Court A, Current Match: Karasuno (Miyagi) Court A, Current Match: Inarizaki (Hyogo) Court B, Current Match: Sentoku (Hiroshima) Court B, Current Match: Iseoka (Aichi) Court C, Current Match: Yamato Girls' (Ehime) Court C, Current Match: Rato (Chiba) Court D, Current Match: Nekoma (Tokyo) Court D, Current Match: Sarukawa Tech (Ishikawa)
Is this the match you wanted to see, Suguru?
Yeah.
Connect
Nekoma?
Left!
Kenma!
Keep Standing Back Up
That was a rather difficult position for a quick...
but Sarukawa Tech manages to receive the ball.
The Tokyo reps, Nekoma High,
and the Ishikawa reps, Sarukawa Tech.
Both teams are known for their unbreakable defense.
Which team's defense will see them through...
to the third round?!
Haikyu!!
Episode 17: Cats vs. Monkeys
Our first nationals...
I wish we could've actually traveled somewhere for it. Like, actually got on the Shinkansen.
Next year... No, wait, this year.
Where's the Inter-High this year?
If it's far away, let's go cheer them on.
You're already assuming they'll get in.
Let's believe in our juniors.
Hey, junior.
Right?
Yeah, no way.
Kenma hates being the center of attention,
and yet we managed to drag him to nationals.
It's going on sale next month, right?
He definitely doesn't look like an athlete playing in nationals.
Yup. And the deck goes on sale the week after, right?
Man, I'm broke.
A zashiki-warashi?
From the time he started playing volleyball, up until middle school,
Kenma would always...
come down with a fever on days practice was extra hard or right after our matches.
I'd always feel kinda bad,
considering I'm the one who dragged him into all of this.
Nekoma Nohebi
But...
Now that we've made it to nationals,
I thought he might finally feel it was worth all the trouble,
or so I was hoping.
I'm pretty sure Kenma couldn't care less about that.
You really don't hold back, do you, Yaku?
Delicious Milky Cocoa
Well, think about Kenma's personality.
If he really hated it, he would've quit by now.
Right?
Kenma! I told you, no video games before bed!
You'll mess up your sleep cycle!
Well, if I really want to quit, I will.
But I guess I may have felt somewhat bad for Kuro.
What?!
Even I worry about others sometimes.
It's actually sorta shocking to hear you say that.
Vending Machine Corner
I just said "somewhat."
There's no way I could spend hours practicing
just because I felt bad about someone else.
Not to mention, I wouldn't keep playing volleyball if I hated it.
I just keep playing,
I don't have a definite reason to keep playing.
but I also don't have a reason to quit.
Not having either is pretty normal.
Indeed.
That's some deep thinking.
Don't make this sound difficult.
I don't like sweating or being out of breath,
but I don't mind leveling up.
Night.
Yeah, night.
He doesn't have much stamina, but he's awkwardly persistent at times.
And he's able to keep up at practice.
Though he knows exactly when to slack.
This makes me think about that one time you mentioned before.
The early-riser incident.
Ah...
Around 5 AM, the light in Kenma's room would always be on
when he got in the habit of oversleeping.
I thought he'd been up all night,
but he tells me that he actually woke up early at 2 AM,
all to play video games.
His parents would throw away his games if he stayed up all night playing them,
but he thought there wouldn't an issue if he just got up early.
Of course, they found out, and he got in trouble anyway.
I'm sure he could only pull that off because he likes them so much.
But ever since we started practicing with Karasuno,
he seems to be trying even harder.
Yeah, I totally see that.
He's always hanging out with the shrimp from Karasuno.
Even though they're total opposites.
Well, it's not often that he's able to make friends.
And I think he's also the rare real-life obstacle
that Kenma actually wants to conquer.
Power
Stamina
Incomprehensible
Technique
Incomprehensible
And even for that shrimp...
I'm pretty sure he wants to defeat Kenma, too.
Though Kenma probably wouldn't be too bothered if he got defeated,
so it might not be worth the trouble.
Come on, now.
But you know...
"Leveling up" is definitely a Kenma thing to say.
Nezumi Grade School Nekoma Grade School
Thank you very much!
Wanna go level up?
Yeah.
Now's not the time to be thinking back fondly on your junior.
Yakkun, have you ever heard of "feelings"?
Four more days of the Spring Tournament...
I'm going to stand out the most!
Excuse me? That's gonna be me!
I'm totally ready for some nice announcer lady to interview me.
Shut up, astaxanthin face!
That's docosahexaenoic acid to you!
What are they arguing about?
Just eat your damn fish and sleep!
Who knows?
Better not get a stomachache after eating meat.
Sorry about this...
It's fine.
Huh?! What'd you say?!
Well, astaxanthin, so it matches our team color.
That's not what we're talking about here!
Sarukawa Tech Nekoma
Sarukawa thought they had an opening, but Nekoma manages to get the ball!
Solid masters of defense that they are,
Nekoma's not going to let the ball drop in their court that easily.
Fukunaga!
One touch!
Sarukawa Tech is still managing to keep the ball up!
Good job! Take your time attacking!
Apparently, Sarukawa Tech's coach, Shishio,
was one of Nekoma High's Coach Nekomata's former students.
Correct. His team's tight defense may be due to everything he learned from his mentor.
Something doesn't feel right.
What do you mean?
It feels like Sarukawa Tech is deliberately avoiding scoring quickly.
Huh? Why, though?
From my perspective, their attacks seem pretty fast and violent.
Right. They have been scoring, and it's not like their attacks haven't been great.
Nekoma's just been able to defend because they're Nekoma.
Nekoma's defense is high-level,
and they're able to bump attacks even when they seem flawless.
And I'm not sure if that's why,
but it really seems like Sarukawa is trying
to throw Nekoma off their rhythm rather than score.
But what's the point if they can't score?
Well, their intention is probably...
to make their setter run.
Fukunaga!
Nice kill!
Connect Nekoma High School Boys' Volleyball Club PTA
Nice, nice, Fukunaga! Nice, nice, Fukunaga! One more time!
Sarukawa Tech Nekoma
Even if we have to sacrifice the first set,
put as much pressure on Nekoma's setter as you can.
He doesn't seem like the type to break mentally,
but he's the type that starts slipping up when he gets tired.
We need to wear him down physically, not mentally.
First, we need to take out...
Nekoma's brain.
Haikyu!!
Keep up, first-year!
I hate running...
But...
I do sorta like the scenery while I run, as well as what I think about.
Now I'm powered up!
That ivy over there is definitely the kind you can climb!
And on top of that roof... is a treasure chest!
Guts!
Hey, you're slow! You're a lap behind!
Show some more guts!
I can't with him...
Yaku!
Nice receive!
A perfect A-pass! Nekoma's totally awesome!
I just want to sit down.
An A-pass...
Better than an F-pass.
Kozume,
just because you're close to Kuroo-san doesn't mean I'm gonna take it easy on you.
What's that even mean?
What difference does it make that I know Kuro?
And this is just a regular passing drill.
He never looks enthusiastic, and his voice is soft,
and yet, he's actually decent, so it pisses me off.
Take this...
You little—
Wow, look at those two go.
You need to at least try to work with others.
He started it.
Yeah... I enjoy the fact that you're spunky enough
to not back down from a fight, but...
Look, I know you're not gonna suddenly turn into an extrovert,
but you're going to be spending a lot of time with these classmates.
So...
I know we're starting with a brand-new team today,
and things are still a bit awkward,
but let's do our best again tomorrow!
Thank you!
Hey, Yamamoto. You running again?
Yup. Good work today, sir!
Yamamoto, no working too hard.
Right...
Guts!
Nekoma Maruguchi Biz.
Thank you very much!
Thank you!
Gather up all your things!
Right!
Hey, Kozume.
You did a great job setting out there.
Yeah. They were consistent and super easy to hit,
despite being your first practice match.
And you've got some balls doing a dump even though we were behind.
Keep up the great work!
This was my super important practice match debut,
and I just kept hitting out of bounds and into the net.
And to top it all off...
I ran right into Kuroo-san.
We're going home! Yamamoto!
It was just a practice match. Don't worry about it.
Right...
Good work!
Thanks!
Kuro, Sensei's calling for you.
You need to at least try to work with others.
H-Hey... Yamamoto-kun.
Maybe you could... relax your shoulders a bit.
What? Like you?
Like it's that easy to do.
I'm trying to show off how hard I've been working,
so how am I supposed to relax?
Anyway, this just means that I lacked guts.
Quit blaming something as random as guts.
You should probably reflect on what the actual problem is.
I kept concentrating too much on the ball.
I let my opponent provoke me.
I kept going for all the difficult hits.
I-If you realize that, why do you keep blaming it on guts?
All that extra running and weight training
has nothing to do with guts. It's self-satisfaction.
Then what about you, huh?!
There were plenty of balls you could've gone after!
Yeah, but...
I was tired...
And even if I connected, it would've been a free ball for the other team.
Well, you never show any guts at practice,
Should we stop them?
so how the hell are you gonna during a match?
They're not even reflecting anymore. It's just turning into a fight.
You never go after the ball!
Let them fight. Sometimes you need that.
Your voice is too soft, and you never seem like you try!
I don't wanna hear about guts from a gutless brat like you!
All you ever talk about is guts!
That's ambiguous as hell!
It's not like it'll help you stay alive with one hit point!
What the hell are you even talking about?!
I'm telling you that it won't help you beat a game!
What the hell do games have to do with this?!
You need strategy and to think about what you need to win!
Hey, that's enough, you two...
You need guts to win!
Mr. Freeze... says to chill out.
Wha...
What?! Wait... What?!
Where do I even start?!
Mr. Free... Who the hell is gonna clean this up?!
My bad.
Holy crap, Fukunaga!
Guess we need to get the mop.
Why are you laughing?!
You're pretty, Fukunaga-kun.
What the hell's going on?
I haven't shouted like this in forever.
What's with this guy? This isn't...
Motivation or guts... He just...
Seriously hates losing.
Kenma!
Left.
Kyanma! Move your ass!
You could've gotten that one over!
He figured me out.
But taking even another step is such a hassle.
I wish my arms could stretch, like, two meters.
But he's still gutless.
Boys' High School Volleyball Tournament
Preliminaries
Nice kill, Yamamoto!
Yes!
That was so loud.
Our blocking is starting to get to their #1.
He'll probably try to use a dink soon.
They'll probably go for the edges more, so watch your judgment.
Right!
Nekoma Konan Biz.
I'm glad...
...he's not on the other team.
Hey... Kenma.
You can call me "Tora."
That's what my friends call me.
Do I have to call you that?
The hell did you just say?!
Tora!
Nekomata-sensei always put defense first.
And his setters have always been intelligent and intuitive.
Connect
That's all because he's so confident in their defense.
Even if we can't bring down their defense head-on,
we can chip away at it, little by little.
If we can chip away at their solid defense...
Their weak setter will expose himself.
Sarukawa Tech Nekoma
Crush him...
That setter's been babied by having all the passes go right to him.
Now, crush him!
Episode 18: Trap
Next time, "Trap."