Oops... I'm watching Haikyuu!! again...

I guess I have to fully admit that I've gotten (slightly) into anime over the last year or so. It all started with bingeing the Disastrous Life of Saiki K during a snowstorm that hit Texas in February of 2021. That led me to watching myriad other anime, including Haikyuu!!. I made a comprehensive ranking of the anime I watched last year, and Haikyuu!! ranked near the top of that list and I stand by that. For this reason, I have started watching it for the third time. (To be fair, I'm in the middle of a third viewing of Saiki K as well).

If you were to ask me who my favorite Haikyuu!! character is, I would probably answer that it's Tsukishima. He's a complete and total jerk who antagonizes teammates and foes alike, entirely unprovoked. He's cold and calculating with a dry wit. Always frowning, he is difficult to impress. He's not likely to join in his teammates cheering, as an even-keeled and calm player. Described by his teammate Hinata as a "nasty bastard," he has clearly stolen my heart. I think that he has an interesting backstory, too. He enjoys volleyball to some extent, but his passion for the sport was replaced with apathy when he realized his older brother, who he used to idolize, was lying about his position on the high school team. This revelation caused Tsukishima to understand that passion and ambition cannot make up for a lack of talent or skill. Furthermore, at some point, no matter how good you are, you have to lose. To him, there's no point in devoting 100% of one's effort if it's all going to come to an end eventually anyway. His view on this changes over time along with his opinion of his teammates. He stays a nasty bastard throughout this evolution, though, which makes me glad. I like the nasty ones.

But as I'm now rewatching the show, I'm realizing that Tsukishima's role is pretty minor. He has some sort of comment or quip in almost every episode, or at least some kind of humorous background reaction, but he's not really a "major player" during the first season. So what is it that kept me coming back to the show in my early days of watching Haikyuu!!? I'll tell you: Hinata. The orange haired, overly passionate protagonist. He's Tsukishima's opposite, at times presented as his narrative foil: the sun and moon. They both play the same position, but they play different roles. Hinata is short. Tsukishima is tall. Hinata is bombastic. Tsukishima is dull. Hinata is cheerful and friendly. Tsukishima is moody and standoffish. How can I like Hinata so much if Tsukishima is my favorite character? They're nothing alike.

To put it simply... Hinata is really stinking cute. I could say nice things about his optimism, his ambition, his naivety, his development as a player, etc. But at the end of the day, he's just a cute, round faced kid with a high pitched voice. He's like a puppy dog, running around with boundless energy until the inevitable crash. He's just plain entertaining. Tsukishima is elite, but he couldn't support and entire TV show. He's just not enigmatic like Hinata is. When other characters need cheering up, Hinata inspires them. He lifts them up and draws them out of their shells, motivating them to reach their own potential. As a viewer, he kind of has that effect on me too.

All of this is to say that while Hinata may not be my "favorite" character, he is a worthy protagonist, the reason that I can keep coming back to Haikyuu!! time and time again.