Tsukishima Kei
This article or section needs expansion. |
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Tsukishima Kei |
| Occupation: | Karasuno high school student and volleyball player |
| Relationships: | Tsukishima Akiteru (brother), Yamaguchi Tadashi (best/childhood friend) |
| Fandom: | Haikyuu |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Tsukishima Kei is a character in the manga and anime Haikyuu.
Canon
Tsukishima Kei is a member of the Karasuno Volleyball team in Hinata Shouyou's year. He plays a middle blocker position on the Karasuno Volleyball Team. Kei is childhood friends with another first year, Yamaguchi Tadashi. He has a somewhat antagonistic relationship with both Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio, often making fun of the former for being short and referring to the latter by his disliked moniker, "King of the Court".
Kei is at first not as engaged in volleyball as some of his peers, claiming it to be "just a game". He enjoys riling others up, both his teammates and members of the other team with his cool, smug attitude. Despite his outward demeanor, he has low self-esteem. While he generally keeps his aloof demeanor, he does not appreciate being told what he can and cannot do, and will use spite as motivation.
Kei makes an effort to avoid getting too invested into volleyball at first due to a complicated relationship with his older brother, Tsukishima Akiteru. As a child, Kei looked up to Akiteru, who was his team's ace in middle school. In middle school, where he met Yamaguchi, he was under the impression that Akiteru was back as Karasuno's team ace, although he'd never seen his brother play because Akiteru claimed it would make him too nervous to know he was being watched. When Kei finally saw the Karasuno team play, he spotted his brother in the cheer team on the bleachers. This revelation soured his relationship with both his brother and volleyball. He finds his motivation for volleyball during the Miyagi Prefectural Spring Qualifiers final match against Shiratorizawa, when he successfully blocks a spike from Ushijima Wakatoshi.
Fandom
Tropes and themes
- The characters in Tsukishima's name mean moon, island, and firefly, and both canon and fanworks often compare Tsukishima to the moon in various ways.
- He is a skilled middle blocker and, in combination with Yamaguchi, is referred to as Karasuno's shield.
- He is often depicted with dinosaur plushies or toys as he has dinosaur models on the shelves in his room in canon.
- Strawberries are a common visual motif in fanart because Tsukishima's favorite food is strawberry shortcake.
Pairings
Tsukishima is often shipped with his best friend Yamaguchi Tadashi, other members of the Karasuno team, or rival middle blocker Kuroo Tetsurou. Other Tsukishima ships are less common. He is also often included in polyship works.
- Tsukkiyama or Yamaguchi Tadashi/Tsukishima
- Kurotsukki or Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima
- Tsukihina or Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima
- Tsukikage or Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima
- Tsukiyachi or Yachi Hitoka/Tsukishima
Fanworks
- Moonrise, a Tsukishima-centric zine
Meta
Video
- Tsukishima Kei edit on Tiktok by txo.kei
Resources
- Tsukishima Kei on the Haikyuu!! Wikia
- Tsukishima Kei work on AO3