i think another really important thing about chapter 394 is not only to think about luck in terms of sakusa specifically, but also as one of the running themes of haikyuu and how it impacts the way furudate depicts loss.

going a little off track but in most shonen manga- fuck it, most LITERATURE, the main theme is almost always good people win. protagonist beats antagonist. villain is defeated by hero.

but the thing is: furudate hasn’t added a specific antagonist into their series. outside the realm of oikawa and wakatoshi, who are pinpointed at specific people to beat, the entirety of the manga is people working to get better and beat EVERYONE.

the two main characters of the whole series are rivals. they compete against each other in everything. but they are on the same team, and still work together to succeed in what they love. they meet people along the way and fight together and fight against each other.

and i think that aspect of haikyuu, that idea that everyone can be friend and foe, is the backbone of another main concept: sometimes shit happens.

by allowing so much freedom of movement between working together and working against each other, furudate has forced people to THINK about who will win and who will lose. and it can be so ambiguous that any tiny aspect they add can change the outcome.

the biggest moment you guys can probably think of is hinata’s fever. kamomedai and karasuno were pretty well matched until their star player had to be taken out, just like that.

that’s the only reason they lost in that moment. because SHIT HAPPENS. and not everyone can be lucky as say ushijima, who is the person sakusa looks up to the most.

through 394 furudate explains their process of loss much more than you’d originally realise: you focus so much on the aspect of sakusa’s satisfaction you miss the small point they make about 1) growth from loss (hinata learning time take care of himself better)

as well as 2) things still happen when you take care of yourself (itachiyama loses). and i think that the idea of luck is just a buffer to keep on track to better understand why haikyuu is not about winning and losing but about

enjoying yourself and being who you want. shit will happen because it does. life will treat you like ass. you don’t have any luck, or you will.

but at the end of the day, if the outcome is always undecided, it’s better to be satisfied with what you did than what you didn’t. that acceptance of loss as just something that happens? sakusa’s main principle and the core ideology behind haikyuu as a whole.