Fly: A Queer Haikyuu Podcast
We look at Haikyuu through an intersectional, queer lens.
Fly: A Queer Haikyuu Podcast
S1E11: Decision
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“My friend needs me.”
We finally get to meet Nekoma's It Couple
This week, rainbow and em cover season 1, episode 11 'Decision' and discuss Suga's sacrifice, Hinata's insecurities, and the introduction of the infamous Nekoma. In the spoiler zone, they talk about what a terrible system capitalism is and get into the corrupt origins of policing in the US.
1:05:05 - Spoiler Zone Begins
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Queer Animation Discussion
rainbowHello everyone and welcome to Fly a queer Haikyuu podcast . I'm Rainbow and I'm Em , and today we are going to talk about season one , episode 11, .
emDecision . We're going to be meeting Haikyuu's it Couple . Are you ready so ?
rainbowexcited . But before we get into that , there is another queer animated show that I want to talk about , and that would be Steven Universe , because it needs some love . Yeah , em introduced me to Steven Universe and I was like I was not entirely sure if I was going to be into it . I think probably because of like Em told me about some , I guess there's like some negative attitudes towards Steven Universe on the internet .
emYeah , so unfortunately , Steven Universe kind of has this negative connotation with it because people want to make fun of autistic gay people . So it's kind of a thing of like oh , you're one of those Steven Universe gays , which is a shame because it's actually legitimately a really good and well told story and has really good like allegories for gender and identity . So I think you saw something on Twitter .
rainbowYes , I did . So what ? I've been seeing a lot more Steven Universe posts lately in general , but I've been seeing like the hashtag renew Steven Universe , which , you know , I love that idea . Those of you who don't know , steven Universe was canceled after they had like a very gay episode and so it was canceled and they only had like six episodes left to finish up the whole story . And so , and you know , and you kind of feel that when you watch it , like I think it's a very good finale .
rainbowBut I always think about like what would the show have been like if they had actually gotten to finish telling the story ? I'm sure they would have done like one or two more seasons . That really would have fleshed things out . Because , like , steven Universe is like it's a it's I don't know , like I think it's a well-paced show , especially for a kid show , because it is for kids , but like you know , like they really take their time developing the characters and we just didn't get that character development at the very end . And then , of course , there was the Steven Universe movie and Steven Universe future and we loved all of that . But like the world that was built by Rebecca Sugar and the other , like animators and writers . I think is so vast and there's so much there . There's a lot of lore and history and I would love to see more of that . and I'm not the only one , lots of fans would .
rainbowAnd when I saw the renew Steven Universe thing , I was like okay , yeah , I mean I think it would be awesome , but like , does Rebecca Sugar want that ? Because I think sometimes we like push , like we're like this creator , like create more , create more , and it's like okay , but like creators are not like machines . and you know , I understand if somebody is like you know what ? No , that was in the past like I'm done with that , I'm ready to move on to something else . That does not seem to be the case , because in a I think it was a Variety article , yeah , a Variety article from I want to say it was January 2023 . So , like within the last year or so .
rainbowThe interviewer says it's been three years since the epilogue series Steven Universe Future ended and you've recently worked on Fiona and Cake , which is a spinoff of Adventure Time . Will there ever be a Steven Universe revival or spinoff ? And Rebecca Sugar replied I would really , really appreciate it if everyone who would be interested in something like that would make a ton of noise and make it really known , because I would be thrilled to explore that . I think in this current media landscape , if there's a huge amount of public demand , then that's something that becomes impossible to ignore and that , to me , was the green light I have . Like at least once a day . I'm going to be tweeting renew Steven universe , like with the hashtag because I want to make a lot of noise .
emI would love more explorations of these characters and how really , however , they want to do it , they could do any avenue and I would be fine with it would it be like a spin-off thing or like revisiting the original stuff , because it was too bad that like , towards the end they basically got canceled because they had a lesbian wedding and then the end of it does feel like like we could have gone on and been more flushed out exactly .
rainbowYeah , I think , because you know we already have , you know , the main show , the movie and the epilogue . Those already exist . I think they probably . I don't think it would be like going back and redoing anything . I think you know , I think it probably . I don't think it would be like going back and redoing anything . I think you know , I think it probably depends on what they're given , like if , if you know , if they , if there's enough noise , and somebody like you know , maybe HBO or Netflix or somebody , is like okay , let's do another movie , or like let's do , you know , we'll give you like this amount of episodes . I think it's just gonna depend .
rainbowI'm sure there's lots of like discussion that will be involved , I think in this lands , this media landscape I do think you know Rebecca Sugar will be able to . I hope Rebecca Sugar would be able to do more with the queer stuff , and not have to fight so much because there was a lot of fights to do like the lesbian stuff . Like from the beginning this was a lesbian show and that was a problem , and that's kind of something I want to touch on a little bit with like the haters of Steven Universe . Like , I feel like there's probably homophobia and misogyny mixed into that , as well as like the ableism , because it's a lot of like autistic queer people and it is a very autistic show . I would say yeah , and so I think there's just a lot of like of like , you know , people are coming at it from all these different angles because they're you know , a lot of femme characters who are queer , and who are fucking weird , and people see that and they're like , you know , that's gross . We hate that because the world hates lesbians , let's , and queer women in general , but like lesbians specifically get like a lot of hate , I think , and that's not fair . And like this , like we said , this is a lesbian show and so I would like to see them explore more . Maybe we'll get to see more of like side characters . Maybe we get to see like some prologue stuff , like , and whatever avenue they choose to go in , I'm happy , let's do it . They could talk about , they could focus on any single one of those characters and I would be happy .
Steven Universe Renewed & Housekeeping Catchup
rainbowSo , yeah , so if you have never watched Steven Universe , it's on HBO Max and I think it's on Hulu . At least the first like four seasons are on Hulu . Everything is on Max .
rainbowI highly suggest you go and watch it . It's so , so good . And it is like there are definitely like I don't know , it's hard because there are some episodes that I guess you could call filler episodes , but I feel like every episode is in service to a character . Yeah , so feel like every episode is in service to a character . Yeah , so you know , if you haven't watched it , please go watch it . And then , like , get on the renew steven universe train . But if you have watched it and you loved it , hop on here with us . You know , I've been doing a lot of like I'll see other people's posts and then I just quote retweet it and do hashtag renew steven universe . Just get that hashtag trending , just do do whatever you feel is necessary and it's .
rainbowThis has happened before there was a show called lucifer , which is like a procedural , like cop show , a cab , whatever , and that show got canceled .
rainbowIt was on a network , I think like nbc or one of those . It got canceled and then the fans took to the internet and were freaking out and then netflix picked it up and it got like two or three more seasons . So like this sort of thing can happen and you know , I think we should just rally behind it because , again , it's like queer representation for children . It's one of those shows it's like She-Ra where it's like , wow , if I had had the show as a child , I would not have struggled with my sexuality as much as I did . Like , what would my life be like if I actually had queer representation ? And that's what Steven Universe is . Whether you like it or not , whether you don't care about lesbians and bisexual women, you know , it's queer representation and it's amazing and it's a like the main character , steven , is a boy and is like , such , like , he has such healthy masculinity and I love it . So , yeah , that's all I have to say about that . So , moving into our housekeeping section , yes , a little bit of housekeeping .
emI just wanted to say we're happy to be back in the studio . We took a break last weekend because poor Rainbow had four wisdom teeth yanked out of her face . But you did pretty well and you're feeling good now .
rainbowYeah , I'm feeling good . I mean still like a little bit of like . My gums are a little bit like whoa and you know my jaw occasionally has had some stiffness and soreness . But you know that was over a week ago . Now I'm back to eating solid foods . Don't try not to eat too many crunchy things , no , like seeds or anything . I had a Caesar salad last night with our pizza and then I was like , oh , the croutons were not the best idea .
emOh yeah .
rainbowSo that was unfortunate . But yeah , I'm feeling pretty good about it . I mean , I have gaping holes Yep my jaw , so that's interesting . But yeah , doing pretty good . Em did a very good job of taking care of me . I try you succeed . So we have just a couple of other items here . The first one is a shout out to Sage's mom .
emWe love you , Sage's mom .
rainbowWe love you . Sage's mom . Yeah , sage tweeted about showing their mom haikyuu , which I think they've been doing that for a while , and so , now that their mom is into it more , they showed them our podcast . And so I reached out to Sage and I was like , would your mom like a shout out ? so shout out to Sage's mom . And then we want to just save the best thing for last , which is that this is our episode , as many of you know , where we first get to meet Kenma , and we have a friend who is , like , obsessed with kuroken , self-proclaimed number one kuroken shipper .
rainbowyes absolutely is a huge kenma kinny . know all of that noise and so , it's our little kitten , our sweet kitten , which she asked . She specifically said call me kitten on the podcast , so I gotta point that out . She , yeah , from our sweet kitten Kuroken Cannon . Thank you that was her contribution .
emThat is the tagline of this episode .
rainbowActually is Kuroken Cannon yeah , this episode , honestly , like this one isn't like the most Kuroken . I feel like the next couple episodes are gonna be a little bit more Kuroken yeah , like the amount is not there , but hell of an intro .
emYeah , oh , absolutely , we're gonna get into it .
emWe'll get into it , we'll get into it real soon speaking of , do we want to talk about the structuring of this episode . It's gonna be just a little bit different , yeah . Yeah , do you want to let them know ? Yeah , so , guys , don't , don't worry , kittens , we're not gonna get too different . But instead of going like strictly chronologically through the episode like we normally do , we'll talk about some some kind of like random stuff , but I think we're going to more go by character and kind of talk about their journey in each episode . So , just a little bit different , but stay with us , we won't let you get lost .
rainbowYeah , we're still going to have the same level of in-depth analysis as we usually have . We just felt like with this episode it is pretty scattered , like we're kind of jumping from plot line to plot line , a little bit character to character , and we just found it was easier to discuss it if we just talk about each character's journey . Yeah , cool . So I think we're ready to get into the recap and I didn't pre-write it exactly , but I wrote myself little notes to go off of , so we'll see how this goes .
emThat's good .
rainbowI just edited episode nine , which you recapped , and you poor thing , when you were struggling yeah , no , I listened to the rough cut of that and wow boy , oh boy , that was a mistake .
emI love it and I love you , okay , so we're gonna try again with a little bit , a little bit of help from your notes section
Golden Week Training Camp Highlights
em.
rainbowYeah , three , two one and the golden golden week training camp begins . We get to see you , kai , as a coach and we get to see some fun training camps and shenanigans . we also see that hinata makes a mysterious new friend . I wonder who that could be . His name is kenma . ukai struggles to decide the starting setter and suga kind of lets him off the hook , for that helps make his decision a lot easier . Meanwhile , hinata gets the same jersey number as his hero Very exciting and we finally get to know some of the players from the infamous Nekoma . That's fantastic . Thank you , very good job .
emI try , I try . So yeah , golden Week training camp . This is such a like this episode starts off . It's just so cute , everything about it . ukai is really the coach that they've been needing . It's really satisfying to watch their training right at the beginning of the episode .
rainbowhe's having them do spike drills and receive drills like they're getting the sharpening that they need absolutely , and they're, like you're really seeing , like a structure to their practice that we've never seen before . And and he's also giving them feedback , which I enjoy , although the feedback he gives them is very like 27 year old man who does not work with kids . Yeah , he's like , what are you doing , windmilling around ? Yeah , he's not the most gentle , but you know , you know , we learn more about his grandpa and his coaching style and honestly , I think you guys pretty soft comparatively , yeah for sure , and just like the training camp hijinks are funny in this episode .
emWe kind of get a little bit of a ghost moment in this episode and Furudate's horror background is really , really shines through and actually would love to see him do horror or them do more horror , because I thought this little scene was so , actually so creepy , like Hinata's dialogue , the shots that they take . I was unsettled .
rainbowYes , I think I'm probably going to look up Furudate's , like past stuff . I think maybe they did like a manga that's about zombies or something which would be interesting , so I'm going to look into that . Yeah , and I have a note here all caps hair down , noya , so cute . It's always great to see the characters that have the spiky hair when their hair is down and .
rainbowI think one person whose hair never goes down is Hinata , I think . Even when his hair is wet it's up in the air . Yeah , but you , because his hair is not like he . You know he's not spiking his hair up with gel . It's just wild and crazy . Whereas Noya clearly like styles his hair to be that cool and I think he looks so adorable . He does look more childlike , though . Like it makes sense why he stands it up . Not even they like comment on the height thing , but it's like no , he just looks little and young .
emAnd then here comes Asahi , looking horrifying , like you did not have to say it like that .
rainbowHe's just scared . He's scared because they're making a ruckus and he's like no , daichi will come and he'll be terrifying . And he doesn't realize that he's being terrified with it , because you also get to see a lot asahi with his hair down , which we do not see often , and I need more of that . Yeah , it looks fucking fabulous . And then I think we both made a note about how important eating is yes , this is something I really love about haikyuu , is that ?
emyeah , so like Noya is pressuring Yamaguchi and Tsukishima to finish their dinner and they need to eat a lot , and Suga says something , too , about like he's going to make sure to eat a lot to make sure he's big and strong , and I just love that Like and I know that this is within the context of male athletes and of course , they have to eat a bunch , but I just like the relationship to food in this show a lot , because you need to eat to have energy and get big and strong .
rainbowIt's as simple as that well , and my note is like I love how team meals are always incorporated into the training camps and the tournaments , like we don't have to see those parts like I think that's a very deliberate choice on Fruitate's part , but I want to kind of open that up a little bit bigger because I think community at its core is a story .
rainbowWhat did I just say ? Community at its core is a story nope , haikyuu at its core is a story about community , and and food is such an important part of community like it is definitely like a you know , it's sustenance to help us , like as individuals , grow strong , but then , as like a tool for community , like it's a community building tool , is what I mean to say . Like eating together , like breaking bread together is very important , and so I think it's great that we get to see and we see this in other training camps and we see this like after certain like games and stuff , like the team gets together and they eat a meal and I . So I think it's kind of a like not only are they as individuals growing strong , but they as a team are growing strong together yeah food .
rainbowI love that . We also get to see , you know . So we have coach ukai here and we get to see . I feel like we get to see more of kiyoko's role as a manager now that they have a real coach yeah , yeah , for sure , she's the one that brings in the uniforms , our official uniforms .
emShe helps cook the meals and stuff .
rainbowShe's even helping Coach ukai at the very beginning of the episode when they're doing their receiving drills . She is keeping count of how many they're doing and I just because we didn't get to see that , like Kiyoko , she's like introduced and then she's very , very background and she's still just kind of in the background . But I feel like we just see her doing more and I really like we just see her doing more , and I really like that and I think that's interesting . Like I don't know if my like in my high school they had like team managers like that . I think some have .
rainbowLike I think in the Haikyuu Summit the other Haikyuu podcast that I've listened to both of those girls were like the managers for like their high school basketball team . So I guess some schools probably do that . I think in Japan it's very like like that's just how all the teams are structured . I think they usually all most of them have managers , yeah , and that's like a big deal for some of the characters that Karasuno has a pretty girl manager and we'll talk about that more .
rainbowYes In just a little bit . I have like a couple more things I wanted to talk about , because we do actually get to like talk to the three second years , the NPCs as you like to call them yes , and we kind of get an explanation of why they're being treated like NPCs .
emSo , after they're given the final lineup for the Nekoma game , Ennoshita , or Asahi , is feeling , I think , a little guilty about being in the startup while all these second years are on the sidelines and Noya , very matter-of-factly , is like the strongest day on the court . That's how it is . If they get stronger , they'll bump you right off . And Ennoshita starts to give us a little insight on how , when Grandpa ukai did come back briefly , they could not take it . You know they joined the club more for fun than to like actually , like they didn't have the Nationals , you know goal in their hearts . So they all quit , or at least Ennoshita quits temporarily , and they really are like I don't know how they word it in the dub , but in the sub they're like we're just pathetic second years , which is like all right , take it easy , you're just kids , it's okay .
rainbowYeah , that kind of is how it is in the dub as well , and I there's something I noticed in this one . First of all , I completely forgot that we get this story so early on . I thought it took a lot longer before we hear about the second years doing that , and I think Ennoshita definitely talks the most . I think we even get a little bit from Narita .
emWe get a little bit from everybody , for this moment does the other one talk , the one Kinoshita ?
rainbowhe might say yeah yeah , yeah , I think maybe we hear a voice from him , but yeah , I forgot that we had that . And I think it's an interesting moment because when Ennoshita is saying that , he's saying it to Hinata and Kageyama , as they're all like getting like the room set up for sleeping and Kageyama comes and like sits next to Hinata to like hear the story , and I think it's very interesting because I feel like at the beginning of the show , kageyama would hear oh , we just wanted to have fun with our friends , and he would have , he would have like completely dismissed them for that and he would have thought that that was like the worst thing ever .
rainbowBut I like that he then goes and he sits quietly and he listens to them and he's like very open to that and I think he's starting to understand that , like it's okay for some people to just be into volleyball because it's fun yeah and like not everyone has to make volleyball their entire personality like he does and so that was just like a tiny moment of growth yeah , and I think there's also just there's still that respect for some pies that Kageyama has , and I think he's just interested to hear about any volleyball related experience .
rainbowYes , he's like , oh , yes , they're talking about volleyball . I would like to listen . Yeah , absolutely . Yeah .
Suga and Hinata's Sacrifice for Team
rainbowThere is like a part where , when they're talking about like the , the lineup , and you guys says , like now that we have our , our libro and our ace back , and noya , like side eyes , asahi . And I think that's kind of what leads to him being like asahi if you don't keep your shit up , you're gonna get replaced . Yeah , yeah , don't , don't bitch out again , and I didn't think about this , but like they do point out that like Ennoshita was on the starting lineup because Asahi was gone , and now that Asahi is back , and I think you could like make the argument that like Ennoshita stayed and could potentially deserve that spot more . But I think we understand that like Asahi is still the ace , he's like he the last two episodes were him proving himself and so like he does deserve that spot . But Noe is right . Like you know , you slip up again , you leave again and you know , maybe you won't get back on the starting lineup . Yeah , okay , yeah , I think I'm ready to move into characters . And who are we doing first ? Suga .
emI want to talk about Suga first , because this is a Suga episode and I know all the Kuroken girlies are like , get to Kuroken , we will . But this is really . This is a big episode for Suga too . So it's been kind of weighing on ukai's mind of , like , what setter is he gonna pick ? And it's tough because Kageyama is so talented but Suga also has the trust and blah , blah , blah . But then Takeda brings up .
emI think the real kicker for ukai is the fact that it is Suga's third year . It's really his last chance and ukai can sympathize . You know , when he was a third year and he didn't get picked , it broke his heart and I think he's wrestling with doing that to Suga , even though Kageyama kind of is the clear choice if they want to be winning games and stuff , and Suga approaches him like the grown upup he is and tells him , like you know , I want to be on the court as much as possible and if Kageyama being the setter means that , then that's what I want well , because he says I think he even frames it as like I want this team to win and I want us to be able to play as many games as possible and like yeah , again .
rainbowLike you said , if that means Kageyama needs to be the setter , then okay , yeah and ukai is very amazed by this , which I am too .
emI mean , that's a big . That's really setting aside your own ego and making a very smart decision because , it's true , kageyama , being the setter means more games , means more chances to get on the court , so it's just a very reasonable thing , yeah , but , and you still see that desire that Suga has to be on the court .
rainbowYes , because I think even in the very beginning of the episode , when they start doing spiking drills , you know you see Kageyama and Hina ta do the quick , the , the freak quick , and Suga gets distracted because I think , like you guys , like , yes , great spike or something , and you can see like the wheels turning in his mind and he's like , okay , they're doing so good , like we need those two on the court . Yep . And then you know there's a moment where you know , because hinata like runs off and suga goes and finds him and they're running back to the school together and hinata , I think , says something about wanting to be on the court the longest and suga stops running and hinata turns back and suga's like , yeah , I want that too . And you can see , furudate is so good at this because you do , you see it in the manga too . And then the anime is is just as good with drawing the determination in characters eyes . You always see that hunger . They have to play and to play more and to stay on the court .
rainbowAnd I think you know again , it just goes to that idea that Haikyuu has that like when you know , even if you're not on the court at all times , when your team is winning , you are winning , and Suga understands that .
rainbowHe's like I want the whole team to win . It's not just about , like you said , he's taking his ego out of it . Yes , and I think that's beautiful and he's such a good character and we can talk about sacrifice with him . He is really sacrificing so much like for this team and he's sacrificing his chance to play with his best friends , like he's been playing with Asahi and Daichi since third year and I'm sure there is a big part of him that wants to be out setting for them in every single game , but he knows that if they do that , it'll maybe only be one or two games instead of the amount that they'll get to play with Kageyama and speaking of those two , they are listening in on this the whole time and they both have very determined looks on their faces of , like you know , suga kind of took this bit of a fall so that we can have this success , so we're going to do our best too , so we can all be on the court together .
rainbowYes , they're all such good teammates . I love them . They just care about each other so much . Yeah , is there anything else we want to talk about when it comes to Suga ? I have one other thing , but it's also kind of connected to Hinata , who's the next character we're going to talk about . Let's use that as our kind of segue moment , okay , yeah , because I feel like so much of this first season and really a lot of like the the show pre-time skip , I think is a lot about like Hinata feeling like he wouldn't be on the court without Kageyama . Yes , and he really laments this a lot in this episode .
emYes , yeah , that's definitely a focus for him , which I think is interesting because that's like balanced by like him getting his number 10 jersey , which is the little giants jersey well , it's like this like , even though he's kind of he's doing well in the way that he's on the lineup and he's got the uniform as a first year , as kageyama points out , that's special , but it like it's like a shadow looming over him . The only reason he gets this is because of Kageyama . He can't really forget that .
rainbowLove that imagery you just gave us there . But I think that the same is kind of true for Kageyama . I think if it wasn't for the freak quick ukai wouldn't be so like he wouldn't be so tormented about , like , who to pick as the starting setter . Because I think if Hinata wasn't there and they didn't have this amazing weapon , suga is the one that , like , has been the setter for Karasuno for , you know , two years now and like he has more experience , he knows the spikers better , like we see later on that kageyama struggles setting for the other players where suga wouldn't have that issue . So really , like , obviously kageyama is a good setter and he probably would get chances to go in and like , obviously he would be the starting setter the next year , but I think in his first year he maybe wouldn't be on the starting lineup if Hinata wasn't there to hit his sets .
emAbsolutely . They make you know Hinata's so focused on how he needs Kageyama , but in that way Kageyama needs like they make each other shine as bright as they do .
rainbowYes , yeah , and I think that's just part of like , because Hinata like , as like confident as he is , I do think he like struggles a little bit with his lack of skill and like I think maybe that like hits his self-esteem and because , you know , I don't think he likes having to rely on Kageyama so much and we see that causes , you know , conflict at one point , but ultimately that is the drive for him . He's like I don't want to just rely on you , this one person , I want to be able to stand on the court on my own and that's , yeah , that's a big thing for him . I wanted to talk a little bit more about them getting their jerseys , because Hinata is excited to have a jersey , but then he looks over and notices that Kageyama has number nine and that's one ahead of him .
emHe's so ridiculous and Tanaka and Tsukishima in the background are like we knew . He would say that they're like we knew he would be pissed about this .
rainbowThey're like we knew he would be pissed about this , but then you know it's daichi and suga who are like oh , he doesn't realize which . I was like how can he not know ? We're constantly seeing flashbacks of the little giant . But then I'm like , oh well , hinata isn't actually . That that's like symbolic , that's not actually happening . So like yeah , hinata really just saw the little giant in that one game and probably did not remember or even notice what number he was wearing . But like we know , because we've been seeing it like every other episode , yeah , so I thought that was kind of funny and yeah , and just , of course , hinata like has to antagonize kageyama that's when kageyama is like we're first years and we have jerseys .
rainbowThat's amazing .
emYou should be happy yeah , he's just such , he's such adhd personified , like I have too , where Hinata is just like screaming so much
Kenma and Hinata's Instant Friendship
em. This episode , like the first half of this episode , is simply him screaming when they're running . He's screaming Like it's just all over . But yeah , of course he's not focused on the actual physical , like the actual number . And then he realizes , and then he asks you Kai , like did you do this on purpose ? And he realizes , and then he asks you Kai , like did you do this on purpose ? And he didn't , it was just a coincidence .
rainbowOr was it fate ? It was fate , come on . Yeah , it really did kind of work out that way , because when you look at the rest of the starting lineup , it's like , oh yeah , that that is how it would go , and like Suga's number two , because he's like the vice captain . That makes sense . And then then Asahi has seniority and then , noya , who we ?
rainbowwe do talk about him having like a special thing , and he I don't know how he says it in the sub , but in the dub he says because I'm the star , that's why I have this . Isn't that obvious , and I'm like , noya is the ace of Karasuno and he knows it , that's why he's the number four . That's why he well , he has the special jersey because he's the libero . But yeah , I love him .
emHe's like , yeah , I'm the star yeah , no , it's pretty much the same in the sub that's really all I have for hinata in this episode . unless you have anything you wanted to talk about well , for the rest , it's just hinata in relation to kenma , because , and are we ready to talk about ?
rainbowI'm ready to talk about . I'm ready to talk about nekoma I do .
emI just I really love hinata is such a pure and genuine soul and he reminds me of like a kid on the playground that's like hey , I'm a kid , you're a kid , do you want to play with ? Like the way that he approaches kenma he's just like oh , I don't recognize that kind of track jacket . And then he just goes up and starts talking to this very shy kid and I love you see that there's a little calico cat . He's like this is my animal symbolism right here .
rainbowYes , in case you were wondering well , yeah , and I think the idea I don't know if kenma says it , but I think he like followed that cat , he like saw that cat and was like I want to pet that cat , and that's how he ended up getting lost I think that's what happened . I totally believe that I could be wrong . I'm I feel like that's maybe I read that in a fic somewhere and that's never actually I don't know if he just says that he got separated from the group .
emI can't remember , but we're gonna choose to believe that is canon yeah , my head , yeah , my head . Canon is that he definitely followed that cat I love that kenma's solution is just to sit tight and wait for his boyfriend to find him . Basically , yeah , really . But um there , it's just clear right off the bat how Kenma and Hinata are complete opposites in personality .
rainbowBut like quick friends , like it's just , it's like kind of instant because like I think it's probably pretty rare for Kenma to like be comfortable talking to somebody like that and like you do see him , he's like kind of like he talks very low and he's like kind of looking away .
emHe's a little afraid of Hinata's energy , right at the top , I think , because it is a lot .
rainbowYeah , hinata's energy , right at the top , I think , because it is a lot . Yeah , hinata's like , oh , he's like do you play volleyball too ?
emvolleyball shoes , yeah , yeah , it's a lot . Well , hinata is the sun personified , so I'm sure kenma's like where's my sunscreen ?
rainbowyeah , but . And kenma is awkward and shy , but it's so cute and I do love because , like they introduce themselves like hinata's like I'm hinata shoyo , and then kenma's like I'm kozume , and then he's like and hinata's like oh , is that your first name or your last name ? He's like oh , my first name's kenma . And then they talk and hinata's like I'm a first year , what about you ? And kenma's like I'm a second year .
rainbowAnd hinata's like oh , no , I shouldn't be talking to you so informally like that moment's really cute yeah like you're , you're like my , my , you're my senpai , my senpai , I guess , yeah , but kenma's like I don't do labels , I yeah . Kenma's like I don't really care about the hierarchies , which is the coolest person that ever existed ? That's not true . Noya's here , um there's just some .
emYeah , it's a different kind of cool , you're right . You're right , yeah like kenma is cool in a like stereotypical cool way like kind of like chill and yeah like you could like do drugs right in front of kenma and he wouldn't care , you know .
rainbowLike you could tell him that you're a stoner and he'd be like sure , that's your business . and he , it's so funny because he's playing a game on his phone and like we don't get as much into like kenma as a gamer in this one , but like it's still there because like he's playing this game and on his phone and he just is like , oh , is that a fun game ? And kenma's like no , not really , but I'm just waiting yeah he's like it doesn't even matter if it's a good game .
rainbowHe's like I will play any game , just very unbothered , I love it . Yeah , and there is a quote , which is something that again our nico pointed out when we talked about the , because we like messaged her and we're like hey , we're gonna talk about this episode , do you have anything you'd want to say ? And first she was like well , kuroken canon , thank you . But then she said she pointed out that kenma says about volleyball , because he had to ask like oh , do you like playing ?
emand kenma is like no , not really , but my friend likes to play and he needs me , so I play for him , which is gay gay , but also , and then another cool , because like they do need him , because he's his biggest strength I think is just his strategy , and we'll get into that a little bit later but like they do need him and he knows it and he's like whatever . I don't like getting sweaty , but I guess you need my big brain , yeah , but and again .
rainbowbut like , if , like , if Kuroo wasn't there it wouldn't matter , he wouldn't care about it at all . He only plays for Kuroo . But then you know , in a way like Hinata , because Hinata is always lighting a fire under everyone's ass , even Kenma . I just , oh , it's so good .
emAnother thing about this moment , too , is there's more like nekoma and karasuno parallels , because kenma says like oh , I guess we used to be really good but we've been in decline , but I think we're getting stronger , or something like that . And when he says that , he looks at hinata and you see that fire in his eyes and then he the way hinata reacts , you can tell he feels that energy . So like , yeah , kenma does come across very cool and unbothered , but he doesn't totally not care .
rainbowThat's true . Well , and I think you see that , like with his game , I think it's connected to his gaming , where , like , if he really didn't care about things , he would like give up on games when they got too hard or when it was like boring or he didn't like it so much . But he is so determined and if it's interesting he'll stay hooked .
emYes , and hinata is interesting to him that's exactly it .
rainbowYeah , you can see that kenma has an interest in hinata from the beginning . Yes , and so they have this cute little conversation . They become little friends .
emWe love them , and right as he's about to ask kenma what school he's from . Kenma , we meet 2007 pete wentz , which I hope my girlies if you're not a millennial maybe you won't totally get this reference , but google 2007 pete . Once I got it , I got it and you're right , you're so right .
rainbowAnd kuroo I love kuroo because kuroo is so lame , like compared to kenma , like he looks .
rainbowThat's the thing he looks scary and dangerous , yeah , like I feel like kenma looks like he might be a little bit of a loser um putting head , as they call yeah putting head , as they call him , but like he's actually cool , whereas Kuroo looks like he'd be cool and he's like big and tall and strong and like has that like deep voice , but he's actually a huge loser . And he's so dramatic because we kind of it's interesting , this know , part of the bouncing around in this episode is after we meet Kenma . We then get to see Nekoma . They're at another practice match in Miyagi . I guess they're just in Miyagi for the week .
emThat must be where , like the training camp is taking place . I guess .
rainbowSo yeah , it's weird , like they're already in Miyagi but they're not playing Karasuno till the end of the week . So I wonder if Nakamoto was like , well , we'll just find some other teams to play in Miyagi as well . But so we get to see them like playing and like they're getting ready , and people from the other team are talking about Kenma and like , oh , he doesn't really look like he'd be a setter , like maybe he's the backup setter and Kuroo comes up behind them to defend his boyfriend and he's like he might not look like much , but he is our brain , he is our spine and our brain and like he's just such a freak about it .
emWhere it's like calm down , it's very much like , and I wrote in the notes like is this just a captain thing ? Because it's very much daichi talking about suga energy . Where it's like , yeah , he says he's the backbone , the brain and the heart of nekoma just comes out of fucking nowhere to tell these guys this and the heart is really .
rainbowIt's like the spine and the brain okay , I get it , but then the heart . I'm like no , kuro , that's for you . Yeah , that's a you thing that's a you thing . That's not the rest of the team thing . That is a you thing .
emKenma is your heart and that's beautiful and we love that and kuro , you know , and he's just such a simp and like a loser for kenma , like he . He finds kenma and he's like he kind of like tells him in the background like you shouldn't run off , like that we're not from here .
rainbowHe like gives hinata like the like , a like , a bit of a glare . He's like through , like from the side of his eyes . He's like the fuck are you and why are you talking to my boyfriend ?
emyeah , hilarious that you're threatened by this tiny little boy , but which I mean ken has rights .
rainbowI think we , before we get into the character spotlight , I do want to talk a little bit about the different , the two different ships we have here . Oh , so you want to upset Nico , I want to upset , yeah , I'm , you know , I want to , I want to create enemies , I guess I just liked Kenhina's like connection here .
emAfter Kenma tells him how he doesn't care about like the labels and stuff , hinata goes on to tell him like I'm a middle blocker I guess you think that's pretty weird , huh , because I'm such a shorty and ken was like betsini , I don't give a shit and then he relates to him of like well , people underestimate me because I'm the setter supposed to be . This like really intense position and here I am not trying very hard . So I don't know . I just I think they connected in that way
Comparing Nekoma and Karasuno Team
em.
rainbowAnd then Hinata uses that opportunity to talk about Kageyama . He doesn't waste a second .
emHe's like you're a setter . I know you guys sure are different . I thought all of them were tall , dark and handsome I mean scary .
rainbowAnd mean and growly yeah . Yeah he immediately just like , talks shit about kageyama . He's like our center's really mean . He'll never miss an opportunity . No , he will not . Kageyama on his mind 24 7 rent free . We have to talk about kenma's little toesies yeah , we sure do again .
emthey're just so fucking cute . So , yeah , so we have kuro defending kenma and then at towards the end of the episode we get to meet like one more person from Nekoma A couple , but one more that really stands out because he's like Tanaka's alternative . He's going on and on about how he hopes they have a female , attractive female manager , and blah , blah , blah . But there is that great little moment where I think Yamamoto goes to ask Kenma something and they take a moment , they animate this and give it a whole moment of Kenma's little feetsies .
rainbowYeah , he's like sitting there , Like he's sitting down and he's got like his legs together , almost like butterfly style , and he's like playing a game . It looks like , but his little toes are out and they're like together . He's so autistic , he's just like stimming .
emSo that whole there's just a whole shot dedicated to him , just like looking up with his little doji . He's so cute , god , it's like I get it , kuro . I get why you simp for him , like , oh my god , he's so adorable . I just so . I . Kuroken is the it couple of haikyuu , and the reason I say this is because I just think that they're both so cool and I think that they look cool together and I could see them , like you know , street fashion .
rainbowI could just see them walking around a city in like cool street fashion yeah well , and they're like from Tokyo , so they're like city boys , they're from the city , which add , they're like chic .
rainbowYou know that like adds to them .
rainbowAnd I think we both have kind of a note about talking about Kenma or not Kenma , but Nekoma as like the perfect rival for Karasuno and something .
rainbowAnd you kind of brought it up with Yamamoto and Tanaka where , like , the cats rival for karasuno and something . And you kind of brought it up with yamamoto and tanaka where , like , the cats are like mirror images of the crows , they're like almost reversals , and we can talk about this more in the next episode , because I think that's really when we get to see it , where we see like daichi versus kuroo and then like there's certain characters and it's even like it's not even like position to position necessarily , but it's very interesting . So I'm very excited in the next episode we might even just break it down , where we talk about like how each character is like a perfect mirror of the others . But you definitely see that with tanaka and yamamoto , because yamamoto is like I bet a yakisoba bun that they don't have a girl manager yeah , they have a similar look and just a very similar personality yeah , exactly because he like yells out the window .
rainbowHe's like karasa .
emNo , I'll never forgive you if you have a pretty manager and it's like and kuro's telling him to shut up , just like daichi has to tell him all to shut up all the time .
Karasuno vs Nekoma Rivalry Analysis
emYes , but yeah , and I . I think it's also like I knew there was a rivalry , but I think I forgot the little detail of like karasa has has never beat Nekoma , even when they were at their best . So I think that adds a whole more intense level to like why they're such a big goal for them . But like , even as teams they're opposites , because Karasuno has all these kind of like flashy attacks and everything where Nekoma is not flashy in the slightest , they don't have like a star player at all .
emYeah , that's like mentioned in the episode , exactly , but so , while karasuno has a lot of holes in their defense and they're not perfect , but they have really crazy attacks and genius players , nekoma is a more understated but they're just as tough because they're they have no holes and their receivers there's nothing flashy , but they're that ball will not touch the fucking ground and that's something like the other .
rainbowYou kind of get to see the end of their practice match and two of the players are like , no matter what I do , I can't get the ball to go down on their side of the court . Because that's what nekoma is all about . It's like a strong defense and it's going to be a long time . Well , I guess we get to see it a little bit in like season two , a little bit more , and probably in the next couple episodes , but we really see , like the different philosophies between these two teams yeah and just they're , just like .
rainbowThey are like the perfect rivals these two teams and it's .
rainbowI just can't wait to talk about it more and this is like an ongoing thing . This is like the . This is a huge build-up but interestingly , it's not like . It's not like the like . You know , you , you could almost see it being like the end of haikyuu is nekoma versus karasuno , and I don't think it's really a spoiler to say it's not . No , it's the end of a major arc . Yes , it's a huge like part and I think that's like part of like that's kind of the climax for karasuno as a team . But , at the end of the day , this series is about hinata and so , like , we have to see Hinata like go through all that , and it's very important for Hinata as well , because he has to learn receiving , so it's important for them to have this other team , that like that's what their thing is and like it is fun to watch Nekoma play .
rainbowI love it . I'm very excited for these next couple episodes and I'm so excited for the movie because , if you don't know the movie , it's all about the gar , the battle of the garbage dump , and it's so fun that we're like seeing the beginning of that here , yeah , and then eventually , someday in the United States , we'll be able to watch , we'll be able to watch it happen . I've read the manga and the manga is great , but I want to see it . Yeah , please , I want it . Yeah , okay . So we talked about Kenma's toesies . That was really the most important thing . I mean , obviously , it's so adorable . yeah , okay . So before we get into , some of our sub versus dub stuff and the character spotlight , oh , you have something .
emI just had one last thing , yeah , yeah , that I wanted to say right at the very end of the episode , is that ? So , right right after the toesies moment , kenma says he's looking forward to going against Karasuno , and his team members are shocked because Kenma never cares about a game . Yes , yeah .
rainbowThis is the beginning of like Hinata has changed Kenma fundamentally , yeah , and the rest of the team is fascinated .
emAnd I love we'll wrap this up , but I also just love headcanning that Kuro has kind of a weird like a playful jealousy with Hinata , like he's not totally threatened but Hinata does bring out like a side of Kenma that we don't always get to see , and I like to think that Daddy Kuro gets a little , territorial .
rainbowyeah , well , I did kind of want to talk about , like Kenhina and Kuroken . Again , we are both polyshippers and , like I , so that's the thing is like I do see like obviously Kagehina soulmates , I think Kuroken soulmates , but I think , like kin and kenma and hinata do have a special bond and it could just be platonic and you can see it that way . But you know , I think if polyamory is involved , I think there could be something where , like you know , like kenma does have this like fascination with hinata and hinata , like I think , has a love for for kenma , and I think kuro probably does have some initial like jealousy over that . But I could see him , like you know , maybe even like in a toxic way , just like repressing that jealousy and be like no , kenma , you do whatever you want to do .
rainbowLike that would be like a fun fic idea where , like kuro's like been quietly in love with with kenma his entire life and it's just kind of maybe assumed that like kenma and him would just like always be together , and he was like maybe I just never have to confess my feelings and it'll just go on this way . And then hinata shows up and kuro , for once , is like threatened in his relationship with kenma , and , and maybe is like trying to push kenma and hinata together and is like it's like no , you'll be happier with him . He like brings this out and you blah , blah , blah and then finally , and maybe even like kenma , starts to think like kuro doesn't like like him anymore as a friend or anything , and then , like you know , anyway , if anyone wants to write that , that's a free idea yeah , yeah ,
Character Dynamics and Voice Acting
rainbowfor sure .
emWell , yeah , I think kuro ken is is the nekoma kage hina . Yes , you know , and I just love , like , I do , like I love ken hina . I think they have a very I like to headcanon that they have a very affectionate , platonic friendship , like maybe they even practice kissed when they were teenagers or something yeah , I could see like Kenma , because he's so casual and cool about stuff like maybe Hinata is struggling with his sexuality and Kenma's like .
emYou can practice on me if you want it doesn't have to be like a big thing you know , nico is hitting the fast forward button right now . Whatever she , can .
rainbowI do want to say I think this is kind of the first . like this is or not the first , this is like the second setter that hinata has like picked up . Like hinata setter squad he does . There are quite a few setters who like kind of become enamored with him in a way yes , yeah , this is the first , and this is the first or the second .
rainbowI guess kageyama is the first yeah , kageyama is the first always and forever and I don't I don't know if I've said this before , but I'm gonna probably say it many , many times throughout this podcast and something that like . Because , like you know , just so you never forget that I am a kageyama shipper at heart everyone wants to beat hinata . Hinata wants to beat kageyama like that is the thing , like hinma like , so he wants to , not so desperately , but he wants to play hinata . He finds him interesting and he wants to like beat him .
rainbowI think he sees him as like a challenge or a final boss , exactly , but for hina and like other players we see that with them as well where they and like and not to say that hinata doesn't have respect for them and he also wants to beat other players , but for I feel like for hinata , when he wants to beat other players , it's in service to his rivalry with kageyama , it's in service to his goal of beating the king of the court . Yep , and like hinata is always bringing up kageyama , furudate is like never forget who hinata's number one rival is . Yeah , 100 . So yeah , those are our thoughts . U again , if you ship , if you ship both of those ships , if you don't ship either of them , whatever your feelings are in the shipping , that's fine , that's valid . Those are our opinions .
emRight in . Let's talk about Kuroken , because they might be my second favorite ship .
rainbowYeah , I have a lot of love for Kuroken , for sure they're very fun . I mean , a childhood friends to lovers is always going to be fun , always going to be a good time and they're particular dynamic . Yeah , there is something about like the cool aloof one and then just the loser simp , it's just .
emKuro just takes care of Kenma and we'll keep seeing that we don't see too much of it here . I mean I love how he defends Kenma unprompted , but like you'll just see very subtly in the background , he's just always taking care of Kenma . That's very cute .
rainbowAnd Kenma is taking care of Kuro . You see that immediately he is like he is playing volleyball for his friend , like yeah , I think there are some people who maybe like mischaracterized Kenma and like villainize him a little bit , like he was like canceled on Twitter .
emOh my God . Well , that's such a whole stupid thing . We can talk about that in the spoilers , yeah we'll definitely talk about that in the spoiler zone .
rainbowBut I think Kenma like and we see that in the show like he cares about his friends and he cares about Kuro and like it . It you know . So it's like the same thing . It is like a give and take . It is not just like Kuro giving and giving to Kenma and never getting anything out of it . I think he he gives so much to Kenma because he knows he will get it back . Yeah , and it's really beautiful and I love them . Kuro can canon .
emKuro can canon . Thank you , shall we move on to sub versus dub thoughts .
rainbowYeah , I just have a couple . I think kenma's dub voice is pretty perfect . It's very like , very quiet , very soft , you know like I think it does a good job .
rainbowI think kuro's english va is trying just a little bit too hard and the same way that kageyama's english va is trying too hard , where it's just like you can , and but again it's like maybe it's not even trying too hard , maybe it's just that's kind of how teenagers are , where it's like you're a little over the top , honey . Yeah , actually you usually just need to bring it down some yeah , um , but yeah , that's pretty much
Character Spotlight
rainbowall I have for that . Nothing for manga versus anime . Okay , and then I ?
emI just for the , for the sub . Of course we have to shine light , and I think I've even mentioned ken's voice actor before , but it's Yuki Kaji , same person who did Eren from attack on Titan , eren and Todoroki and and countless others . That's just my limited experience with anime . And then we can't ignore that Kuro Kuro's Voice actor is the same guy who did Yuichi Nakamura , same guy who does Gojo . I mean , I , you know oh my god , really .
rainbowYes , I didn't realize that that makes so much sense . Those are two characters that are like . Same same person , different font .
emYeah , and other people , but that's my biggest comparison . Yeah , I love both of those voice actors a lot and I like kenma and kuro's voices yeah , I think they , yeah I really like them as well that's cool . Thank you for letting me know about that I really quickly googled their names because last time I didn't have names and you had names and I just want to feel well researched .
rainbowI , you know I drove you to work harder , you did .
emWe're perfect rivals , Should we do ? You want to kiss on the podcast ? So no , manga versus anime . So we're going to jump right into our character spotlight yeah .
rainbowI don't have anything and you know , for all that we talked about kenma and kuro in this one . We are going to save their character spotlights for later . Sorry about it , everybody , because , as we said at the top , this is an episode about suga and I don't think we should be sleeping on him . And you know we have . You know we just met kenma and kuro . We've been with suga since episode one . We saw that his back in episode one , it was really big in episode two , but we just never really got a chance to really focus on him yet . Like it just didn't feel right to have him in a character spotlight in other ones , but in this one it feels appropriate also . many of you probably know this , but I guess suga shares a name with a member of bts , the k-pop I saw your note and I started laughing because neither of us know anything about we're not K-pop people , but no , I've seen that that Suga person .
rainbowSo I had no idea . I went to look , I just innocently typed in Suga name meaning , because I've been able to like just Google , like this character's name meaning , and like no problems . I type in Suga name meaning and just it's all BTS . That's all it is , it's just B . And then so I I had to like sugawara haikyuu name me . I needed the breakdown , just like a quick breakdown .
rainbowSo sugawara , which is short shortened to suga , that's , his family name , and it translates to sedge field . I also saw original rice field and I guess , like I saw something that like that's supposed to like represent his grounding presence . I don't know , this was the first one that really disappointed me where I was . Like I don't understand the significance of this one . So I don't know , but maybe maybe there is like some sort of cultural significance that I'm not understanding because I'm from the west . So I but I thought it was kind of interesting . His first name though , which we almost never hear anyone say , his first name , I see it more like , I think , in fix , like in daisuga fix , more than anything . So his first name is kushi , right , koshi , no , it's more koshi which is a completely made up name . It is not like a name that other people have , but the ko um means devotion , piety or respect , and she means to support well , so I think that makes sense .
rainbowYeah , absolutely , because he does like support karasuno with a devotion that I don't think anyone else on the team quite has . Yeah , and you know , and that kind of goes back to his sacrifice . And before we get into his character sheet , I do want to talk about him as the mom of the group , suga mama suga mama .
emYeah , some people love it , some people hate it . There's been backlash because you know , they're making it kind of gendered and they're like oh , moms are known to take care of the group , or whatever .
rainbowNo , I get that . I like I think that Daichi and Suga could both represent moms . I think they're like , they're both moms of the team . I get why people call him Daichi , though . But yeah well , yeah well , I mean , I think that's something to like , it's a discussion to have and it's not . I think it's not so much that like , oh , that's what moms do , but that's what's expected of mothers in patriarchal societies . The idea is that moms should sacrifice their lives , should they should sacrifice their careers to raise their children like they should sacrifice what they want so that , like the family can like thrive which is what Suga is doing here .
rainbowBut it is different because this isn't like , because you know it would be different if Suga was like Kageyama and wanted to be a professional volleyball player . I think that might be a little bit different , but I think he recognizes he's like . Yes , this is my third year and of course I want to play with my friends and I want to play on the court the longest and , like I do have like pride in myself as a player . But you know , I think for him he understands he's like , but you know , like I , it's not like people are like scouting me for the pro leagues or for college teams , like it's not going to like put a damper on my future career or my like future as a volleyball player for me to do this like it is going to be better for the team .
emI think she meaning support . It's gonna be fun when we see how Suga does come through for the team when it comes to game time .
rainbowHe is very supportive in his way yes , I love it and we yeah , don't get me wrong we do get to play Suga play and it's amazing , so yeah , so I do think it's interesting and , you know , I'm always gonna want to talk about gender a little bit , and I'm gonna want to talk about gender norms and the , the pressures that are put on people because of their gender , and yeah , and Suga mom is just cute , but I also like , because , like we I don't know how much we've seen it now but like Suga is also like very strong . Like Suga's like will like punch people in the stomach and they're like , oh my god , they're like ow , yeah , so you know , and like that's the thing . I think that the show does a really good job of like showing that like suga is not weak . Yeah , that's not why he's not the starting setter . It's just because of the particular dynamics in this team yeah , and and I really , I really like it .
rainbowEverybody in this show is given respect , yes , and I appreciate it . So on to suga's character sheet . so suga is in class three , four , which I guess I think it's out of five . So , like pretty smart , yeah , pretty smart . he is the volleyball club vice captain . As we know , he's the number two , his height is five nine , his birthday is june 13th , so he is a gemini boy and does that make ?
emsense for him . You know , gemini's for me are the hardest to pin down personality wise , because they are social butterflies but they're also chameleons . They can kind of get along with anybody . They can kind of have different personality traits and stuff . But I I definitely buy gemini for suga . You know , it kind of makes sense because he's the gemini , is the twin , and we've got that like kind of respectful , loving side and then we've got the crazy person side . So I think it actually does make sense yeah , yeah , he's like chaotic .
rainbowHis favorite food is super spicy mapo tofu . love that for him and he seems like the kind of person who really likes spicy food like suga .
rainbowJust seems like the kind of person who really likes spicy food like suga just seems like the kind of person who's into kind of extremes yeah , you know his current worry is that a lot of the team's underclassmen are taller than him , which is , I would say , kageyama , tsuki shima and yamaguchi yes , are all taller than most of them , honestly . and then his five point ability parameters . So his speed , his power , his jumping and his stamina are all twos , his technique and his intelligence are fours , and I think that makes sense and I think that will be shown yes , I'm excited , oh my god .
emThat's like . My favorite episode of season one is where suga kind of comes in and shows off these talents . But you even see it like even in this episode he's staying up after dinner to like draw out formations and stuff . And he yeah , his intelligence and technique being the highest . Definitely makes sense .
rainbowYeah , he just he's , so he cares about this team so much and I just love him . Is there anything else we want to say about Suga before we go on ?
emMy favorite gray haired anime character of all ? Yes , absolutely . Are we ready to move on ? I think we are All right . Everybody . We're going to play America's Favorite Game . It's who ? In Haikyuu ? This week's scenario is brought by our beautiful kitten , princess Nico , and it is what video games does everyone play ? So we are covering Hinata Kageyama Suga Daichi Noya . Hinata Kageyama Suga Daichi Noya . Asahi Yamaguchi , tsukishima , kiyoko , takeda , ukai Kenma Kuro and Takatora , that's Yamamoto , oh , okay .
rainbowYeah , Wow .
emI'm a fake fan , so starting off with , of course , hinata
Haikyuu!! Characters and Their Video Games
em. What video games does Hinata play ? Hinata ?
rainbowis , he plays Mario Kart . He plays whatever games his games , his friends want to play . I don't think he has a super drive to play other games . I think he loves Smash Brothers , but he's not good at it .
emYeah , he's not a big gamer kid . I think I think he was more of an outdoorsy boy , climbing trees and all that stuff . So , yeah , I think he was more like my experience of playing games when he was with friends . But yeah , nothing deeper than that .
rainbowYeah .
emKageyama canonically does not know anything about video . Canonically does not play video games . He maybe , maybe he was playing ping pong with his grandpa that like 80s game of pong .
rainbowYes , that's what he was doing , I could see that I I do like to head canon that like , maybe like later on in life . like kenma teaches kageyama , like certain games and he's like these could help you with your strategy , your hand-eye coordination .
emYeah , suga , I guess he's like playing zelda .
rainbowYes , being into that but only doing side quests . Sure , he's like never finishing the game , he's just getting like lost doing other things I admittedly know very little about zelda , so I can't speak too much . But I'm just thinking of our roommate , our old roommate .
emYeah , they used to play Zelda all the time . Our old roommates played Zelda all the time .
rainbowIt's a very relaxing game to listen to and watch , but I've never played it well , but one of them was like powering through and like completing the game , and the other one was like look how many mushrooms I collected today on this island and I was like what is that in service of ? And she was like nothing it's .
emI don't need to do this , I just want to I think those kind of players probably have a better time I .
rainbowThat's how . That's the only way I could play zelda personally . daichi , I think again , is probably just playing whatever other people want to play daichi's playing like , like the sport video games , yeah he's yeah , he's playing fifa , he's playing whatever the basketball one .
emI don't know , I don't know madden no , I think that's football , I think , oh boy are we bad ?
rainbowwow , yeah , do we not know ? He's playing only no games .
emYeah , he's playing the sport games no , yeah , no , he's definitely doing like the mortal combat finish him street fighter for sure .
rainbowYeah , he's like sonic the hedgehog oh , that's a game that hinata plays as sonic oh yeah , I could see him being a sonic boy . I could see him convincing kageyama to play with him so that they could race in the video . asahi's playing farm simulators asahi , yeah , asahi is playing suika game . Asahi is playing Suika game . Asahi is playing a little to the left . Asahi is playing the calming , easy story games no fighting , everything's bright and happy .
emI kind of want to mix Yamaguchi and Tsukishima together because , I think that Yamaguchi is always player two . I was always player two growing up with my best friend who played video games , and that's the friendship that reminds me of Yamaguchi and and tsukishima , so I know yama's always player too and they're playing whatever Tsukki feels like playing yeah , and so what do we think Tsukki likes to play , because I could see him being into like mario , like super mario world maybe like a dinosaur game yeah , definitely a dinosaur game .
emThere's plenty of those . There's plenty there's . I can't remember the name of the game it was , but there I used to play a dinosaur game with my my childhood best friend and we would just hunt down dinosaurs . They play something like that . I also like to .
rainbowNow I'm just projecting my my 2000s friendship , but like guitar hero , yes yeah , absolutely , and and Tsukki is always being the guitarist as being the like the first player guitar yeah , yeah , they got through the 2008 financial crisis . But I could also see tsukishima playing like online , like first person shooters or fortnite , and being the one who makes like grown men cry yes like he is , like absolutely verbally destroying his opponents and his teammates yeah , kiyoko .
emI like to think she's playing the sims .
rainbowI like to think she's playing sims . I like to think she is also playing I think she'soko . I like to think she's playing the sims . I like to think she's playing sims . I like to think she is also playing . I think she's like .
rainbowI like to think she's a secret badass gamer but , she's , I think , like she doesn't care for a lot of the video games , but like I think she could probably do them very well . I could also see her being like a phone game kind of girl . Like you know she's playing , like some you know , royal match , like you like to the tetris , the tetris game that I like to play . Yeah , I could see that . I could also see her being like an animal crossing kind of person , who she's just like I'm just going on and doing my little thing . You know also , he is also doing that except , I think , even animal crossing .
rainbowI think he would be really anxious about the amount of debt he's in with tom nook , just like me . Oh my god . Yeah , it's like why does this game have debt ? Why do I owe a raccoon $200,000 ? It's not okay , bells , excuse me .
emTakeda , takeda's throwback Zoombinis yes , because that's what his class had to play learning computer skills .
rainbowYeah , yeah , he's playing like he's like . He's like , how about an old arcade game ? Do you want to play some pac-man , maybe some frogger ? Yeah , exactly , ukai is definitely playing like call of duty . Yeah , all of that like he and his bros after volleyball practice or getting together , and just he is one of the adults who , like , cried because of tsukishima .
emYeah , kenma plays every video game kenma is canonically ends up being a streamer , and yeah , I think he just . He likes probably any challenging , maybe game with puzzles yeah , I think he's willing to play any game .
rainbowI think it doesn't even matter , like I think he would play barbie and the magic of pegasus and be happy he would beat it . It would take him a lot less time than it took me , but yeah , no , kim has all the games .
emYeah , his favorites , though , probably include , like Zelda , I'm trying to think of I watch , like one gamer , youtube , so I'm trying to think for inspiration . Is he playing the Wheel of Fortune game ? Wait , who's playing with the wheel of fortune game on this list ? I need to know . Asahi , yeah , takeda , takeda is definitely playing the wheel of fortune game oh , I think takeda is doing , we sports as well .
rainbowI think that's his fitness . I can see him with his little we fit board and he's wearing like sweatpants and everything and he's working up a sweat and he's doing like the skateboarding thing . Oh , can you tell that we're millennials . Yeah , really kuro I think crow doesn't care , like he's playing whatever video game kenma wants to play yeah , yeah , I think he would like like classics like mario , that kind of stuff yeah , I think he's like .
rainbowI think he always thinks he's going to beat kenma in like a mario kart or something like that , and then kenma is like I think he always thinks he's going to beat Kenma in like a Mario Kart or something like that , and then Kenma is just whooping him , like he always wants to believe that he can beat Kenma , but it's never happening .
emI'm also realizing this whole conversation has been Pokemon erasure . I think half of this list is also playing Pokemon , yeah .
rainbowI can't , yeah , apologies to everyone . Hinata , suga Noyaya , maybe even asahi tsukiyama kiyoko kenma kuro , they're all playing . I can see kuro especially . Yeah , kuro , I think would like .
emMaybe that's the game that like helped connect them in the beginning was like a little bit of pokemon or something . Yeah , there we go that's just very classic .
rainbowand then yamamoto is definitely playing like first person shooters , he's definitely doing like call of duty , but he's like really bad , he's like me playing Fortnite . Yeah , he's really , but he like acts , like he's the best at it and he's talking a lot of shit .
emHe would definitely Leroy Jenkins .
rainbowYes , he's also like I like there was this game my brother and I had on the PlayStation 2 PS2 . Yes , I'm that old and it was like . I can't remember what the game was , but it was like . It was very like punk . There was a lot of like new metal music in it , but it was basically like you drove these like they weren't exactly monster trucks I guess it was monster trucks and you just like rammed into other cars .
rainbowI can't remember what this game was but anyone knows he's playing those kind of games . He's like playing the destructive games , that sort of thing . oh , suga's playing cult of the lamb , suga would love cult , suga would love , like he is making all of his followers eat each other all the time . Yeah , okay , anything else , for who In haikyuu ?
emI hope this is everything that you wanted it to be now I'm trying to figure out who would be playing power wash simulator asahi . Yeah , that's calming . Yes , exactly , he's playing any of the calming games . Yes , I think that that about does it . all right , before we get into the spoiler zone for those of us who are going to leave us , we just want to remind you you can always find us on our social media at fly h q pod , that's fly hq . We are on Twitter , instagram , tumblr and Blue Sky , and you can even email us we love a good email at flyhqpod at gmail dot com .
rainbowYeah , and just I wanted to throw this in for the podcast and stuff Go ahead and subscribe , that like helps our numbers and stuff , and we want to get out there for more Haikyuu fans . Smash that motherfucking subscribe button . Hit that subscribe button as quick as you can , yeah , yeah . And also , you know , feel free to rate and review us . I don't think we actually look at the reviews on apple podcasts .
rainbowwe probably should we probably should we're . We're pretty good on spotify . You can just like rate by stars . You can't leave a review , but people seem to like us and we really appreciate that and we love interacting with you , so keep doing it now get your box boxers , get your swim
Discussion on Capitalism and Character Relationships
rainbowtrunks on .
emWe're going to the spoiler zone . Why is the spoiler zone a pool , can I ask ? Because that's the analogy I first started with and I'm sticking to it . We're just gonna keep going I just I keep equating it to like adult swim time .
rainbowThat's what it is oh my god , yeah , we should . What's the like audio equivalent of like the weird adult swim commercials they used to have on that were like like like 30 second , like just weird as shit things where you're like , oh , this is , this is not my normal cartoon network .
emThat's the vibe I want for the spoiler zone all right .
rainbowWell , that's what it is . Into the spoiler zone . Love that , all right . So what do you want to talk about first ? Do you want to talk about kenma ? Thinking of hinata as an interesting player ?
emyeah , so kenma got like quote unquote and actually I think did get like whatever canceled . You can't cancel a fictional character . But like I think people misunderstood the line . There's a line at the very end because Kenma ends up becoming very successful . You know , he's a streamer , he's a stock man .
rainbowYeah , we'll talk about Kenma's , capitalism .
emI see your note . We will get deeper into that . But he ends up being Hinata's first sponsor and what he says to Hinata is if you ever get boring , I'll drop you , and I think people thought that was like mean or whatever . I think this is another example of why people like misunderstand Kageyama . Obviously , I don't think Kenma is being very literal with that and also he's saying that because Hinata is not boring and he's not going to do that .
rainbowThat's it's . It's like a jokey thing , it's like's the thing . My closest friends I am the meanest too , like I'm so mean to him sometimes like you , just like you're kind of like shitty to your friends and don't take that .
emPeople will take that the wrong way .
rainbowLike not mean yeah , just being real yeah , like we , you know , yeah , it's like we have like a language that we like speak to each other and that , and I think the important thing there is to look at hinata's reaction , because , like you're getting all like mad at what Kenma is saying , but like you're not taking like Hinata's reaction into like account and I think , like what you said , I think the only reason Kenma says that is because he knows Hinata is never going to get boring that's the whole .
emI mean , they've known each other at that point for years , like he . Like that's the whole reason he loves Hinata so much is because he's ever evolving , ever interesting , like yeah , I don't know . I think it's so funny .
rainbowPeople are so fucking sensitive yeah , and I mean , you know , I , I like I get like , you know , like , if you want to like dissect that , like I've definitely like dissected a single line of dialogue from like haikyuu and like people have gotten mad at me about it , so like I get it . I just , you know , I think like , because , like it , I don't think it's coming from a malicious place with Kenma I and I don't think he would actually drop him . It's more of like like challenging each other .
emIt's a love language . And haiku , yes , it's just more like you know .
rainbowContinue to be you , yes that is not a threat , it is a challenge , it is a reminder to Hinata like keep doing what you're doing , like you are who you are because , like you're an interesting player yeah so I think that's interesting . do you have anything else you want to ?
emsay no ? Do you want to talk about how kim is a dirty capitalist ?
rainbowyeah , so kenma becomes a rich , he's very rich , he's very wealthy , he like owns a house by the time he's like 20 because , like you said , he's a streamer and which is very interesting , like that is definitely a way people are making money these days oh yeah , but he's also because he is so smart and he like is so good at like strategy , so becomes like .
rainbowHe like becomes like a stock market trader . I think he like does like some investments that really help him out and like , ultimately , he does like use his wealth to help out Hinata . Like he like starts an LLC so that Hinata says sponsor Hinata so he can go to Brazil , which I think is great . I just like if I haven't been clear about it , I fucking hate capitalism . It's a terrible fucking system that is like will lead to the destruction of the human race if we don't fucking do something about it . And so like , yeah , kinme just becomes like , he becomes like a dirty capitalist and it just like there's , I just bought , but it's because , like he's like , so like I'm against hierarchies , blah , blah , blah . And to me , like , you cannot have capitalism without hierarchies .
rainbowAnd I think that's something I think like and that's something we didn't really get into earlier when we talked about nekoma versus karasuno . I think , like , even though , like nekoma , like as a team , was in decline , like I don't think they have the same like income inequality issues that Karasuno has , like I think they are , like they're a better off school . And I think , like because you see it , with Kenma , like Kenma has a smartphone , kenma has like all these video game systems . I think he like starts from a place of like some wealth . I think he probably has some inherited wealth and like I don't know , I just like Haikyuu , is you know , for Haikyuu and all of it's like , you know , looking at like community and inequality , like it's not like at all dealing with the issue of capitalism and how capitalism is ultimately what creates a lot of those inequalities ? And you know , like that's something that I struggle with , because I love this show so much and I love those . Well , it's not like Ken was out here fracking , you know ?
emyeah , I know he hit success because he's smart and and did use the stock market to whatever . I know I'm sounding capitalistic , right ?
rainbowno , no no , it's okay , I just like the stock market is a huge issue with me . I hate the stock market . It's about like it's they're basically gambling and like like our livelihoods are dependent on rich people gambling on the stock market , and it's very , and I will say , like Kenma is not like some like Wall Street bro , yeah , like , I think he very much , just uses it smartly . I think he's like using the tools of capitalism to like for his own gains , and that's why it's like it doesn't upset me as much . It's just like , oh , but what if he didn't ? It's kind of like Daichi becoming a cop where it's like but what if this was different ? It's like you know they become , you know they , they are growing up in this system and like the overall system is not being questioned by the narrative .
rainbowand I just have to accept that and I'm gonna do it begrudgingly , but that's all I'm gonna have to say about that . But yeah , and the only other thing I thought of this earlier , when we were talking about Asahi with his hair down and we talked , I think in the last spoiler zone , about Asahi becoming a fashion designer , and I wonder if maybe his hair is part of that . Like , maybe his hair is supposed to be a sign , because he's like one of the only characters with really . He has really long , beautiful hair and he keeps it up in a bun .
emAnd so maybe that's like a fashion choice for him . Yeah , maybe that that's really kind of the only hint I can get of any kind of thing .
rainbowYeah I can't think of any , and maybe you know , now that we are doing the podcast and we are analyzing it so deeply , maybe we will pick up on more stuff and if anyone else has picked them up on stuff , let us know . But that was like the first . That was the only thing I could think of was like oh , I guess he does , like he has his hair , which is like you know , and hair is a part of fashion . but , yeah , anything else for the spoiler zone ? No , I think that's it . Yeah , I'm really excited to talk about the next couple of episodes .
emKenma's a cancelable capitalist .
rainbowYeah , if anything , why are we not canceling Kenma for being a capitalist ? Like I don't care about the way he talks to Hina ta that's their love language . I care about the fact that he's greedy Just kidding , I don't . He doesn't seem that greedy honestly . No , no , not at all . Listen , if I were smart enough to fucking trade stocks and make money off of it and then be able to do whatever the fuck I want with the rest of my life and be able to support my friends and their dreams , I'd probably do it too . I'm really kind of turning myself around . I was gonna say I'm actually you know what . He's actually not a dirty capitalist . He's actually using the system to his advantage in the best way that he can . He's doing the best that he can with a fucked up system .
emI support you . There we go . Wow , we've made leaps and bounds in this episode .
rainbowYeah , can't wait to talk about Daichi becoming a cop , because that's gonna be . I don't think we is japan and not america , I think that in general police , like policing as a concept , regardless of what country it is in , is like inherently wrong , agree and ultimately and like with japan being like a capitalist , imperialist nation .
emI would imagine that the cops there probably serve a similar purpose I'd be interested to research the history of the police in Japan , because in America the history is that police started out as slave catchers and union busters .
rainbowThey literally the police in America exist to protect the property and lives of the wealthy and to control the lower classes .
emThey do . I'm sorry that I'm sounding like an anarchist , but no , I'm only laughing because I'm hearing I'm sounding like an anarchist , but I'm only laughing because I'm hearing . I'm listening to you talk about this and thinking like this is a haiku podcast . But I'm not saying that we shouldn't go there , I just think it's funny yeah , it is .
rainbowYeah , it's just . I can't wait to see what our , our ai , comes up with for our , like chapter descriptions and police brutality and kenma yeah , for real . I can't wait to see what the ai comes up with . This . It's so stupid . It really like I'm we only use the ai for the transcripts because the descriptions and like the chapter titles it comes up with , I'm like , wow , you can tell this was created by a machine .
emOh my god , there are nothing . We yeah , like I just want to reiterate , we only use ai for the transcriptions , to make it accessible and because , like , that makes sense . But for any creative reason we don't like to use it , obviously , but it is . We get a good chuckle out of what it comes up with before we edit it it's fun to make fun of it .
rainbowYeah , like it's fun to mock it . Yeah , because it's hilarious , oh , but yeah , we don't actually like using it . We like to share it with you all . We all . We want to make fun of the machine . Yes , you know , but in a nice way , because , at the end of the day , if the machines do gain sentience , we should treat them with respect .
emThey're coming for us all . Wow , this episode has gone to so many different directions .
rainbowYeah , I'm really revealing myself in this one . Yes , okay , so I think we're all done okay .
emSo I think we're all done . Anything else just kuroken canon . Yeah , again , we met some new people . It was a good episode . Suga's a hero and we'll see you next time . Yeah , thank you for joining us . Until then , fly high .