Thread by @bokuakabeam, WHY KENMA HAS HAD THE BEST CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARCA THREAD IN A [...]

WHY KENMA HAS HAD THE BEST CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARC
A THREAD IN A SERIES OF THREADS, BY YOURS TRULY

okay listen so i just love kenma a lot so if i get off track just talking about how much i love him then just,,, go with it okay

SO HERE WE GO: WHY SOMEONE WHO DISLIKES ‘STANDING OUT’ AND ‘GETTING TIRED’ EXCELLED IN PLAYING VOLLEYBALL AND HOW HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPED OVER TIME

“I’m not good with people, and I don’t want to interact with them.” When we first meet Kenma in the anime when Hinata runs into him, he is very reserved in their interaction.

We later learn that he is a self-proclaimed introvert (aren’t we all tho)
Which to start with his characterization, makes the audience think that he might not be such an intimidating opponent for our main character.

AND!!!! MY FAVORITE INTERACTION!!! he wears his hair like he does because he doesn’t like when his field of vision is too wide
so it makes him anxious to not have a full grasp on his immediate surroundings and overwhelmed if it’s too much...

... but was concerned about standing out too much bc of it so he dyed it

Also in this first interaction, we find out that he doesn’t particularly like volleyball, and only plays it so his friends can play it.
Lack of interest and desire to play the sport, a complete opposite for our main character as well

But, of course, we learn that Kenma’s disinterest for the sport isn’t because he lacks talent; if anything he’s one of the most talented setters we witness in the manga/show.

Kenma’s talent, continued: he’s very analytical and easily one of the number one “people readers” i’ve ever seen depicted

NOW WE START GETTING TO THE JUICY PART
So there are two main driving forces when it comes to Kenma’s character development: Kuroo and Hinata.
While Kuroo introduced him to the sport, it’s Hinata that really brought out Kenma’s love for winning and volleyball.

We’ll start with Kuroo
SO WE ALL KNOW that kuroo is the one that got kenma into volleyball
he pushed him to play even when he didn’t want to, convinced him he’d be a perfect setter, and said he needed to maintain through first year of H.S. before things would get better

Also, we see Kenma begin to respect Kuroo’s love for the sport which... I don’t have anything smart to say I just love their friendship

(i didn’t have a place for the second picture i just wanted to include it pls humor me)

LIKE I MENTIONED we see Kenma struggling during his first year of high school, not getting along with the upperclassmen
and Kuroo tells him not to quit, that it’ll be better the next year

AND ITS A GOOD THING HE DOES BECAUSE WHO DOES HE MEET DURING HIS SECOND YEAR??

OUR BRIGHT YOUNG PROTAGONIST: HINATA SHOUYOU

Before we move on to Hinata, everyone say thank you Kuroo!!

Much like with everyone else Hinata interacts with, he brought out the fighting spirit in Kenma

BUT BEFORE I GET DEEPER INTO THAT!!! I THINK ITS SUPER IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE KNOWS HOW MUCH OF A TEAM PLAYER KENMA IS
He recognizes that Nekoma as a whole is talented, not just because of his skills as a setter but bc of his team’s skills as players

AAAAAND because of this, the team in turn recognizes Kenma as an essential part of the volleyball club
even if he seems less intimidating and outsiders are convinced that he is nothing to be concerned about
boy are they wrong

Meeting and befriending Hinata made Kenma excited to play against someone that he didn’t fully understand — BUT WE DONT SEE HIS DEVELOPMENT UNTIL THEIR LATER MATCH y’all know what i’m talking about

their real battle begins,, and here is where we really see kenma show his true colors, his desire to win and to beat hinata in a real game where if you lose it’s game over

... and we all know how kenma hates game overs (video game reference amiright)
i just love the references to kenma’s way of thinking when it comes to volleyball, he treats it like a video game he wants to win and i just love it

this is where we get to the culmination of his character development
he realizes that he’s tired and exhausted and sweaty, everything he hates, but he never wants it to end, he never wants to lose because he’s finally having FUN

So Kenma went from someone who was pretty much indifferent to volleyball, only playing so his friends could play...

... to someone desperate to win at all costs, wanting to challenge another a player, and excited about the prospect of playing with that payer (Hinata) again

I PROBABLY DIDNT DO AS GOOD OF A JOB AS I COULD HAVE IN EXPLAINING THIS BUT I JUST LOVE KENMA SO MUCH AND TO SEE HIM DEVELOP OVER TIME AND GET PASSIONATE ABOUT SOMETHING IS JUST SO HEARTENING TO ME

everyone give a round of applause to sugar daddy kenma

everyone give a round of applause to sugar daddy kenma

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