Let’s Talk About Izuki Shun

himearisu:

Let’s face it: Izuki has been shafted to the side (or more like, he has been consistently overshadowed) ever since Takao’s Hawk Eye has been revealed to possess a wider range, of the whole court, as compared to his Eagle Eye.

Later on, Izuki is singled out by Kaijou (AND IT STILL BURNS) for being the weakest member of Seirin’s starting five, or more specifically, Seirin’s weakest point as pointed out (wordplay out of nowhere!) by Kaijou’s coach (AYO I AM SO ANGRY I CAN SMASH SOME FURNITURE). Hyuuga also lays it straight to Izuki that Kaijou is looking down on him the most in Seirin. And how does Izuki reply? “…Yeah, I know.” Izuki’s well-aware of how normal he is, how his abilities are overshadowed by the rest of his team mates.

But, as mentioned by Hyuuga, Izuki has put more into basketball than any of them in Seirin. AND TO FURTHER HURT MY HEART:

(Don’t mind that sound; it was just the sound of my heart SHATTERING.)

Izuki’s been into basketball since the second grade, so can you imagine how much effort he has put into the sport? Even though he is, as he admits, clumsy. Even though he has to practice many times more than most people. If Izuki had started out as a freshman in the current team, he would have probably been as demoralized initially like the freshmen trio…BUT. He also wouldn’t give up in the end. For his love of the game and acknowledging his role as the support tower for the team and not allowing his efforts put into basketball to be for naught.

Kasamatsu, who isn’t necessarily cocky, is well-aware of the difference in the level of their abilities and hence, he dismisses Izuki easily. WELL TOO BAD FOR YOU, KASAMATSUCCHI; THE JOKE’S ON YOU.  After Izuki had successfully stolen the ball from Kasamatsu through Eagle Spear, he apologises to Izuki for taking him lightly.

AND THEN WE GET TO RAKUZAN VS SEIRIN. Who is Izuki’s point guard counterpart? Akashi Seijuurou. WHO DOES AKASHI NOT OVERSHADOW? Let’s be real. I honestly wasn’t expecting much of Izuki’s growth, because I was expecting the focus to be more on Kuroko, Kagami, and to a lesser extent, Kiyoshi, with him being one of the Uncrowned Generals and facing three others of the same title. (BUT I GOT MY WISH OF FURIHATA ACTUALLY PLAYING AGAINST AKASHI, so anything is possible, I suppose.)

So in the latest chapter, with Izuki going up against Hayama and his ridiculous dribbling, I was hopeful, but not very expectant. Hayama had gone up against another person (Kagami, was it?) and managed to pass him. And how does Hayama, an Uncrowned General, view his one-on-one with Izuki?

OF COURSE HE LOOKS DOWN ON IZUKI. If Kagami hadn’t posed much of a problem, what more Izuki, right? 

He thinks that he doesn’t need much to face Izuki but decides to up the ante anyway with his four fingers dribble just to crush Izuki for being annoying in that moment.

But Izuki defies everybody’s expectations of him by managing to follow Hayama’s dribble speed with his Eagle Eye. And not long ago, Izuki was finding it difficult to keep up with Kasamatsu’s speed.

Naturally, everyone reacts with “Wha?” or “!” of various intensities because like Hayama himself, no one expected Izuki to be able to keep up with Hayama.

“It’s common for players that have stayed in relative obscurity to somehow renew themselves, and flourish as if they were completely different people.”

RELATIVE OBSCURITY- NOW JUST LISTEN HERE: IZUKI IS NOT BASIC OKAY; IZUKI IS NORMAL. (AVERAGE AS AN ADJECTIVE HAS A SLIGHTLY MORE NEGATIVE CONNOTATION TO ME IN A SPORTS MANGA IDK) NORMAL IN A TEAM WHERE THERE IS AN UNCROWNED GENERAL, A ROOKIE LIGHT-SHADOW DUO AND A CLUTCH SHOOTER CAPTAIN. BUT HE IS STILL CONSISTENTLY IN THE STARTING FIVE, REGARDLESS.

I don’t know about you, but this panel of Kasamatsu just killed me. NOT LONG AGO, KASAMATSU HAD DISMISSED IZUKI AS SEIRIN’S WEAKEST LINK. Here, he recognises Izuki’s ability and acknowledges his effort, though not perfect, in facing and marking Akashi. KASAMATSUCCHI I COULD JUST KISS YOU IN BETWEEN YOUR EYEBROWS

I’m tired so I’ll stop this post here. With Hayama going all out with his five finger dribble, I once again have no expectations.

BUT. Please recognize. Izuki is important. Izuki’s character growth is important.

(I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS OVER THE SEIRIN POINT GUARDS. LIKE FURIHATA TOO OMG I FEEL LIKE I HAVE AN ESSAY ABOUT HIM LURKING IN MY BRAIN SOMEWHERE- PRECIOUS BABY YOU WILL GO FAR I CAN FEeL IT IN MY BONES.)

OKAY BYE