The most anticipated fall anime series have just aired “Haikyuu!” Season 3 Episode 2, titled “The Threat of the Left” last Saturday, finally starting off with the much-awaited match between Karasuno High and Shiratorizawa Academy.
After introducing the first six in the first episode, the second finally shows the match kicking off. The first match was horrible for Karasuno as they consecutively missed the ball, letting Shiratorizawa gain a huge lead against them. Karasuno could not play well and one of the reasons was because they were too agitated facing Shiratorizawa and being on national television, causing the calm Vice Captain Koshi Sagawara to lose his cool and scold the playing set. With this, Karasuno was brought back to their senses as Coach Kieshin Ukai admitted that Karasuno had to score a point so they can build momentum.
Karasuno was also having a hard time scoring a point against Shiratorizawa because Karasuno’s libero, Yu Nishinoya was having difficulty receiving serves and spikes from the other team’s team captain, Wakatoshi Ushijima. Ushijima is left-handed and Nishinoya is not used to receiving balls hit by left-handed players since they are on opposite sides of the court and he himself is right-handed, hence the title of the episode, “The Threat Of The Left”. Nishinoya asks his team to give him just three chances to receive Ushijima’s spikes so he can get used to it.
Karasuno finally scores when wing spiker, Ryunosuke Tanaka slips in a spike, finally decreasing the gap in the points and renewing the team’s fighting spirit. Karasuno keeps it together until Nishinoya finally redeems himself and perfectly receives one of Ushijima’s deadly serves, letting Tobio Kageyama and Tanaka set for a point. Shiratorizawa eventually won the first set with a 9-point lead.
Karasuno’s “Total Defense” game plan was put into play as well after forcing Ushijima’s spike into Nishinoya’s direction when the former was cornered by Karasuno’s wall of blockers. The “Total Defense” game plan is when blockers manipulate the direction of the spiker’s ball so it will head straight into a certain direction within the court. After finally finding the chance, Kageyama and Shoyo Hinata tries their odd quick attack but was received by Ushijima, impressing both teams and the audience.
Karasuno heads on to successfully rain attacks against Shiratorizawa with their tested strategies, focusing on Ushijima’s weaknesses, letting them gain more points. “Haikyuu!!” Season 3 Episode 2 ended with Kagayama and Hinata’s odd quick attack failing again. The two went for their signature quick attack but failed when Shiratorizawa’s middle blocker, Satori Tendo unexpectedly blocked the ball with ease.
“Haikyuu!!” Season 3 Episode 2 was dedicated to Kazunari Tanaka, who recently passed away. Kazunari Tanaka was a seiyuu or a voice actor who portrayed the character of the young Coach Ukai. There has been no updates or reports yet on who will replace Tanaka in the said series.
