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Michiru Usuri (Japanese:
Appearance[]
Usuri has light-colored hair parted down the middle, thin eyebrows, and round eyes. Compared to his teammate Kiryū, his appearance gives off a more approachable feel.
Personality[]
To his teammates, Usuri is the encouraging player who assures that his team will do well. However, when facing off other teams, Usuri is manipulative and is able to alter the opponent's conditions in game with his planning. His personality is described as awful or shady when he gets overly excited into the game. Usuri also finds pleasure in his opponents' despair when they are being overwhelmed by his team and always has a wide smile on his face.
Plot[]
Tokyo Nationals Arc[]
Usuri interrupts Kiryū's reflection back on his conversation with Bokuto and asks him if everything is alright. When Kiryū answers no, stressed, Usuri tries to cheer his captain up and says that it's going to be alright either way because their team has Kiryū since he's always the best.[2]
Usuri starts off the match with his serve, and Konoha is easily able to bump it to Akaashi, who sets it to Onaga; however, Unnan blocks Onaga's spike, earning Mujinazaka a point. Even though Usuri has most likely seen far greater blocks than this in the past, he still congratulates Unnan. Usuri serves again afterward, but this time, it flies out-of-bounds, which he apologizes for.
Right after, the ball approaches Usuri and decides to send it to Kiryū, a broad smile showing on his face. After his spike easily triumphs over Fukurōdani's triple block, everyone is astounded by Kiryū, but Kenma notices Usuri and asks Kuroo whether he's a famous setter, to which Kuroo answers that he hasn't ever heard of him.
Later on in the match, Usuri serves, but Sarukui is able to bump it, Daichi internally commenting that he made that look easy, but in truth, it took a lot of skill. The ball goes to Akaashi, but Usuri immediately realizes that he's about to do a setter dump, which alarms Akaashi. When Akaashi is tensed, Usuri beams at this, being able to figure out how the opposing setter is thinking. He then turns to Bishin and says that everything is going perfectly, showing even more glee.[3]
After that, Usuri figures out that Akaashi is probably a "by-the-book" kind of player, and all he needs to do to make him panic is make him mess up, and that if his setting becomes rushed and panicked, Fukurōdani would lose and it would be Mujinazaka's win.
However, when Usuri sets to Unnan, it's too slow, so it lets Bokuto block the spike, which scares Usuri for the first time in the match. After this, Bokuto gets fired up to win the game and scores multiple points in a row, and Usuri is seen having a look of fear on his face. His worries soon vanish when Akaashi gets benched to have Anahori in instead.[4]
And when Kiryū is thinking back at his teammates, he thought of Usuri and Mami's words of motivation to him, thinking that he is blessed for having such great teammates. And that if they were going to say that about him, instead of running away, he should let it go to his head. After Bokuto yells out that he couldn't believe that volleyball could be so tiring, Kiryū laughingly scoffs, and Usuri is immediately shocked at this, calling Bokuto scary for being able to make Kiryū laugh during a game.
Near the end of the game, when Mujinazaka was at the brink of losing, Usuri tells himself that it'd be okay because Kiryū is the greatest and then attempts at doing a setter dump, which succeeds. When Kiryū congratulates him, Usuri says that his dump only succeeded because everyone was paying attention to Kiryū.
When Fukurōdani is at 24 points, it's Usuri's turn to serve, and Konoha is able to bump the ball to Onaga, which lets him spike the ball over to Mujinazaka's side of the court, winning Fukurōdani the match. After Mujinazaka loses, Usuri walks up to Kiryu, crying, apologizing for setting to him way too much, and putting pressure on him as the ace, and says that it's especially bad when sometimes Kiryu alone is getting overwhelmed by Mujinazaka's opponents, but Usuri still sets the ball to him. However, Usuri then claims, louder this time, that he only sets to him because he wants to.
Kiryu then praises Usuri for being an excellent setter to him and to carry the team and to take care of their coach in the following year.[1]
Usuri is seen watching Karasuno's game against Kamomedai next to Kiryū after their loss.
Statistics[]
| High School Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 2/5 | ||
| Jumping | 3/5 | ||
| Stamina | 3/5 | ||
| Game Sense | 4/5 | ||
| Technique | 4/5 | ||
| Speed | 4/5 | ||
Usuri is a very analytical, observant, and intelligent setter. He is the type to play mind games and plan many steps ahead. He is seen deliberately using a weak serve to bait Fukurōdani into a using a quick set over the middle, where the Mujinazaka blockers are waiting. Kenma describes him as vile after realizing Usuri's ultimate goal of crashing Akaashi's spirit.[3]
He is proficient in setting, being able to set the ball high enough to make full use of his teammate's height. He can also do a jump floater serve and uses dumps.
Relationships[]
Mujinazaka High[]
- Wakatsu Kiryū: Usuri has great admiration for Kiryū and thinks of their ace as the best there is. He often sets for Kiryū, counting on their reliable ace to score under overwhelming pressure from the opposing team. Usuri is aware that his dependence on Kiryū puts a big burden on the latter. Despite that, he claims he only does it because he wants to, showing his trust and high expectations for their ace.[1] Kiryu, who tends to struggle with shouldering others' expectation of him, does not blame Usuri for this and thinks that he's blessed to have such an amazing setter/teammate as Usuri.
- Mujinazaka High: Usuri gets along well with the rest of his teammates. He is openly encouraging and praises them when they make a good play. His teammates are aware of his scheming nature as a setter. Nevertheless, they trust him and go along with his plan after Usuri suggested shutting down Fukurōdani's setter in addition to the ace.
Quotes[]
- (To Kiryū) "There's nothin' you hafta worry about, Wakatsu-san. Today—just like every other day—you're the best!"[5]
- (To Bishin about Akaashi) "That dump he just tried has gotta be proof that he's starting to panic."[3]
- (To Kiryū) "That dump only worked cuz I took advantage of all the attention they were payin' you, Wakatsu-san!"[6]
- (To Kiryū) "And so, I wanted to keep tossing to you, and so I did."[1]
Trivia[]
- Favorite Food: Minced Rice (Japanese: そぼろご
飯 Soboro Gohan) just like Akane Yamamoto.
- Current Concern: He has been told that sometimes, his eyes look scary.
- He is the youngest second-year on the team.
- Nomenclature:
- Michiru (満) – Fullness
- Usuri (臼利) – Milestones and Advantages