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This article is about the episode. You may be looking for Chapter 227.

Challenger (Japanese: チャレンジャー Charenjā) is the eighth episode of Haikyū!! To The Top, based on the manga Haikyū!! by Haruichi Furudate. The episode premiered on February 28, 2020.

The opening theme of this episode is PHOENIX by BURNOUT SYNDROMES and the ending theme is Kessen Spirit by CHiCO with HoneyWorks.

Overview[]

The match between Karasuno and Date Tech stretches into an eighth set. With their time limited, Karasuno begins having Hinata blend into attacks in the attempt to overcome Date Tech. Meanwhile, Kinoshita finds himself aiding the team in various ways.

Plot[]

Nearing the end of the fourth set, the Date Tech team watches as Hinata jumps ahead of everyone else. They watch as Kageyama sets to the right to Daichi and successfully block him, though Aone accidentally bumps into Futakuchi in the process. With Karasuno now at set point, Ukai takes the chance to speak with Hinata who already guesses that the best thing for him to try is to blend in with the crowd.

In the next rally, Koganegawa, Aone and Futakuchi right away notice that Hinata is not rushing forward ahead of everyone else. Karasuno executes the synchronized attack and Asahi deflects a spike off Koganegawa that lands out and wins the set for Karasuno. Out of habit, Daichi calls for the team to start a lap of flying falls until Asahi reminds him they won. Having lost, Futakuchi calls for his team to carry out their punishment of seal walks.

As the punishment is carried out, Takeda notices that Date Tech had hesitated during their last block. Ukai says this is because Kageyama has always been the setter and Hinata would therefore never participate in the synchronized attacks because he was always one tempo faster. Other teams they've faced would always be on guard once they saw and knew of the minus tempo quick attack. But right now they are currently facing Date Tech. Even if the team changed their blocking strategy, it would still be rare for them to be caught off guard or tricked.

Tsukishima points out that the amazing thing about Date Tech is that, even when they see Hinata's quick attack, they are able to move on from it as if they are not fazed by it at all. Even if they are not aiming to stop every attack, they will still be able to have two blockers attempting to block and possibly even get a touch on Hinata's quick. With the range of the attack limited, it would be easy for Date's ground defense to be able to receive the quick. Because of this, Tsukishima goes on to eagerly point out that this is Date Tech's ideal plan as it would cause Hinata to become exhausted by the later half of the game and would cause him to get blocked even more. Hinata instantly becomes annoyed at Tsukishima as Sugawara questions Tsukishima's loyalty. Despite his teammates, Tsukishima adds that when Hinata does manage to score, Date's blockers will hesitate more even though the Date team has actually shown little hesitation during the last set.

Ukai recalls when he spoke to Hinata of blending in with the others for an attack and confesses that he was incredibly impressed the first time he ever saw the insane quick attack. He was thrilled with the thought of a quick attack that would be done from anywhere and that it's speed could mess with blockers. Ukai had at first believed that the speed was all that was needed but when faced with experienced with read blockers the speed of the quick would potentially eliminate Hinata from being the one to actually attack. When they head back onto the court, Hinata knows that his greatest weapon is not being caught while Kageyama knows that if opponents adjust to him he will have to do the same in return.

Hinata gets a one-touch on Futakuchi's spike and Nishinoya makes an overhand receive. Watching Karasuno carefully, the blockers see once more that Hinata is not rushing forward like he normally does and again joins in the synchronized attack. Kageyama sends the set to Daichi and he scores, further frustrating Date Tech.

Tsukishima sees that Hinata is being monitored by the blockers and is being watched even more now that he has gone quiet. Oiwake tries to remind his players that they need to stay focused and that Karasuno is not trying anything they haven't seen before. Ukai silently agrees, especially since Hinata and Tsukishima are playing as they normally do.

The game continues and Koganegawa accidentally sends the ball too far to Futakuchi who manages a feint shot. Though Asahi is able to save it, the ball heads to the far back end and Kageyama gives chase. Koganegawa, having watched Kageyama chase the ball, becomes stunned and frozen in place when he sees Hinata go for the quick attack. Hinata scores with ease since Koganegawa was too stunned to block.

Takeda sees that the quick attack seems more effective when Hinata joins the others in a synchronized attack. Ukai explains that with read blocking, the blockers will follow where the ball goes but will also take into consideration the receive, the spikers going to attack and the setter. All of this is information that opposing players try to process. Hinata increases this information because he's a spiker that can attack from anywhere and is a great annoyance to blockers because they can never be too certain where he will attack from and what kind of attack he will try. Kageyama also adds to that increase in information to process because he is always able to not give any kind of tell of where he will send the ball.

Yachi then informs Ukai of something his grandfather had said at one of their earlier matches. Ikkei had mentioned that Hinata's minus tempo attack was impressive on its own but, at the same time, seemed like it was being wasted. Ukai is immediately annoyed by his grandfather's findings.

Now in the fifth set, Karasuno is leading by three points. Yamaguchi becomes excited that the freak quick was able to be put in to play before Tsukishima points out that this single point won't really change anything and instead will cause Date Tech to pay attention to Hinata even more. As a result of this, the chance to score from the side will increase and will cause the blockers to hesitate even more if Karasuno manages to keep scoring in this manner. Tsukishima figures that if this happens, Date's blocking will eventually stop working if the blockers start relying on guess blocking. Yamaguchi excitedly calls this Karasuno's ideal plan and is scolded by Tsukishima for interrupting.

Tsukishima s4-e8-1

Now with limited time left, the practice match goes into an eighth set. Halfway into the set, Ukai reminds Asahi to try to keep good form regardless of how tired he may be. The game continues and Kageyama sets to Tsukishima but the middle blocker misses. Kageyama believes he has been setting as he normally does and quickly see how exhausted Tsukishima is. The rest of the team notice as well and Tsukishima quickly becomes annoyed while pointing out that he does not have the same kind of stamina that Hinata has. Hearing this, Kageyama is reminded at how Ukai told him to always keep an eye on the condition of the players.

At his next chance to spike, Tanaka gives off the signs of attempting a cross-shot but does a line shot instead, though it lands out. He is frustrated at how he has been playing until Kageyama says that his line shot was rather good. Tanaka is visibly surprised at Kageyama being supportive but Asahi believes that Kageyama was actually just being honest.

Kinoshita s4-e8-1

Futakuchi serves next but the ball goes directly into the net. He is lightly hazed by his upperclassmen who are still present and watching. With the team leading by two points and Hinata next to serve, Ukai goes to sub in a pinch server and sees how intense Yamaguchi is. Though happy at seeing Yamaguchi has become eager to join in matches now, he instead picks Kinoshita to go in. Having failed at trying to hide from Ukai, the second-year wing spiker is instantly nervous at being picked to sub in.

Kinoshita performs a jump float that goes directly to Obara but he fails to receive. His next serve lands out. As he goes off the court, Ukai remarks how, despite his nerves, Kinoshita is still is able to score and warns Kinoshita not to try hiding again or else he will have to sit next to Ukai from now on.

Daichi saves a serve that clips the net. Hinata and Kageyama instantly try the quick attack but are surprised when Aone manages to block it. After Nishinoya saves the ball, it looks like Hinata is joining in for another first tempo synchronized attack but stuns everyone when he actually rushes forward as if for another minus tempo attack. Koganegawa jumps to block, determined to not let Hinata score only for Kageyama to send the set to Asahi instead. Koganegawa hurries to try to block but does not make it in time and allows Asahi to spike past the block.

After Asahi scores, Kageyama notices that Hinata had appeared to lure Koganegawa into blocking. Because Hinata is always sure that he will be given the set, it is easy to trick blockers into thinking that he will be the one to attack and tricking Koganegawa may have been easier after making it seem like he would do the quick attack. Kageyama wonders if this was Hinata's instincts kicking in but decides to take the credit for the point himself since he was the one who decided to give the set to Asahi.

Group s4-e8-2

Karasuno is now at set point and Tanaka is next to serve. His serve is received. Asahi goes to spike but Aone blocks him out. Asahi realizes that Date's wall has only gotten taller and stronger since the last time they faced each other but he is actually not afraid. Faced with a triple block, Asahi is given the set again. He hits the ball with great force against Aone and sends it out. With the set point won, Karasuno and Date Tech have tied with four wins each.

As the teams are cleaning the gym, Koganegawa approaches Kageyama and asks about why he does not tape his fingers despite all the training he must do. He confesses that he had started taping his fingers because he is always injuring his fingers and nails. Kageyama reveals that he does things like finger push-ups to build strength and maintains proper care of his fingertips and nails in order to avoid having to wear tape because he feels tape on his fingers would not allow him the same control with the ball.

Koganegawa is highly impressed with this information and declares that he will start doing the same things as Futakuchi states the setter will not last longer than three days. After incorrectly pronouncing Koganegawa's name and being corrected by Tsukishima, Kageyama asks the Date Tech setter what his highest reach point is. Koganegawa answers that his reach point is 340 cm, but the measurement was done six months prior and may possibly be higher at this point. Kageyama is annoyed due to Koganegawa having a higher reach that would allow him to put the ball at a higher point with shorter distance. Koganegawa seems confused at Kageyama's reaction but puts that aside when Hinata bids him farewell.

Group s4-e8-4

As they are leaving, Date's retired third-years meet with Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi. Moniwa wishes them luck at nationals before they depart. Once the three are gone, Asahi and Sugawara visibly relax while exclaiming that the others are still as intimidating as ever. Daichi believes that Moniwa is actually nice until Sugawara points out that he was the one who kept Futakuchi and Aone in line. As they leave the school, Kamasaki says he may grow facial hair as well as Moniwa questions if it's now a competition. Before going their own ways, Hinata and Aone bow to one another.

Later that night, several of the players are heading home while the rest are doing extra practice. Daichi warns them not to stay too late and specifically points out Hinata who has to bike over the mountain to get home. Kinoshita goes over to Nishinoya and offers to help with his practice but in the next half hour is quickly worn out as the libero asks for more serves. Annoyed, Kinoshita serves and Nishinoya fails at an overhand receive. He then carries out his personal punishment of ten fingertip push-ups.

Kinoshita is surprised at seeing Nishinoya so upset since he is never like this during a game. Tanaka sends a serve over but Nishinoya easily receives, annoying Tanaka in the process. Hinata then asks Kageyama what he is thinking of when he is making a receive and becomes disturbed when Kageyama answers 'How I'm going to kill the ball'. Kinoshita asks Nishinoya why he does not stick with underhand receives since it's clear he's struggling with overhand receives. 

Nishinoya admits he would like to stick with the underhand receives and thought that he would be able to continue receiving like this but knows that he cannot since there are those who are better than him at overhand receives. He then states that it's not fun not trying other options once they know they exist. 

Kinoshita thinks that he would like to be on the court more but is not sure that he wants to knowing that he might fail. He gets a bit of encouragement at realizing that Nishinoya is having trouble with is serves and continues with the practice with the determination to do a serve that not even Nishinoya can save. Outside the gym, Yamaguchi watches Kinoshita serving and notices the second-year tends to aim for certain spots and vows to not be beaten. Tsukishima says that it's not a bad thing for the team to have other capable players and Yamaguchi does not have to worry about being replaced as the pinch server.

While biking home, Hinata wishes that he could practice spikes and receives at the same time but always gives in to spiking when Kageyama is present. Once he is home, he begins his Ultimate Lonely Passing Drills when Natsu joins him outside. She requests to join in but Hinata says that, not only would it no longer be a lonely practice, Natsu would not be able to do the drills.

Hinata and Natsu s4-e8-1

Natsu quickly declares that she is always first in gym class and Hinata gives her the chance to try the drills with a soft ball and shows her the steps to go through. Natsu gets the first step correct but misses the second and falls over with Hinata laughing at her. Hinata begins to go through the steps while adding extra ones. At seeing how much her bother has improved, Natsu says that Hinata has become good friends with the ball. She says that he and ball were like strangers when he first began playing volleyball but now they are like best friends.

At the Osuwari restaurant, Ukai heads back inside after speaking on the phone. Shimada questions what the call was about and Ukai answers that a special project he requested will be done before they head to the Spring Tournament.

Appearances[]

Characters[]

Locations[]

Episode Notes[]

Difference between Anime and Manga[]

  • Manga: When Ukai explains read blocking, he uses the moment during the Shiratorizawa match in which Kawanishi noticed Daichi was not able to join the synchronized attack as an example.
    Anime: This was not shown.
  • Manga: Onagawa is shown making the serve that hits the net.
    Anime: It is not shown who makes the serve.
  • Manga: Only Koganegawa and Aone were shown trying to block Asahi.
    Anime: Futakuchi is shown also trying to block Asahi's spike.
  • Anime: Koganegawa approach Kageyama when he is mopping the floor.
    Manga: He approaches Kageyama when the team prepare to leave Date Tech's gym.
  • Manga: After speaking with the Karasuno third-years, Sasaya remarks how Karasuno should change their uniform color so they do not seem as intimidating.
    Anime: Sasaya does not say anything.
  • Manga: When Nishinoya falls back after failing to get Kinoshita's serve, Narita is shown noticing his behavior.
    Anime: Hinata is shown instead.
  • Manga: When Hinata is heading home, a child in a passing car notices him laughing.
    Anime: This was skipped.
  • Manga: During the passing drills with Natsu, their mother interrupts and causes Hinata to miss the ball.
    Anime: This was skipped.
  • The two people with Shimada and Ukai are different between the anime and manga.

OSTs Used[]

  • 00:00 - 00:19 - Playground (Japanese: アソビバ Asobiba)
  • - OP -
  • 02:55 - 04:32 - Preparation (Japanese: 準備 Junbi)
  • 04:37 - 08:12 - Let's Go To Tokyo!! (Japanese: レッツゴートーキョー!! Rettsugōtōkyō!!)
  • 08:45 - 09:15 - Offence and Defence (Japanese: 攻防 Kōbō)
  • - eyecatch A -
  • - eyecatch B -
  • 11:17 - 12:16 - Fellows (Japanese: Tomogara)
  • 12:24 - 14:46 - God-like Quick (Japanese: 神業速攻 Kamiwaza Sokkō)
  • 16:10 - 17:09 - Let's Go To Tokyo!! (Japanese: レッツゴートーキョー!! Rettsugōtōkyō!!)
  • 19:03 - 20:10 - Enhancements (Japanese: 昂揚 Kōyō)
  • 21:04 - 21:59 - Orange Court (Japanese: オレンジコート Orenji Kōto)
  • - ED -

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