Yūtarō Kindaichi

“	I didn't really get along with you from the start! And that's why next time, we will definitely win!	”

Yūtarō Kindaichi (Japanese: 金田一 (きんだいち) 勇太郎 (ゆうたろう) , Kindaichi Yūtarō), pre-timeskip, was a first year student at Aobajohsai and one of the team's middle blockers. Currently, he is a college student and a middle blocker for the Tamaden Elephants, a professional volleyball team in Division 2 of Japan's V. League. He is also going to be an electrician in Saitama.

AppearanceEdit

Kindaichi is a young boy who's quite tall for his age, being the tallest member of his current team. He has dark hair that sticks straight up, earning him the nickname "turnip-head" (or, occasionally, "shallot-head") by Hinata who associates his silhouette with a turnip when meeting him again by Aobajohsai's toilets, though it's implied that he himself is unaware of it. His face seems to be set in a scowl most of the time, though it's more of a passive one rather than an intimidating glare like Kageyama's.

PersonalityEdit

He appears to be quite competitive and a bit stubborn. It took him a while before he finally accepted that Kageyama has changed and even when he did, he still didn't accept Kageyama's apology, choosing instead to stay as enemies. He seems to respect and admire the third years of his current team, specifically Oikawa. After being complimented by the setter once, he stumbled over his "thank you" while standing stiffly with both arms by his side.

BackgroundEdit

He, Kunimi, and Kageyama went to Kitagawa Daiichi together and were on the volleyball team. The three are often shown together in the flashbacks. During their third year, he wore the number 5. Kindaichi was the only player that argued with Kageyama whenever the latter became too unreasonable, and he wasn't afraid of expressing his frustration. He and Kunimi pressured their coach into benching Kageyama due to his inability to work as a team player.

PlotEdit

Karasuno High Team Formation ArcEdit

InterhighEdit

Spring High Preliminary ArcEdit

StatisticsEdit

Original Statistics
Power		3/5
Jumping		3/5
Stamina		4/5
Game Sense		2/5
Technique		3/5
Speed		3/5

According to himself, he uses his height to spike past blockers that can't reach him (like Hinata). According to Oikawa, Kindaichi is at his best when the ball toss allows him to jump his highest and with the aid of his height and spike the ball down.

During the Spring High Tournament, it's shown that he can do a broad quick (like Hinata).

Jumping Reach: 332 cm

RelationshipsEdit

Tobio KageyamaEdit

He was Kindaichi's former teammate in Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High. Kindaichi was mentioned by Oikawa to be Kageyama's "partner" back then because the latter tossed to him a lot, almost like Hinata and Kageyama's relationship right now (but not quite). It is unknown whether or not Kindaichi and Kageyama were close during their first and second years, but they are often seen together, along with Kunimi Akira, in the flashbacks. During their third year, Kageyama demanded a lot of his teammates (match his speed, spike his unreasonably high tosses), causing Kindaichi, along with Kunimi, to tell the coach to bench Kageyama. Upon seeing Kageyama with Karasuno, he is shocked by the fact that the former is being a team player.

Akira KunimiEdit

They are current teammates of Aobajohsai High's Volleyball Team and former teammates of Kitagawa Daiichi's

Volleyball Team. They appear to be friends and are shown interacting with each other in the flashbacks often. In Kitagawa Daiichi, they would complain to each other about Kageyama's demands and in the practice match against Karasuno, they both made comments to each other about Kageyama's change in behavior being different from what they remember. After Kindaichi's encounter with Kageyama in the bathroom, Kunimi smacked his arm when he was talking about feeling defeated, showing their close relationship with each other. Kunimi has also tried to get Kindaichi to let go of their past with Kageyama.

Tōru OikawaEdit

He respects Oikawa the most out of all the Seniors. He admires Oikawa's style of playing and always trusts him to give him a nice toss to spike. He was also in the same junior high as Oikawa, Kitagawa Daiichi.

Shōyō HinataEdit

Kindaichi first meets Hinata during the practice match between Karasuno and Aobajohsai. Though at first they seem to

get along when they realize they have common ground concerning Kageyama's difficult personality, they quickly differ on where they stand on his setting; Kindaichi calling Kageyama's sets impossible while Hinata says they are great. Kindaichi initially tried to intimidate Hinata by telling him that he would be useless to Kageyama if he couldn't hit his sets only for Kindaichi to be surprised at how Hinata is able to hit the sets without difficulty, having believed no spiker would be able to hit one of Kageyama's sets. Throughout their encounters, the two seem to form a rivalry. Kindaichi and Hinata interact a bit during the first year training camp where Kindaichi reveals that he becomes filled with a need to block Hinata anytime he goes to spike. Hinata also advised Kindaichi that it's alright to have rivalries with others when Kindaichi asked Hinata how Kageyama has been after noticing his playing style has changed. Kindaichi follows Karasuno's games during nationals along with the rest of his team and many times finds himself supporting Hinata.

TriviaEdit

• Favorite Food: Grilled corn.
• Current Concern: Girls in his class said that "Kindaichi-kun kinda seems more "lanky" than "tall", right?"
• Nicknamed "Turnip-Head" by Ryūnosuke Tanaka, but it's mainly Shōyō Hinata who calls him that now.
• His star sign is Gemini.
• In Haikyuu's first popularity poll, Kindaichi tied with Yamamoto at 29th with 466 votes.^[1] In the second, he dropped to 32nd with 975 votes.^[2]
• Nomenclature
  • Yutaro(勇太郎) - Brave First Son
  • Kindaichi (金田一) - Golden Field One
• Currently plays on the Tamaden Elephants team with Wataru Onaga.

QuotesEdit

• "I didn't really get along with you from the start! And that's why next time, we will definitely win!" (To Tobio Kageyama, Chapter 15)

ReferencesEdit