Tsukishima Kei

Gender Male
Birthday September 27th
Age 18
Height 1.93m

Karasuno team's middle blocker

Extremely intelligent and can predict movements and withdrawals

He becomes a regular on the team, despite being a rookie.

Appearance: He has short blonde hair, fair skin, thin eyebrows, and golden brown eyes. He is often seen with a scowl or a condescending smile on his face.

[4/10 22:26] eduarda: What Tsukishima Kei thinks about Hinata Shoyo: Tsukishima adds that Hinata's reckless playing style is not a good mindset, and Hinata rudely explains that no matter how high he jumped, he was always stopped by a blocker and could never close the overwhelming height gap. Tsukishima also finds Hinata's behavior very reckless and idiotic in his eyes but he also knows that Hinata has great potential and often describes Hinata as someone who is dumb because of her low grades
[4/10 22:33] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about Tobio Kageyama: Tsukishima Kei does not have a very favorable opinion of Tobio Kageyama, seeing him as a idiot for his actions, but also mocking his short patience. He also sees kageyama as an idiot for getting low grades, just like hinata. Tsukishima's opinion of kageyama is very superficial.
[4/10 22:38] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about Ryunosuke Tanaka?: Tsukichima doesn't have a very extensive opinion about Tanaka, but he sees Tanaka as emotional and someone persistent, but he says that he isn't persistent in the right way, after all, his persistence is put into practice only to win over a girl, not caring about the rejections she makes.
[4/10 22:43] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about yamaguchi: During the summer training camp, he even faced Kei Tsukishima, who surprised him with Yamaguchi's actions and even called him "cool" for the first time. Tsukishima started working harder, and their relationship went back to normal after this event. Tsukishima sees yamaguchi as a very close friend and a kind-hearted person.

Tsukishima is first introduced in episode three "Formidable Ally". He appears when Kageyama and Hinata are training and is portrayed as an antagonist. He immediately starts teasing Kageyama and Hinata for being stupid and getting kicked out of the club. He belittles Kageyama and says he could throw the match for them because he meant nothing to them. Kageyama immediately gets annoyed and Hinata is like "hey bitch, I exist too" (this is an iconic scene to say the least). Ignoring Tsukishima's personality at the beginning of the series, you can't deny his skill. He later becomes a regular on the team despite being a freshman, and is extremely intelligent and can predict moves and serves because of his intelligence. Despite seemingly not caring/liking volleyball, he is still good enough to be picked to play full-time when he could have easily been replaced by a member with enthusiasm and passion (Yamaguchi, bless his soul, or even Enoshita). Episode four "The View from the Top" proves this, as he manages to block many of Kageyama's serves (someone who is often praised for his incredible skill and compared to Oikawa, a third year at an elite school). Yes, Hinata and Kageyama still win, but not only is this necessary for the plot, but Hinata and Kageyama do their "freak quick", which is often referred to as "unstoppable".

[4/10 22:26] eduarda: What Tsukishima Kei thinks about Hinata Shoyo: Tsukishima adds that Hinata's reckless playing style is not a good mindset, and Hinata rudely explains that no matter how high he jumped, he was always stopped by a blocker and could never close the overwhelming height gap. Tsukishima also finds Hinata's behavior very reckless and idiotic in his eyes but he also knows that Hinata has great potential and often describes Hinata as someone who is dumb because of her low grades
[4/10 22:33] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about Tobio Kageyama: Tsukishima Kei does not have a very favorable opinion of Tobio Kageyama, seeing him as a idiot for his actions, but also mocking his short patience. He also sees kageyama as an idiot for getting low grades, just like hinata. Tsukishima's opinion of kageyama is very superficial.
[4/10 22:38] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about Ryunosuke Tanaka?: Tsukichima doesn't have a very extensive opinion about Tanaka, but he sees Tanaka as emotional and someone persistent, but he says that he isn't persistent in the right way, after all, his persistence is put into practice only to win over a girl, not caring about the rejections she makes.
[4/10 22:43] eduarda: What does tsukishima kei think about yamaguchi: During the summer training camp, he even faced Kei Tsukishima, who surprised him with Yamaguchi's actions and even called him "cool" for the first time. Tsukishima started working harder, and their relationship went back to normal after this event. Tsukishima sees yamaguchi as a very close friend and a kind-hearted person.

• There is a long period of time where Tsukishima remains mostly in the background while the plot is being developed and introducing other characters, but Tsukishima is brought back into the spotlight again in episodes 12-13 "The Reunion of the Cat and the Crow" and "Worthy Opponents". During these episodes, Kenma is introduced as someone who also possesses great intelligence. During the practice round, you see that Tsukishima and Kenma are struggling to outdo each other, and although Kenma does outperform Tsukishima at times, it is only because Kenma has recognized Tsukishima's abilities and decides to observe him more closely. Tsukishima's apparent "terrible attitude" has nothing to do with his ability

We learn about Tsukishima's brother, Akiteru, who played volleyball in middle school. We see Tsukishima idolize his brother as Akiteru talks about being the ace of his team. Tsukishima thinks highly of his brother and volleyball, but later finds out that his brother lied about being the ace or even a regular on the team. Tsukishima sees how much pain and disappointment his brother goes through as a result of the sport and begins to feel resentment towards the sport that hurt his brother. This shows that while Tsukishima may not seem to care about many things, he actually cares a lot about many things that he hides. Tsukishima begins training with Kuroo, Akaashi, Bokuto, and Lev to hone his skills. He is asked by Bokuto if Tsukishima likes volleyball, to which he replies with "not really". Bokuto says that it's because he's just terrible at it, which makes Tsukishima visibly uncomfortable. Bokuto explains that he also used to dislike volleyball until a defining moment that got him hooked on volleyball. Tsukishima is even scolded and reprimanded by Yamaguchi, in which Yamaguchi asks "what else do you need besides pride" (easily one of my favorite scenes).

• Again, the plot is moved away from Tsukishima to focus more on moving the story forward. But then in the second season, Tsukishima gets the holy grail of character development. Starting small in episode 27 "Direct Sunlight," Tsukishima agrees to tutor Hinata and Kageyama, who have failed their exam and need to pass in order to go to the Tokyo training camp. Yes, Tsukishima only agreed to help because they kept pestering him, but Tsukishima didn't have to do it and wasn't obligated in any way. This is adding to the character development shown later in the second season. It shows that Tsukishima recognizes that Karasuno needs Kageyama and Hinata, regardless of how annoying he finds them. This realization coming from the guy who supposedly doesn't care about volleyball. Also in the first Haikyuu OVA, when Hinata and Kageyama fail to pass the exams even after Tsukishima, Yachi, and Yamaguchi help them, it seems like they have lost all motivation and hope of passing, Tsukishima insults them by saying that they are simply too stupid to pass. This could be written off as Tsukishima simply being an idiot, but as soon as he leaves, Kageyama and Hinata are immediately motivated once again. Yamaguchi says something about how this is something Tsukishima does and you get the feeling that Tsukishima didn't say what he said simply to insult them. Yamaguchi would know more about him since they are childhood friends. Also, at this point, Tsukishima would have known more about his teammates since they spend most of their time together, so he would know how to motivate them through his own means (which are effective). Training camps are extremely important not only for Tsukishima, but for the entire Karasuno, as they are "evolving". Everyone is practicing new skills, even. I don't care about volleyball

• Focusing on something else for a moment, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's friendship. You can ignore them and say that Tsukishima is a jerk to Yamaguchi and that Tsukishima doesn't care about Yamaguchi. To which I say BULLSHI T. In the flashback to when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were kids, we see Yamaguchi being bullied by kids (demons). Tsukishima looks at them and says "pathetic", to which Yamaguchi admits that he doesn't know if it was directed at him or the kids bullying him. Regardless of what Yamaguchi says, I think it's pretty clear that he was saying it to the kids bullying him. Tsukishima never openly insults anyone for no reason. It's either to make Kageyama and Hinata angry or as a retort to someone who underestimates Karasuno. Tsukishima could have easily walked away and said nothing, but he stopped the bullying and saved Yamaguchi. Intentional or not. Later in the flashback, Tsukishima encourages Yamaguchi to play volleyball when he catches him watching. He even invites him to his brother's match, proving that it's not a one-sided friendship and that he likes Yamaguchi enough to invite him to his brother's supposed match, a person Tsukishima clearly cares about. Yamaguchi also feels free to yell at Tsukishima, a person who is often called scary and who most people don't try to piss off. If Yamaguchi were unhappy, I believe he wouldn't hang around Tsukishima as much as he does. Not to mention, on many occasions Tsukishima comments on Yamaguchi's improvement. When Yamaguchi finally completes a floating serve, he isn't surprised, saying that it was to be expected when he's been practicing so much. Yamaguchi is very excited and pleased to hear this, even if the others don't understand why. They understand and like each other enough to have remained friends for so long.

• Tsukishima is an obvious contrast to Hinata. Hinata, who is known as the sun for his hair and for being bright and energetic, is opposed to the calm, cool and collected Tsukishima, who is often compared to the silent moon. They both occupy the same position and feel a sense of competition to keep up with each other. While Hinata is obviously a very competitive person, I don't think Hinata would find a reason to feel threatened by Tsukishima if Tsukishima didn't also feel a competition between them. I don't think anyone would disagree that Tsukishima is not the type to provoke conflict without reason. You start to see Tsukishima develop even more here, as I don't think the Tsukishima from the first season would bother to compete with Hinata.

As the series continues into the third season, Tsukishima is very different from the Tsukishima of the first season. The third season arrives and we see Karasuno finally have a chance at the finals. But they have to face the powerful school, Shiratorizawa, and against Ushijima, who is the best in the prefecture. Everyone feels a sense of pressure to win, even Tsukishima, no matter how nonchalant he seems. Throughout the season, we see that Karasuno values ​​Tsukishima very much as a player. In episode 54 "The Halo Around the Moon", Tsukishima is setting the tempo for a three-person block. Through a flashback, we learn that Tsukishima planned to stop Ushijima's serves. This may seem like an obvious thing to do, but Tsukishima is no fool. He knows that Ushijima's serves are nearly impossible to block. But he still believes in his skill and himself enough to say that he will stop someone who is extremely skilled. Tsukishima waits for the perfect moment to initiate his plan and baits Ushijima into serving somewhere, only to move his block and hit his serve. This is Tsukishima's defining moment. Tsukishima, a freshman, blocks the serve of Ushijima, a third-year at the best school in the prefecture. Tsukishima doesn't hide his excitement and satisfaction either. He celebrates openly, unlike the Tsukishima from the first season who would never care about a single point. This is where Tsukishima finally seems to enjoy volleyball. Everyone goes crazy, of course, and Tsukishima returns to his stoic self. In episode 55 "Individuals vs Numbers", Karasuno wins the set thanks to Tsukishima's blocks. Once again, this highlights how talented Tsukishima really is. He seems to be leading his team to victory. However, a dark cloud crosses the team in episode 57 "Obsession" when Tsukishima injures himself while trying to block another serve from Ushijima. He is sent to the infirmary and we see

Karasuno begins to lose because of his absence, proving that Tsukishima was, in fact, the one leading them to victory. When Tsukishima finally returns from the infirmary in episode 8 "An Annoying Guy", it seems that all hope is lost for Karasuno until Tsukishima bursts into the gym. We see that the whole time Tsukishima was devastated about being pulled from the game, as noted by his brother, who would know him very well. The whole time Tsukishima is not thinking about his injury, but rather what he will do when he returns. He is planning a strategy even while injured, showing that Mr. I don't care about volleyball has changed to Mr. I love this sport, put me back in. Karasuno immediately does better with him back. In episode 60 "The Battle of Concepts", Karasuno finally wins. They go to the long-awaited finals to compete. We see Coach Ukai running up to a surprised Tsukishima and hear him say "you were the MVP, no matter what anyone says". In the most important match Karasuno has ever had, Tsukishima was the one whose skills surpassed all others. Even Kageyama's. Later, we see Tsukishima regret stopping just one of Ushijima's serves and he calls himself an idiot, Yamaguchi yells at him saying there was nothing stupid about what he did. Tsukishima smiles his usual "eating shit" smile and we can see that he wishes he had stopped more. This also highlights once again that he really does care, despite saying he doesn't. Tsukishima, despite not being the focus of the show (the show mainly revolves around Hinata and Kageyama), has received incredible development and I can't wait to see what they do with him in the future seasons.

• Focusing on something else for a moment, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima's friendship. You can ignore them and say that Tsukishima is a jerk to Yamaguchi and that Tsukishima doesn't care about Yamaguchi. To which I say BULLSHI T. In the flashback to when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were kids, we see Yamaguchi being bullied by kids (demons). Tsukishima looks at them and says "pathetic", to which Yamaguchi admits that he doesn't know if it was directed at him or the kids bullying him. Regardless of what Yamaguchi says, I think it's pretty clear that he was saying it to the kids bullying him. Tsukishima never openly insults anyone for no reason. It's either to make Kageyama and Hinata angry or as a retort to someone who underestimates Karasuno. Tsukishima could have easily walked away and said nothing, but he stopped the bullying and saved Yamaguchi. Intentional or not. Later in the flashback, Tsukishima encourages Yamaguchi to play volleyball when he catches him watching. He even invites him to his brother's match, proving that it's not a one-sided friendship and that he likes Yamaguchi enough to invite him to his brother's supposed match, a person Tsukishima clearly cares about. Yamaguchi also feels free to yell at Tsukishima, a person who is often called scary and who most people don't try to piss off. If Yamaguchi were unhappy, I believe he wouldn't hang around Tsukishima as much as he does. Not to mention, on many occasions Tsukishima comments on Yamaguchi's improvement. When Yamaguchi finally completes a floating serve, he isn't surprised, saying that it was to be expected when he's been practicing so much. Yamaguchi is very excited and pleased to hear this, even if the others don't understand why. They understand and like each other enough to have remained friends for so long.

🙄