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𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙢
An exploration of Oikawa Tooru’s character arc, with a focus on chapter 402.
Disclaimer: I was inspired to make this thread after a discussion with a friend who was hated by someone for simply suggesting that Oikawa could come back (this was before 402). And as another friend tweeted recently, Oikawa stans wouldn’t have to make such long and consistent +
threads and analyses if “some of you would just learn to read”. And she’s right. Some people in the fandom firmly believed that Oikawa’s story was over after the events of the Brazil arc. He learned how to have fun with volleyball again, and that was of critical importance +
and, to them, the culmination and end point of his entire story. Proponents of this perspective believe that we have no way to possibly know what Oikawa’s motivations for going to and staying in Argentina were/are. We can’t know what made him stay, and we can’t even begin to +
guess at what matters to him as an individual. To these individuals, the counterargument that he loves Argentina and it is a place he holds close to his heart is simply not good enough because this is not explicitly laid out or discussed within the text.
This is, in my opinion, a very poor, superficial, and blatantly incorrect analysis, because the reality is that we DO know the truth and reality of every single one of the points raised in this argument and I’d like to carefully examine these specific arguments against arg!Oikawa
One of the biggest arguments that those dislike Oikawa’s character raise is that Oikawa’s journey and development is something we didn’t get to see. We didn’t get to witness his love for Argentina, but in actuality we did: this is very apparent in chapter 372 and the presentation
of it is far from abysmal. We know very well what his motivations for moving to Argentina and remaining there are. This is made explicitly clear in chapter 372, when we learn that the entire reason Oikawa decided to become a setter was because of an Argentinian player.
Many years later, he sought out this player’s advice and decided then and there to follow him to Argentina. An Argentinian setter inspired him when he was in elementary school and mentored him during his final year of high school. His motivations for following Jose Blanco are +
extraordinarily clear and explicitly discussed within the text. We also know from his time in high school that Oikawa possesses a strong sense of loyalty. Once more I must reiterate this point: his loyalty to his team might not have been his only reason for refusing to attend +
Shiratorizawa, but it was certainly one of them and he reiterated to Ushijima that he did not regret that decision. His loyalties to Argentina as a country run even deeper, since he first became inspired by Jose Blanco and enamored by his country at a very young age.
Moving was always the plan for him even before Seijoh2. Love and loyalty are two of Tooru’s strongest attributes, and this has been apparent many times over. When discussions arose within the text about Oikawa’s move, they were painted as definite.
There was never any suggestion that this move and transition was anything except permanent. Kageyama mentioned going overseas during the Adlers match, and that’s exactly what he did. Likewise, Oikawa said to his team “I’m moving overseas. Period”.
He was a child when he saw an Argentinian setter change the entire momentum of a game and decided he wanted to be a setter too. He later sought out this same individual to get advice from in high school and, after graduating, moved to Argentina to follow this man.
From the very beginning of his life, he knew what he wanted and he knew what he had to do to get there. This was his dream from when he was very young and he managed to accomplish it. His reasons for doing so could not possibly be more clear, and if anyone is still struggling +
I would like to refer you to chapter 372 once more. Furudate isn’t trying to be coy or subtle; Furudate is telling all of us “Oikawa Tooru was inspired by an Argentinian player as a small child, inspired moreso by this man as an adult, and this is what he wants +
This is what he loves. This is what he needs to do”. It is not up to debate. It is in the text itself and it is extremely explicit.
It is also important to recontextulize the “worthless pride” line. This line is often attributed to Oikawa, but he was not the one who said it:
It is also important to recontextulize the “worthless pride” line. This line is often attributed to Oikawa, but he was not the one who said it:
these words came from Ushijima, in reference to Oikawa’s stubborn refusal to transfer to Shiratorizawa. When Oikawa hears these words, he reiterates to Ushijima that the choice he made was not wrong and not something he would ever regret.
Oikawa Tooru has always been someone capable of love and loyalty deeper than any ocean. As Shayne said “he loved Seijoh, and not only as a means to victory”. Any pride that Oikawa felt during his younger years was not linked to him, because his greatest flaw during middle and +
high school was his immense insecurity; his pride was, instead, linked to his team, family. He began each match by telling Seijoh he believed in them, and there was no hidden motive or meaning behind those words: he meant it with every fiber of his being. And they returned this.
Ushijima thought it was pride in himself that prevented Oikawa from attending Shiratorizawa, but this is because of Ushijima’s own narrow worldview. At that time Ushijima believed in individual strength and power, while Oikawa believed in the strength that comes from connection
from a team, from a family. Neither of these are right or wrong; simply different, though this different is why Oikawa would never have fit in well at Shiratorizawa.
So when Ushijima wrote off Oikawa’s decision as a result of his “worthless/petty pride”, Oikawa didn’t argue +
So when Ushijima wrote off Oikawa’s decision as a result of his “worthless/petty pride”, Oikawa didn’t argue +
instead throwing these words back in his face. Yes, we lost. But my volleyball career isn’t over yet, so this worthless pride that you speak of? Don’t you ever forget it, because someday I will return and prove to you that the pride I feel in my comrades and the pride I hope to +
someday cultivate for myself is anything but worthless. Ushijima saw worthless pride, pride that was causing Oikawa to throw away his chance at growth (only achievable at Shiratorizawa, at least as far as Ushijima was concerned) and pride that was being wasted on the infertile +
soil of Aoba Johsai. But, to Oikawa, this was true, valuable pride that manifested as the love and support he poured into his team, regardless of whether they won or lost.
When Oikawa uttered his infamous “don’t you ever forget this worthless pride of mine” line to Ushijima, it was a challenge, and it was him saying “our ideologies are different, but the pride I feel now isn’t misplaced no matter what you think.
Someday you will understand this, so don’t you ever forget this moment and don’t you ever forget my pride”.
So, was Oikawa’s character arc completed in Brazil? Parts of it certainly were. When he was a child, he was filled with wonder and possibility. He loved volleyball and his passion was what spurred him on, allowing him to constantly seek new and previously unexplored heights.
This came crashing down in middle and high school when he was confronted by opponents who were, at that time, simply better. Over the course of those years, and even on into his initial time spent in San Juan, this was a problem for him, an obstacle he had to overcome.
He needed to learn to love again, and Hinata showed him the way. At the end of the Brazil arc, Oikawa had accomplished part of what he set out to do: he rediscovered his joy.
But that was not the only part of Oikawa’s story; much more had to be done in order to fully conclude his arc. Oikawa’s story needed three elements to conclude properly: 1) learning to enjoy volleyball again, 2) settling scores with his old rivals, 3) making his own talent bloom.
The Brazil arc achieved the first one, but the last two remained open ended. First were his remaining rivalries. Yes, he regained his passion and drive for his sport, but that didn’t suddenly eliminate his rivalries (the line “I’m going to come back and beat everyone” is proof +
enough of that). He and Kageyama were at one win, one loss. He had told Ushijima to never forget his worthless pride. And he and Iwaizumi had their own score to settle after the promise they made post-Seijoh2.
I think Oikawa has moved past his pettiness (he’s 27 years old after all), but I think he would still savor the chance to take everyone on at once, because he’s still Oikawa Tooru…of course he’d love that opportunity.
Furthermore, there is the quote that he references in Seijoh2 which, likely, came from Jose Blanco: “talent is something you make bloom”. Oikawa specifically states that your talent may bloom today, but it might not bloom until you are 30. (Or even later)
The true extent of your abilities may take a while (a long while) to come to fruition, and his personal talent did not bloom until he reached adulthood and strut out onto the world stage, truly confident and ready to rule the court.
Furudate is a master of foreshadowing. We had hints and clue about Hinata’s fever before the Kamomedai match even began. Atsumu told Hinata he would set to him, and that happened hundreds of chapters later. Furudate is a skilled writer and knows how to lay the groundwork for +
their story far in advance, and did so in the Brazil arc (and 387) in the following ways:
The inclusion of these things were not necessary if there was never any intention of brining Oikawa back. If Oikawa had * not * shown up, I would have honestly dismissed this as sloppy writing, writing that wouldn’t receive a passing grade in any of the courses I took as a PhD.
And, let’s be real: Furudate isn’t that kind of writer. Furudate is careful and meticulous and plans things far in advance, so the set up for Oikawa’s return was also careful and metuclous and staring us right in the face.
Chapter 402 wasn’t any sort of “typical shonen bs”. Chapter 402 was the culmination of a story Furudate set up since chapter 13 of Haikyuu, when Oikawa was introduced and was further emphasized in Seijoh1, Seijoh2, and Brazil. Oikawa returning was essential to the conclusion of +
his arc and his story. It gave Ushijima, Kageyama, and Iwaizumi a chance to go up against their rival, and gave Oikawa an opportunity to go up against his. It gave everyone a chance to settle old scores, and it gave readers a chance to finally see the culmination fo Oikawa’s +
diligence and hard work over the last few decades. Gone is the faux confidence he used to possess. He walks out onto that stage with true, genuine determination and pride (not worthless pride; pride in himself and the person and player he has become), surrounded by a team he +
loves, a team that is being coached by the man who inspired to become a setter in the first place. Oikawa may have learned that volleyball is fun in Brazil, but after that arc he went back to Argentina and put what he learned into practice and in doing so facilitated his own
growth. Oikawa showed up again in 402 not to beat his high school rivals first and foremost, but to show them (and all of us as readers) that his talent had finally bloomed. It took 27 years, but Oikawa Tooru finally let his talent bloom.
And maybe, just maybe, he’s taught us that our talent has a chance at blooming too. It might not be today, or tomorrow, or even until we’re thirty. But Oikawa Tooru worked hard, fought against all odds, and blossomed into the person we always knew he had the potential to become.
If the Brazil arc had been his goodbye, his story arc would have been incomplete. Anyone who suggests otherwise is doing a huge disservice to Furudate’s writing and this story, because Oikawa is not the only character in this series who has gotten this treatment.
And to suggest otherwise is also doing a disservice to the fans of this series who, like myself, can and have learned a lot from Oikawa Tooru’s tenacity, hard work, and perseverance.
