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"Broken Heart" (Japanese:
Overview[]
The chapter starts with a flashback of the night before the 2nd day of the Nationals. Tanaka overhears the conversation of Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita about Tanaka's current love issues. Tanaka becomes flustered when they suggested he gave up chasing Shimizu as he recalls his infatuation with her right from their first meeting. Back to the match, a revived Tanaka calls for a toss to the left and finally scores a point with a super inner cross. His efforts lead Karasuno to win the first set with a score of 27-25. Meanwhile, Kanoka is finally getting a hold of her feelings.
Plot[]
Despite all the setbacks and difficulties he has faced so far, Tanaka refuses to waste any time feeling sorry for himself.
The scene flashbacks to the night before. Tanaka overhears the rest of the second-years discussing a potential love relationship between him and Kanoka. Tanaka quickly becomes flustered and proclaims he is still determined on winning over Kiyoko's heart. Ennoshita and the others advice Tanaka to give up and move on since he actually has a chance with Kanoka. When Tanaka has a hard time accepting this notion of giving up his love for Kiyoko, the rest are suddenly reminded of their first meeting with Tanaka.
About one year and nine months ago, the current second-years joined the Karasuno volleyball club. Kinoshita and Narita were initially intimidated by Tanaka due to his punk-like appearance until Tanaka outright proposed to and was rejected by Kiyoko upon their first meeting. Then they all realize that Tanaka is actually a simple and earnest guy. While Tanaka goes out for a walk to calm down, Ennoshita is reminded just how amazing Tanaka is for always being so simple and earnest.
Back to the match, the second-years watch intently as Tanaka calls out for a toss to the left. Even with Hinata acting as a decoy, Inarizaki blockers are quick to put up a two-men block on Tanaka's spike. Kageyama and Tsukishima are worried about a complete shut off, but Kanoka, who is well-familiar with Tanaka's personality, is confident that everything will be fine. With unwavering determination, Tanaka executes a super inner cross, a spike that he has failed many times before. His cross takes all of Inarizaki by surprise thus winning the first set for Karasuno. As the Karasuno supporters celebrate, the second-years burst out in laughter fully knowing that Tanaka will come through.
With Karasuno taking the first set, the two teams prepares to switch sides on the court. Tanaka calls out to Tsukishima to pester him about ignoring Tanaka's call for the ball. Tsukishima bluntly replies that he simply thought Asahi has a better chance to score. He eventually admits that he is scared of Tanaka's mental fortitude in that Tanaka never breaks down despite the all the hardships. Tanaka tries hard to explain that he mentally collapsed just now, but ultimately decides to remain persistent because one can only go up when one has fallen.
Meanwhile, Kanoka is reminded of her childhood memories with Tanaka. She remembers all the encouragement he gave her and realizes that Tanaka has always been straightforward. Kanoka comes to the full realization that Tanaka is truly in love with someone else and admits to being heartbroken.
Appearances []
Chapter notes[]
Character revelations[]
Trivia []
- The chapter consists of a center color image depicting Karasuno and Inarizaki standing opposites of each other before an Inari Shrine. The shrine gate is guarded by twin fox statutes each holding a volleyball as a reference to Inarizaki's team motif. The text reads: "Crows Vs. Foxes, A Fierce Battle at Full Speed."