“Enhancements”
What They Say:
The Karasuno High School Volleyball Club finally won their way into the nationals after an intense battle for the Miyagi Prefecture Spring Tournament qualifiers. As they were preparing for the nationals, Kageyama is invited to go to All-Japan Youth Training Camp. At the same time, Tsukishima is invited to go to a special rookie select training camp for first-years in Miyagi Prefecture. Hinata feels panic that he’s being left behind as one of the first-years and then decides to show up at the Miyagi Prefecture rookie select training camp anyway… As they prepare for the nationals, Hinata, Kageyama and the rest of the Karasuno High School Volleyball team get ready to face some new challenges!!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Everyone greets Kageyama and Hinata and welcomes them back! Nishinoya asks Kageyama about the All-Japan training camp. How was it? He responds by saying that the floor wasn’t made out of wooden planks, haha. Nishinoya was talking about the players! Were they strong? Kageyama confirms that there were a lot of strong players there. Sugawara wonders if Hinata tried to sneak into the All-Japan training camp. Tsukki walks in and says he would have if not for the fear of getting arrested. Everyone welcomes Tsukki back, too! A couple of arguments start to break out. It sure is noisy! Looks like the days of peace and quiet are over. Shimizu comments that their fighting puts her at ease.
Hinata helps Yachi put tape on the net. What’s the tape for? She explains that the team has been working on serves the entire week. The tape splits the net into nine parts and Coach Ukai wants them to confirm where they want their serves to go. It seems like a few of the boys have improved their serves. Others still have some work to do. There’s a moment where Kageyama is serving and Hinata manages to anticipate where it was going. He doesn’t manage to hit it back but everyone is impressed by his quick reaction. Our boy wasn’t slacking at the training camp! After practice, Hinata wants to know what Kageyama meant earlier. How can he jump higher? Kageyama invites him to practice a bit more with him. He explains that Hinata’s jumps are always just “boing boing.” But amazing jumps are more like “bam!” Kageyama has such a way with words, doesn’t he? Hinata’s jumps are good but he knows he can jump higher. Where does he put his weight when he jumps? Hinata has never really thought about that and gets yelled at by Kageyama. Kageyama emphasizes that huge and stable jumps will give him more freedom to react in the air. Hoshiumi really left an impression on him, huh? Just as Kageyama and Hinata start practicing, Daichi yells loudly and tells them to go home already! Asahi and Sugawara start chuckling from the opposite side, haha.
The next day, Hinata tells Tsukki during practice that he was hitting at a higher spot when Koganegawa was setting for him at the training camp. This seems to bother Kageyama a bit. Coach Ukai asks him if anything is wrong? He says no but wonders what being called a “Goody Two-Shoes” means? He still hasn’t let that go! Ukai tells him that a set that’s easy for the spiker to hit is always best and he’s certain that Kageyama is doing that. There’s no need to hesitate! Date Tech arrives a few moments later. They’re as intimidating as ever! Kageyama scowls when he sees Kogane. He’s fired up! After exchanging pleasantries, it’s time to get this practice match started! Let’s go!
Coach Ukai tells his team that Date Tech’s blocking is definitely the best in the prefecture. It can even be considered to be on a national level. Karasuno’s blocking doesn’t even compare to theirs. Ukai wants the team to get familiar with their walls so that they won’t panic when they face similar situations during nationals. We then get a really cool introduction of the starting lineups from each team. It reminds me of those video packages you see before the start of NBA or NFL games. It was awesome! It definitely got me hyped for this match. In the first play of the game, Karasuno tries a fast back row attack. Hinata is used as a decoy while Asahi goes for the spike. However, it gets blocked by Date Tech’s wall. Date Tech’s defense ain’t no joke. Great blocks apply a lot of stress to spikers and setters. This is going to be a tough game for Kageyama! He’s clearly frustrated right now but he’s got to find a way to help his team break through the wall. His next set goes to Hinata and once again Date Tech’s wall is there to stop him. Hinata does manage to gingerly get it over them but they do touch the ball with their fingers. This pressure is intense! Hinata and Kageyama are both smiling.
Karasuno’s next couple of attacks are blocked by Date Tech’s wall. Their bunch blocking is starting to overwhelm them. Kageyama acknowledges that their pressure is affecting his decision-making. He’s feeling frustrated but he’s also really happy! He can’t help but smile. Playing a strong team feels so good! However, as the game continues, Kageyama starts getting more and more visibly frustrated. He’s making good sets but they’re not helping at all against Date Tech’s wall. During one sequence, Nishinoya makes a nice Rolling Thunder receive to keep the rally going. It was a great play…and Kageyama yells that he’s in the way! I mean, he’s not wrong. Still, this causes Nishinoya to let out an enraged Bakugo-like scream as the episode ends. And yes, that was a My Hero Academia reference. Nishinoya’s voice actor also voices Bakugo!
In Summary:
Karasuno versus Date Tech is the first match of the season and I couldn’t be more hyped for it! I loved watching Kageyama’s many faces during the entire episode. One second he’s scowling, the next he’s smiling. It was great. We could always tell what he was feeling just by looking at his face. It’s clear that his time at the All-Japan training camp has changed his attitude. He’s seen how really great players perform on the court and wants to help his team play at the same level. But as you saw, he’s not very good at expressing that through words. I know what he was trying to say to Nishinoya but he probably should have phrased it better. Also a little nicer. You don’t want to get Nishinoya angry! He’ll go Bakugo on you real quick. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the next episode. It ain’t going to be easy overcoming Date Tech’s wall. I hope Kageyama doesn’t end up getting punched in the face.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll, VRV
