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kozume kenma is an incredibly cool and complex character and it physically pains me to see his character boiled down half the time into a mental illness stereotype and the other time into a played out gay stereotype.
here's the lovemail thread.
here's the lovemail thread.
for one, he's stupid smart. the first match we saw that featured nekoma i was instantly in awe of his understanding of the game and how quickly he was able to pick up on and adapt to karasuno's strategies, especially considering the speed of the game.
it took what, like 6 alternating possessions before he deduced how to stop the freak quick? some ridiculously short time i can't cite exactly how long. but he brings his analysis to the timeout and people listen.
his team listens.
his team listens.
knowing what we do about kenma and kuroo's past, looking back and seeing what kenma has to say be so willingly accepted is so heartwarming. this is a boy who went from feeling like he only belonged with kuroo and only stayed on the team for his friend to becoming the backbone of-
-nekoma. kuroo said it himself. kenma's contributions to nekoma's volleyball club is what keeps them tied down. he is their core.
on the topic of kuroo. the depth at which kenma cares for him is so hard to meaningfully and eloquently describe. when it comes to volleyball it's always been them two, but their bond goes so much deeper than that. at risk of being kuroken on main, they're soulmates.
that's not to say kenma's character exists only as a plus one to kuroo, or the other way around. the way kenma functions independently from him, both on his own and with other characters, is super interesting to see and analyze.
kenma and hinata's friendship sticks out as one that seems both unexpected and written in the stars at the same time. hinata helps bring out of kenma a passion for volleyball, people, and even life itself that he'd tucked away for so long. and kenma influences him in turn.
i always come on this bird app talking about how gross it is of a lot of the mainstream haikyuu fandom to make an entire character's core into their sexuality but i don't care. i'm doing it again. kenma is so much more than kuroo's bottom or some sort of secret freak.
also, the way that he's often written off as weird for exhibiting behaviors that can be credited to neurodivergence or some sort of anxiety disorder is kinda really gross. a lot of canon points towards kenma having anxiety or some other disorder that lends itself to an aversion-
-to people and frequent bouts of sensory overload. it's subtle representation, but it means a lot, and it's disheartening to see characteristics like that written off as gross weird quirks.
taking a detour back to concrete canon, closing this thread we have timeskip kenma. i am so proud of him. my boy is RICH. he's admired internationally. he's making big moves in all sorts of fields. but most importantly, he's gained confidence, and it looks fantastic on him.
if it wasn't 3 am id absolutely be citing moments in both the anime and the manga that stick out to me as Big Kenma Love Moments but
tl;dr pay kenma more respect!! he's much more than a cute face. i adore him so much. thank you and goodnight.
tl;dr pay kenma more respect!! he's much more than a cute face. i adore him so much. thank you and goodnight.
