394//
Hinata vs charas such as sakusa and ushijima is interesting bc Hinata is a character who has always had to fight to get the tiniest ounce of recognition. His desire to improve overtook what his body was telling him because of his frustration with his physical limitations(+)

which ultimately lead to his downfall as a player in nationals arc. Not just that, but to begin with he didn’t even have a team to play with, and had to do the most just to STAND on a court...whether that was with being in a match, or even given a space to practice in the gym.

So when you compare him to ushijima, or sakusa, characters that say they have gotten “lucky” with both their physique and the people they’ve been able to practice and play around, it does feel like Furudate is purposefully connecting and contrasting the two.

We see this in 394 with:
1) sakusa and Hinata ending up on the same team, and Hinata’s “fever exit” being the first thing that’s said to Hinata by sakusa when they meet
2) it being mentioned that Hinata beat ushijima’s team to get to nationals

Sakusa with his ability to take good care of himself, follow routines, and who hates people that “half ass” things, and Ushijima similarly, who has always been considered a strong player being beaten out by “Hinata Shouyou from the concrete” and karasuno’s ‘ex powerhouse’ team.

Ushijima in fact who may seem to be a character similar to sakusa— and is in many ways, noted on and off court by his play and by the bathroom scene— but who also has the same ‘infantile desires’ that people view Hinata as having: the desire to win, and prove that you’re better.

For Hinata it was than other people’s expectations, and being strong enough to beat players that already have that strength, like Kageyama, and for ushijima it was than Hinata, because of Hinata’s reasoning and because he recognised his own strength.

A note: there is more to Ushijima’s reasoning that I’m sure will be explained with his pov that’ll come next week, probably w/ a unique pov of his time at nationals, + of middle school against oikawa & iwaizumi etc, as well as karasuno most likely. I’ll revisit this thread then.

For me, the idea of ‘passion’ underpins Hinata’s character for me. His passion pushing him forward and causing him to ignore his limits vs Sakusa’s more methodical approach of ‘doing things properly’, much like
Kita, & playing volleyball because of having ‘nothing better to do’—

—end up clashing in the most intriguing way with Hinata’s fever.

And with Kita, his job now being to provide food for those who still play (like atsumu), watching on from outside the court & making sure things are ‘done properly’ is interesting to note too, because of the theme of growth & hunger that is also inherent to Hinata’s development.

In 69, when karasuno are dealt their first real loss, Ukai talks about ‘eating to grow stronger and build muscle’. This gets brought back very powerfully 300 chapters later. He repeats it to Hinata as well as telling him to acknowledge his limits more as he sits & eats...alone.

hunger, growth, biting off more than you can chew, that “once you get a taste of something, it makes you hungrier for more” quote that came from Atsumu about Hinata in the inarizaki match...vs doing things methodically and properly, seeing them through, and self maintenance.

Hinata changes, obviously. That fever was a sharp learning curve, and between the numerous books in his room in Brazil about self care, his personal trainer, and both his mention to heitor that he makes sure to get 8hrs of sleep a night and telling pedro to eat his vegetables—

—he’s definitely not the same person he was at the end of his first year. He followed takeda’s words, making sure to “never let it happen again”.

He has learned.

His plaque in his room highlights that more than anything else though, I think; “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step”, which reflects sakusa and kita’s philosophy the most...BUT

It is still his passion that drives him forward, and gives him his strength. Learning how to self care has only given him the means through which to CHANNEL that passion.

So now bringing it back to sakusa’s pov...it’s very intriguing and clever for Furudate to put him and sakusa on the same team, no less against a team with ushijima on it.

It’s that conflict between raw passion and a drive fuelled by overcoming obstacles and dealing the cards you’ve been dealt, and utilising what you’ve always had, growing up around the sport, taking things incrementally and methodically and drawing your strength from THAT.

And that’s what makes this chapter and the pov order (sakusa, then ushijima, then oikawa and possibly Iwaizumi, and THEN Hinata) flow so beautifully. Every character has their own relationship to volleyball, yet— just like on a team— they are all connected in some way.