Bring it!
Ushiwaka's amazing...
I'm excited.
All right, here we go!
Well hello, left.
Haikyu!!
Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Nice kill, Ushijima!
Be Courageous Warriors
Episode 02: The Threat of the "Left"
Ushijima! Ushijima!
Nishinoya-kun...
Don't mind! Next, next!
Yeah.
Don't mind!
Next, next!
Nice serve!
Out!
Yes!
Sorry!
Nice serve, Taichi!
Kawanishi, one more! Nice serve!
Got it!
Tanaka-san!
Sorry!
My bad.
Don't mind!
Are they nervous after all?
Their movements are stiff...
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Damn it.
We need to hurry up and regroup or it'll be too late...
Calm down!
There's no time to self-destruct!
U-Um...
What the hell are you so nervous about?! The TV crews?
Quit messing around!
Got it! We got it, Suga, so calm down!
Suga-san's scary...
I'm so sorry!
Someone gets far more agitated than the players and it helps calm them down...
I don't care what the circumstance is.
I just need them to score once and build momentum.
Crap... He totally glared at me...
Nice serve! One more!
Got it!
Yes! It went up nicely!
Go!
Nice receive!
Wakatoshi!
All right!
Don't mind! Next, next!
Ushijima!
Ushijima! Ushijima!
Give me three.
I promise I'll get used to it.
Huh? I thought something was weird!
One more!
Their #1 is left-handed?
So that's why he approaches from the right.
Ryu always goes in from the left.
Yeah.
Man... talk about a chosen ace.
Opposite
Setter
Ushiwaka's position is called “opposite,”
and they're diagonal from the setter.
On Karasuno's side, it's where Sawamura is.
Depending on how the player in that position plays,
the way the whole team plays changes.
One pattern is to have a player like Sawamura there,
Got it!
All right!
Nice, Daichi-san!
who's a player that's skilled all-around, and good at defense.
Left!
That's pretty common on high school teams.
The other pattern is to have a cannon like Ushiwaka there.
Nice receive!
They don't serve or receive,
and are always prepared to attack,
from either the front or back line.
A while back,
they were called super aces.
Nice kill, Ushijima!
Ushijima! Ushijima!
I get that Ushiwaka guy is super tall and super strong,
but does the fact that he's left-handed make him that—
Bring it!
All right!
Tanaka, nice kill!
Go, go, Karasuno! Push it, push it, Karasuno!
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Go, go, Karasuno! Push it, push it, Karasuno!
We finally got a point in...
Way to go, Ryu!
So, what's so special about the lefty?
Since they go up against people who are right-handed way more often,
playing against someone who's left-handed is unbelievably difficult.
For example, when a single blocker goes up,
they jump up facing their opponent's dominant hand.
Which means they're about a shoulder's width away.
So unless the attack is a very simple one,
Asahi-san, nice serve!
the showdown is over in a moment.
If they jump up in a way their body is used to...
Time difference...
...they'll end up missing, no matter what.
Nice kill, Ushijima!
What the hell are they doing?
Karasuno's blocks are full of holes!
Ushijima! Ushijima!
It's not just the fact that he's left-handed that makes him strong.
Not only is he left-handed, but his strength is also top-tier.
Wakatoshi-kun, nice kill! I see you're as sharp as ever.
Yeah.
That's what Ushiwaka is.
So they already scored four straight points because of Ushijima-kun.
Yeah.
Their setter seems to have solid hands,
Rotate! Rotate!
Right!
and I'm sure he'd like to get some in from the get-go.
Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Huh? What's that buzzer for?
Oh, this is a technical time out.
Shiratorizawa!
What's that?
Shiratorizawa!
It's a time-out that only happens during five-set matches,
when one of the teams hits 8 or 16 points...
Shiratorizawa!
Apparently.
Shiratorizawa!
Huh...
Blocking all comes down to timing!
Shiratorizawa!
If they get through the top, it'll be difficult to prepare to receive, as well.
Shiratorizawa!
You need to touch the ball, even if you can't stop it!
Shiratorizawa!
Make Ushijima feel that there's a wall.
Shiratorizawa!
Right!
Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament
Fly
Be Courageous Warriors
One touch!
Damn it!
Wow...
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Ushijima!
Ushiwaka's unstoppable.
Ushijima! Ushijima!
Don't mind! Get the next one!
That's it! Just keep that up!
Keep letting him know that there's a wall there.
Then a path will open up!
Shiratorizawa has Ushiwaka.
Then...
Karasuno has me.
Right.
Stopping all of Ushijima's attacks,
or even picking them all up, is impossible.
But...
Ushijima Block Nishinoya
All you've got to do is make those impossible spikes possible.
Hm?
Total defense.
Ushijima
Block
Nishinoya
Ushijima's really good at angle shots, as we've seen in past games,
so we're going to tighten up our block on those,
and place Nishinoya where the now opened straight path would be.
We're going to set it up so he's hitting to our libero.
Nice timing!
Be Courageous Warriors
Nice kill, Ushijima!
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Ushijima! Ushijima!
If Yu can't pick those up, he's going to be impossible to handle.
I think it's because of the spin.
Hm?
Spiking left-handed means
the ball will spin differently than spiking right-handed.
Volleyball is a sport where you can't hold the ball,
and the space to capture it is extremely narrow.
So the moment you capture the ball,
if the way it hits your hands is even a tiny bit off,
it causes a huge deviation.
Chance ball!
Damn it! I'm sorry!
Our timing was too fast...
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Nice kill, Ushijima!
It may be called total defense,
but even just getting our timing down isn't easy.
Ushijima! Ushijima!
Concentrate on number one!
Do you think you'll be able to stop Ushiwaka's spikes?
There's no way that I can beat Ushiwaka.
All right!
I've been focusing too much on Ushiwaka.
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Kawanishi! Kawanishi!
Is that kid with the glasses even trying?
He needs to show some more of that fighting spirit!
Fighting spirit!
They're sneaking in some quicks really well.
They've gotta hurry and do something about the left-handed guy.
I guess there's not much they can do about how much they're used
to right-handed shots.
All right!
Sorry!
Don't mind.
At the very least,
he's the exact opposite from the kind of player
that moves based on sensations.
Nice serve!
He doesn't believe in his own strength.
And he doesn't trust the senses he's built up.
Nice receive!
How could you say that?! You're his older brother!
I'm complimenting him!
You see, with my brother,
the more he feels let down, the calmer he gets.
He only believes in the information that his eyes can see.
Got it.
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Kei was in the path of the spike right now.
He was also positioned correctly on the left.
So why...
You were so close, Nishinoya!
You're actually able to react to Ushiwaka's spikes!
The spike that I was actually able to touch
is definitely not his full strength.
He's probably still warming up his engine,
and concentrating on getting his spikes over our blocks.
I remember in middle school,
getting passes from a guy that was left-handed was really hard.
So apparently with Ushiwaka's shots...
his off-speed shots are killer, too.
Tsukki, man, you jammed your finger? Are you okay?
Did you have to rhyme that?
I'll do it. Let me see.
Thank you.
This isn't any different from the usual.
Actually,
if it just stays like this, we'll be lucky.
There you go.
Thank you.
Did I hesitate back there?
No... I thought that I would lose.
As if that was without a doubt.
Guys! Your faces are stiff!
Relax! Relax! Rel—
...ax.
Ushijima-kun's serves were pretty amazing, too, weren't they?
He doesn't have monster precision or control like Oikawa,
but his impact speaks for itself.
Nice serve!
I don't get it...
What's with that guy?
If they get any farther ahead of us,
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
it'll be hard on them mentally, too.
Sorry! We'll get the next one!
Right!
Thank goodness I'm not in position to receive a serve.
Trying to get that serve head-on is crazy,
and it's like the whole gym is cheering for Shiratorizawa.
We're probably going to have to give up this first set,
and then...
Bring it.
Bring it! Bring it!
Bring it! Bring it! Bring it!
One more!
Bring it to me!
Come on, bring it!
It went up!
Haikyu!! Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy
It went up!
All right! Perfect!
Finish it!
Is he planning to hit it?
All right!
Nice toss, Kageyama!
I totally thought Kageyama was going to spike it...
He definitely did what he said he'd do.
We can't just stand around.
He went to set from a spike motion.
Nothing less from Oikawa's junior.
Huh? He is?!
That sucks!
You seem pretty relaxed, considering we're playing against Shiratorizawa.
Well,
no one scares me more than Oikawa-san for the time being.
I see!
All right! Time to fight back!
Shoyo came out!
The first time he came out,
he was immediately rotated out.
Get one in there!
Nice serve!
Man, he's really short.
And he's somehow a middle blocker despite that.
Nice receive!
You're right! He really won't go for serves.
He's getting ready for a back attack.
All right!
One person's time difference...
Yay!
Tendo! Tendo!
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Nice serve!
Out!
All right!
Nice call!
It's not that Shiratorizawa isn't making any mistakes.
We can break through!
All right!
Yes!
The fact that Kageyama and Nishinoya are playing like they normally do
Nice serve, Kageyama!
is nothing less than amazing.
Yes.
Goshiki!
All right!
Did you see my super straight shot?!
Nice receive.
Nah, I wasn't able to return it properly.
Don't you get tired of competing for attention?
That kid's pretty strong for a first-year.
Let's go, Kageyama.
Yeah.
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Ushijima-san!
All right! He got it!
Damn! I didn't catch it completely.
Hinata, get the last!
He hit it against the block!
That was a great rebound!
Once more! Once more!
Huh?
I'm Hinata Shoyo, from the concrete.
I'm going to beat you, and go to nationals.
So he knows how to receive, too?!
Give it to me.
Ushijima-san!
Be Courageous Warriors
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
All right!
Wow, Wakatoshi-kun, who's only interested in himself,
is actually competing with someone.
How amusing!
It's not over yet! It's just the beginning!
Switch it up!
Next, next!
Wakatoshi-kun, do you know Karasuno's #10?
I met him on the street.
The street?
He said that he was going to beat me and go to nationals.
What?! In the street?
No, not in the street.
Come to think of it, Ushijima-san,
didn't you get in trouble for letting outsiders onto school grounds?
Karasuno's #10 is so amusing!
So that's why you like him.
No, I dislike him.
Huh?
I hate confidence that has no basis.
Oh? This is even more rare.
Considering he's making Wakatoshi-kun say such things,
sounds like he'll entertain me.
I guess I'll work hard, too.
There's no reason to panic.
They just happened to take the first of five matches.
And about this match...
Ushijima scored eleven points,
so he scored almost half of the points.
But the fact that the ball is going to Ushijima so often
means that you're frustrating Shiratorizawa that much.
Ushijima is also human.
He'll eventually reach the end of his stamina.
He'll eventually start to feel even the attacks
that he's not making himself.
Don't forget that!
Right!
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Bring it!
You better get one from the start, Tsutomu!
Right!
Good.
Synchronized attack!
The four of them are attacking at once?
All right!
Yes!
Go, go, Karasuno! Push it, push it, Karasuno!
So they tricked us.
That's troublesome.
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Daichi-san, nice serve!
Got it!
Nice receive!
Nice.
Yup.
In the case of Shiratorizawa,
the fact that they're going for the center line without using Ushijima is showing
that they have the upper hand.
Ushijima (WS) Kawanishi (MB) Goshiki (WS) Ohira (WS) Tendo (MB) Shirabu (S)
And if the center line starts functioning,
we're not going to be able to handle Ushijima, or their other wing spikers.
All right!
Nice kill!
Our most difficult problem in this match is, of course, Ushijima.
We need an anti-Ushijima strategy first, or we don't stand a chance.
And for that, we need to break down our opponents.
Asahi, nice serve!
We need to just keep serving up powerful attacks, one after another.
All right! It's off!
Ushijima-san!
All right!
Damn it...
Don't mind! Don't mind!
Even if they get a point,
we just have to keep doing what we just did, right?
Yeah.
Ugh.
That guy's serving again.
Wakatoshi, nice serve!
It's just as I planned!
You're tearing up.
Shiratorizawa Karasuno
Well done, Tanaka!
All right. They're keeping up.
If they can get used to Ushiwaka's left-handedness, they have a chance at winning.
I'm gonna go show Ushiwaka who's boss!
Did something happen with Hinata and Ushiwaka?
Apparently they had some kind of scuffle.
What?! He keeps causing trouble with other schools without us knowing.
Don't hold back.
Bring it!
Just keep on attacking.
That's the only strategy we have.
Chance ball!
Give it to me!
It's that diagonal jump again!
If you want to beat Wakatoshi-kun,
you're gonna have to beat me, first.
Ya know?
The more that Wakatoshi-kun gets attention,
the more impactful it is when I appear.
Tendo-san, your personality really is trash.
Stop! No spoilers!
Episode 03: GUESS-MONSTER
Next time on Haikyu!!: "GUESS-MONSTER."