the way he is, you would think the coach would know that and like he's observing all this going down, so it's to Kageyama's stands. It is very frustrating to see that, like you know, clearly, there's some peril going on that's just being ignored and then, you know, his team ends up turning on him, eventually, not here, but we're about to get into that. But anyway, moving on. So we're getting ready for the big game.
Rainbow:Yes, we're getting ready for the big game and Hinata is such a good little captain, oh my goodness. Like because their team sucks, they start playing the game and they like they have three third years who don't know what they're doing. We forgot to mention that Hinata's friends, koji is a soccer player and Izumi is a basketball player, and the only reason they're able to be there with Hinata is because they already lost their tournaments for the day or for the week or whatever, and so they're helping Hinata. So they like barely know the rules. Hinata barely knows the rules, like because he's never played on a team before.
Rainbow:This is literally his first volleyball team and he's so nice, he's so appreciative. We also forgot to mention in the beginning he like thinks his friends like so sincerely that they blush because they're like dude. This is embarrassing, how sincere you're being Hinata's charm right off the bat. Just, he just charms everybody, even Kageyama, in his own special way. Oh yeah, and I always think when I watch the first episode, because in the first episode, like, you get this flashback to Hinata starting middle school and wanting to join the volleyball team. And oh my gosh, I just realized we haven't even talked about, like, why Hinata wants to play volleyball. So much we haven't talked about the little giant or the very important scene at the beginning of the show.
Em:Do you ever bike past a TV store in your entire life changes.
Rainbow:Yeah, are you ever, 10 years old, about to play soccer with your friends and then you find your purpose in life, yeah, so yeah, we forgot to mention that at the beginning of the episode Hinata, as like a 10-year-old, is biking past a TV and he hears it's interesting. And this is something that I feel like that happens a lot with Haikyuu in the manga and the anime, where we don't always see people's initial reactions to things. We get the back of people's heads rather than the front of it at first, so we don't actually see the look on Hinata's face when he first hears the noises coming from the TV. But then we do get to see it kind of cuts between Hinata's just like tiny little, odd face and the little giant playing at nationals and jumping and flying to spike the ball, and it's beautiful imagery, so many, so much like crow imagery, so fascinating. You hear the guys who are watching the TV mention like, oh yeah, karasuno, that's the school from the next town over, like already setting up certain things. And so Hinata, he fell in love with volleyball because of the little giant and the idea that he could fly, that he could jump, that he could overcome that tall, tall wall and that's what he's wanted.
Rainbow:But when he got to middle school there was no boys volleyball team. He was the only member. It was more of a fan club. The teacher offered maybe a little like, maybe kind of being a little bit of a dick about it. We're like, well, I could put you on the girls team and Hinata's just like oh no, I don't want to join the girls team. And I think so much about what would this game between Hinata and Kageyama have looked like if Hinata had joined the girls team in first year, and maybe he couldn't play in official tournaments but got a chance to practice with them, got to learn more of the rules and more about the game. Maybe that's a thick I write one day because, I'm fascinated by that idea.
Em:So Smash Cut 2, they're getting their asses absolutely handed to them in this game, obviously despite their best efforts, like so badly that the guys who are keeping score like once Hinata's team to win.
Rainbow:they're like man, these guys are really getting their ass kicked.
Em:And then Hinata blows them all away by being absolutely insane.
Rainbow:Yes, just continually. He keeps going and he keeps being such a good captain. Every time somebody misses something he's so nice about it. And it's just such another contrast, in another way, that Hinata and Kageyama are yin and yang, because Kageyama, his team, is doing really good, but they're still not fast enough for him, they're still not dedicated enough for him, and he keeps yelling at them, whereas Hinata's team is sucking and they keep losing and missing the ball and Hinata's just like no, it's OK, don't mind, keep going. So it's just another way that they're fun little opposites.
Rainbow:But you know, and Hinata is sunshine, but he also. You can see him getting frustrated, like he does. Yuzumi actually manages to set the ball for Hinata and Hinata goes to spike it and he's like I can fly, I can get over any net, and then he gets blocked and he's frustrated, he's clenching his fist and his friends say don't mind. And he's like you're right, you're right, but he's still just like I can't get over that wall and he doesn't know how, because volleyball is not and it's not about him. He does, he can't do it alone.
Em:He needs others. He needs strong six players.
Rainbow:Yes, he needs a strong six players. I also something I thought about watching this one, especially with the tall, tall wall, is, at least in professional volleyball the height of the net is different for men than it is for women, and I don't know if it's the same in middle school volleyball in Japan, but if Hinata the only, because you see him in the flashbacks, you see him waiting for the girls team to take a break or finish practice so he can practice over the net. So I wonder if the girls net is shorter. And so he's been like anytime he has gotten to practice with a net, it's a shorter one than the regulation one that he plays within this game, and so maybe that even contributes even more. And I will not get into a rant about the differences between men and women's sports, not in this episode, but one day we will.
Em:Yeah, no, that's an interesting point too. There's just so many ways that he was not prepared for this. But I mean, no one can take their eyes off of him because he just goes for it to the point where he really kills himself. He like smashes into the table and rolls over, and I feel like that's when he really starts to get Kakeyama's attention of like, oh, this kid is not fucking around.
Rainbow:No, he keeps going for it, and there's even one of the first years on. Hinata's team asks him why are you doing this? Why are you killing yourself to get this ball? We're not going to win this. Why are you trying so hard? And Hinata, this is where we get the first predator. Stare from Hinata and he says oh, oh, this is me.
Em:I love it. I love his like sheer confusion too, where he's just like huh, well, we haven't lost yet, which is insane because, like you're obviously going to lose and this brings us to the lesson of the day we haven't lost yet. That means, until that ball hits the ground you better go for it.
Rainbow:Yes, yeah, the ball hasn't hit the floor yet, we haven't lost yet. And when Hinata says that with his stare, and he says we haven't lost yet, it cuts to Kakeyama literally getting a shiver up his spine. And he's right, you haven't lost until the ball hits the floor and the other team has scored all the points.
Em:And this ideology is really what bands the two of them together. It's like their moral code, basically, that they share.
Rainbow:Well, it's almost like a continuation of the confrontation they had in front of the bathroom, where I feel like in that moment my head came up. For that is that, like Hina doesn't realize it, but he's kind of just spitting Kageyama's whole philosophy on playing and winning back at him in that confrontation and then I think he's kind of continuing to do that in this game. He is embodying everything that Kageyama believes about volleyball and really about sports and I think it frustrates him that he's seeing this kid who sucks and can barely do anything on the court, can't receive, can barely get a spike in, and I think it frustrates him that this kid is so determined and his teammates, who are better than Hinata aren't, and he yells at Kunimi for not going for the ball and I can't remember. I wish I would have taken more note of whether or not that's after he sees Hinata to going so hard for the ball.
Em:I think it's like once he scored a legitimate point.
Rainbow:Oh, yes, okay. So that's the thing is, hinata does manage to like I think he maybe gets like a one touch off the blockers and it goes out like it hits their hand, which this, this episode, doesn't really get into explaining a lot of the rules of volleyball. They really save that for later episodes. But like Hinata like, he managed to like hit the ball over the net and it goes to the other side and it's going like really far out and Kunimi just doesn't like really run for it, he just stops. He's like I'm never going to get that and Kageyama like tears into him for it. And there's actually a part later like when Hinata does his amazing spike, the last spike of the game, which I don't know. If you want to talk about that before I get into my little Kunimi thing, no, go ahead, okay. So in like when he needs to get his like really good spike, the ball is like you know, the ball is going down on the court and Kunimi dives for it. Like Kunimi dives hard, which is exactly what Kageyama was like looking for, but it feels like Kageyama doesn't really notice, like. I think that was interesting. This is also the first time I noticed that we're like Kunimi like seems to have an attitude of like he doesn't care and Kageyama has this whole like we didn't lose that point. He stole that point from us, like Hinata took that point from us and we could have gotten that back because the ball hadn't hit the floor yet. And then, when Hinata has his second spike, his amazing spike you know, kunimi does dive for it, like he hits the ground hard and you actually hear in the background, at least in the dub you hear somebody talking to Kunimi like oh, are you all right? That looks like it really hurt, like he really went for it and like showing that like he does care and he does like want to, like he wants to win and he wants to get the ball. It's just like he doesn't have, like you know. But Kageyama was just like being a jerk to him about it.
Rainbow:So Hinata they get a crappy receiving and Izumi goes to set it, but he doesn't know how to set it. So it like kind of like, kind of just like touches his hands, but then it goes backwards. He meant to set it forward like to the right and then it went to the left and then it went backwards towards the right and Hinata was already on the left ready to spike and the blockers were there ready to spike Hinata. But then the ball goes right and Hinata just like quick, like lightning, he slides across the court, he jumps something to the air. It's really cool. The animated um, the 12 year old boy inside of me is like oh my God, that's so awesome. And then he, he just spikes the ball. The blockers don't get there. You can see Kageyama is reaching to block Hinata. He doesn't even lay a hand on it because Hinata just too fast and he spikes it down and it hits the court and it's out. It's out. Oh, the ball is out. And that was the last point of the game.
Em:And they lose abysmally. But Hina has left his impression and we both made the same note about how Kageyama says this guy overwhelms me.
Rainbow:Yes, he said yeah at some point during the game. He says this guy overwhelms me and I was like that is.
Em:Okay, it's like, yeah, I know he, he overwhelms everybody actually. Yes, um, but yeah, no, it it? They just like they really set up um, each other's like missing piece. Like Hinata is a spiker who is just like dying for anybody to set to him and Kageyama is an intense jock who is just looking for someone who can keep up with him physically and also like spiritually, like who cares just as much, If not more so, um, maybe someone even better than him.
Rainbow:I don't know who knows Um. And then it's so, after Hinata, you know he spikes the ball and it's out and their team loses, the other team wins. And then you know like they, the teams always go and they line up and bow to each other and stuff, and but Hina and Kageyama are just standing there on either side of the net and Hinata is like and this is another thing where it's like I love Hinata, like he really does have such a range of emotions because you can tell he is crushed. He all he wants to do is play volleyball and this was his chance to play volleyball and now it's over. He already lost it and he's so upset about that and you can like see his, you can see how upset he is. And then Kageyama is also upset because he's like you are. So he like is like, this guy has speed, he has reflexes, he has everything he needs.
Rainbow:And I think in Kageyama's mind he just thinks that Hinata hasn't worked hard enough. I think he probably thinks like, oh, he did. Like you know, he doesn't know Hinata his background, he doesn't know that, like Hinata had to slap this team together. He doesn't know that Hinata has never had a team to play with. I think if Kageyama were in his position, he probably would have joined the girls team just to play volleyball. But Hinata, hinata and, like you know and that's not any fault of Hinata is that he doesn't know as much but Kageyama is like thinking in his head like this guy has everything like, what like, and then he says to him what have you been doing the last three years? Like he's so angry, which I would argue is the middle school angry boy version of where have you been my whole life? But absolutely.
Em:Yeah, this is another moment where Kageyama's autism and his delivery really fails him, because I think in a way, he's kind of giving Hinata a compliment and it's just a genuine question of like what? Yeah, where have you been all my life? You're amazing. But of course it doesn't come across that way and he doesn't know the background.
Rainbow:So you know no, I mean, he does like he comes off as a jerk in that moment. And and Koji Hinata his friend, it like he's about to fight Kageyama. He's like you don't even know man. He's like you don't know how hard Hinata has been working. And this is something we can talk about in later episodes. I would like to talk about if we, if we think that Kageyama like, kind of like learns more about Hinata and like his background, and maybe understands a little bit more. So yeah, so that's the end of the game. It was 31 minutes long. That that's it. That's all they played for 31 minutes and Hinata's middle school volleyball career is over.
Rainbow:So in the anime, at the end of the game, we cut to three high schoolers in black jackets. We don't see their faces. Who could it be? Who could it be? And I will say this is another manga thing where the I call them the third years, but it's actually two third years in a second year and we don't really know who they are yet.
Rainbow:But in the manga they're much more. They're adding, they're doing a lot more exposition and kind of explaining a lot more, and you actually like see their faces and stuff, and I kind of like the way the anime handled it, where you just get a little taste of them and again, because the anime is gay or they're like no, no, no, the focus of this is Kage Hina. We don't need to worry about these other characters. The only principal characters you need to worry about from the ensemble cast are your two leads, your two romantic leads, kage Hina and Hina. And so yeah, but we do get a little sneak peek of our, of our Karasuno people, because I think you see the name Karasuno on their track jackets. I think so, yeah, I think I think you have to, because you see their backs.
Em:They do that and they also have crows kind of in the background. Throughout the episode I noticed like there's just little moments. That's very subtle, but it's there and then yeah, and then so the game ends. They got their asses kicked and then we get to the end, which is such a very classic anime moment the way that Hinata then runs and confronts Kageyama. After the fact, all tearfully, I wrote, I wrote what did I say? Third, oh third romantic moment of the episode Hinata the teary declaration to Kage Amma, something that would only ever happen in an anime. Can you fucking imagine that going down in real life? Just a couple of like what? 12, 13 year old boys crying about their volleyball dreams.
Rainbow:Yeah, they're like 14. Yeah, it's like Hinata like standing at the stairs crying and being like, if you're the king of the court, I'm going to be the one who beats you, I'm going to be the one who stands on the court the longest. Like the fires of rivalry have been lit in both of them and you can see it in both of them. And when I first watched this episode, I expected Kageyama to be like a huge asshole to Hinata bow to, to be like no, you suck and you're never going to be good enough and you're never going to beat me. And instead he just kind of almost like pretty calmly, for Kageyama says like you have to get stronger than if you want to stand on, only the strongest get to stand on the court the longest, and so you have to get stronger.
Em:Yeah, this is a very early example of like him, kind of just knowing what to say to Hinata, or like not knowing what to say, but just like they fit together so well that this is pretty much like what he needs to hear to be inspired. And then that brings us to our little training montage getting ready for high school.
Rainbow:Oh, the first of many, many training montages we'll get in this show. But so, yeah, so cute, so Hinata like it really does. Like it really does like kind of like put a fire under Hinata his ass, where he's like I do need to get stronger, I do need to train, and I think that in a moment that shows growth he does go to the girls volleyball team and he goes to the local women's community team and he's like getting help from these women where when he first started he was like oh girls, no, I can't ask them. But now that he's older and he recognizes like I need to, I do need to get stronger. He goes to people who can help him get stronger and you have a fun note about one of these people.
Em:Oh, when he's playing with the girl volleyball.
Rainbow:Well, yeah, he's playing with like the women's, yeah, so?
Em:he's playing with the women's volleyball team and I love that clear lesbian. You know, the one, the one that like passed him on the back and stuff. Yeah, no, he's like now it's like it's leveled up, like he already really wanted to play badly, but now it's like, okay, I'll do whatever, I'll play with the girls. You know, I'll train really hard because now he has a whole new goal, which is to beat the game.
Rainbow:Yeah, he wants to beat Kakeyama and in order to, and he wants to play on Corosino because he wants to be the next little giant and Corosino was the team that little giant played on so he and he studies really hard for the entrance exams and he gets into Corosino and he goes to school and he's so excited he's racing through the hallways.
Rainbow:I think in the manga there's like a part where he's like racing through the halls and some like basketball guy is like hey, do you want to join the basketball team? And he's like no, he's trying to get around and he like goes really quickly. And it's one of those moments where it's like people are always like being like holy shit, that kid can like run really, that kid's really quick, or he can jump really high and just like people are always noticing his athletic abilities. But so he's racing through the hallways and he gets to the gym and he literally bounds into it. He jumps so high, singing about revenge, singing, yeah, singing about getting revenge on the king of the court. But there's somebody already in the gym and they they're throwing the ball up for a serve.
Em:And, of course, we already know who it is it's Kakeyama, for our fourth and final romantic moment of the episode. The way that he is like flying through the air and slow mo, his hair is ruffling and he just like looking and he's like you, you're not upset and you're thrilled, but you can't really consciously think that yet. No, I know what you are he need to show you.
Rainbow:And it's not like he's looking at him head on, like he needs to sleep, basically seeing like his profile, because he is flying through the air about to hit, about to hit this volleyball and he needed to seize him. And then Kakeyama like falls back, comes back to the ground, the ball hits him in the head and they're both just like staring at each other. And I love he not to look on he not his face. He's like I love when he gets that screwed up, angry. Look on his face where his nose gets all wrinkled and he's just like what are you doing here? And Kakeyama just looks at him and that's how the episode ends. And I do. I was kind of obsessed with that when I first watched it, where I was just like, oh my God, now they have to be on the same team. What's going to happen? We got some rivals.
Em:It's such a great setup. Now that we've finished the episode, can we talk? Spoiler?
Rainbow:zone stuff. Can I talk a little bit about some other stuff from the manga? Yeah, go ahead, okay, so yeah. So one thing in the manga is there is there's like a little narration in it which isn't in the anime, and some animes Jujutsu Kaisen do this where they have a random narrator what I love the narrator in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Rainbow:I love it too, and it like it does like throw me off guard every once in a while. Who is this person and why are they talking? But they're literally just giving like explanations of things, and I think Hikyu, which is like, is a way to do it. I think it's kind of a lazy way to do it. I think Hikyu does a really, really good job, especially the anime, of like giving us information in ways that like seem kind of natural and like it makes sense to the story.
Rainbow:What I did want to read in the first, the very first panel of the manga is like is it looks like it's actually Karasuno or Karasuno type players Maybe it's not Karasino, but it's players playing volleyball and it says Haikyuu, also known as volleyball two teams, separated by a net, bounce a ball back and forth between each other. The ball is not allowed to touch the floor, it cannot be carried Once it is in the air. A team has no more than three touches to connect and take the ball from receive to attack. And just what a thesis statement for Haikyuu. Like wait, just tell us everything that you're going to have in this.
Rainbow:Yes, this is a masterclass in writing, honestly, oh yeah, listen, if you want to learn about good storytelling, you should read the Haikyuu manga and watch the anime. It's so. That's why we're doing this podcast, not just because it's gay, but because it's well written. Yes, also, I just want to mention in the manga, because he made a tough in the cutest moment of this show. Sorry about the squeaky of my laptop. In the beginning he had to. The first lines out of his mouth are he runs. Well, after the whole tall, tall walking, he runs into the gym, takes a deep breath and goes it smells like air salon pause and then his friends are embarrassed. But in the manga he does say icy hot spray, which I think is funny and I'm like could they not get their rights? Like, was that like a product placement thing, where for the manga they could do icy hot spray, but for the anime they couldn't do icy hot spray? So they like I am so curious about that?
Em:What was the brand deal I need? I need the paperwork.
Rainbow:Yeah, I also want to mention so Furudate was. He did a lot of horror. I think he him is the right pronouns. I know we don't always know the pronouns of mangaka but he did horror manga before he got into Haikyuu. He had like a zombie thing and I feel like we'll talk about it more. But I feel like you can really tell because, like he's so good at drawing like people being scary or people looking scared.
Em:Um, he knit his intense face. That happens several times throughout the show is like the most unsettling thing I've ever seen.
Rainbow:It's really chilling and it's like, yeah, it's chilling for everybody, it's chilling for the audience, it's chilling for people in the show. It's just like, oh, there's something very intense about this person. So, um, I think that's something that we can. We can touch on more. Um, what I have here written I don't remember exactly when this one and this could have happened in the anime too but, um, glancing at someone and quickly turning away, like you didn't just look at them, is so gay. Kageyama like does that to Hinata at one point and it's just like what, what is going on here? It's just, it's so clear that there is like fate, they are connected by fate. It's like they look at each other and they just like, no, like you are going to be somebody important in my life. And I think for Hinata it's a little less like confusing. I think for Kageyama he's like feelings, I don't know what to do with these. I'm going to be angry about it. Um, oh, yeah.
Rainbow:And then something that happens in the manga, that doesn't happen in the anime, that I really like is Izumi, hinata's friend, who's acting as the setter on their team. He says I think it's like after the declaration on the stairs maybe, um, he says that everyone else, uh, like in the tournament, like blue Hinata off because of his size, because he was so small, except for that King guy. He says Kageyama took him seriously, um, and he was like the only one, which is true, because Kageyama does take him seriously. Also, in the manga, kageyama does like talk about Hinata, um, like being short, I think a little bit more. Well, he, he refers to him as a runt, a lot, yeah, I feel like he talks about more his size, which I kind of like.
Rainbow:In the anime they don't do that. Like Kageyama is really the only person who never seems to underestimate Hinata because of his size. Like he, he underestimates him, um, because of, like what he's seen. He sees that he doesn't know how to take care of himself and like his stomach hurts before the game, which, like a true athlete would never, uh, would make sure their body is in tip top shape before they started game, according to Kageyama, um, and so like he, he, he doesn't think that, he doesn't think Hinata is taking things seriously and that's what he judges him for, but it doesn't seem like he ever assumes that Hinata is going to be bad because he's short. He seems to like, and I think Kageyama is such a volleyball obsessive. I think he knows that you can be strong even if you're short.
Em:Yeah, definitely. I mean he has that, like that stupidity, that like how our references later on like he'll just like Kageyama will just go for things, um, that maybe most, most people wouldn't or most people would like maybe judge or whatever, but I think that's a good example. It's like yeah, you're short, whatever I've seen you jump, get on my team. Um, I also had in my notes too is like the comparison between um the original idea, which like just really quickly. Basically, the biggest difference is that um Hinata doesn't have this interest in volleyball already and Kageyama finds him, sees him jump like magical realism, like jumping way too high than a normal human being would yeah like jumps from the ground onto like a second floor balcony because he's late for school and it's like that's not humanly possible.
Em:Yeah, and he's like you. You will be the one, um, but I like that with the this direction a lot better, where they both already have this like volleyball hunger and they just like fill in the gaps for each other.
Rainbow:Yeah, I think there's going to be a mini episode in our future because I have that saved where we read the manga prototype and talk about it and talk about the differences and like the strengths and weaknesses of both.
Rainbow:So, that's definitely something we can talk about. So, yeah, um, so that is it for the um spoiler free episode discussion, unless there's anything else that you want to add. Mm-mm, then I think we're ready to move into the spoiler zone. Splish splash, we're taking a bath in the spoiler zone, oh my God. Okay, well, you said splish splash. What am I supposed to say?
Em:Mm-hmm.
Rainbow:Okay. So if you do not want to get spoiled on things that happen later in the anime or in the manga, like we are, we're talking about everything here. If you don't want to be spoiled on any of that, I think now is where we leave you. You can skip forward in the show notes or not in the shows. You can skip forward in the episode if you want to hear about our socials and maybe hear some Twitter shout outs that we've got Um, and we will have all of those timestamps in the show notes so that you can see exactly what time the spoiler zone is. So you can skip it. But if you either don't care about being spoiled or you already know what's going to happen, um, come with us, it's going to be fun.
Em:Yeah, I had to stop myself several times because I wanted to get into all the stuff about like Kageyama and his grandfather getting and like, like we said in episode zero, we joined this fandom, we jumped on this train after everything had already come out. But I cannot imagine getting that like that subtext. Finally, after all this time of realizing like, oh, part of big part of why he probably was so angry is he lost like one of the most important people in his life. Um, so I think that just colors the way he acts. So like it, just it just makes so much more sense. Um, and is like so infuriating that his coach just doesn't really like step in and help because obviously he just went through like a trauma.
Rainbow:Um, but yeah. So I just want to say for me, like I was not spoiled on the fact that his grandfather died, and like I did, I found that out reading the manga and that just it changed so much for me it's like I have to go back and like, because you find it out in the time skip during the Jack Adler's game.
Em:Yeah, we are really late in the game here.
Rainbow:Like, oh, like very much, which I actually really love. I love that you get like, because it's kind of like I did kind of have to learn to love Kageyama. It wasn't really until season two that I was really on board with him. I was like, okay, I still feel like maybe you're going to be a jerk, and by season two I had realized that he's just a sweet little boy who loves volleyball. Like I am going to work on him. I'm going to try to point out every time in this anime when Kageyama like just gets, like he gets to go back into the game or he gets to go up to serve and he's just holding the volleyball and he looks at the volleyball and he has this cute little smile on his face because he just wants to play this game and he's always like he's just kind of always loved it and he had a grandfather who really nurtured that and that.
Rainbow:I think this is where we can maybe get into discussions of like inequity and inequality and like you can really view this as a metaphor and I think in some ways it kind of reinforces some negative things when it comes to like, oh well, if you're really down and out like, you just have to work hard enough. But I think ultimately, this story is about how, like, you can't do things alone and if you are, if you do, if you do lack something or if there is like, if you're struggling with inequality or inequity like you, you know, if you find community, that is ultimately what is going to lift you up. And you know, maybe and I think that's the thing is like Hinata is very like poor in volleyball and Kageyama is like poor in like social skills and friends. Like I always say that like they were so alone until they found each other because Hinata always had friends but he never had anyone to play volleyball with and Kageyama always had people to play volleyball with, but he never really had any friends. And then they met each other and just through through Karasano, they like learn to trust each other and they like it will get to it later with Hinata, after their fight, when Hinata is like crying and like it wasn't just that I had like a friend or a teammate. I thought I had a partner.
Rainbow:Like they like even if you just view this show platonically like they found each other. Like platonically romantically, like they just they were alone and then they found each other and it's really beautiful. And and yeah, it's just so clear that Kageyama's anger when we first meet him has a lot to. I think he's just he didn't learn how to grieve, he hasn't had a chance to grieve, and I think you could see, like this process that he goes through. I think like there's an internal like grieving process going on with Kageyama.
Em:Yeah, and if you've never experienced that kind of grief or have known I'm lucky enough that I haven't really but I had my best friend her mother passed away and like grief comes out as anger a lot of the times, especially when you're younger, especially if you're not, if you don't know how to process it. I just think like his anger just makes a lot of sense. And then the frustration because, as we know, you know, his grandpa prom kind of promises him like if you keep going and you get really good, you'll meet someone even better. So I'm sure that, like Kageyama also was just like well, oh, we didn't even get into your devastating headcanon.
Rainbow:Oh, I'm gonna get into it, don't worry.
Em:But he probably was frustrated too because he still hasn't met his someone better. He probably thought, like how it was going to be that for him, but then he almost tried to backhand him and then his teammates don't really care and at that point volleyball is really like all he has. So I don't, you know, I understand, but you, we were watching this episode and you turned to me and said the most devastating thing which you love to do to me, but go ahead, tell him what you said.
Rainbow:Prepare yourselves, this will probably happen a lot. So there's a part when Kageyama and Hinata are fighting in front of the bathroom where Kageyama is kind of saying just like well, if it gets too hard you're probably just going to give up, and Hinata is like, no, I'll never give up. And Kageyama says not giving up is easier said than done and I have a very sad, sad headcanon that like, which is, I think, is very common, especially for young people who, like watch people die where Kageyama's grandfather got sick and was in the hospital and he died. And I can't help but wonder if part of Kageyama even subconsciously thinks that maybe by dying his grandfather gave up, because the way that he delivers that line in the anime is like there's just something about it where it feels like there's something deeper and maybe I'm just projecting onto it, but that's my interpretation of it and you know what I love to hurt myself and others. I think it makes sense, yeah, and there's also, I think, a big part of Kageyama's story is about trust and I think for him and I kind of like this, I think shows up in a lot of my fix when I'm writing from Kageyama's perspective where he, I think, like his grandfather was the person he loved and trusted the most. He was like that was the person that he could talk to about volleyball, and when his grandfather was gone, he was just so lost and I think there was like a loss of trust. And I think he didn't, because with your grandfather, who's always been there since you were a child, it's just like that trust comes so naturally. But I think, meeting somebody new and learning to trust someone you know and you know after what happened with Oikawa which like well, we will get into that when that comes Like we're not gonna tear Oikawa apart for that. They were both children.
Rainbow:It's ultimately these fucking coaches who need to. Who should it? Like you're the adults in this situation. These are children, these are teenagers, they're kids Like you need to recognize that. Like this kid is going through.
Rainbow:Like was the school not notified that Kageyama like had like a death in the family? Like nobody tried to talk to him? And maybe they did try to talk to Kageyama and he wouldn't talk about it, but it just it doesn't seem like that From what we see. These coaches have dropped the ball and they fucked up and they like they just it's bad, they're a bad teamwork. It's bad teamwork. Like you can't let your team get like this.
Rainbow:Like they're kids, they're not just gonna work it out on their own and they're also boys and like maybe things are different in Japan, but like, at least here in the United States of America, boys are not taught how. Here in the United States, boys are not taught how to process their emotions. They are not taught how to talk about their emotions and like so, and as far as we know, kageyama doesn't have anybody to talk about his feelings with and his you know his coaches are not supporting him. He doesn't feel supported by his team and he doesn't feel like he can trust any of them. And I think he I think that there's a part of him that sees immediately, almost immediately recognizes Hinata as like his someone better, like I think there's a part of him.
Rainbow:I think that's part of what drives the anger is he sees Hinata could be my someone better, but I don't think he's ready to trust him. I think he is not willing to believe that Hinata will be that person. I think and I think part of this is like the rivalry, where he's like no, hinata has to prove to me that he is that person in order for me to believe it. And then Kageyama is just like, yeah, he's just like autistic and doesn't know how to communicate with people and he's got this like anger inside of him. That really is like, especially for the first few episodes, he is just this ball of anger, but I, you know he he learns to trust and Kurasno and Hinata are like the reason for that and it's really beautiful, like it's just. Haikyuu is a story about connection.
Em:Another spoiler zone type thing we wanted to point out too is so their first game, as you said, is 31 minutes long and like we like to think that they do this stuff on purpose maybe not, but then the Jack Adler's game, that their last game in the manga, together comes down to three to one.
Rainbow:Yeah, I noticed that the last time not the most recent time that I did a rewatch, but the last time I did a rewatch and I finished the manga where, like, yeah, the first game ends 31 minutes and then it's three to one, so three, one, three, one, and I just I think that's purposeful, I just feels like that. That's the kind of thing where, if I thought about that as a creator, I would be like I'm a fucking genius and you know what Fuhradate if that was on purpose. You are a genius not just for that, but for many things, but that's definitely a big one for me. Yeah, do we have anything else for the spoiler zone? Is there anything else that you wanted to mention? Oh, you do have something about Captain.
Em:Oh yeah, I did just. Like you know, Hina just seems to be really good Captain material. And again, I wonder how I would have felt if I didn't know already that Yamaguchi ends up being their Captain. Like I don't know if I would have been disappointed, because I remember seeing things where people, like you know, before they knew they were making bets on who would be Captain and whatnot. So I wonder, I think Yamaguchi is a good choice, but I think Hina should have been a really good choice as well. He might be too intense, but he's just like I don't know, he's very encouraging and like he's really like he's good at cheering up his rivals. Like I don't know, I think he's good Captain material.
Rainbow:Yeah, or even just like Vice Captain, like I don't really know what went into that decision. I think it could be. I think part of it could be Hinata his like maturity level, yeah, and maybe there's something about, like you know well, hina just like really focusing on himself more and his own improvement. I don't know, maybe that's not true because, like you said, he's like always cheering up his rivals and stuff. So, regardless, hinata, I wish we could see him as a Senpai Well.
Em:I like to. Yeah, that is something that we do lose out on. Like I think a lot of us would have happily read you know, 200 more chapters just going through their second and third year to see them being Senpais and how they deal with the dynamics of the teams changing. That would have been really interesting to read about. But yeah, that's really all I have for the spoilers on If there's anything else we wanna talk about before we get into our shout outs and promo stuff?
Rainbow:Yeah, absolutely. I would like to talk a little bit about. The heroine's journey is a narrative arc, it's very Western and so I'm not in any way trying to say that Furudate wrote Haikyuu as a heroine's journey or even that Haikyuu perfectly fits into the heroine's journey arc in any way. But it is something I learned about a few years ago and, like as soon as I heard about it I was like this could really be applied to Haikyuu. So I wanna talk about that and, if you're curious there are we're gonna have notes linked in the show notes to the articles.
Rainbow:I found Gail Carragher, I think, is her name. She wrote a book on it, the Heroine's Journey, and if you know about the hero's journey, which is a very famous narrative arc popularized by Joseph, maybe even created by, but definitely popularized by Joseph Campbell Star Wars is considered a hero's journey. That's been written about everywhere. You can go look it up. But I am concerned with the heroine's journey, which is it's like there's kind of three parts to it the descent, the search and the ascent. There's okay. So the descent has to do with like isolation, so like and this really applies for me to Hinata where, like, he's isolated at first, and then there's in the search part, there's a surrogate family and delegation and networking and information gathering, and then there's a network is established or rebuilt and it's about like reunion, and so the Heroine's Journey, like, so the hero's journey, is all about the hero going off and learning to fight the evil on their own, like they have to, like they might find, like a mentor, they might find people to train with, but ultimately they go off on their own and like the end is all about them on their own.
Rainbow:But the Heroine's Journey is about the heroine like finding community and creating a network of support in order to like overcome the obstacles. And that, to me, is what Hinata does, and there is often a part there is in the search, aided by companions. There's a visit to the underworld, is what it's called, but that's basically where the heroine has to go away. They have to go from where they usually are to usually to a very low point, and then they come back and they come back to their network of support and then they are able to overcome. And M is nodding and how do you feel about that? Well, yeah, that is definitely.
Em:Hinata, especially if you look at the overarching like he goes off to Brazil and that is a low point. He's very alone and he feels like he's starting over again. And then he comes home like literally he says I'm home on the court, so I think that makes it whole team is there to welcome him.
Em:And I think you can even make that argument a little bit, for like the journey of the team of Carasino itself, because they, you know, when we come to them, they've really fallen apart, they're the fallen crow, and then they rebuild from there.
Rainbow:So yeah, so I just wanted to mention that and if you're interested in learning more about the heroine's journey, like I said, there will be links, you know.
Rainbow:I would love to hear all your thoughts about what you think about the narrative arc of Haikyuu. Also, if, like you could, you know, like we're used to like Western storytelling structure and I know you know maybe we can touch on, like a kishotenkentsu in another episode, which is like a very popular, like Eastern storytelling arc or, excuse me, narrative structure, so we can talk about that at some point. But if anyone knows anything about that and has information articles you want to share, like, please feel free to send us. Send that our way, and the way that you can do that is you can send us an email or you can hit us up on social media. So all of our handles are the same. It's flyhq pod, so fly HQ P O D. You can find us on Twitter, instagram, blue Sky and Tumblr, or you can email us fly highhq pod at gmail. com and if you don't have anything to add, I think I'll move on to our episode, our shout outs.
Em:Okay, Are we just shouting at one person? What's happening?
Rainbow:We're shouting out a couple of people.
Em:Okay.
Rainbow:I put on our Twitter and we do mainly interact through Twitter. I don't even know how many followers we have on the other sites. I don't think it's a lot. So we're really mainly using Twitter for our social media. But if you mainly use Blue Sky, tumblr or Instagram and like, that's where we can interact with you the most. Just like DMS and let us know or like you know, add us or whatever, because we want to know, we want to make sure we're not missing people.
Rainbow:But I did put out a call on Twitter asking if any of our followers, especially people who already follow the pod, even though we haven't put any episodes out thank you so much, we love you and so we wanted to shout people out. So we, but we don't want to just shout people out without permission, so we did, like, put a call out on Twitter, and so we had a few people who wanted some shout outs. Some people just wanted their display name and some people wanted their full ad. So I'm going to go through the list. So shout out to AJ, shout out to Coco. N-n-n-n-nuff nice, oh, I love N-n-n-n-nuff nice.
Em:Wait, hold on. N-n-n-nuff nice. I met them, I think, on TikTok first. They were a very early friend of mine. Hi, n-n-n-n-nuff nice, you're one of my followers who, I think, ignores my Weirder content and has stuck with me through like the last two years, so I love you.
Rainbow:Yes, and then Zail Erika, who is at Sakuatsu444, and then M or MB. I'm going to call you MB because our other host is called M and I don't want things to be confusing and they are at MSBYM and that's M as an EM. So yeah, so shout out to all of you. Some of you may recognize those names.
Em:Wait, did we? Okay, we're not giving Coco's username. No, Coco said display name. Okay, I just want to gush about Coco really quick, because we love Coco. She is a fantastic writer. Oh my God. We actually had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of years ago. That is my biggest flex. But since we've-.
Rainbow:Other than meeting me and falling in love with me, of course.
Em:It's our flex. Together, it is our flex.
Rainbow:No, you're right.
Em:But well, we're not going to say their display name, but she's a fantastic writer. Like, oh my God, I don't know, I should have written something down for Coco, because I'm just obsessed with her. Love you honey.
Rainbow:No, but yeah, all of these people on this list are people that like, at least I follow on my regular Twitter account and I just I love all of you and we love that you love Haikyuu and we love that you want to interact with us. So, again, if you want to interact with us, find us on social media, Send us an email. Links to everything in the show notes.
Em:AJ, I want to smoke weed with you. Okay, that was it. And if I didn't give you a special extra shout out, just know it's nothing personal. I love you still.
Rainbow:We just have ADHD and thoughts come to us and then we shout them out into the void. But yeah, no, we love our infies, we love you so much, moots. But yeah, I think that is the end of our first official episode. So a week from today, which I believe will be Monday, february 12th If all goes, according to plan.
Rainbow:If all goes according to plan, we will be releasing episode two. So for this first episode, we did name it the End in the beginning, which is the name of the episode title. We're probably not gonna do that going forward. I think we're gonna come up with fun silly names, but we'll make sure to put in the episode graphic when we post it on social media and in the show notes, like making sure you know which episode we're covering. But we are doing them chronologically. We're starting episode one and we're gonna go all the way through till the end. So yeah, so thank you for joining us and we hope you join us next week. Bye, love you. We'll lie high.