mattsunsthighs:

That is basically exactly what happened, anon. I’m guessing that people who were crazy about Iwaoi, learned about those other two third years that tease Iwaoi occasionally, and said “oh look, the team pranksters!” and left it at that. Those people probably don’t know or care that Matsukawa suffers from self esteem issues because some dumb fuck told him he doesn’t look good in his uniform (they’re wrong, btw). They probably don’t care that Hanamaki is, aside from Iwaizumi, usually the first senior to reassure and boost his kouhai during a match. 

There is also so much we can use to flesh out characters for Matsuhana. Matsukawa is super observant of the littlest things on the court, and is able to adjust his strategy to combat that, but the tall child is in the lowest class in his grade; the silly boy is probably lazy with his academics, oh my god, Mattsun. His favorite food is cheese-filled hamburger steak, and if I’m correct, that’s a food more commonly enjoyed by younger children; this boy is still childish at heart, oh god I’m crying. 

Hanamaki is shown to be quite proficient at setting, which he does multiple times during the second match against Karasuno, along with being a very skilled receiver. This reveals that he’s a very well rounded player, but it also brings forward more questions about his character; Did he train extensively to learn how to set, or was he a setter before high school who got pushed aside in favor of Oikawa? Does this mean Hanamaki held a bit of resentment toward Oikawa in their first year? Not to mention, Hanamaki is shown to be a good senpai, he praises Kunimi on a nice hit, and if I’m not mistaken, is the only 3rd year to be shown praising Kunimi? (I may be wrong, I haven’t read the manga in a while, so the finer points are a bit fuzzy). And also, this boy’s favorite food is creampuffs, he’s crazy about them! In Let’s Haikyuu! Hanamaki becomes completely distracted during a match because Sugawara is holding a creampuff in his hand. He probably has aspirations to open his own bakery after college, considering the size of his sweet tooth.

As a matter of fact, Hanamaki and Matsukawa’s first lines in the anime are to calmly berate Iwaizumi and Oikawa for goofing off, in such a way that basically says “yep, same shit as always,” and for the remainder of the first season, they are both shown with neutral, slightly frowny faces. It’s not even until halfway through the second season that Hanamaki and Matsukawa show any sign of being jokesters.

And just as a reminder, these boys are 17, of course they’re going to goof off and be idiots occasionally. But the main thing to take away from this is that before the silliness, they are naturally quiet kids, who just happen to have two really good friends that make them feel comfortable enough to open up around.