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The third episode of Haikyuu!!, Perspective, see Hinata take a greater effort in his work as a ball boy. Hinata observes the third set of the practice game between the first and third years. When he witnesses Kunimi successful picking up Ushijima’s spike, he notices that he’s a dear in the headlights when anticipating a spike. Yamagata moves in sync with the blockers, allowing him to receive a spike form Hyakuzawa. He recalls that Nishinoya told him that excellent receivers are “able to tell where the ball will go from reading the spiker’s form.” Being a ball boy, gives Hinata a new perspective. Literally. He usually watches the ball, however, he now can see how the other players perform. He starts to notice, their movements and techniques.

He recalls practicing with his friend, Tamayama. During the tennis practice, Hinata isn’t helpful. However, Tamayama tells him that he has “superb reflexes.” Hinata remembers the “split step,” that Tamayama taught him. The split step is a “move in which a player takes their feet off the ground in order to reset their form when an opposing player is about to strike and then use that momentum to go into their next move.” Hinata using this technique, is able to catch the ball before it hits him in the face. However, his noise starts bleeding. With all this observation, Hinata realizes that there are a lot of holes in his game.

While, Hinata betters himself, so does team Karasuno. The following day they practice against the Tokonami team. Despite practicing on their serves they, some fail to clear the net. Team Tokonami wins. With the win, they feel confident that they will make Nationals. Back at Shiratorizawa, Hinata starts to put his new movement to good use. This catches the eye Anabara, who comments that “Hinata is now starting to put thought into his movements which will later blend with his instincts to become intuition.” This episode briefly touches on Kageyama at the National Youth Camp, there not much there. However, I’m hoping that they show his progress in the next episode.

The series is taking it’s time showing Hinata’s progress, but I think it’s effective. I thought that he was going to get on the team, but I actually think this is better for him. First he needs to be humble after his inappropriate behavior. However, he’s was single-minded while playing. With his new perspective, he’s already becoming a better player.

Check Out my Review of Episode 2