#riatalks

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Gon screaming at Pitou hurts so much in the Japanese because you’re missing out on the cultural context that Gon is using simple and childish Japanese like he’s a scared kid yelling at his parent for attention

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accommodations as a love language: a fukurodani essay

Fukurodani is probably the most unique team in Haikyuu when it comes to the team leadership structure. Bokuto is captain with Akaashi as his vice-captain. However, the unusual part of this is that Akaashi is a second year vice-captain in a team with no shortage of third years. If you know anything about Japanese senpai/kouhai dynamics, you will see how unusual this is. Compared to another second year setter-leader Kenma, Akaashi is very formal with the third years and seems to be a stickler to the system of sports culture.

Another unique thing about Fukurodani is that their captain’s number is 4 instead of 1. It becomes clear that Bokuto who wears the traditional number for the ace functions more as the ace of the team, rather than their leader. The training camp arc further cements this idea with Coach Ukkai and Miyanoshita Eri, manager of Ubugawa, making comments on Fukurodani’s play style:

Fukurodani is a team that has learned to accommodate Bokuto's ups-and-downs. They have complete trust in Bokuto’s abilities and Bokuto has trust in Fukurodani to not lose without him.

They are strong enough without Bokuto,

but they want Bokuto to do well.

Akaashi even states in 244 that although Bokuto's concerns may seem comical to some, they are very important to Bokuto and, therefore, Akaashi takes them seriously as well.

Bokuto is their mood maker and is very reliable. If you look through the Fukurodani matches, he is always the one praising his teammates for good plays and many people have commented that Bokuto being on a roll inspires others to do better as well.

This is especially striking considering Bokuto’s experience with his middle school team, ch. 335, where Bokuto was seen as too much and as a result, he often worked alone. Fukurdani is so important to Bokuto because they represent unconditional love and support.

As revealed later on in the plot, Bokuto is aware of his shortcomings. He takes responsibility for them, but also acknowledges Fukurodani’s help. He appreciates their support so much and wants to repay their kindness.

However, Bokuto is not the only one that receives the endless support of Fukurodani. They are a cohesive team and there are many scenes where they display familiarity with each other’s patterns. 

Akaashi's habit of overthinking is noticed by Saru, Kaori points out that Akaashi is considered odd, Bokuto steps up to show his trust in Akaashi even when he starts to crumble. The team is not surprised when Akaashi starts crying and lets Bokuto be the one to comfort him.

It shows the unconditional love and support Fukurodani has for all members of the team.

They are not overly concerned when a member does not play their best because they trust each other wholeheartedly.

It is significant that they are the only team who are introduced together in the timeskip. It introduces the idea that Fukurodani is still a unit. There are even parallel lines where:

Bokuto, ch. 392: “梟谷(みんな)！！普通になった俺を見てくれ!”

“Everyone!! Look at how normal I am now (how far I’ve come)!”

Akaashi (and implied Konoha, Komi, Saru), ch. 400: “世界！！梟谷(うち)の���ースを見てくれ！”

“World!! Look at our ace!”

There is an interesting technique used here in the Japanese where the kanji says “Fukurodani” but the Furigana says “everyone” and “our.” The world “our” is also special because it is “うち” which is a word that derives from “home.” Bokuto belongs to Fukurodani and Fukurodani is narratively a family.

Fukurodani is introduced in Haikyuu when Karasuno is learning to grapple with Hinata's new-found desire to improve begins to destabilize the team dynamic. They show Karasuno that selfishness is okay with your team's support, leading to the honing of new weapons and Kageyama's reclaimation of his crown. They symbolize a different type of strength that Karasuno did not have yet. Although the roles they cultivated allowed for some stagnation and stress during the Mujinazaka match, they were able to overcome difficulties to become even stronger, falling just short of #1 in Japan. Still, their loss became more of a reason to pursue their goals and although not all of them play volleyball anymore, they come together across Japan to support each other.

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Thinking about Bokuto’s tendency to hide when he’s upset…it’s all about Bokuto and responsibility!!!

Bokuto, like many other members of the Monster Generation, is defined by their passion setting them apart. It often leads to running alone…

He doesn’t seem too upset when he’s left alone, but honestly we do not get much Bokuto’s narration…he doesn’t cry when Fukurodani loses Nationals but he is clearly upset and blames himself…

However, this blame is part of the responsibility of being the ace. He must be able to strike every ball because his teammates rely on him…to deny that would to deny his role as the ace.

I’m under the assumption that Bokuto knows he is too much for some people to handle, he takes responsibility for the success of the team (and Fukurodani accommodates him perfectly), he knows he doesn’t follow the traditional Japanese adage of “don’t cause trouble for other people” and the way he deals with that is by hiding himself away when he’s really upset.

But timeskip Bokuto has really learned to manage his own sense of responsibility with his skills and redirected his negative spirals into a way to improve! (He was actually really good at doing this for other people, but I guess it’s always harder to apply the same kindness and grace to yourself)

It’s task focus! Bokuto is striving to become his idea of an ace and he will pour his soul into each play to achieve that!! He’s passionate but he’s found his place amongst the monsters and his old team supports him wholeheartedly!!

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Akaashi and Kenma are so funny because they’re obviously foils. They both are the second year setter who leads the team and are close to their third year captain. But while Akaashi is notoriously strict with keigo and honorifics keeping Bokuto at a distance a bit, Kenma gives Kuroo a nickname and is very critical of Japan’s senpai/kouhai dynamic in sports culture.

Kenma and Akaashi are buddies who sit and watch ants together but, since I’ve been watching the Tokyo Battle Stageplay and noticed that Akaashi’s switch to no keigo doesn’t translate, Akaashi always sounds ten times ruder talking to Kenma and it’s so funny to hear them play mind games with each other like—

Kenma, with a slightly mischievous tone: Bokuto-san's doing well today….I wonder why…(has been tricking Bokuto into forgetting cross shots)

Akaashi: shut the fuck up

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My favorite Fukurodani fact is that out of everyone on the team, Akaashi Keiji is the one who is going to cry first.

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Bokuto Koutarou is so lucky he is in Haikyuu because if this wasn’t a sports manga, he is totally the mentor character that dies…

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Fukurodani Volleyball Club is banned from most of the all-you-can-eat buffets in their area because the combined power of Bokuto, Akaashi, and Yukie can put entire restaurants out of business

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i love haikyuu so much i’m going to burst out of my human body and become the embodiment of love

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My favorite underrated Bokuto moments is not one of his cool plays where we see his skill, but his knowledge of the game that really represents his love of the sport…he’s the captain of his team and he knows how to challenge a ref’s call and he’s super technical player who does very hard things

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Bokuto locks the key in the gym by accident and Fukurodani is panicking but Akaashi steps forward and silently pulls a lock picking set out of his bag and opens the door.

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Oikawa and Iwaizumi, ch. 146

Kenma and Kuroo, ch. 322

Akaashi and Bokuto, ch. 336-7

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I’m a bokuaka fan first and a human second, but this is not a “Akaashi=world” moment, it’s Fukurodani showing off their pride and joy.

They love their ace so much 😭

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Hello!! Can I ask: What's your favorite moment, character, pairing, and team in Haikyuu?

Haikyuu is my special interest so thank you for asking me this!!!

Oh god, it’s so difficult to chose but my favorite moment of haikyuu is this scene in ch 387

I think I actually cried so hard I almost threw up when this came out…I love a lot of things about haikyuu but hinata and kageyama is up there and kageyama’s relationship with his grandfather reminds me of my own late-grandpa and this came out during a really emotional time in my life so I really needed this and it holds a very special place in my heart.

Favorite character: I don’t want to lie so it’s Akaashi Keiji…he’s the character ever

Favorite pairing: bokuaka…I literally joined the fandom a week (no one look for my hqtwt account lol) after the mujinazaka match ended and the fandom was a buzz!!! I also love their whole dynamic (furudate writing them as a boke and tsukkomi and then realizing Akaashi needs a tsukkomi too…iconic) and they are so wonderful and I can talk about them for ages and ages and never stop *stares nervously at my 40k+ words of unfinished and unpublished fics from high school*

They are also the reason I’m engaged lol /dramatic but not really

Favorite team: it’s fukurodani !!Accommodations as a love language!!!

(Although recently I watched the battle of the trash heap and the Tokyo battle stageplay and got really emotional about Nekoma…this may be a moment of weakness)

Edit: my favorite anime reaction channel Wes and Steph introduced me to this Haikyuu concept called “favorite character, favorite player” and I think while Akaashi is my favorite character, Bokuto is my favorite player lol (if I think about him I start crying)

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For someone who claims Akaashi Keiji as his favorite character, I really do just start crying if I think about Bokuto too hard

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rip thucycides you would have loved haikyuu s3 ep 10: the battle of concepts

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I wish we got more owl managers because we get so much about their characterizations from these…Kaori goes running with the club and Yukie always has snacks (but never shares lol)…Kaori keeps them in line while Yukie is a bit more relaxed