furudate haruichi and the concept of a genius, a thread +

i think it’s really interesting how furudate reflects their concept of a genius thru themselves and through hq, especially considering furudate is considered a genius by people in the industry.

honda, a former editor of hq, said this about furudate, calling them a genius, but furudate says that they’re not sure they have talent, & cant be sure of it while theyre serializing [hq]. they say talent “isnt something so kind”, not like an instant door to success.

wrt hq, oikawa is obviously who comes to mind immediately. i think it’s interesting how furudate includes “technique, stamina, willpower” here, while how honda says “weaponizing” “stamina, persistence, social charm” is what makes ppl like furudate a genius.

but furudate makes the direct opposite point through oikawa, instead showing through him how making talent “bloom” and “polishing” instinct are his weapons in fighting AGAINST those “geniuses” he encounters (will revisit later.)

and what oikawa says here, about talent blooming “maybe today, or tomorrow, the day after, even next year” is very aligned with what furudate says about how they arent sure if they have talent, so they work to find that out, by charging towards the finish line.

and then later on, in brazil, this panel is revealed of how oikawa’s chosen path, is “much harsher”; also directly aligned with furudate’s point about how talent “isn’t a kind door to success.”, how that path is so exhausting and grueling for them as an artist.

and then we see kageyama, who’s introduced from the start as a genius setter. i wont include all the panels but here are a few, we’ve established this. however, tobio’s entire arc is about how despite his “genius” he faced seemingly impregnable obstacles.

(a mass oversimplification but this isnt about tobio’s arc so i dont feel bad about it.) but of course we’re shown how hard tobio works, and that his “talent” is not from his “genius”, but hard work and discipline- “talent is something you make bloom.”

and when the youth camp coach goes ahead to say this, “a genius is the furthest thing from perfection”, it rings so true not only to kageyama’s entire arc but furudate’s larger message of “not knowing” if talent exists, you have to “find out” by working towards the finish line.

this peaks when 387 was finally released and we saw how tobio has Literally been working hard since practically birth, working towards that finish line. and this becomes so interesting especially when re-evaluating oikawa’s arc with this new information;

oikawa’s honed talent and instincts are set up as a tool for him to stand on equal grounds with “geniuses” (tobio, ushijima), but we’re given 380+ chapters of furudate then showing us how tobio’s skill isn’t “genius”, it’s the same “honed talent” that oikawa values.

and then we can reevaluate “talent is something you make bloom” by applying it not only to “non-geniuses” like oikawa, but also the “geniuses” like tobio, because they ARENT those geniuses, they’re ultimately the same.

of course there’s an aspect of natural skill and advantage. but furudate makes it abundantly clear that that alone takes you nowhere. and at the end of the day when it really matters, “geniuses” dont exist.

this is reinforced further on during the inarizaki match, through kita’s iconic genius speech. we’ve all already analyzed the whole “1-10, a-z” speech so i want to focus on when he says “i think that to be able to charge forward itself is a talent.”

applying this to what furudate says about how “you don’t know you have talent, so you continue to find out.”, through kita they hint that going through that process itself is talent, making talent bloom is talent, not knowing if you have talent and continuing is talent.

none of it is “genius” in its original sense because none of it is natural-born. “even if they start coughing up blood, theyre the kind to keep running, no matter what.” applying this to furudate, who works those crazy hours,

who said that they only have fun around 10% of the time theyre creating, that most of the time they just want to run away, that they cant be happy while theyre serialized; theyre the epitome of having the talent of making talent bloom, running forward when they “cough up blood.”

when they say through the coach that they’re “not sure” what the term genius really means, i really believe that comes straight from furudate’s heart. because in the end there’s no clear “genius” in hq, because that’s not who furudate is, personally or philosophically.

because furudate is the epitome of “talent is not something so kind.”, of “i don’t know if i have talent, so i find out.”, of “a genius is the furthest thing from perfection u can get”, of “talent is something you make bloom”,

of “even if they cough up blood,” of “it’s only at the last moment when you’ve exhausted all of your efforts and fallen over, that god comes down and says, i will tell you if you have talent or not, as a reward.” [end]