wednesday_10_00 | Haikyuu!!, doujinshi shopping, etc.

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Haikyuu!!, doujinshi shopping, etc.

Before I talk ~~at great length~~ about Haikyuu, I want to talk about deputy shopping services. I have been using Noppin for years (since they were Crescent, even) and have been happy with them. At the end of December, however, just as I was getting ready to place a bunch of bids on Winter Comiket doujinshi, Noppin closed for a week for the holiday and server maintenance. I panicked and started looking for a different deputy service, because what if I missed all the Comiket doujinshi?? But I soon calmed down and realized that 1) everyone was going to be closed at least for a few days for New Years, and 2) I already have a sizable deposit at Noppin, and it's kind of annoying to have to make a deposit elsewhere as well. So I decided to be patient and wait out the holiday, and of course I didn't have any trouble getting anything I wanted.

The reason I tell this story is that while I was panicking, I found a service called Goody Japan. They don't have real time bidding the way Noppin does, so I doubt I'll be using their auction services. BUT their fees for shopping services are way cheaper (¥400 + 7% vs ¥1000 + 10% at Noppin), and placing orders is much easier compared to Noppin's clunky message board. (Since I mentioned the deposit above, I will say that with Goody's system, you make a deposit for each shopping order, and then it's subtracted from the final total you owe, so they don't keep money for you the way Noppin does for their auction service.) Frankly, it makes it dangerously easy to order things from Animate, or Tora no Ana, or any number of shops. They also were super fast in getting my things packaged and ready to ship out (Noppin can take days to get a package ready, especially when apparently they think your package is going to get confiscated because it has freaking udon noodles in it), and everything was packed perfectly. I kind of laughed that they made a big deal out of the air pocket padding, but the box really did seem lighter compared to just newspaper. Anyway, I will definitely be using Goody again--in fact, I just placed another doujinshi order this weekend because Haikyuu!! (Those exclamation points are in the title, but they are also the punctuation for that sentence.) This is...as good of a segue as any, I guess?

Let's talk about volleyball. I know: sports, ugh. Bear with me, though: what if, in Hikaru no Go, Hikaru and Akira had met and become rivals, but then, through a twist of fate (DESTINY!!), they ended up on the same team? And they didn't just become teammates, but parters, who bring out the absolute best in each other? That's Hinata and Kageyama, the main characters of Haikyuu.

(That Hinata sticker is so great.)

I'm trying to come up with the right words to describe the partnership of Kageyama and Hinata, but basically: they're perfect for each other. They both have the same goals (getting better at volleyball so we can win volleyball games and play more volleyball and is there anything in this world other than volleyball? WHO CARES), drive, and determination; the ways in which they differ (personality, skills) are such that they complement each other perfectly. Basically...the 10 x 10 = 100 assessment is totally accurate.

Kageyama starts off as the King of Frowny Faces:

But all he needed was a little Hinata to make him happy:

Don't get me wrong, I love Hikaru no Go, but the nature of go is such that, even when the characters play on the same team, they are playing by themselves. The emphasis in Haikyuu, though, is that you can't play volleyball on your own, you need the team to win. This means different things to Hinata (who had no teammates in middle school) and Kageyama (who thought he was better than his teammates in middle school), but it's equally important to both of them. What I'm saying is: TEAM. NAKAMA. If you are into the team dynamic, this show is awesome. If you are into the partner dynamic, this show is awesome. (Also: this show is awesome.) And not only is the Karasuno team awesome (not just Kageyama and Hinata, but all of them!), we also meet lots of other teams with equally awesome characters, and who even cares that we're watching sports anymore when it's so fun?

[side note: after burning through all 25 episodes in one day, I immediately downloaded the manga onto my iPad so I could see what happens after that. When reading shounen manga, I might actually think digital is better than reading a paper book, because the two-page spreads look so great when you don't have to fight the book's spine. However, reading manga in landscape rather than portrait mode has made me wish, for the first time, that I had a full-sized iPad rather than a mini.]

I want to end with some awesome and convincing concluding argument but basically what I'm saying is go watch (and/or read) Haikyuu and you can thank me later. If you have already seen it and don't need my convincing, please join me in the comments for squee.

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Helpful Crunchyroll link: http://www.crunchyroll.com/haikyu

Prompt: when I watch a crunchyroll show with (*cough* after) w_10_00, I send an episode-by-episode email hitting the episode's highlights for me. All squee, very little insight (though I am a very insightful viewer, as long as you think Haikyuu!! is a romance). Anyway, I've already done that for Haikyuu!! (mostly. I'm on episode 24), so if anybody picks this up from the start, please consider doing the same here in the comments. It's so much fun to watch with you. And I won't spoil!

Spoiler: they're totally in love.

Good idea! Aww, I just remembered when I did that for Avatar. That was so much fun. Remember when LJ was awesome? (She says, still stubbornly using LJ.)

Spoiler: they're totally in love.

I think the spoiler is that everyone is in love.

OMG, amazing! I just found the icon that makes these a matched set. (What was I just saying about them and their adorable identical expressions?)

I love these dorks so much.

I see this as a huge problem. From now on, you're going to have to split your comments in two and post half the reply with Kageyama and half with Hinata.

...pause.

What's a "nata"? Kageyama is like "dark mountain" and Hinata is "light..." what? (OMG, they are so destined for each other. It's fiction, mangaroo. Someone chose their names. SHUT UP!!! It's love.)

Breaking out the dictionary...horizon? Bright horizon! That's my Hinata.

Probably the best solution to this problem is to just use icons they're both in. I need to find more of those.

日向 : 【ひなた】 (n) sunny place; in the sun;

(Also, "kage" is shadow, not dark. Because, you know, the author wanted them to be MORE complementary than just light and dark.)

So is 影山 "shadowed mountain" or the shadow of a mountain? (Because these details are going to matter when I have their names tattooed on my ankle.)

I would go with "shadowed mountain," I guess. (Or even just "shadow mountain." "Mt. Shadow"?) "Shadow of a mountain" seems backwards. EDIT: By which I mean 影山 seems backwards to mean "shadow of a mountain."

Edited 2015-02-10 13:03 (UTC)

Hee! You've convinced me. I will check it out.

Yay!!! This makes me very happy. I hope you like it! (Please report back.)

You will quickly regret that it is not the focus of your cinema class. (You teach cinema? Multi-hatted!)

Well, the ancient world in cinema. Which basically means a lot of chariot races. And in the 2000's, extra amounts of bare chests.

(I don't even remotely have an icon suitable for this.)

Haikyuu!! can fix that. You just have to find the bare-chested Tanaka icons. (Haikyuu!! can fix everything.)

So...I actually went looking for bare-chested Tanaka icons, and I'm sorry to say I didn't find any. But this set (http://eyecons.dreamwidth.org/5460.html) has some really adorable Take-chan ones. Also, I realized it would be funny to have one with the two Association guys in it. (Exposition love!)

(Kageyama isn't frowning at you. He's frowning at the lack of bare-chested Tanaka icons.)

Don't go looking, but if you ever run across an icon of Takeda-sensei popping up behind Ukai-kun making that "see, I told you!" expression (you know the scene I mean?), please let me know.

Not that I have an open icon slot, but one must always be prepared.

When Ukai sees the 変人速攻 for the first time?

Now this is going to drive me crazy until I find it (the scene, not an icon of it). I thought you had to be right, but coach first say the freak toss in episode 10, during the Association game, where we discover that Hinata trusts the ball will be wherever he jumps. I just rewatched that scene and didn't see the cutie-sensei reaction. It must come ... earlier?

Sadly, I have to work, but when I find it...

Shoot, I was going to check at lunch and totally forgot. Is it a little after that? "Why didn't you tell me about them?" "I did, over and over!"

ETA: no, that's not it. :/

Edited 2015-02-11 18:21 (UTC)

I'm re-watching episode 9 to look for the scene and I accidentally slashed Shimada and Yamaguchi. I'm sorry, Tsukki!

Edit: Yay! I found it in episode 9. It is the first time Ukai sees Hinata hit Kageyama's toss, but...this one isn't considered a freak? Volleyball is hard.

I love Asahi's call for the toss. Is it possible I'm a 12-year-old Japanese boy? I don't like mecha.

Edited 2015-02-11 18:57 (UTC)

Ah, I see the scene you're talking about. The implication I've seen from other scenes is that nobody understands what's going on in the freak attack the first time they see it, because it's so fast (and/or crazy). So the first time he sees it is just surprise, and then after that he realizes what's going on and thinks it's freaky.

(I just saw your edit. I don't think you need to be a 12-year-old boy to love that.)

Edited 2015-02-11 18:58 (UTC)

I am so impatient for Sara to watch so I can watch the show again "for the first time" with someone. Maybe we should all go on a Haikyuu!! vacation and watch together. Hawaii seems like a really nice place to watch Haikyuu!! When's spring break? Meanwhile, is it okay if I post here as I rewatch all by myself? Is it possible I could watch too much? Maybe I shouldn't rewatch so I don't become jaded and cynical when Asahi screams Sugaaaaaaaa!

Edit: sorry for the edit. Spelling error. (And, yes, I have watched the same episode 3 times in a row.)

Edited 2015-02-11 19:38 (UTC)

When's spring break?

Sadly, spring break is a completely different time for my school and Sara's school. Why can't we have Golden Week like Japan?? For the record, our spring break is 3/18-3/29. (Our spring break is weird.)

As somebody who spent the better part of a week doing nothing but reading and re-reading the manga, I believe it is NOT possible to watch (or read) too much. I am filled with glee every time...jeez, I was going to give some examples here, but let's face it: I am filled with glee the entire time I read.

I was looking at our texting conversation to see when we first started talking about this, and I told you that Haikyuu is less slashy than Free. What was I thinking??? Haikyuu is the slashiest show that ever existed.

And: yes, yes, yes, please post as much as you like. I will never be done talking about how much I love these characters.

Since you're nearing spring break, or maybe for future reference, here's a nice link for you: Casanova Scans (http://casanovascans.com/series/haikyuu/). They have all of Haikyuu on their site, so, you know, it could be a pretty fast read.

(Not that I'm trying to pressure you or anything. *cough* Just saying.)

I confess, I got all excited when I saw the comment count was 22 because I remembered it as 20 and thought we had another fan to play with. *sadface*

Anyway, I just cried my way through chapter 40 of the manga (like I do), and this has nothing to do with chapter 40 at all, but as I've been reading, I was thinking how clear the pairings seem to me. In a "of course X goes with Y" way, like the way Noya is always chiding Asahi, or interacting with him in the background of a panel. I briefly fell into the trap of wondering how fangirls could pair X with Z when it's SOOO obvious who everyone belongs with. And then I remember, oh, yeah, yaoi. Plus, manga is really exceptional at making powerful connections between rival characters. I can see where those who like to heal rifts (or enjoy a little sadism) would be attracted to Oikawa and Kageyama even though it violates the natural order of the universe. And it's hard to miss how meeting Hinata invigorated Kenma (yeah, I'm leaving that one in the open), so I can really understand why that pairing would attract fans.

In my defense, Mom and Dad have a really...calm relationship. I mean, you can see their parental dynamic everywhere, and I love when Tanaka and Ennoshita observe how happy Daichi is seeing Suga praised by the association players, but they haven't yet shown a lot of intense emotion toward each other. It's like they've been married forever. And considering that they have 10 kids, I guess they have been.

Edit: and, of course, this morning I remember why this was on my mind. When I saw the dress that inspired the white/gold, blue/black controversy last week, I saw a blue/black dress (which it was, which made the incident much less dramatic for me)...anyway, when someone uses a member of one of "my" pairings in Haikyuu!! to form a different pairing, it's like the other pairing is a claim the dress is white/gold.

Edited 2015-03-01 20:07 (UTC)

I confess, I got all excited when I saw the comment count was 22 because I remembered it as 20 and thought we had another fan to play with. *sadface*

Awww. :(

(This is why we stalk posts.)

I briefly fell into the trap of wondering how fangirls could pair X with Z when it's SOOO obvious who everyone belongs with.

I'm impressed that you only "briefly" fell into that. I find it hard to get myself OUT of that mindset. I really want to be a "to each her own" kind of person, but I also feel that my ships are the "right" ones, and those other fangirls are just some weird aberrations (even when those ships might be the more popular ones).

(Even though I know the dress is blue/black, I can only see white/gold. The brain is a funny thing.)

Interesting thing I've noticed: all my ships stay within teams. I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence, or if I really don't want couples to have to play against each other.

I know it sounds like I'm going to be all Scott Pilgrim no Basketball for the next few weeks, but I wanted to record the opponents Karasuno has faced so far, because I really do forget these details. High fives? All over them. Matches? Not so much.

Club Training
• 3 on 3 (Hinata/Kageyama/Tanaka vs Tsukki/Yamaguchi/Daichi)
• Aobajousai
• Neighborhood Association
• Nekoma

Inter High Prelims
• Tokonami (features one of Daichi's former middle school teammates, not a strong team, some fairly meta observations re: winners and losers)
• Datekou (breaking through the iron wall)
• Aobajousai

[there's a mention in the manga of "a practice match with Hinoyama" (a local team) before we go to Tokyo...we don't see the actual match, do we?]

Tokyo training camp
Fukurodani, Shinzen, Ubugawa, Nekoma (I remember nothing about Shinzen and Ubugawa. Bokuto x Akaashi 4ever! Also, meet Lev.)

Spring High
• Ougiminami (they were crushed by Shiratorizawa during the Inter High)
• Kakugawa (has a super-tall but inexperienced player)
• Jouzenji (a "playful" team whose motto "valor & simplicity" doesn't suit the current generation of players; Kageyama and Hinata temporarily removed from game when Kageyama is injured)
• Wakutani (their ace plays like the "small giant" used to; lost Daichi to an injury, bringing Ennoshita off the bench)
• Aobajousai (introducing the Mad Dog, Kyotani Kentaro)

Edited 2015-03-10 04:24 (UTC)

Oh, this is awesome. Thank you!

there's a mention in the manga of "a practice match with Hinoyama" (a local team) before we go to Tokyo...we don't see the actual match, do we?

I did not even remember that it was mentioned! No, I don't think we see it.

ETA: I haven't found Hinoyama (or even the mention of them), but we do briefly see a practice match with Ouginishi in chapter 75. (Final score of the second set is 25-16, Karasuno.)

I remember nothing about Shinzen and Ubugawa.

I don't think we see any matches with them (or meet any of the characters, really). In the tankoubon, the author introduces characters between chapters (quick profile things), but I don't think there were any players from Shinzen or Ubugawa even there.

For the Jouzenji match, I would add that that's the only time we get to see Narita play, since he apparently had been practicing spikes with Suga. Also, that means the only Karasuno player we've never seen in action is Kinoshita.

Also, I don't know if the scanlators made a note of this, but Mad Dog = Kyouken (狂犬). It's a pun on his name, see.

Edited 2015-03-13 22:50 (UTC)

You're re-reading? Did fanfic hurt you?

Yes and no (to both parts). I was reading one where they were bickering all the time, and I was thinking, "jeez, they don't bicker this much in canon, right?" So I went looking for evidence one way or the other, but then got distracted by the practice match I found, and now I'm watching ouat so I can get it over with and back to Haikyuu.

I figured it out. Haikyuu!! is the BL series I've always wanted: the one that's structured like a long-running shoujo series like Love*Com or High School Debut.

Oh, that's perfect. It totally is.

Also, re: your comment yesterday that all sports anime is BL...it pretty much is. Because possible sports anime themes are generally 1) teams 2) partners 3) rivals.

I'm dying to read chapter 148, even though I think it's going to make me sad for Oikawa and Iwaizumi. I KNEW this was going to happen. A whole week between chapters is horrible.

Because possible sports anime themes are generally 1) teams 2) partners 3) rivals.

Based on my exposure to three* whole sports series, it's all three simultaneously. You're partners AND rivals with the people on your team.

* Hee! I initially typed "two" (Haikyuu!! and KruBasuke) because I apparently forgot swimming is a sport.

Sure, I never said there was a limit.

...now I'm trying to think how many sports anime I've seen, but I don't know if I can because I count stuff like Hikaru no Go and Chihayafuru because that's basically the same format even though they're not sports. (Well, Chihaya says karuta is a sport, but I'm guessing anyone who actually plays sports might take issue with that.)

And then there's stuff like Touch, which doesn't fit anywhere in with BL or my nice themes, but we'll just pretend that doesn't exist because it's stupid and sad anyway.

We discussed the series briefly during the weekend visit, and

mangaroo urged me to post my comments here.

My first thought upon watching the first episode: "Oh, Hinata is Naruto, just with volleyball instead of ninja skills." He's got that "underdog who never gives up, full of potential but lacking proper control" kind of vibe.

That turned Kageyama into Sasuke for me. He's the one with natural talent and technical expertise, but poor social skills.

Once that association was made in my mind, it brought back all the feelings of betrayal that made me stop watching the Naruto anime. Regardless of how Hinata and Kageyama interact from that point, somewhere in the back of my mind I can't stop feeling this sense of impending dread. While I can be entertained by the series, I can never really get into the main characters, because just thinking about them fills me with all that remembered heartbreak.

On the other hand, there are characters that I do like. In particular, my favorite is Noya, mainly because he reminds me so much of Hiei. (He's short and fiery with spiky hair ~~and in love with someone tall~~.) My second favorite is Suga.

WHOA! I mean, I learned never to play guessing-games with you by starting my guess with "It couldn't be...," but I got your second-fave as my second guess, too! (I'm totally counting my Nishinoya guess. :-p) I'm genuinely shocked, because I am so bad at Other People. (Though Suga is that awesome, so naturally, if Hinata is out of the running...)

I'm glad you see the AsaNoya. (Someday, I'm going to portmanteau a pairing and it will be an offensive Japanese word.)

Thank you so much for sharing here. I thought your perspective (so strong through the lenses of these other series) was really interesting. And thank you for watching the whole series, even though you couldn't really lose yourself in it. That discovery really surprised me.

(much-needed spelling edit)

Edited 2015-05-11 22:29 (UTC)

Oh, that's so sad that Naruto wrecked the series for you. Especially since I can't imagine Haikyuu ever going in that direction. I'm glad you watched, though, so hopefully you won't be totally lost this summer (because I'm finding it increasingly unlikely that

mangaroo and I will talk about anything other than Haikyuu for more than 30 minutes at a time).

Noya and Suga are both awesome. The great thing about the series is that there are so many great characters, even outside the main team.

Do you think you'll be interested in any doujinshi? (There's going to be a lot of doujinshi shopping on this trip. A LOT.)

Do you think you'll be interested in any doujinshi?

That depends...mainly on how pretty it is. (It's about the same as my Tiger & Bunny purchasing history.) I won't specifically seek it out, but if I happen to see a good one on display, I might pick it up.

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Haikyuu!!, doujinshi shopping, etc.

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opponents (because I have a memory like a sieve)

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Re: opponents (because I have a memory like a sieve)

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