Kghn‘s big improvement milestones in karasuno are so, SO well done. the new quick in s2 coming as a result of weeks of training alone after their worst fight ever over the need to adapt. The new jump in 314 being a product of individual growth at the respective training camps...

Furudate masterfully crafts both the tantalising build up and the payoff to these important stepping stones in their development in a way I don’t think I’ve ever observed in any other series. It’s just SO well done I could talk about it for ages

Me and melana were talking about the kghn fight yesterday and how they both probably felt after it. We see Hinata’s thoughts (“he wasn’t just my first friend, I felt like I’d made a partner”) but interestingly we never see Kageyama’s.

With the added context of 387, this probably made him think of kazuyo. And after the first real fight with his first real friend, and real partner, he probably felt the same frustration that he did in junior high. Unable to move forward.

But what changed by this point, and what is reflective of his character development up to then, was that instead of turning in on himself and practicing jump serves— one of the only things you can truly work on by yourself—

he not just decided to listen to what Hinata has told him, but to ask for help. Meeting oikawa was a coincidence, sure, but what he told him— “are you sure you’re giving him the tosses he wants?”— made him realise further that for once...maybe he was wrong.

Furudate loves conveying the message that improvement is always an uphill battle, and it often times comes out of necessity. Chapter 72’s fight encompasses that.

If it wasn’t for Hinata’s insistance of being able to trust Kageyama less, be able to play in his own a little more, they wouldn’t have been able to conceptualise the new quick.

If it wasn’t for Hinata’s insistance of being able to trust Kageyama less, be able to play in his own a little more, they wouldn’t have been able to conceptualise the new quick.

...and nor would the running theme of being able to fight by oneself that follows Hinata throughout the series, even up to the final arc.

Both in Hinata’s pulling away from relying solely on Kageyama’s skill so much, and inversely Kageyama’s decision to trust Hinata more, they begin to display the budding signs of their individual development (which ultimately lead them to their current match).

But I digress.

In the days that followed, Kageyama practiced. And so did Hinata. They both did...for each other. They turned one of the most turbulent times in their relationship with each other into one of the best...

...when they finally pulled it off at the training camp. This scene is often recalled by many people as being a pivotal moment in their development as teammates, but people forget what came before it.

The initial trigger and then the 10 chapter buildup (me thinking it was shorter when I went to look up the pages for this thread only proves the point haha) makes the final moment so much more worthwhile.

And that’s what makes Furudate’s storytelling so uniquely /good/.