What's Yappening?

Featured image source: pxfuel.com

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Haikyuu!! anime and manga

The ability to change, adapt, and evolve is a core element of humans. We haven’t remained stagnant for thousands of years; we’ve developed robust technology, built towering cities, scaled enormous economies, and explored space.

These are considered the pinnacle of humanity’s achievements, but we can quickly dismiss the changes in ourselves as people, both good and bad

We often need alternative perspectives of change to truly understand its worth. Perhaps it’s weight loss you can’t see any progress on, a new haircut you’re unsure of, or searching for a new perception of life; finding inspiration in media is not uncommon.

Film, television and anime can often depict reflections of humanity (if you’re looking in the right places) and our capacity for great change.

Haikyuu!!

Source: IMDb.com

It’s an anime about volleyball. It’s a simple concept; most people know about the sport by playing, watching or hearing about it.

But Haikyuu!! isn’t just about volleyball; it’s about evolution. It’s not a high-stakes anime by any means. Still, it’s conceptually grounded in reality, seeing characters go through changes by overcoming self-doubt, injuries, limitations or other people holding them back. In Haikyuu!!, the Karasuno team had to evolve.

Hinata – From Unrefined to Unstoppable

Hinata is a key example of a character that changes from a talented teen with infinite stamina to a well-rounded, seasoned player.

He initially relies on his natural speed, agility and instinct to get him through matches, often neglecting the more strategic elements of the game and needing his position as a spiker to be supported by his team members. Aside from offence, he had no other value on the court.

This is confirmed by Shiratorizawa’s coach, Tanji Washijō:

Hinata realised he couldn’t rely on Kageyama’s perfect sets forever; he wasn’t living up to his potential as a player, nor was he growing beyond a standard decoy with some talent. To expand his versatility on the court, Hinata had to learn strategy, patience, positioning, footwork, and adopting a new mindset as a player.

In the Tokyo Nationals Arc, Hinata develops these skills by working as a ball boy at a training camp before Nationals. Positioning, form and thinking ahead are qualities he quickly adopts and showcases during the tournament.

Hinata’s evolution is evident from this:

To this:

Yet, to mirror life and the process of change, Hinata’s evolution isn’t linear. Despite his growth, he still falls.

In Chapter 365 of the Haikyuu!! Manga during the Tokyo Nationals Arc, Karasuno faces against Kamomedai. Hinata constantly moves to keep up with the opposition during the match, using his full, new, utterly versatile arsenal. He doesn’t stop the entire game until, suddenly, he falls to the court feeling sick.

It’s determined he has a fever. All of his work, evolution, change, and achievements are denied. Despite his growth, life happens. It’s at this moment when he’s taken out of the match.

Yet change is a long process, and it doesn’t happen quickly or overnight. It takes Hinata several years after high school training in Brazil to reshape himself before he can emerge at his peak: a composed, rounded player.

He fails over and over. Despite having a natural talent for volleyball, he doesn’t automatically pick up on everything. He’s not good at defence and strategy just by luck — it’s because he understands his shortcomings and seeks to evolve.

While not everyone has raw talent like Hinata, you can empathise with his journey to improve himself and become a better player than he was the day before.

I could go on about Haikyuu’s characters’ growths, like Kageyama overcoming his controlling personality, Asahi regaining his confidence as the team’s ace spiker, Tsukishima growing to love volleyball, or Nishinoya learning how to receive overhanded.

But there is another character whom I, and many other avid watchers, relate to the most.

Tanaka’s Greatest Moment

Ryūnosuke Tanaka. Tanaka is a headstrong, boisterous spiker for Karasuno. He’s a reliable team member, but compared to his friends, he’s ordinary.

Tanaka isn’t the fastest, tallest, strongest, or most intelligent on his team, yet he’s always there. When other players left the team or lost hope, Tanaka remained.

In every single match and practice in every season, Tanaka’s always a constant. Seasons 1-3 show his reliability, and though he made mistakes, he was seen as somebody who always got the ball through a block or saved it at the last second.

Tanaka’s Fall

Season 4 exhibits Tanaka’s growth and grounds him like anyone else: a human. During the national tournament, Karasuno faces off against Inarizaki.

In their previous national tournament, Inarizaki made it to the finals, yet for Karasuno, this was their first national tournament in years.

Season 4, Episode 16, titled “Broken Heart”, is Tanaka’s pivotal episode. He starts confidently, as always, being loud, high-spirited and drawing plenty of attention to himself. However, this works against him when Inarizaki begins targeting him.

Tanaka starts falling behind, failing to receive the ball, and getting his spikes blocked. In a flashback, Inarizaki’s coach tells his team to target Tanaka, outing him as Karasuno’s weakness.

Tanaka’s performance begins to plummet, becoming so lacklustre during the match that even his teammates lose faith in him to attack.

Or defend.

Tanaka doubts his abilities as a player, showcasing the striking image of him struggling to climb the mountain of his aspirations, feeling far behind his teammates.

Source: Season 4, Episode 16

Tanaka’s Rise

Except, of course, upwards, both metaphorically and literally.

His evolution, though subtle, can speak to a lot of people: change doesn’t need to be great; it just needs to start. Tanaka’s change isn’t just by playing volleyball but by evolving his thinking of himself. Yes, he’s ordinary, but so what?

Tanaka gains some confidence thanks to Hinata, who encourages him to continue trying, telling him he’s doing well and to keep going. That tiny flicker of confidence reignites the fire within Tanaka to push forward.

All the doubt, the failures, the attempts and his teammates losing faith are all pushed aside as he drives himself forward, continuing to call for the ball. He keeps going.

The combination is a natural symphony, shifting between the imagery and music to show Tanaka’s evolution: his focus, his cross spike, and his greatest moment.

Why Tanaka’s Growth is Great

When facing adversity, it’s easy to give up and to fail; we all do it.

The problems we have in our day-to-day lives, big or small, are made worse by our mental health and perception of ourselves. We have goals and paths, yet we struggle to achieve them because we fear changing and evolving.

Tanaka’s mental struggles, poor performance, team struggling to believe in him and being targeted don’t continue to sway him. Mirroring this, how can we expect growth to be easy, to be a linear path?

We can’t — We make mistakes, we struggle with mental health issues, and we often feel as though nobody believes in us, being targeted by life.

Many people can consider themselves “nothing but average”, but in Tanaka’s own words:

It took Tanaka multiple seasons of constant practice to shape his mindset and grow beyond his limitations — he was normal, yet he still changed. Change in ourselves takes time, and though never straightforward, it will always be worth it, to be better than yesterday.

It’s pushing through and the drive to continue no matter what that helps us grow. Whether it’s Tanaka overcoming his issues or Hinata realising his limitations despite his aptitude, we can all grow, and it certainly won’t be easy. But as Tanaka says himself:

“As long as I keep trying until I do it… I can actually do it!”

Ryūnosuke Tanaka

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