The last set.
Win!
You have to keep winning!
If we drop the ball now...
it's over.
Haikyuu !!
I take two deep breaths and calm my heart
I take a step with my left foot to break the silence
Get your nervousness in check and reign in your mind
You have it in you
You can cast out the demons
Fate? Random chance? Questions? Answers? It's all one
This is the sign
Oh, yeah!
The world is opening to us
We pass the door,
look straight ahead, and never look back
Oh, yeah!
I put my hand to my chest
I can feel the proof that I exist
It is my beating heart
Episode Twenty-three: The Play to Shift the Momentum
Nice receive!
Number ten!
They've probably changed their signal for the superhuman fast attack by now.
It's a simple signal, so they can swap it as much as they want.
There still has to be some kind of tell-tale hint.
If he's been tracking the ball, it's a normal fast attack.
And if he dives right in, it's superhuman?
You're right, we should be watching number ten himself.
Yes, sir.
Number ten...
For all his talent, the small fry is just a decoy.
Keep that in mind, okay?
Yes, sir!
Yessir!
Yes!
We can't seem to get it right the first time!
The rally continues.
Here's our chance!
On average, Seijou probably has better defense and blockers.
A diversion!
We have a libero with outstanding defensive skill.
All right!
Asahi!
The setter received it!
He can't make the set!
They won't be able to form much of an attack.
They'll probably go left!
Watacchi!
Yes, sir!
Karasuno Aoba Jousai
All right!
Until now, it was only a hunch.
What?
I think Seijou's libero was originally a setter.
Atta boy!
What do you mean?
Thanks, sir!
If a libero goes past the attack line to deliver an overhand set and someone spikes it, that is illegal.
Their libero jumped just before the attack line to deliver a set in midair.
That makes a valid spike.
They can set up advanced attacks instantly.
This is Aoba Jousai, the powerhouse!
Olé!
All right!
Daichi, nice receive!
Asahi!
The ball's coming back!
I have to push it over!
Take that!
All right!
He was barely able to make that set.
Incredible.
Okay, we're playing well!
Stay calm!
Yes, sir!
They're starting to get used to our central attacks,
so use the full width of the court as much as possible!
Yes, sir!
How can there be no holes in Seijou's offense whatsoever?
They alter any scenario to formulate a vicious attack, as if it was planned that way!
Let's go!
Yessir!
We're definitely back on our feet after we briefly put Sugawara in the match.
We've gotten rid of the unnecessary tension and pressure.
I suspect that everyone on the team is now playing at their true potential.
Is this the latent defect that truly sets the two teams apart?
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Shit!
Nice, Tsukishima!
It's the dirty diversion that hits when they least expect it!
Phrasing.
I bet when they all put out 100%, the stronger team is Seijou.
But isn't having that drop to 70% and rise again to 120%
what a match is all about?
And Karasuno has something that can increase its offensive power to 120%.
The greatest decoy!
This is incredible! Seijou is incredible!
I want to play, I want to play. I want to play now.
I want to play now, now, now!
Hinata?
Yes?
Do you remember what Mr. Ukai just said?
Attack using the full width of the court?
Yes. And the attack that best utilizes it
has barely been used in this match.
Yes!
I don't like this.
{=1}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=0}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
The team is keeping it together, but I can't help it.
Whenever the tiny klutz walks on the court,
it makes me incredibly nervous.
He's the little beast who's been saving up all his frustration in the warmup zone.
Karasuno has finally come together in the last set.
One point!
Go, Shouyou!
Go, go!
But we're still one step short of Seijou.
If there's any possibility we can leave them a step behind,
it's probably up to you guys.
Put Karasuno that extra step ahead!
Nice receive!
Left, left!
Two blockers!
Kageyama, nice job making contact!
This is our chance!
Use the full width
of the court!
He's going for it! The air-splitting...
Wide broad jump!
Rule the Court
Nice spike, Hinata!
Shouyou!
Oh no.
Yes!
Now that the duo is up and running,
I can't allow them to stay on the court for any length of time.
Makki, nice!
Yes!
Spin it around!
Spin that rotation!
Put the small fry in the back row as quickly as possible!
I've got it!
The ball just won't hit the floor. Wow.
Nice cover, Makki!
It's coming back!
We have a chance here!
Again?!
Use the full width of the court!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
All right!
That small kid is amazing.
Volleyball is a sport that involves jumping nonstop, so it's also like a fight against gravity.
Jump to decoy.
Jump to block.
Jump to spike.
Nishinoya, nice cover!
As the rally continues,
Back, go back! One more time!
the more uncomfortable it gets, making it harder to think.
Left, left!
Let's stop it again!
It makes you want to slack off on full-out blocks and decoy work so bad,
once I even wished someone else would spike for me.
As the long rally went on and on, I thought with my oxygen-deprived brain,
"Would you just fall already, ball? Preferably on the opponent's side of the court?"
Send it my way!
I can't drop my speed for a split-second, or I'll be put behind for good.
With my height, if I don't jump as hard as I can, I'll be swatted down by the wall just like that!
Run, run!
Jump, jump!
Do it to stay here!
I'm not gonna let you hit it unmarked!
Now! Use the full width of the court!
Followed by...
a breach through the center!
The pipe made it past!
Nice spike!
Hinata!
Shit.
I'm sorry.
I totally fell for it.
In my head, I knew that the timing was right for a pipe.
Yet I nearly gave it to Hinata!
He nearly took the set away from me.
Gutsy move, Hinata!
Thank you, sir!
The greatest decoy.
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Karasuno caught up.
They're tied.
I'll hand out the towels.
Thank you!
Thanks.
The rallies are way longer than in the first and second sets.
It's gotta be hard.
But...
I'm jealous.
What do we do about number ten's broad jump?
The broad jump...
has got to go.
Haikyuu !!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Tanaka, nice spike!
Yes!
The next rotation puts Hinata in the back row.
Hey! How are you?!
I-I'm fine!
Rack up lots of points before you go back.
No duh!
Kunimi, nice receive!
Kindaichi!
Number twelve, number twelve!
Nishinoya, nice receive!
Here's my chance!
Is he going for another broad jump?! Wait.
What?
He's unmarked!
They stopped blocking!
All right, hit it in unmarked, Hinata!
Yeah.
I can see it perfectly!
Watari, nice receive!
He's deliberately unmarked!
Barely any time passed!
They change their strategy really fast!
Now a setter dump?!
They've used our momentary confusion to get a setter dump on us!
That broad jump has got to go.
How do we do that, sir?
The small fry's broad jump is probably another superhuman attack.
It has terrific speed, but I suspect he gets caught up in the momentum,
taking away his ability to be selective about its placement.
Yes.
We'll just have to dig out spikes from his broad jump instead of blocking them.
Yes, sir!
A block that doesn't work just interferes with the receive.
No matter how hard it gets, never stop thinking or understanding one another!
Nice receive!
Isn't his broad jump enough to disrupt Seijou?
Shit.
Just when we least wanted our opponent to get into a rhythm,
it's his turn to serve.
Let's stop him here.
Olé!
Yessir!
What the...
It went over the net!
Rule the Court
Talk about lucky!
That was unavoidable!
Just stay focused!
Shit, they have another two point buffer.
Keep cool.
Olé!
Sorry! Cover me!
I've got it!
Kageyama!
Asahi, last hit!
We have a chance here!
That was close!
Left!
Calm down! Keep cool!
Whoa, it's really hard to make it count!
Taking control of a long rally is one way to gain momentum.
The point earned from this rally will be huge!
Cover it!
I'm not letting you have this point or the momentum!
Oh, it's still in play!
But who will make the last hit?!
Center!
Shouyou, it's all yours!
Get through!
Stop him!
All right!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Now they've used up both timeouts.
What else could they do?
Unless they use a timeout to physically stop Seijou's momentum, they'll run away with the match.
Isn't there something, anything, that can change the momentum?
We don't need big guns. I just want one play.
Just one play to clear the air!
Seijou touched the net!
I'm sorry!
It's fine!
Thank goodness.
Still...
Now the small fry is in the back row!
It's up to you.
Yes, sir.
If we screw this up, Seijou will have twenty points!
Hinata, relax!
Yes, sir!
And if they take the momentum along with it, we'll never catch up!
Hey, Shimada. Look.
T-Tadashi is their pinch server?!
What is Keishin thinking? Is he dumb?!
I told him that he only flukes them at best!
It probably means he's hoping for a fluke.
You never know what will change the momentum.
Karasuno's pinch server?
Is he good at serving?
Or is it simply to clear the air?
Either way, we aren't giving up the momentum.
Yamaguchi, you can do this.
But you won't beat me!
He hates being out of the match, even for a second.
Yamaguchi!
Go change the momentum!
Y-Yes, sir!
This line.
A different world lies on the other side of it.
I think the temperature is different on this side.
Way to score a huge promotion, Yamaguchi!
Yes, sir!
Take a shot at 'em, Yamaguchi!
Give us a good serve.
G-Give us a good one. T-Take it nice and easy now.
Asahi, do you understand what nice and easy means?!
Yikes! Being put in the match now would freak out anyone!
This is his first match and first serve in high school! It's terrifying!
Is the coach a sadist or something?!
It's even making me tense.
Don't! Yamaguchi will pick up on it! Composure!
I think the back of my head is safer without Hinata serving.
Is this safe?
This situation is already tense enough.
He's under enough pressure being put in ahead of his seniors.
Oh, yeah!
Hey, Yamaguchi!
Serve up a nice one!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Oh man. He's awkward as hell.
Of course he is.
Serving is the only time you're truly alone in a sport that involves passing the ball back and forth.
Everyone's watching you.
The pressure is intense.
This is scary, but...
The moment you stand in the position to serve, you're the star of the match, no matter who you are!
Prove to them that you can play too!
A jump float serve?!
Go over!
Rule the Court
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Work it, work it, Seijou! Work it, work it, Seijou!
One more point!
Okay, we got lucky.
I-I'm sorry.
Shake it off!
D-Don't sweat it.
Don't worry about it.
I'm sorry.
Nah.
Just shake it off, Yamaguchi.
Don't think twice about it. Leave it behind you.
Yamaguchi!
I-I'm sorry.
Make the next one count.
The next one?
Yes, sir!
Has Karasuno's mood changed?
Captains are incredible.
I still can't measure up to them.
Wow. It's like I've been relieved of the worst stress of the day.
Same here.
What? They quickly brought him in and then threw him out again after he failed.
I feel sorry for him.
That's what pinch servers do.
The momentum and their pride all rides on that one ball.
And Tadashi failed.
One point! One point!
But this opportunity to learn frustration and his own powerlessness now will definitely make him better!
All right!
Has the guy with a tan perked up?
Yeah, you might be right, Tattsuan.
You never know what event might turn the tide.
Another match!
Earn the chance to play...
another match!
Daichi, nice receive!
Okay, don't lose it now!
It's like the back of Seijou's shirt is within reach, yet it never gets any closer.
Unless they score when Seijou is serving, Karasuno is just waiting to lose.
Cover it!
Is exhaustion gradually lowering their accuracy?
Kunimi!
Nice cover!
This is some high-level stuff.
It's coming back! We have a chance!
Is this really a third-round match?
It's out.
I'm sorry!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Okay!
Please score!
It's out!
Nice eye!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Okay, good!
Ryuu, last hit!
Make it back-to-back points!
Yeah!
Get every ball in front of me!
He used his foot!
Right on!
That looks painful.
Nice, Hinata!
We scored! Just one point behind now!
Aoba Jousai Karasuno
Kageyama, give us a good serve!
One more point!
Daichi!
There's no way in hell I'll lose!
There's no way...
Hey...
Yes!
They're the same!
Seijou now has...
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=3}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
{=2}Aoba Jousai Karasuno
match point!
Point, point!
One point to go! One point to go!
Don't be intimidated, men!
Let's throw ourselves into it!
Yes!
Asahi, nice spike!
One point to go!
Tanaka, give us a good one!
One point!
You can do it!
If I mess up this serve, it's match over.
If they receive this ball and make their attack count, it's over!
They'll use a fast attack!
Don't let it hit the floor!
At the very least,
touch it!
Shit!
It's going over the net!
They'll just send it right back over!
A one-handed set?
All right!
We run laps convinced that we will all make it
We suffer through the nights for a vision we chose on a whim
If you really want fairness then we'd all look basically the same
We will suffer through more nights for a vision instead of standing still
Our passion burns until the morning and we advance with closed eyes
I haven't forgotten you despite this passion
I run with only my headlight for guidance
No matter what awaits me I will laugh in this body I was born in
Is there someone running with your taillight for guidance?
What you call determination just means bunching up
Is someone going to follow up on all these impressions?
Will vowing to never falter let me laugh again?
Next Episode Preview
Hey, you guys really are throwing yourselves into it!
Thank you, sir!
The score's 24-24. It's deuce.
Whoever gets ahead by two points first wins.
Obviously, that will be us!
All right!
Next time on Haikyuu!!:
"'Lonely King' No More."
Episode Twenty-four: "Lonely King" No More