Haikyuu!! Observations: Chapter 372 And 395 Parallels

Haikyuu!! Observations:  Chapter 372 and 395 Parallels

** SO. MANY. SPOILERS. BELOW **

Have I established that Furudate is master class in terms of narrative? The parallels in Chapter 372 and 395 of Haikyuu!! are stunning, and need to be discussed.

First off, though, is the establishment of a timeline. Because this final arc has been a mess to make linear sense of…I have no clue how the anime will handle this, other than putting title cards in every single flashback to keep us on track!

For starters, the Ushijima flashback in Chapter 395 happens nearly TWO YEARS before the events of Chapter 372. We get this evidence because at the start of Chapter 395, we have this shot of Ushijima: 

Not only does it establish he’s 19, but he’s not on the Schweiden Adlers, yet. He’s in his debut year, playing for the Japan national team. I wonder if he made the switch to play because Hoshiumi joined the Adlers, or Kageyama? And then, in Chapter 372, when we get his selfie reaction – MORE ON THAT BELOW – we see that he’s 21 and on the Adlers. So two years difference in those flashbacks in 395 vs. 372, and a total of FOUR years’ difference between the events of Chapter 395 and the present Haikyuu!! timeline. Simple to keep up, right?

So, if the current timeline is November 2018, then it’s around 2014 when Chapter 395 happens. Hinata is considering doing Beach volleyball in his second year, as evidence below, and Oikawa has already joined the Argentinean League right out of high school, which will get brought up below, too.

Okay, getting on track now that we’ve established the timeline – the first major parallel is Iwaizumi meeting Ushijima,  similar to Oikawa and Hinata meeting in Chapter 372, only, of course their meeting is so nonchalant and chill, versus Hinata and Oikawa’s dramatic sand reunion: 

BUT HERE, my friends, is where the parallels of Hinata/Oikawa/Iwaizumi/Ushijima create a magnificent Venn Diagram of Narrative Magnificence! You have parallels of:

* TRAINING TO GET BETTER *

Hinata went to the beach in Rio to train in beach volleyball to become a more well-rounded trainer. 

Ushijima went to California to get advice and practice training with his father’s foreign league team, much like Oikawa did with joining the Argentinean League…

* TRAINING WITH YOUR IDOLS * 

Oikawa establishes in Chapter 372 that he immediately went to Argentina after high school because he wanted to play under the guidance of Jose Blanco, the famous Argentinean setter that he idolized as a kid and still very much respected as a young adult and player. He ALSO, and this is important, establishes that he was going to break into the foreign leagues to get stronger anyway, and that his overall goal is to make it into an Olympics-playing team some day. Given that Hinata’s encounter with Oikawa happens in 2017, he’s been playing with Argentina about three years at this point. 

But THEN, we also have Iwaizumi, who back in 2014, went to California after high school to go to college at USC-Irvine in California. His whole reasoning is that a famous Japanese trainer works with the volleyball team there and that Iwaizumi has been a huge fan of him and his published work. He also wants to major as in Sports Science, as we the audience are led to believe, to become a Physical Trainer and intern with the author, Takashi Utsui, once he graduates college. 

And of COURSE, there’s the reveal then that Iwaizumi’s actual idol in real life is also the real-life father of his team’s long rival, Ushijima himself. It’s worth posting this reaction alone. Iwaizumi, you beautiful dork, you. If Oikawa ever saw that face, though…

It’s also worth noting at this point that clearly Oikawa and Iwaizumi keep in contact, as evidence in his conversation with Ushijima. I have to say, this chapter showcasing Iwaizumi as the peace-keeper; able to be friends with both Oikawa and his hardest rival, Ushijima, is fantastic. It calls back to when Oikawa was making fun of Hinata outside the bathroom, and Iwaizumi chided him for it. Iwaizumi is just an honest, straightforward, nice guy. 

Well….Nice to a point. Let’s all revel in the fact that it was IWAIZUMI, y’all, who started this selfie war. Keep in mind, this was 2014 when he and Ushijima supposedly sent the selfie to Oikawa of themselves. And then, three years later, Oikawa pays them all back: 

The final parallel, interestingly enough, with Oikawa and Ushijima, who admits that he has hit a wall and has to move forward to get stronger. Revealing that just maybe, he’s not quite the “genius spiker” that Oikawa pegged him as. That maybe he really is just a normal guy that got “lucky” in terms of the father that helped protect his unique attribute of being a “south paw” and, like Kiyoomi in Chapter 394, was lucky to have those around him that he did to help foster his strength as a player. 

Basically, Furudate has given us so much to work with in showing how these characters, who seem so fundamentally different, have so much more in common that we realize at first glance. It’s so masterful to see these moments of set up and payoff happening with so much satisfaction for the reader. I love it.

OH, and of course, I wasn’t going to leave you all without this little set of notes from Chapter 395: 

* Tendou in this chapter wasn’t current time skip Tendou. It was 2014 Tendou. So technically, we have no clue what his hair looks like now – though he’s fabulous either way!  So there’s that.

* It’s shown at the end of the chapter Ushijima’s father watching him play from California. We also see, since it’s 2:20 am there, that Iwaizumi is asleep, still in California, too. If it’s 2018 currently in the series, it means that Iwaizumi did graduate college, and has been interning for Utsui for likely a year, now (because it showed he was a sophomore in the flashback):

@tatakunara-orerumade​ and @hopipp​ have already posted my headcanons ahead of me, but basically – if the Olympics happen in 2020, a year and a half from now, that’s plenty of time for Iwaizumi to take his Bachelor’s in Sports Science, internship knowledge from working under his idol Utsui, and make it back to Japan to be a physical trainer for the same team as Ushijima, and more importantly for my shipping, fangirl heart, potentially Oikawa at the Olympics. It would be a beautiful payoff for all the set up these chapters have given us, and a beautiful wrap-up for the series. If we don’t actually get to see the Olympics happen in Haikyuu!! though, you better believe there’s going to be fanfiction about this. *runs off to write* 

It’s happy alternative reality that we deserved, guys :’’’3 There is also a bonus of how lil naruto sees all of his nee-chans and nii-chans ahaha

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@shyestofhearts 👀👀I take your “Damian keeps trying to propose” and raise it with “Jon being overprotective and jealous of anyone who looks at his Dami with interest before he and Damian start dating” (idk poker terms)

Supersons but like aged up because Jon keeps waiting for Dami to propose, but Dami. just. won’t. because. he. is. a. dense. boi

Cue Jon making very obvious clues (wedding magazines and Pinterest boards literally everywhere)

Mar’i wants to be best man for both of them

👀👀👀 I'm gonna mess with the Damian being to dense to propose and raise you a "Damian keeps trying to propose"

So Damian just has like. No romantic experience. He just doesn't get any of Jon's hints especially because his prime examples of romance in his life don't resemble his (the personalities are different and thus the interactions are different)

So for the longest time he thinks his relationship with Jon is just like Bruce's friendship with Clark

(It's not but the whole batfam is terrible about discussing feelings so Dami doesn't know that)

It changes when Jon finally just asks Damian out

Damian is stunned but says yes and they date for a few years

Now it's getting more serious and Jon kinda hopes Damian will propose (because he doesn't want to rush Damian or pressure him into something he doesn't want)

So he thinks he'll just wait

Damian on the other hand actually does want to propose

BUT ALL HIS PLANS KEEP GETTING MESSED UP

A villain attack ruins the first one

His pets trample his second one

His siblings ruin the third one

Bruce accidentally interrupts the fourth one

Damian is getting annoyed

At first it was funny to Mar'i but now she's getting annoyed too

So she's on bodyguard duty the fifth time to make SURE nothing ruins it

Because Jon has been leaving out magazines and pinterest boards and waiting and Damian has been trying for months

Attempt number 5 is a success and they have to do rock paper scissors for who gets Mar'i as their best man

AAAAAAAHHHHHH! I love this post so much! I am so glad I requested this! I too go feral for clingy ushijima, he is a teddy bear with his s/o I will fight people for this😤. Also aone my baby!!! How could I forget this giant polar teddy bear of a man! I love this so much, thank you for making this post!

hello! I saw that your ask box was open and I thought it would be fun to ask you for clingy boyfriend for Ushijima, Bokuto, Tendou, and/or anyone else you thinks fits the bill! I wasn’t sure if you do headcanon stuff, and if you only want to do one person that is completely fine! Also separate with their s/o! I think your writing is so good and I always look forward to your posts!

aHHH thank you love! i added aone bc he’s a baby 🥺 hope u like it! (and yes i do headcanon stuff :>)

ushijima, bokuto, tendou and aone as your clingy boyfriend

warnings: gn!reader, big boys being soft, no proofreading

type: headcanons (sfw)

genre: fluff

©️ kaashikoi 2021

request something! :) | my masterlist! | my prompt list!

ushijima wakatoshi (wc: 215)

even though he doesn’t talk very much, he never fails to show you his affection

a human teddy bear i stg

he radiates heat, and he loves to rest his chin on top of your head when you stand in front of him

if you’re taller than him, he loves it when you rest your chin on top of his head

i go feral for clingy ushijima

he isn’t really into pda but when you two are alone ohhh

if he could, he would go to the toilet with you

his fav cuddle positions are either when you like straddle his thighs and lay on top of him or when he is on top of you so he can snuggle his face into the crook of your neck

my heart I-

and he loves to see you wearing his clothes just for the fact that he knows that you’re his 

tendou takes photos of you two all the time, and even though he won’t admit it, ushijima secretly loves it, and he has them all printed out to put them into a photo album to give it to you on your anniversary

bokuto kotaro (wc: 146)

ANOTHER BIG BOY

and he's SO BEEFY

his hugs are also the BEST

hugs and kisses 24/7, no matter where you are 

baby never lets go of your hand

and he LOVES to chill between your thighs

like he just lays there and minds his business

and he loves it when you play with his hair

i love bokuto sm it breaks my heart to see him upset

he prefers to be the big spoon, but sometimes he likes to be the little spoon, too

and he likes to carry you around instead of letting you walk

bokuto loves back hugs

especially when you kiss the spot between his shoulder blades

vshdfgzufhu oh to hug bokuto in general i’m sick of being 3d

every time he sees you he starts to smile so big, and he shows everyone how lucky he is to be with you

tendou satori (wc: 174)

he adores you so much

and he treats you like a royal

and ofc he would call you “my paradise” and i love it

HEAD PATS HEAD PATS

i stg AHHHH there's so much serotonin in my body rn like wtf

boy is SO into pda

he wants you to sit on his lap all the time, especially during lunch, so he can show off that you’re his

look at him,,, you would wear matching rings/necklaces/bracelets and especially matching onesies when (you’re not in school ofc)

wear his jersey to his games or his jacket  this boy will melt on the spot

he loves to compare hand sizes with you and he’ll kiss every finger and every knuckle of yours afterwards

and he texts you all the time when you’re not by his side to make sure that you’re good

he likes to give you back hugs but like when he approaches you from behind he’ll put his hands over your eyes first to let you guess who he is (even though it’s obvious)

aone takanobu (wc: 174)

another boy who is v v tall and who looks v v mean

BUT

do you know this reaction in animal crossing where your character like radiates flowers bc they’re so happy (i think it’s called joy but i’m not sure bc i play it in german lmao)

same energy

he walks you to school every day, and he’s ready to carry your things for you

pda yes but like lowkey

he absolutely loves it when you caress his cheek and he gets so soft

like all blushy and that shit when he sees you

WHEN HE HUGS YOU, HIS HAND IS ON THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD

and he always wears a shy smile when he sees you dvhagzhuqjw

he’s just glad that you’re not scared of him bc of his looks

he pokes your cheek with his finger when he wants your attention

and he loves giving you nose kisses

when you two are alone at his or your place and you cuddle in bed he prefers to be the little spoon