Oikawa Tooru
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Oikawa Tooru |
| Occupation: | Setter for the Argentine Olympic volleyball team. |
| Relationships: | Iwaizumi Hajime (childhood friend) |
| Fandom: | Haikyuu |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Oikawa Tooru is a character from Haikyuu. He is the captain and setter of Aobajohsai High, a rival volleyball team for the main team of the series, Karasuno. He has a history with Kageyama Tobio as the captain and fellow setter for their middle school, Kitagawa Daichii.
Canon
Pre-timeskip, Oikawa is a third-year student at Aobajohsai High School (also known as Seijoh). He is shown to be a highly skilled setter, strategist, and captain. He is noted to be able to help any teammate, especially spikers, to reach their full potential. This ability is well recognised by other characters, including Ushijima Wakatoshi and Kageyama Tobio, both of whom play on rival teams.
He is shown to have an adversarial relationship with Kageyama. Both characters attended Kitagawa Daiichi Middle School, where they occupied the same position. Kageyama's natural ability unsettled Oikawa, who was scared that, as a third-year student, he would lose his position on the team to Kageyama, a first-year at the time. To overcome this, Oikawa works to catch up to his rival's natural genius, reflecting the idea that "talent is something you make bloom. Instinct is something you polish"[1]. As Kageyama is one of the main characters, this rivalry makes Oikawa one of the main antagonists for the first arcs of the series.
He also has a rivalry with Ushijima. This stems from the fact that Oikawa has never beaten Ushijima in a match, which is exacerbated by Ushijima's blunt reminders that Oikawa "should have come to Shiratorizawa"[2] if he ever wanted to win.
Oikawa does have a friendly relationship with his teammates, which include Iwaizumi Hajime, Matsukawa Issei, and Hanamaki Takahiro. Oikawa is particularly close to his childhood friend Iwaizumi, who also attended Kitagawa Daiichi. Although they often banter, it is Iwaizumi who provides Oikawa with support and guidance during his time of doubts.
Oikawa is shown to enjoy deliberately teasing and provoking other characters [3][4], including his own teammates. He is also popular with female characters, who find him attractive [5].
Post-timeskip, Oikawa runs into Hinata Shouyou, who is on a journey to develop his beach volleyball skills, in Brazil. It is revealed that he now plays professionally in the Argentinian volleyball league as the setter of Club Athlético San Juan[6]. Oikawa and Hinata bonds over dinner and beach volleyball sessions in Brazil, and they become friends. During the 2021 Olympics, he is the starting setter of the Argentina National team[7].
Fandom
Despite being a supporting character, and part of a "rival" team, Oikawa is hugely popular among fans of the show. As of June 2020, he is tagged more often on Ao3 than Hinata Shouyou, the protagonist of the series.
- Oikawa is shown wearing alien-themed clothing in flashbacks in canon, so in fanworks he is often depicted as having an interest in aliens or outer space in general.
- In his first appearance in the anime, Oikawa wears a white brace on one knee and received a scolding for injuring his ankle. Because of this, headcanons and other fanworks depicting him as having a more serious knee injury are common. However, no serious injury exists in the source material.
- Plant themed imagery and royalty imagery are common for Oikawa as Aoba Johsai is associated with plants and their slogan is "rule the court."
- Oikawa has been officially adopted by the real life UPCN Argentina Voley Team after becoming part of an Argentine team in canon after the time skip[8]. Fanart of Oikawa in a San Juan volleyball uniform was made by fanartist Stiirped on Twitter, which was reposted by the official Argentina team, as well as published in one of their newspapers and aired on television.
Pairings
- Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru or Iwaoi: Iwaizumi Hajime is Oikawa's best friend since childhood who sticks by him and somewhat keeps him in line.
- Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru or OiKage: Kageyama Tobio is Oikawa's former kohai who he holds a grudge against for being a genius setter who seemed to be after his position.
- Ushijima Wakatoshi/Oikawa or UshiOi
- Sugawara Koushi/Oikawa or OiSuga
- Hinata Shouyou/Oikawa or OiHina: After meeting Hinata Shouyou in Rio, Brazil, the two bonded over volleyball and dinner. Oikawa acknowledges Hinata as an opponent worthy of beating, and calls him by his first name Shouyou.
Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanart
- can I join the lets make Oikawa Tooru suffer group bc the end of match is almost there and I’m not ready at all, I’m just coping, Archived version by viria
Fanfiction
- national hot dad alliance is now calling... by dicaeopolis and owlinaminor. Rating: Teen+, Words: 58,214. Not Oikawa-centric but features Oikawa as a central character along with the captains of other teams.
- most people never even get a single high school rival by sulfate. Features insights into Oikawa's character from his Argentinian teammates.
Meta
- Oikawa Blooms (A Haikyuu!! Character Analysis)
- Haikyu!! – The Limit Switch of Karasuno and Aoba Johsai (Direct link unavailable, Web Archive link provided)
- Why is an Oikawa Tooru? (And So Can You!)
Archives and Links
- Toru O. on FFN
- Works in Oikawa Tooru on AO3
Resources
- Tōru Oikawa on the Haikyuu!! Wikia
References
- ^ Season 2, Episode 24: The Absolute Limit Switch
- ^ Season 2, Episode 25: Declaration of War
- ^ Season 1, Episode 7: Versus the Great King
- ^ Season 2, Episode 18: The Losers
- ^ Season 1, Episode 15: Revival
- ^ Haikyuu manga, Chapter 372
- ^ Haikyuu manga, Chapter 402
- ^ Tweet of UCPN Voley (Archived August 7, 2024)