Udai's Manga Path

"Udai's Manga Path"
Chapter Information
Chapter Number	54
Volume	Volume 5
Release Date	August 31, 2020
Chapter Guide
← Previous Chapter	VR Ushijima
Next Chapter →	Hirugami's Animals

"Udai's Manga Path" (Japanese: ({{{2}}}) , "Udai's Manga Path") is the fifty-fourth chapter of the Haikyū-bu!! series, written and illustrated by Kyōhei Miyajima and was first released on August 31, 2020 on Shōnen Jump+.

Overview

With Udai in a rut while trying to get his latest manga chapter ready, Akaashi finds himself using skills that he has perfected from dealing with a certain ace.

Plot

Akaashi approaches Udai in hopes that the manga artist has his new rough draft ready. When Udai hesitantly claims that the rough draft is complete, Akaashi takes notice of his body language, noting how Udai is hunched over and he is not making eye contact with the young editor.

Thinking that Udai is simply being affected from his current series ending, Akaashi believes that the artist simply needs a new start to get back on track. However, at seeing Udai's rough drafts, Akaashi sees that it's the exact same as a previous one. Even though both of them admit that Udai is stuck in finding a new approach, Akaashi still tries to assure him that his new idea of 'delinquent meets science fiction' isn't that bad but Udai believes otherwise. Seeing how Udai is going out of his normal theme and getting more depressed, Akaashi realizes that he needs to do something to get him back into top shape.

Akaashi voices how Udai's new idea featuring western ideas might be a little troublesome for Japanese readers to understand but thinks that he made it easier by adding something that they hear about on a daily basis and can therefore relate to. Akaashi offers a few suggests of how the story could possibly be improved upon that Udai listens to intently. Akaashi first suggests that the male character should have a different hair style that the audience may like more, and Udai thinks that, instead of a duck tail, the character should have cat ears. Seeming to understand Akaashi's help, Udai announces that he will continue to work on his rough draft and bring a new one to him soon.

Later, Akaashi checks on Udai and sees his form is now even worse than their last meeting. Udai presents his latest work and Akaashi sees the main character now has gained wings that Udai explains is something he thought teenage boys might be interested in. Akaashi decides that he needs to directly point things out to Udai but quickly changes his mind when he sees that the manga artist is practically about to collapse from what Akaashi guess is from stress. Remembering how hard it was to keep Bokuto focused when he was having an off-day, Akaashi thinks that Udai may possibly be worse.

Trying to cheer Udai up, Akaashi muses how the main character does look more delinquent like which prompts Udai to suggest adding a horn to the character, but Akaashi quickly suggests not to as it may be too much. Akaashi instead offers that the main character should be refined, stating that Udai has been adding so much to him and now he should subtract in order to make the story easier to read. With the new suggestions, Tenma quickly offers to redo his draft and present a new one soon. Akaashi feels somewhat optimistic so long as Udai can pick a main character and that he hopefully won't be as big a pain to handle as Bokuto was.

At getting Udai's next rough draft, Akaashi is surprised to see that now the character is bald. As Akaashi begins reading the story, Udai finally snaps. He begins hitting his head against the table while shouting that he just wanted to create a character with a bright personality who can be a star and is loved by everyone. As Akaashi comes to see that Udai is possibly worse than Bokuto when it comes to mood swings, he suddenly has an idea and announces that he knows someone exactly like Udai is describing.

Akaashi later makes a call to Bokuto explaining that Udai would like to interview him and while finally admitting that Bokuto is much easier to handle.

Appearances

• Fukurōdani Academy
  • Keiji Akaashi
  • Kōtarō Bokuto (background)
• Karasuno High
  • Tenma Udai
  • Saeko Tanaka (cameo)
  • Ryūnosuke Tanaka (cameo)

Chapter notes

Trivia

• A poster cutout of Hinata can be seen in Akaashi's office.