AWTY 188 - Cliffnotes on Beautiful Boys (Hikyuu!!)

Because soon as my tummy stops being upset, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you jerks out there.

Hello and welcome to are we there yet? In exploration and education and anime. I'm your anime idiot, Patrick Do. You again.

I am an anime expert, D hollander.

And I'm brenda mccullough, your plucky anime underdog with the power of friendship and a heart full of determination.

Okay. That's my favorite one.

It's a lot of them.

Are you starting to just do format ones that you can plug into any episode?

I'm recording this in advance. It's going to be the same opening for the next, like, 25 episodes.

Yeah, just make a folder and then we'll have it ready.

Anything that's appeared in shon and Jump, you could probably swap that into. Absolutely.

We're watching my Hero academia again.

I didn't want to call it out, but I was thinking that one.

Round two, baby.

Except that doesn't apply for my Hero because it's not the tower of friendship anymore, because they got rid of all the I got problems with it. We won't get into it. I got opinions.

Yeah, I hear we're watching something way less popular. So what are we watching this week?

A real obscure one.

Yeah. y'all, no one has ever heard of this one. Well, it's summer, and I felt like doing something sporty, but I also wanted to do something that, like, I know is pretty good. So we're gonna watch Hi Q. Oh, it's time.

The time you've all been waiting for.

So not rocket power. We're watching Rock Power. No. Okay.

Sorry. Not this time. Don't you remember? We had it on the schedule, and then we had to change it at the last second as we normally do.

Oh, yes, of course. I actually chose Rocket Power for today, but then something happened.

I'll put away my teet mundo. merch.

Elon Musk bought a skateboard. No, it's too soon.

He acknowledged the state of Hawaii, and we're like, well, that's tainted. That's just ruined forever.

Can't do it.

Can't do it.

Have either of you heard of hiqa?

Only in the context of it is a very popular volleyball anime that has some beautiful idiots that people love. That's all I know about it.

That's about it.

That's it?

Yeah.

Done. Sorry to spoil every quick episode.

That sums it all up. Yeah, of course. I've heard of iq extremely popular, and I've avoided it because it's so popular, because fandoms have let me down by hyping stuff up to impossible standards. And then I don't know why, at some point, I just bit the bullet and I was like, you know what? Let's watch it. Let me see what this is about. I've watched the entire anime four times through now.

Wow.

So I like it.

All right.

Yeah.

Well, I personally would love to take this opportunity to talk about another one of my favorite anime that we've watched on the podcast ping Pong. These came out hai Q and Ping Pong five days apart from each other.

So wild.

So Hai Q came out April 6, 2014. And Ping Pong came out April 11, 2014.

Ping Pong was the horizon zero. John to hiq's breath of the wild and eldon ring.

Yes.

Four horizon rough go. Yeah. I mean, Paul and I have talked about this because Paul does like both, and I have not seen Hi Q or a lot of it, so I can't help but kills but compare them. And obviously they're for different audiences because people aren't watching High Q. They're watching High Q because there's a lot of boys. You can take any of these pretty boys and connect to them. There are so many pretty boys. Take your pick. Ping Pong. There are boys, and I've taken my pick. I love all of them. They're all my sons, but they're not pretty.

We've talked about this a bit offline. Yeah. Ping Hai Q has pretty boys. Ping Pong has pretty animation because it's meant to be kind of like the bodies get distorted and stuff to emphasize the motion, but if you just step back and look at it, like, oh, this is kind of ugly, but it's intentional. That's the style of Ping pong because it's all about the motion and stuff more than aesthetic. Yeah, I've heard a lot of artistic people, a lot of people who really appreciate the work of animation or animators being like, Ping pong is amazing, and not enough people know about it. And then haiku is just merchandise to holy hell. Because the pretty boys yeah.

Masterful storytelling. So we'll see if Hai Q, in my mind, can compare.

We don't play favorites here.

Are you sure, Mr. Digibon?

Hang on. Digibon is my favorite. It's stockholm centro. I'm aware it's bad.

You know, I pick taiq, but I'm really just picking it to start a fight.

I love both.

Everyone on Twitter can slander me if I don't like it.

What a dangerous position to put us all in. That's always the risk with these. We run under the radar because we talk about obscure shows a lot of the time. Whenever we poke our snoots up to the surface, we have a risk of someone just reaching down, grabbing our nose, and just throwing us into their boat and killing us.

Dude.

And so flinches when someone says one piece around them. I knew of Ping Pong. I didn't watch it until the podcast, and amelia binge watched the rest of it that day. So yeah, D, you hooked me with Ping Pong, but like I said, I have watched this entire anime four times now, so I am biased.

Yeah, well, I've watched Ping pong three times, so let's watch. Hi Q, though. We're watching the first three episodes.

Man, these boys are dumb. Everything advertised going well.

Yes, if that's what you want going into this. Got it.

Like, long, slender anime giraffe like necks. Here's your show. Was pointed out to me before, and I can't not see it now.

Very long.

Very long boys. They drew them proportionately correctly. No, they're volleyball players. And then they stressed them, put them.

Through the taffy polar. So, episode one, we open on a red headed kid on a volleyball court, if you could believe it. He says there's a wall blocking his way. What does it look like on the other side? Is it the view from the summit? I need teammates to be able to see the view from the summit. And I immediately thought, that's funny. I think there's a line in ping pong about that, too. There is a line. I forget what episode it's in and who says it, but there's a line along the lines of, there are some views you can't see until you reach the top, which is extremely similar, which is a huge coincidence.

Do you pick this episode with an agenda in mind?

And the agenda is talk about ping pong. No, I'm kidding. But like I said, I can't help but compare them a little bit just because of they came out at the same time. Yeah. So we get the op. It's an op. It pumps you up for sports. It's a pretty good one. And then we see that same kid on a bike. His name is hinata. He's the protagonist. He stops in front of a store that's showing a volleyball game on TV. They talk about this high school. kara suno is the high school, right?

Yeah, karao, yeah.

And they have a player on the team who they call the Tiny Giant because he's small, but, boy, can he play. And that inspires hinata because he is also small, but he also likes volleyball. So flash forward three years later.

Immediate time skip. Yes.

He's at a volleyball game. He says it's his first real one. He's very excited. They're in this big gymnasium. There are people kind of practicing everywhere. And he thanks all of his teammates for joining the team. A couple of them are friends that he made, like, they play a different sport, but ask them to join because they needed people on the team. And a few of them are first years. One of them says, hinata hasn't even explained all their rules. The team was super thrown together. And then another team walks past them, and all the other teams start gossiping about these guys. They're all really tall, and they have someone named kageyama on the team, and they call him the King. He's also the protagonist.

But also the antagonist. Oh, behind it is fixing it up.

Interesting with the show because it like they really are to kind of share the spotlight. It's weird at times.

People ship them. I know, but I've watched these first episodes. I've watched them before, and I just can't see that for them.

Yeah.

It's very much the system of like, oh, these two characters are enemies at the beginning of the show, they have to kiss. And it's like chemistry be damned. I don't care. They were mean in episode one. They better kiss in the finale.

So then hinata gets a nervous tummy. The anxiety is getting to him, so he goes to the bathroom, and some guys from Kagayama's team are talking about hinata's team. So hinata tries to seem intimidating, but with his upset tummy, it does not work because he's just like, at the bathroom door, like, we're going to get you guys.

No.

Make fun of me or I'm going to shit my pants.

Let me throw up on you.

So then Kagayama comes up, tells the other guys it's time for warm ups. He also says that they're not even good enough to be making fun of hinata's team, so shut up. And then he asks hinata why he's there. And hinata's like, I came to win. I'm not tall, but I can jump.

I got hops, eight foot vertical leap.

Yes. He's very determined to win every tournament ever, but Kagayama is two, so immediately rivals.

Right?

Perfect. There you go. So Kagayama walks off, and one of hinata's teammates yells at him. He was, like, around the corner, and he yells at him for picking a fight with Kagayama. And then back in the gym, they're warming up. They can't even remember the things they learned yesterday. And then Kagayama is yelling at his teammates. He's very individualistic, doesn't know how to play on a team. And then it's time to play. hinata's team is all like all of the players are very small compared to Kagayama's team. They're playing, they're losing. But hinata is, like, super encouraging to his teammates. It's very sweet. He's a good little kid.

Yeah.

Then there's a flashback, and he not is talking to a teacher at his middle school about how he's the only member of the volleyball club. And he's like, I'll just play myself. So that's like a twist on the trope we've seen before. The couch isn't even like, oh, you need more people to have a team. You can't do it if you don't get more people. He's just like, yeah, whatever. Go play volleyball with the wall. That's fine.

Yeah. I think for other stuff, it's like, you need a certain amount of members to be an official club and get funding and stuff for your club, for equipment, for this. It's like you're literally the only one. You're just playing ball by yourself. You're not a club. We're not recognizing you because you're one person.

Yeah.

It's time for patrick's relatable high school experience. I had this similar experience where in my freshman year of high school, when I was still wrestling, I was the only wrestler at my high school. The sports department were like, we can't do this. Right? They made me go play with the neighboring T. So the neighboring town had to go to their high school and do stuff there. And it was interesting. Fully relatable.

Wow, I love that. What a niche thing.

Relatable for Patrick means very good or very bad. For the review of this anime, we'll see how it goes.

So he's like, fine, I'll do it myself. And he kind of like, plays against the wall in the gym while the girls team is practicing. Oh, my God. So not in these episodes, but I think I've watched up to episode like ten. And hinata looks at his hand a lot in this show. And this is like the first instance of that. And now that's like an inside joke Paul and I have because it's something a lot of anime characters do where they'll just look at their hand really dramatically.

Yeah, I mean, like a fighting short song. They look at their weapon or whatever gives them power and sports. It's all you got. Your feet are your hands.

Yeah. So now whenever a character does it in anything, paul and I just both look at our hands.

In this show. They don't talk about it, but it's a majority day situation.

He's smacking the ball with a small girl.

I need to play so I can get rid of this curse.

No.

How the fuck is that a show? Like, how did that get made?

We can't focus on that right now.

Moving on.

So the girls go for a run and then so he's like, alone in the volleyball court and he asks some friends to help him. They say no. Some guys in his class make fun of him for joining the girls volleyball team. Quotes. And while the flashbacks are happening, we still see the game going on. They're still losing. We see him practicing still, and he asks anybody he can to help him. And we see a flashback with a friend who's on the team now. He sets the ball up for him, but hits it poorly. It kind of veers off, but he nata jumps for it anyway because, as previously stated, he's got hops. He is a jumping bean. And then we see him jump in the present day game and he gets blocked, but he's determined to keep going. And then we get the iconic commercial bumpers. It was a thing on TikTok for a little while to use that music to do something silly. Now they're in the second set. They're still losing, but now he not. His teammates are kind of encouraging him to just boys being boys, encouraging each other. Very sweet. Kagayama's team complains that he's going too hard and he yells at them. And I love the Greek chorus guys who are, like, keeping score. They just kind of comment on what's going on and they talk about his individualism almost like it's his big character flaw. They also have a moment where they look at each other and they both look away and blush. And I was like, that's it. That's who I shipped in.

This man I saw it. I thought I was like, Someone ships this.

That's all you need. You need that glance. That's as much chemistry as you need.

Literally never get named. Never see those boys again. They're out there somewhere, happy.

I'm going to write a fan picture about them. So one of hinata's teammates whoa. One of pinata's teammates asks why he's trying so hard. And he's like, It's not over. As long as the ball is in the air, you got to keep trying. And then they get a point, kind of due to the laziness of a guy on the other team. So Kagayama yells at that guy, the game continues. The ball. So one of hinata's teammates kind of sets up the ball, but it, like, bounces off his fingers in the wrong direction. But hinata gets to it anyway because he's so fast and can jump so good. And Kagayama is so mad about it. How can he be so good?

How dare he?

So Kagayama asks hinata what he wasted three years on. And then hinata seems upset that they lost. Like, a little upset, because this was his first and last middle school game. And as they leave the gym, hinata runs after Kagayama, and he says, you might rule the court for now, but I'm going to win one day. And then he cries.

Cue the long history of boys crying. In sports anime.

Kagayama tells him that he's got to be stronger. He walks away. He NASA thanks his friends again. We see him go for a run. It's a montage. He goes for a run, talks to the girls volleyball team. It looks like he does some training with them, so he gets more training as a teammate, and then they finish middle school. hooray. Good for them. And then there's cherry blossoms, which means new school year. So we see hanata running through the halls. He runs past some guys. We don't see their heads yet, but they are current members of the volleyball team, and they are great. I love these men. Children boys. They're boys. They're seniors in high school. I love these young men way more than Kakayama.

They talk about when they show, like, their heads are cut off and they're talking. They do it a few times to a few other characters, like before they're revealed, my immediate thought was, oh, looking cow and chicken. I was like, God, why is that my pull?

No, there's a girl there also. She's the team manager. She hands them the applicants, and they're talking about how they don't have many yet, but there are some great guys. Love these guys. hinata is running to the gym, and he's like, I'm ready to take on kageyama and whatever school he went to. And then he goes in the gym, and Kagayama is there. What? Now they can't be rivals. And that's the end of episode one.

Just like naruto and sas gay, except they are actually gay. These two are just idiots.

They did kiss. Those ones did kiss.

I'm still mad that they canonically put together SASUKE and soccer. I won't get into that. That's my personal time. I'll yell about that in my apartment by myself. As to my neighbor, his kids are watching it right now. The TV is so loud. Episode two. Oh, I'll say. Also, start off, I prefer the dub for this show. I think the original Japanese is also very good, but I prefer the dub because some of the characters of the main cast have unique voices that you don't hear too often. So he gives them a little more character. And also just the localization team for this show.

So funny.

Did an amazing job with some of the throwaway dialogue that happens, like, off screen or in the background, and they just go real wild with some of the lines. And it's so funnier. So much funnier to me.

Yeah, I don't love, like, how old some of the boys sound, but, yeah, the acting is so funny and good for them.

I mean, I had a buddy in high school who looked like a 42 year old man. He pretended to be a substitute teacher once and got away with it for a whole period. So it happens. Episode two starts off with he not to give enough. Reflecting on him losing back in middle school to Kagayama, thinking about, like, when he said, what did you waste the last three years of your life doing? And he's like, I did it by myself. I literally had no one teaching me anything. And now he's realizing, like, yeah, Tagayama is his new teammate across now, so he's got to learn to deal with him. And then we get the opening, and then he's not I can't believe Tagayama is there. And he starts talking. He's like, hey, you were from back then, right? Yeah, you probably don't remember. He's like, no, I remember. You just not your name. I remember the orange little weirdo who jumped, like, actually 6ft in the air. It's hard to forget that. And hinata says he'll never lose to him again, but now he can't get his revenge on Kagayama because they're on the same team. So that's not he's mad. Kagayama says he didn't get into the other schools. Oh, yeah. hana is like, Why are you here? Why are you crossing it? Why aren't you at any of the other schools? Like, the better schools you could have gotten. You're the king of the court after all. kanye was like, Well, I applied and didn't get in.

And he still thanks for reminding me.

He's admitting double enemies.

That's one thing I do kind of enjoy. We don't really see it here. We'll see it in later episodes. But Kagayama is very good at volleyball. He is also dumb as shit. Like, academically. He's not smart, which I really enjoy because it's not the smart and idiot dynamic of hanata and Kagayama. They're just both actually idiots.

They're both stupid.

Yeah, I really enjoyed that shake up.

So many boys with no brains.

In this show, there is canonically two teammates on the Carrastno team that have any brain cells. And yeah, so hanata says, like, well, you're the king of the court. Like, why don't you go to anywhere else, kagi? I was like, don't call me that. Don't don't use that nickname. And then we see some of the older students arrive. We see two third years and a second year with a shaved head. The shaved head once. Tanaka, he is the dumbest of the boys.

And my favorite, he's the best character in the show.

He is the Koolabara, he is the delinquent. He is the yankee. He's so fucking dumb. But you gotta love him. Yeah.

Until this point, I was like, I thought these characters were supposed to be likable. And then Tanaka opened his mouth and I was like, oh, here comes the dummy here.

We found him.

Yeah, it was promise.

He's making, like, a dumb, like, grimace. He's like, you got to intimidate the first year. So when you see him to establish dominance, captain's like, knock it off, you idiot. So right away you get a dynamic of them real quick. And they all start talking to Kagayama, being like, oh, yeah, you're fucking Kagayama. Everyone knows you. You're doing really good in middle school. And not just jumping around, trying to, like being like, hey, I'm here too. Anyone want to talk to me? And they keep talking to Kagayama being like, yeah, you're doing really good in middle school. And they kind of dropped off. We hadn't heard anything from you, so we weren't sure what school we were going to go to. And then lost my notes. Yeah. Then Nata jumps in, yells, being like, hey, I'm here too. Remember? You guys are like, oh, yeah, the little guy. You were in that match against Kagayama that we saw. And not to establish himself, saying like, yeah, I want to be a spiker, but I'm also going to be the Ace of Carrasno. And immediately. Everyone's like, whoo? Big talk. Ace is the player that scores the most points. So good luck with that big talk.

For such a little man.

That's the entire show. And Kagyama says, if hanata says he's going to be Ace, he better back up all that talk or else he's going to waste another three years. And hanata gets mad at that, understandably, and says, he did everything he could in middle school. He did the best he could, especially because there was no team. So Kaguyama can take it. And shoving up his ass, hanata challenges him. He's like, you know what? If you think you're so great, if you want to see how much I've improved, let's go right now. Volleyball is a team sport. We can't one on one. He's like, nah, serve it, I'll receive it. I'll show you how good I am now. And the whole time, the captain of the squad, Die chee, is there being like, all right, guys, let's calm down. We don't want to do anything. And they're just full steam ahead, stubborn, and immediately start challenging each other. So while they're yelling and going back and forth, the vice principal comes in and just kind of like, what's with the yelling? Why are you yelling? It's like, day one, what's happening? And while he's coming in, die she's there trying to come and like, oh, hello, sir. Don't worry about us. We're just practicing. And Kagayama and hanata are still screaming at each other, and hanata says he's been practicing ever since the match for Kaguyama. Kagayama says, get ready, as he goes to the other side of court and does a jump serve where he tosses the ball up and jumps and air hits it in midair as he's jumping. And anytime they want to do a really impactful shot, high Key always gets, like, really sketchy and really, like, energetic with serves.

So he sees sort of like ping pong.

Kind of like ping pong. So we see Kakiyam hit and hanata dodges out of the way because it's come so fast, he couldn't receive. And even the other players are like, whoa, I don't know if I could have received that one. kakiyama says he hasn't gotten any better while Die chi is now kind of yelling at them, being like, all right, guys, knock it off. Cut the shit. Like, behave yourselves in front of the vice principal. They don't why would they? And so they keep doing it, and kakiyama hits another serve, and NATO is able to receive this one, but when it hits his arms, it shoots straight up into his face and then ricochets off his face and then hits the vice principal in the face, knocking off his two peany hijinks. And I couldn't even tell you the last person I saw the whoop toupee. I feel like that's only in television now. And yeah, it lands on die. chi. And everyone's, like, pauses, and you can hear Tanaka laugh, like, trying to stifle laugh in the background. And, yeah, the tension immediately flares up, and it cuts to afterwards, daiichi saying, like, all right, the vice principal doesn't even want an apology from you guys. Honestly, he doesn't want to see you guys. And the only rule is we can get away with it. No one can say anything about his wig. Tanaka is like, no, I think it's a tanaka is like, oh, you couldn't tell. It was super obvious. Like, shut up. No one talks about it. We just move on and never address it again. And we see diet. She keeps trying to lecture them after this, and he's talking to me like, guys, you've got to really work on your communication. And even while he's lecturing, Kagayama and not are still arguing with each other. And Diego finally raises his voice and puts his foot down. All right, enough. He says Karl Snow used to be a powerhouse of a volleyball team, but they haven't been good as they used to be. They're, like, 8th in their region, so not last, but not great. And now they got the nickname of the wingless crows, since that's their mascot. And they've kind of lost their oof. And he says, you guys came to cross no, because you want to win, right? We're going to win this year. kagan was like, well, yeah. Old schools say they're going to Nationals. They're all going to win the big tournament. He's like, dad. He's like, no, like, we're doing it this year, and if you're not going to do it, you're not on the team. Like, he's very determined because him and another character we see is it's the third year, so their final year at high school. So he really wants to win. And he says they need to get over this little pissy rivalry they have with each other, and they got to learn to work as a team because that's volleyball. So he says, until further notice, they're banned from all club activities. So they're still on the team, but they can't participate in anything the team does until they learn to work together.

I find that wholly acceptable.

Yeah. Also paperwork. You don't want to just kick people off the team and then they rejoin. It basically just time out.

Huge headache.

Yeah, it's a lot of work. Yeah.

The red tape at this high school is just insane.

A lot of bureaucracy says they have to work together and he kicks him out of the gym. And both of them are kind of like, what do you mean work together? We're already good at that. It's like, absolutely not. You're insane. And come on, let's just back on the team. We're sorry we acted out. We'll be better going forward and let us partake in the club activities. And even while they're begging to be back in, they're still fighting. Like, Hinatz is pleading his case, and then Kagayama pulls him away and throws him back and pleads his case. So they're still fighting over each other.

We get along so good.

Yeah, exactly. Shut the fuck up.

I get along better with you than.

You get along with me. Yeah. They're just really two terrible children. And so he kicks them out of the club, and then the whole time, Diet is just really giving them, like, stink eye and a lot of dramatic staring to really set the tone of, like, he's not playing anymore. He's lost his patience immediately, and it's day one and he goes, if you really mean it, you got to prove it to him. Calgama says he'll do everything if he needs to. He'll be on the team, but he'll do everything if he needs to be. He'll be the setter, he'll be the spiker, he'll be the libra, and it's. Like, no, it's a team sport. That's not how teams work, you idiot. So again, still being very selfish and believing he can one man everything. And so they proceed to practice while hanata and kagyam are left outside and just like, watching from a window and Kagayama says he's too good to not be on a team. He's the best volleyball player there ever lived. He's got to be on a team. He goes, you know what? I'm so good, I'll carry your ass. We'll do a two, one two. We'll challenge them till a match and I'll be so good, I'll compensate for your bad skills and we'll still win. And that's how we'll get back on the team. And of course, sonata is like, what the hell? What do you mean I'm bad? They argue again. So he tells Hana talks about how, like, energized he was when he was on the court when he was playing his first and last match and how amazing he felt. And he wants he wants to ride that high again. He wants to be back on the court no matter what. So he's just as passionate as Kagayama, but he does not have the skill set. But because he wants to be on the court so badly, he's willing to tolerate Kagayama's bullshit. So he just loves the sport so much where Kagayama thinks he's actually the best and deserves to be on the court.

Bitch.

Yeah, I put unlikable main character for Kaguyama because there's plenty of people that like Kagayama. He has character growth throughout the series. He is objectively unlikable. He is a shitty little kid. So while they're arguing, kyoko, the team manager, walks by and she is the titular girl for the first few seasons. Yeah, and they really just showcase. She's quiet and beautiful as hell. And everyone thinks she's gorgeous, like so when she walks by, you get the filters going by, you see sparkles and the pink lens and stuff. So as soon as she walks into the gym, you see Tanaka run up to her. I was like, Hi kika, how are you doing? Can I take your bag? She's like, leave me alone. Go away. And she just walks by and he's like, God, I love it when she turns me down.

He's a symp for this girl. He tells her every day that she looks beautiful and she ignores him and that's goals, that's what he wants. I've never seen him.

I would say these boys are athletic and dumb, but I would say Tanaka is the one that qualifies for him though, for that because we see another character who's kind of just generally horny. Not much, not enough. So it's obnoxious. Tanaka is solely in love with kyoka. Like, it's only her perfect big sympon. So she gets into the gym and they all continue with practice and after they're winding down practice, we see inside the gym, Tanaka is like cooling off, cooling down. And he says, like, oh, you know what's happening? I bet those two idiots are outside right now planning that if they can challenge us to a match, like, two, one, two, they can earn their spot on their team. And then the captain opens up the doors of the gym, and that's immediately what Kaguyama says, saying, like, we challenge it to a two and two match, and taka loses it. He's like, I'm a psychic. I'm a genius. No, they're just so stupidly predictable.

I have the gift of prophecy.

No, you've seen anime. You knew this was coming, right?

No. Tanaka, you're also an idiot volleyball boy. That's what you would have done. That's why you know. And yes, a diet. She's like, all right, how about this? We'll do a two on two, but we got two more first years joining us, so we'll do a three on three. Oh, three on three. how's that going to work? You two idiots are going to be with this idiot back here, Tanaka. So it's Kakayama, Tanaka, and then the other two first years are going to be on the team with someone else. So you're going to play three on three. They're like, all right. So if you win, you get to be back in club activities. Like, what if you lose? The captain died. She's like, well, if you lose, then Kagayama can't be the setter for as long as I'm on the team, which is another year, which is I feel like it's very targeted.

But Kagayama would die if that happened.

Kagayama would actually rather eat glass than not be the center. So, yeah. Hanato's like, what the hell? That's just punishing him. I don't care. That doesn't affect me. Why doesn't it affect me? I'm also here. Pay attention to me. Dad, I want to punish me, too. Yeah.

While Kakayama single me out for something.

Meanwhile, Kakayama snaps and barks back at dai chi, being like, no, I have to be settered. There's no other position worthy of me. Setter is the best position. I need to be centered. yikes, you need therapy. And he tells them, like, hey, you got to work as a team. The setter is the powerhouse of the team, and if you're a shitty, selfish setter, you're going to drag the whole team down. So this is the deal. So they agreed to it, and they leave. The other team members ask you, like, Why are you being so hard on them? And it fades away, because I'll come back to that later. And outside, Hana tries to talk about, like, hey, the other positions are kind of cool. You got spiker, you got lebro, you got this. And kaga is not having it. He's like, no. Setter is the coolest. You touch the ball the most. You control the ball the most. spiker is cool, but spiker can't do shit without the setter. I need to be setter. It's like, God, you suck as a human being. And so not to say it's like, all right, well then we just have to win, says, well, fine, we'll work, we'll practice on your crappy receive so that we have even halfway of a chance of winning. So while they're outside talking about this and planning it over, tanaka is like, leaning against a window inside and very obviously, like, yelling out like, hey guys, so when's morning practice tomorrow? And other team members like, what are you talking about, you idiot? It's 09:00 like always. What? It's like? Yes, 09:00. A.m. So before that, the gym will be empty, like very clearly calling out hanata and kaiyama. And so of course, the next day they show up at the gym at 05:00. A.m. Gross. Sports are gross. And it's kaiyama, hanata, Tanaka and they open up the gym to practice for 2 hours and then the rest of the team is going to come up and then they're going to continue to practice for 2 hours. But they have to be done and clean up before the other team shows because they're not supposed to be there. So once inside, they get flashbacks to the previous night when they say, like, diego, why are we so hard on them? And he says, Kagayama has a ton of skill and knows it. So he's arrogant as hell, while hanata has no skill whatsoever but has a lot of raw potential. He's got it just like, physically impressive with his speed and jumping capability. Together, they can be like the deadliest combo we've ever had. So we need them to work together or else this team's not going to function. So he's laying it on thick. And then when it comes back to the gym present Day hana and Kagayama are fighting over who will get into the gym first, despite Tanaka already being in the gym. So they are once again just fighting for the sake of fighting. And once inside, Hana gets all pumped up, remembering this is the very gym, the tiny giant practice that he's at the same school. He's he's falling in the tiny giant's footsteps. That's where I said two ends.

So we pick up there. They're practicing that morning. They continue arguing because they're both, you know, just stupid dumb. Yes, thank you. Everything we're just talking about. And janaka is like, this is going nowhere. Come on. Oh no. They're caught by another teammate. suga shows up, catches them practicing, but he wants to help as well because weird, he wants his team to be good. I don't follow.

Once again, Sugar are with the single branch, all of the team. Yes.

So they keep practicing. Hinata ask Kagayama to set him up. And of course Kagayama is like, okay, let me get a fastball coming right at your face. And he hits them with it and he says, it doesn't even matter. You don't need to practice with me. I'm not going to set to you. You can't hit anything back. I'm only going to throw it to Tanaka, so don't even try. But understandably, Tanaka and Sugar are like, hey, you know that's not how practice works, right? You can't improve if you're not going to play with them. But we see Hinata and suga practicing on lunch break. suga is the current setter, so he's like, hey, yeah, you seem to be interested in the striker so you can spike stuff. So we'll practice that. And hanata is super excited. He's like, oh, yeah. Whenever I was practicing in middle school, since I was the only boys volleyball player, I would play with either, like, my basketball friends or the girls team. So while I did get to practice, I never got to practice anyone who would actually be a real teammate.

I made so many friends, but no teammates.

I was the most popular kid at my last school, but none of them can play volleyball with me.

I would just like to say I've always thought it was so rude that Kagayama was like, I have to be the setter. Fuck whoever's the setter right now. And suga is like, the sweetest boy, and he's just like, I'm the setter. And it's just not only that, it's like, you a first year, are going to show up and be the setter and oust. A third year. Shut up.

Yeah.

Like, I mean, I guess if they want to win and that's the most important thing to them and he's the best, then sure. But it's just so presumptuous. I hate it.

I'll say a little spoiler that is addressed in later episodes.

I think I've seen it. It still just makes me mad.

Yeah, it is very arrogant and showbodie if like, once again, Kagayama sucks in every way.

So suga asks, why the competition with Kagayama? Yeah, what's going up there? And he talks about how they had their one match in middle school and that set him to be hinata's rival. And then we see Kagayama at a vending machine around the side of the building. overhearing this conversation, Sugar is like, so I guess that means Kagayama, you would rank as number one of the people you play volleyball with, right? Because he's like, the goal to beat and he's not just like I wouldn't say that.

So many words like choking on his own tongue.

But zuga is like, yeah, that doesn't matter now. That ended the second you both came to this school. Because sure, he was your most powerful rival. Now he's your most powerful ally. teamwork yay. Only 20 more minutes of this episode for that lesson to set in. hinato spying on the team, stretching for after school practice. And Kagayama takes him to go practice in the soccer field because they aren't allowed inside. So inside the real practice, we're introduced to the two other first years. We don't see their faces yet, but we know there's two other boys who are going to join the team. Are they big jerks. Probably high school freshmen. So yes. So in the soccer field, we see them practicing. They get a ball stuck in the tree. Hinata is like, take it easy. We're not even on a regulation court in Kakayama's. Like, weakness, the pain is weakness, leaving the body just being the worst. And he mentions the nickname of Kagayama being the king of the court or whatever it was in middle school. And Kagayama seems to bristle at that. He's like, that's a dope ass nickname. I would be so happy with a nickname like that. Call me whirlwind? No. Shadow Forest? No, that's lame. He just goes through his brain trying to think of the cool nickname for himself.

Warrior cat nicknames.

It's that like dumb, irrelevant line and lines like that. That really reminded me, like, yeah, these aren't just teenage boys.

So we cut back to the real practice, and Tanaka is talking with Sugar. He's like, yeah, we met these new players. We haven't seen them play yet, but I don't got a good feeling about them. And they talk about how Kagayama weird in his current state. This is pretty calm compared to him in middle school. So Tanaka is like, yeah, sure, he's a giant asshole, but he's less of an asshole. He's learning. We have to be patient with him. So back in the soccer field, we get the two new challengers interrupting their practice. Just some tall, cockies giants that are super cocky. cocky. Yeah. I don't know where I was going.

With that tall, arrogant dick. Yeah.

I was like, how do I incorporate their names into the sentence? It's gotten away from me. It's too late. This is suki and tadashi. And suki's. 62, almost 63. Of course he's amazing at volleyball.

I'm 62 and three quarters.

So they're like, we don't even care about this match on Saturday. It doesn't even matter to us. And Kagayama is like, good, because we're going to kick your asses. Because we're good. We're the best. And then suki calls him the king to piss him off, and he gets mad. But Kagayama gets quiet mad and just walks away. And he notes, like, hey, you two are arguing. I am also a player who is going to be on this team, and no one's threatening me. Come on, guys, I need to be threatened. I want to be part of the team. But they all leave. And Hinata gets Kagayama is like, hey, fuck those guys. We're going to keep practicing. It's not that late. So then we get a training montage for the, I don't know, like four days. This is like day two, right? They say Saturday, that's our practice. And this is like, the second day of school. So this is just like a three day training montage. They improve miraculously in that we see hinata is finally able to start keeping up with kageyama. So we cut into them in a practice in the gym. Tanaka is watching them, and suga comes in and they're like, oh, wow. They're actually having, like, a volley in this volleyball game. Weird. Finally, they're catching up. How long has this been going? And he's like, They've been hitting it back and forth for 15 minutes, and they are both it is mostly Kakayama trying to get Hinata to drop it, but no, he's too much of a protagonist. He's too determined. He's not going to drop it. So Kagayama hits him with a real dick of a serve where he hits it way past the court, but he runs out and dives and catches it, hits it back. And Kagayama finally realizes, like, yes, he's finally able to keep up with me.

Finally worthy of my talent.

Now that I've been trying to beat the shit out of him for 15 minutes straight, I guess I should set as the setter. So now that I made him sprint to the back of the gym, I need to prove him wrong. He can't serve after I set him. So he sets the ball in Hinata. He sprints all the way back up there and finally goes and spikes it over the net. Finally, they made a play as a team.

Horrific.

So they're like, finally, we're ready to win tomorrow. And then they show up to the game the next day, but they both want to be first there, so they race each other, and Tanaka has to scold them for wasting all their energy before the match. It's like, okay, we have a ways to go, but they're ready to fight for their place on the team. And that's where we end episode three.

You know you've messed up if Tanaka is lecturing you.

So here we are.

Are we ping pong yet?

No.

I don't know what it meant either.

Nothing can be ping pong.

Yeah. I will say, like, the first episode, I did not care. I was like, you're setting it up. There was way too much backstory. Like, I know. It truly was like, this is the prologue.

It was literally the first episode.

Yeah, but based on that, I was like, I heard this is so good, but this is just very generic sports anime. And then we got into the actual meat of episodes two and three, and I was like, These boys are dumb. And it's entertaining. Is it also frustrating at times? Very much so. Is this one of the better portrayals of the ego of a 13 year old? Yes, absolutely. This is absolutely just truly remember, at any point when they're taunting each other, just go, they're 13 or 14, and then continue watching the scene.

And you're like, great.

Good. But, yeah, based on the rocky start, I was like, okay, it's sports anime. It's already not going to get me there, but the dynamics are developing. This turned out to be more fun than I thought it was going to be. So, yes, I am on board for this. Yeah.

Like I said before, I think I've watched the first ten episodes and I think for me, the thing about most sports anime that I don't like is the sports. All of these boys are so great. I honestly don't even like Hinata that much, but I love the boys on the rest of the team that we get introduced to and stuff, and like, even the coaches and whatever. So like, that's what I like about it. But that just like the amount of volleyball that they play is too much for me, and that it's so dragged out that this is Four Seasons. I personally can't do that.

Yeah.

I think what's interesting about ping pong, thinking about it now, ping pong is very much about all of the boys improving upon themselves individually and finding their way in the world through ping pong, whether or not they continue with ping pong into their adulthood. And this is very much about making friends and being a team. So that's different and cute and good. But yeah, the thing that I like most about ping pong is that it's eleven episodes, so they tell a story so effectively in such a short amount of time, whereas the first three episodes of this are just the same thing over and over again. And it's nice when you get to naka coming in and saying some funny stuff and being a goof and even I love suga and daiichi also, so it's nice once they come in, but still the focus of the show is the two characters I like the least. That's what's hard for me.

Also dancing entirely valid criticism.

Yeah, we definitely didn't get into it in these three episodes, but we have talked about the reputation of a match can be several episodes. Brendan, off the top of your head, do you happen to know the longest game represented in this, just in terms of number of episodes? Because if it's like five plus episodes to be like, yes, this is one match, that's too much.

I think I've seen just in the few episodes I watched, I think there was one that was three episodes, maybe.

Yeah. So I can tell you this right now because we talked a bit beforehand on what episodes we pick if we skip around. I was like, I think there is one episode in season three, episode four, which is the quintessential episode for hiq, where it encapsulates everything that's good about iq, in my opinion, in one solid, very entertaining episode. It is in season three, though, so we would not know what the hell's happening. So that's why I was like, we can't really jump around. We don't even get introduced to the whole team in these three episodes. I don't think these are the best episodes. They're just we need the intro because it'd be worse jumping around.

Here's another question. Do they play volleyball in season three, episode four?

Yes.

Okay.

That's the thing so going back to what dugan said, season three is just one volleyball match.

My answer is no. Sorry, I cannot watch this show.

Season three is just ten episodes and it's like a standalone. It's a five round match so it's like a big match that goes on for five rounds. So it's longer match than normal. But season three is just one match against one team.

Wow.

But like I said, I think season three, episode four and one of the episodes in the middle of that I think is the best encapsulation of all of iq. Like I said, I am very biased. This has become a comfort show for me where I've watched it subbed dubbed, I've read the manga and finished it because it wrapped up a while back and yeah, I'll just put it on if I just need like background noise and I think it's an incredible show. But also you two have seen me in real life. Have I looked like I've ever touched a sports ball? I haven't seen the sun in the last four years. So yeah, I fully understand. There's a lot of sports in this sports anime. I can't deny that. When you get invested in the characters, you get really invested in the characters and it sucks you in.

That's what I was going to say. There are so many boys that end up being on the team that you know the names of and get to know and then also even the other team, the one with the white and blue jerseys, they have a big part in the well I just almost choked on my own spit. They have a big part in the show also. So, like, that's what I think that's what keeps people going, probably. If they don't necessarily enjoy the sport of it, they probably are just rooting for their favorite boy and it's yeah, anybody? It's like, it's like astrology, where if your sun sign isn't something you can relate to, there's always your Moon sign, and if it's not your Moon sign, there's always your rising. You don't like haageama. Hinata. Good news. There's Tanaka. Oh you don't like any of the boys on this team. Good news, there's a whole other team for you.

I had no idea where that analogy was going. It's very apt though. It's appropriate. Yeah, like I said, I think the best episode in season three, that episode is entirely about sugawara who is objectively a piece of shit that I relate to the most. I am also a piece of shit but like I think that is one of the best episodes. But yeah, like the episodes kind of focus on different boys and stuff, their own individual struggles. You get a lot of time with the different teams and stuff. Yeah, you really get sucked into just the writing of the show and the story of it. But I fully understand where it's a long running anime where they do the recap in the beginning and then they do the hype up in the end, like teasing the end. And then you effectively only get like 15 minutes of actual content. I understand that complaint. I don't deny that.

Yeah. It's fun, though. The boys are very fun. If you want to have a good time just on YouTube, look up High cube best English dub moments and that'll get you perfect.

That's all I need. My Cliff Notes. Cliff notes to beautiful boys. There. We got the episode title right at the end.

Squeaked it out at the end.

Wonderful.

If there's a show you would like us to watch that has just great boys that we can absorb through Cliff Notes just very quickly on the side.

Need more sons.

Our orphanage is getting low. I am so tired. Just finally tripping over the finish line. If you have any shows, you can send your recommendations to us. Our email is arweebarriet@gmail.com or you can reach out to us on Twitter or Instagram at rweeb there yet on both.

You can find me on Instagram and TikTok at honey. Period d or on Twitter at honey d eight and honey dart. And Honey is spelled H-U-N-N-I-E. Found me on Twitter.

As if you do as bad. It's not great. You can also find my other old podcast I used to do almost Better than Silence. It's also not great. That's where I am.

Thank you to camille ruley for our artwork. And thank you to Louis zong for theme song stories. You can find all of louie's music at Louisong bandcamp.com. Thank you and we hope you'll join us next week as we learn to live with anime.

Believe it or whatever.

One of the players is the joker. I'm not kidding.

Thank you.