Kanoka Amanai (Japanese: 天内叶歌,Amanai Kanoka) was previously a member of the Niiyama Girls' Volleyball Team, and its up-and-coming ace. She is also Tanaka's childhood friend.
Kanoka is a fairly tall, athletically built young woman with black hair kept in a short bob. She has large eyes with long lashes and is noted by Tanaka to have grown attractive. In her childhood, she was taller than most of her peers and had her hair past shoulder length.
Post-timeskip, her appearance has changed very little.
Personality[]
As a child, Kanoka had been very timid due to being picked on by classmates because of her tall height. Over time and with some help from Tanaka, she was able to gain more confidence in herself and in her abilities as a volleyball player but still occasionally becomes flustered at certain topics, mostly when being around or asked about Tanaka. Kanoka appears to have a friendly and polite disposition. She talks to Tanaka candidly, respects her upperclassmen, and shows concern towards Nishinoya after catching him from falling. She is much shyer around her crush, often blushing and stuttering.
Background[]
Kanoka first meets Tanaka.
Kanoka and Tanaka used to be neighbors and attend the same elementary school until she moved away in fourth grade. She towered over many of her peers and was picked on by her school mates for her physique[1]. Tanaka would chase away the bullies and encouraged her that she should be proud of her natural height while also trying to encourage her to break her habit of slouching. At some point, he took her to his junior sports team and introduced her to volleyball, which she has been playing since.
Plot[]
Spring High Preliminary Arc[]
In the manga, Kanoka first appears during the Spring Tournament Qualifiers (this scene was cut out from the anime). Her team walks into the gym and Tanaka tries to call to her from the balcony[2]. Her teammates quickly glare at Tanaka, causing him to back away fearfully as Hinata and Kageyama watch on.
Tokyo Nationals Arc[]
On the first day of nationals, Kanoka and her teammates are waiting in the stadium with other schools for the opening ceremony. Hinata accidentally bumps into Nishinoya, causing him to lose balance and fall toward her. Kanoka catches him to stop his fall before asking if he's okay. While Nishinoya responds, Tanaka notices her and approaches her excitedly. They catch up for a bit until she's called away by a teammate.
Later in the day, Niiyama Girls' team returns to their hotel after practice[1]. Kanoka sneaks away to greet Tanaka and congratulates him on Karasuno's win. She blushes heavily as she tells him to do his best and hurries away. She catches up with her teammate, Maiko Yonezawa, who teases her about Tanaka. Kanoka reveals that Tanaka was the one who protected her from bullies making fun of her height during elementary school and introduced her to volleyball. She credits him for helping her become more confident. Yonezawa teasingly asks if that's all there is to it, and Kanoka becomes too flustered to explain her feelings.
That night, Kanoka is sitting outside when she sees Tanaka pacing around. They talk for a little while before Tanaka suddenly announces that he already has a girl in his heart when Kanoka's cousin appears at the same time. Assuming that the guy is Kanoka's boyfriend, Tanaka runs away and leaves Kanoka heartbroken. However, Kanoka quickly asserts that she didn't come to nationals to date guys and will win all of her matches. The next day, Tanaka apologizes for his odd behavior and learns that the man he had assumed was her boyfriend was actually her cousin. Kanoka then thanks Tanaka for how he had helped break her slouching habit in childhood and requests that he pay close attention to how good she has gotten in volleyball before running off to join her team.
Kanoka and Yonezawa later appear when Karasuno plays against Inarizaki High. After Tanaka was able to hit a spike past Atsumu, Yonezawa comments how Tanaka is skillful in his own plays. Kanoka agrees and explains that Tanaka use to play in a manner of simply using brute force without putting much thought into is plays. She and Yonezawa soon overhear spectators comment how the starting players of Karasuno each have something that makes them stand out but Tanaka just seems to have a lively personality. Kanoka gains an annoyed look at hearing them speak poorly of Tanaka.
"My heart has been broken."
As Tanaka began to struggle with his cross shot, Kanoka noticed his frustration building until he was finally able to make his cross spike work and win the first set for Karasuno. At the same time, she remembers how he would encourage her to keep trying when she felt her own plays were failing. Knowing how straightforward and honest he's always been, Kanoka states that her heart has indeed been broken.
Final Arc[]
In the Final Arc, Kanoka continued playing volleyball and is now part of the V.League Division 1 team Hikari Pharmaceutical Red Rabbits. She also plays on Japan Women's National Team at the Olympics[3].
Statistics[]
High School Statistics
Power
4/5
Jumping
4/5
Stamina
4/5
Game Sense
3/5
Technique
3/5
Speed
2/5
As a member of Miyagi Prefecture's champion girls' team, her skill levels are most likely very high. In addition, Tanaka has referred to her as Niiyama's up-and-coming ace. When part of the national team, Kanoka is called the ace by the announcers.
Ryūnosuke Tanaka: They have known each other since at least grade four of primary school, having been neighbors before she moved away. Tanaka often chased away her bullies and encouraged her to keep her chin up and later introduced her to volleyball when he took her to his junior sports team; Kanoka credits him for helping her gain confidence. They were close friends and she still calls him "Ryū-chan", and he calls her by her first name. She was happy to see him again at nationals, and he's flustered by how beautiful she's become. Kanoka is shown to have a crush on Tanaka, getting flustered when she talks to him and when she talks about him to others; she became heartbroken when he announced that he already likes someone else, but resolved to keep her focus on volleyball instead. Also at times when she would feel insecure or feel like giving up in volleyball, Tanaka always told her to "keep trying!" and she admired him greatly for this attitude and eventually the admiration seemed to turn into a genuine crush on him.
Maiko Yonezawa: Kanoka and Yonezawa appear to be close friends. They are often seen in each other's company with Yonezawa usually trying to help Kanoka have more self-confidence and a higher opinion of herself.
Quotes[]
(To her cousin) "I didn't come here to date boys. I'll... win 'em all!"[1][4]
Current Concerns: My serve receive isn't really improving, I'm very conscious of how I'm bad at hitting straights, my shyness can't be cured, and so on (The rest is omitted).
She made a cameo appearance on Chapter 108 of the manga though only her hair is seen.
She is the oldest second-year and member on the team.
She and Shōko Hirugami are currently Hikari Pharmaceutical Red Rabbits players.
