Alright so… I’ve had 3 favorite boys in my heart: Daichi, Ushijima and Goshiki. But Kita has proven to be a pretty high contender to join them. I’ll have to wait and see if we get anything else from him and whether or not I’ll end up moving him to S tier. He’s just so good!
Just like Daichi, Kita proved to be a very firm foundation to his team. Initially, I thought it was going to be terrifying. Especially since even his team looked a tad freaked out that he was coming onto the court and that he subbed in for their strongest players. But right away, he even says himself that he’s not scary. And on one hand, he isn’t since his plays are very normal, but polished to a point where he knows he will play well and does so flawlessly without any worries of messing up. But on the other hand, he is a terrifying figure for his team. Well, “terrifying” may be over exaggerating a bit as his blunt remarks are more of reality punching you in the face. And like I said in my previous post, the guy doesn’t say things to be a jerk, he’s saying it like it is. He keeps his rather rambunctious team in line while also just making sure they don’t fall a part.
I noticed a lot of anime-only viewers seemed to dislike Kita after his “harsh words” with their pinch spiker and while I can see why they’d be “angry” with him for saying that, the guy didn’t say anything wrong. He told it like it is while I heavily disagree with the booing from the stands (they can all just shut the heck up), Kita had a very valid point and it was more of a warning for the future. And while the guy is very blunt and can come across as “harsh,” he’s also very nurturing and he always has very valid points in every comment he makes. Just look at how he handled Atsumu being sick. The guy told him to go home and rest and even left him a little care package. That was extremely sweet. Even Atsumu teared up at the gesture.
Honestly, Kita is such a sweetie and you cannot convince me otherwise. It’s very obvious that his grandmother’s hardworking tendencies rubbed off on him because he seems to have developed a love and necessity for cleaning, even when no one is looking. His way of thinking is very interesting, so much that he has enough confidence in himself that he never feels worried. And while I don’t think I’ll ever grow into a mindset where I won’t be worried, his way of thinking is very positive and healthy. “If it’s something you can do during practice, there’s no reason to get nervous.” It’s simple but powerful in a way. But man, if I said it didn’t break my heart seeing him tear up after not only finally getting a uniformed spot on the team, but also made captain at the very same time, I’d be a filthy liar. While he never cared about people seeing him do his very best, it still must have touched him to have actually been noticed for all his hard work and awarded in such a way. That’s it, he’s baby.
Let’s be honest, if Kita hadn’t come in, there was a very strong possibility that Karasuno may have run away with that game 2-0. And while a part of me is disappointed that my hopes and dreams for Karasuno to win like that were dashed, it also means we get to see more of Inarizaki and to an extent, possibly more of Kita. He pulled them together and is almost like a tranquilizer to the erratic team of foxes, keeping all of them in check and fairly criticizes them for their more impulsive plays. He knows his team so well that he’s familiar with their bad habits and makes sure to keep them all in order so that they don’t throw their plays. At this point I will not tolerate any Kita slander.
Alright, enough of my Kita ramble, back to Karasuno. I’m glad to see that both Nishinoya and Tsukishima’s problems have not just disappeared after one episode, but it’s going to be an ongoing problem for them in the coming set. Nishinoya’s confidence is still shaken, even admitting that he’s now scared of messing up since Atsumu has been getting past him for several serves. And while good guy Asahi was there to try and clumsily build him back up, reassuring him that he will get his spikes over no matter what kind of receives Nishinoya makes (very similar to what Nishinoya said to the team), Nishinoya is still shaken by the situation. And honestly, I feel like Kita’s words of how you shouldn’t be afraid of something if you’ve practiced for it would be a great help to Nishinoya at this time. But again, it’s not that simple.
Like Nishinoya, Tsukishima is also still having a hard time going up against Inarizaki, specifically Suna. And while he is able to put a stop to the twins’ freak quick attack, block out Osamu’s spikes, he still can’t quite see through Suna’s flexible attacks. And it seems like he and Kageyama might end up in some argument of sorts as he seemed pretty miffed that Kageyama was able to completely block out Aran’s spike, a spike that has blown past Tsukki several times this match. Not to mention that Suna states that Kageyama’s block is more scary than Tsukishima’s. At this point, Tsukishima has to push through this hurdle and try and change things up or else Suna is just going to continue exploiting him.
On a completely lighter note, Tsukishima continues to make me laugh with his comment about stealing Hinata’s “important role” as a middle blocker away from him. Never change Tsukki lol.
Also can we just take a moment to appreciate Daishou and Mika’s relationship? Like, the fact that Mika is taking time to actually try and understand the rules and tactics of volleyball is extremely sweet, especially when she allows him to go on his nerdy volleyball tactics ramble. While it’s not explicitly focused upon, their relationship has gone through a lot of development. You can tell that Daishou is trying to be more considerate to Mika and wanting to not bore her in his explanations since the main reason Mika broke up with him in the first place was because he was “boring” and “cared more about volleyball than her.” And I really do appreciate that Mika is making such an earnest effort to get to know her boyfriend’s passion and not brushing it off like I assume she used to and even encourages him now to explain things to her, even if he starts rambling. They may not be OTP, but they’re adorable.
It looks like Karasuno is trying to change things up to try and combat Inarizaki’s flow since they were basically dominated that second round. It seems like they’ll have to build themselves back up after that devastating blow last set. However, it may prompt some change in plays within the group such as Nishinoya, Hinata and I definitely am expecting some Tsukishima growth next episode since his development has been rather quiet lately.
