Episode 3 opens with Kageyama and Hinata training under the supervision of Tanaka but after 50 minutes they have made little progress. The trio take a short break where Tanaka tells them that Daichi is normally quite gentle but is extremely scary when he is angry but the boys have already seen this side of Daichi for themselves when he threw them out of the gym. Suddenly, Sugawara arrives and promises not to tell Daichi about the secret practise and his gentler nature should help get Kageyama and Hinata working together.
Sugawara does help Hinata practise his receiving but Hinata wants to spike and yet Kageyama comes out with a hurtful line as he says in the match against the third years, he is going to give all the spikes to Tanaka because he doesn’t see Hinata as essential to winning. However, he does say if Hinata’s receiving is better by then, he would set to him as well. I really liked the lunchtime practise between Hinata and Sugawara as it builds rapport between them and it allows Hinata to voice his true reasons for wanting to beat Kageyama, it isn’t that he wants to destroy him in the same Kageyama did in their match, it is because Kageyama is stronger than him and he wants to be on the same playing level, so he can face even stronger opponents.
Sugawara is also the person who explains to Hinata that if Kageyama was his most formidable opponent before, he is now his most formidable ally. Hinata actually seems to understand this and works at making this dynamic work between them. The training scenes are intense but we do get a glimpse of the other two first years before they are introduced. Yamaguchi Tadashi comes across as a quiet and acts much like Tsukishima’s shadow, Tsukishima on the other hand, is intense and comes across as quite bitchy, his personality shifts from forced politeness to outright salty enough times to get me whiplash but I love him instantly. Hinata is also insanely jealous of both since they are taller than him. We learn through Tsukishima that Kageyama’s egocentric personality cost Kitagawa Daiichi their chance at success because the team refused to follow Kageyama and he has major anxiety about this but tries not to let it show. In their final training session before the match, Tanaka, and Sugawara watch Hinata receive for over 15 minutes straight, which is insane in itself but when Kageyama hits the ball wrong and it launches out of range, none of them believe Hinata can pick up but he does. This unwavering determination finally makes Kageyama confident enough in his abilities for him to toss to Hinata, this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the pair. The episode ends with everyone arriving for the 3-on-3 match and I can’t wait to see the first proper match since most of the main characters have now been introduced.
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