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「及川さんと岩泉さん、あの４番のレフトの人。
あの二人は小学校のクラブチームから一緒らしいです。
阿吽の呼吸ってやつです。」
あの二人は小学校のクラブチームから一緒らしいです。
阿吽の呼吸ってやつです。」
“Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san – that number 4 on the left – those two have apparently played together on the same teams since elementary school. It’s ‘aun no kokyuu’.”
This is Kageyama's line, and the pause after Iwaizumi's name is notable because, for Kageyama (a Kitaiichi +
This is Kageyama's line, and the pause after Iwaizumi's name is notable because, for Kageyama (a Kitaiichi +
grad), Oikawa and Iwaizumi are a package deal. For a brief moment, he forgot that the rest of his team didn't know this and probably didn't pay Iwaizumi much mind during the practice match. To Tobio, these two are so inextricably linked, he hesitated before realizing he needed +
to explain to his team who Iwaizumi was.
The interesting word choice here is らしい. It's usually translated as "apparently", as in the translation for this series, but it usually expresses judgment based on evidence, reason and trustworthy hearsay. To use this word means that +
The interesting word choice here is らしい. It's usually translated as "apparently", as in the translation for this series, but it usually expresses judgment based on evidence, reason and trustworthy hearsay. To use this word means that +
Kageyama has decided upon the harmonious relationship between these two from his own observations of their behavior in middle school and (likely) from the words of others who know them. That those two operate in perfect harmony is clearly common knowledge.
But as much as we view Aun as indicating a harmonious, non-verbal relationship between these two (Aun, as I think we all know, represents perfect harmony. “阿” is a breath in; “吽” is a breath out), there's a bit more to it than that. I'm going to steal this from the wikipedia:
This term is also used in Shinto and Buddhist architecture to depict guardians for shrines. “The term A-un (阿吽) is the transliteration in Japanese of the two syllables “a” and “hūṃ”. The original Sanskrit term is composed of two letters, the first and the last of the Sanskrit+
alphabet. Together, they symbolically represent the beginning and the end of all things."Aun not only represents Oikawa and Iwaizumi's perfect harmony on the court, but also represents the way they play.
Oikawa sets the ball (the beginning), while Iwaizumi spikes it home (the end), and this cycle repeats. Furthermore, 一 (Hajime) means “first” or “beginning”while 徹 (Tooru) means “to go through until the end”.
Not to mention that, when combined, Hajime and Tooru's first names form "一徹" meaning "obstinate" or "dauntless". Which once again means that together they make each other stronger. ("All of a sudden, I feel invincible")
Add to that their births on the dates of Alexander the Great's birth and death days and, well, you see the cyclical nature of their relationship. In every way, Iwaizumi and Oikawa represent the beginning and ending of all things.
They are the first breath, and the last. The first set and the final hit. The guardian warriors protecting the shrine of Aoba Johsai. Perfect harmony both on and off the court. It is as though the universe itself conspired to create them and bring them together.
