Can we just appreciate how attentive Kageyama actually is? How he notices all the things that leads up to Hinata’s condition?
And how he knows EXACTLY WHAT HINATA NEEDED TO HEAR. NO PATRONIZING, JUST PLAIN, HARD TRUTH.
To some of you, it may come off like Kageyama is being a massive jerk talking about winning when Hinata is incapacitated, but let me tell you how that statement is more than what meets the eye.
He’s saying ‘I win this time, too’THIS TIME. This specific moment. That means there’s going to be a next time, that this is not Hinata’s end, that next time, it could be Hinata’s win, or Kageyama’s win again, who knows. The point is, Kageyama is still acknowledging him as a worthy rival, that Hinata is welcome to challenge him again. He’s not being smug or arrogant about it. Look at his face. That’s conviction and promise written in his eyes.
And THAT was the encouragement Hinata needs. THAT was what prompted him to literally wipe his tears and face yet another barrier in his journey, and do the smartest thing he can do right now, accept what’s happened and rest.
Hoshiumi’s words of I’ll be waiting for you speaks volumes. Here’s another one strong player who acknowledges him, who looks forward to meeting him again, this match or in the future.
Hoshiumi is on the background saying this, but Kageyama is on the foreground, in a bigger panel, wearing the exact same expression, and that is proof enough that he’s telling Hinata that too. He’ll wait for him and he strongly believes he’ll come back. Because he knows Hinata isn’t someone who can be easily deterred by something like this. Because he trusts his greatest rival and his strongest ally. His partner.
And finally, Hinata’s bow is of APOLOGY, but most of all, of THANKS. Both to Hoshiumi and Kageyama, but especially for the latter.
To Hoshiumi, he’s apologizing for cutting their battle short when they’re just getting started, and thanking him for the acknowledgement and for the match well-played thus far.
To Kageyama, he’s apologizing for leaving when they’re having so much fun and playing at their utmost best yet, but mostly, expressing his gratitude for everything—for giving him the opportunities he couldn’t have by himself, for the motivation and drive to win bought by their rivalry, but most importantly, he’s grateful for the partner he can trust and rely on.
And as painful as it is to admit, it’s almost as if he’s taking a bow for probably his last match as a first year. Let me repeat that. As a FIRST YEAR. This isn’t the end for him just yet. He’s still growing, both literally and figuratively, and this is nothing but a small set-back. The little monster will be back and you better brace yourself because he’ll return with his swords and spears and knives all sharpened to a deadly point.
Ahh. So this is what Ukai ment when he told Kageyama to have courage. To have courage to go against his basic instincts, his own status quo: to go fast. He overcame that internal fear of speed placed within him back in middle school.
I’m so happy about sansa minus the part where shes ALL FUCKING ALONE she is literally jenny of oldstones but like it’s a day later and I’m still seething about what they did to dany like what the fuck what the literal goddamn fuck was that
Fuck this style of storytelling that puts authorial masturbation over a satisfying conclusion to a story. Fuck this obsession with “swerves” and “subverting expectations.”
Fuck this mentality that you have to outsmart the audience in order to make a good product.
Fuck the idea that “predictable” is automatically boring. Fuck the idea that people who have been paying attention to long-running story arcs should be punished for giving a shit and expecting a cohesive conclusion to a long running story.
Fuck this idea that disappointing endings are okay if they’re “unexpected.” Fuck this auteur mentality where writers have to prove that they’re the cleverest boys in the whole wide world.
Tell a goddamned story; nobody tunes in for twists.
Also, check out what George R.R. Martin himself said:
“The fans use to come up with theories; lots of them are just speculative but some of them are in the right way. Before the Internet, one reader could guess the ending you wanna do for your novel, but the other 10.000 wouldn’t know anything and they would be surprised. However, now, those 10.000 people use the Internet and read the right theories. They say: “Oh God, the butler did it!”, to use an example of a mystery novel. Then, you think: “I have to change the ending! The maiden would be the criminal!” To my mind that way is a disaster because if you are doing well you work, the books are full of clues that point to the butler doing it and help you to figure up the butler did it, but if you change the ending to point the maiden, the clues make no sense anymore; they are wrong or are lies, and I am not a liar.”
