#i've got your other ask in my inbox btw and i'm chipping away at it!!!

[kimbapisnotsushi]

Hi, can I ask your top 5 favorite characters from Haikyuu? Why you love them? And, what are your top 7 favorite moments from the series? Which top 3 fav games are your favorite (between which team)?

Also, why do you love Haikyuu? What made that series special to you?

Yes, I'm so excited after watching the movie. Haikyuu really is one of the best anime/manga series ever....

(Love your headcanon Haikyuu, thanks for sharing them)

aww thanks so much!! i am so so sorry this has taken me a while to get to, but i'm happy to answer!!

to get the last one out of the way first: i've probably mentioned this, like, a million times already, but haikyuu has so much great symbolism and imagery and characters that just make it really fun to dive into and think about!! they all come together to make a beautifully constructed story, which can be very difficult to do when the genre is realistic fiction/sports. and i like that the overall messages and themes are very hopeful and uplifting at the end of the day—it's about connection, it's about dreams, it's about trying again and again. it's about getting back up!!! it's about trusting in the people around you, and being able to trust yourself. it's something i really appreciate and keep close to heart. i love haikyuu for lots of reasons, but this covers the basics of it pretty well!!

now, as for the rest of what you've asked . . .

top 5 characters:

okay i'm going to cheat a little and say that kageyama and hinata are obivously tied for first. i can't help it!! they're the main charas and they do it so so well. the growth that they go through is one of my favorite things about them, as are the relationships they have with each other and the people around them. they're sort of a package deal, really, so i don't think you can blame me for that

in second place i would have to say oikawa!! beautifully flawed and beautifully human and such a great antagonist overall. i think he's the closest we've ever seen to a character almost making a mistake that they would have regretted (ie hitting kageyama), and even despite all that it's not like he truly hates kageyama or wants him to stop marching on his own path. he's also just really funny and pathetic i love him

YAKU!!!! YAKU MORISUKE MY BELOVED. i like him because i find him very relatable and i love what he does for nekoma!!!! he's so badass!!!!!!! everyone loves him everyone thinks he's so cool AND i love his whole thing with shibayama and lev. he's kind and caring but hides it under like five layers of being a bitch bastard if you're someone who annoys him i love him so much oh my god

and on that note kenma!! thinking about who he used to be, who he helped kuroo become . . . the fact that he finds volleyball fun and admits it . . . the fact that he loves it despite how exhausting it is . . . how he loves his friends and team . . . kenma's story was so wonderfully done and i adore it with every bit of my soul. he cares soooooo much!!!!! i adore that about him!!!!

hngngnsdhfsjyuef last one this is so hard . . . but i think i'm going to have to say hoshiumi! the way he wants to prove how he has nothing to prove and wants to leave no room for doubt . . . right off the bat he recognized hinata for what he was worth because they were the same!!! and the way he said he'd wait for hinata!!!!!! i could probably go into so much about how hoshiumi was probably the first to look at hinata and see a true and proper rival because there was no way he couldn't when he knew what it was like!!

top 7 moments:

oooooh boy. okay first off is the first boom jump during the nekoma match, when kageyama calls for an open!!!! i love this for obvious reasons but UGH the fact that it symbolizes kageyama's trust in hinata and is a testament to how far they've both grown . . . how kageyama decided to make it a set for hinata rather than giving up on him . . . how hinata was able to fly to reach it . . . it is soooooo good oh my god

hmm second i would have to say are definitely the parallelism panels (real match vs practice) during the nekoma match!!! the idea that karaneko playing against each other is so familiar and so fun that it feelsl ike home and feels like any other day is so precious to me. truly one of the best moments that show how haikyuu is about connection and love and passion.

"someone even better will come and find you" are you SHITTING me. everything we learned about kageyama and his grandfather broke my heart but that scene especially, followed by hinata's "i'm here!" easily makes into top seven for me oh my god. i get so many emotions thinking about it and it was just so incredibly well done.

when hinata yells "I'M HOME" during the jackals v adlers match!!! and everyone yells 'WELCOME BACK" and kageyama says "took you long enough" GAH i want to cry. baby is home and he's back amd he's here and they're together again!!!!! i just hngngngn UGH

when oikawa shows up at olympics with argentina!!! and he calls it a family reunion!!!! i wanted to cry!!!! i guess it does depend on the translations you've seen but i MUCH prefer it when he calls it that because that really solidifies what haikyuu means!!! and it shows how he's never forgotten where he came from!!!

kenma's "this is painful. this is tiring. i don't want it to end" with the panel of him GETTING BACK UP AND RUNNING TOWARDS THE MATCH??? that meant EVERYTHING to me oh my god.

ughhhhh last moment . . . this is so hard . . . i'm going to cheat and say hinata's collapse during kamomedai because of everything that happens after it!!! takeda on his knees talking to him, kenma's "i came to cheer up a friend", kageyama's "but i wanted to go further with this team" . . . it gave us so many good things and i think is also such a pivotal moment in the story!!! i don't think most people were really truly expecting it (although people have def picked up on its foreshadowing before) and it makes you think that really anything can happen during a match i'm adding a bonus to this: that moment during the all-stars match when oikawa asks ushijima what he thinks of oikawa's "petty pride" now, and ushijima tells him "i think it's fantastic". LIKE HOLY FUCK WE HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE!!!!!!!!

top 3 matches:

okay this probably goes without saying but karaneko at nationals!!! that was everything to me!!! that was what we were all waiting for!!!! i know there are those who don't like it because of how it ended but imo it's very fitting for someone like kenma and it really does, once again, give off the sense that anything can happen in a match and can make you win or lose—it's what furudate's been trying to tell us this whole time, even if some read it as a cop-out.

inarizaki match definitely. it was really really good not just for introducing inarizaki and their stories but also the fact that we realize hinata doesn't have to be chained!!!! there are people capable of keeping up with him and there are people who WANT to keep up with him at his level!!!! atsumu was the first determined to do so!!!!!!! (which i could talk about more but like. that's a story for another time)

AGH last one was so hard . . . it was a toss-up between karasuno v seijoh (spring high playoffs), karasuno v shiratorizawa, or jackals v adlers and i'm going to have to say jackals v adlers!! i love the other two but the fact that we got a match fthat shows how far everyone's come and how they're still connected and passionate and full of hopes and dreams is my favorite thing ever. we got some GREAT stories within that match and we got to see so many characters return!!! what more could you ask for, really?? i will say tho that i'm giving honorary mention to nekoma v nohebi i've got such a soft spot for that match LMAO

but that's it!!! thanks for the ask i had fun answering all these. if anyone's ever curious to know more about anything i've mentioned feel free to swing by, and thanks for reading!!