Haikyu!!: Why did Asahi Azumane quit volleyball? Explained

Haikyu!!, despite being a sports series, stands out because of the strong characterization of the main cast. One of the most interesting examples of this was when Asahi Azumane left the Karasuno volleyball team at the end of his second year, leading to a major problem for the team in their third year.

Asahi is the ace of the Karasuno team in Haikyu!! and a lot of people wanted to know why he left. His reason for quitting was his insecurities, which were deeply rooted in the things that happened during his second year with Karasuno.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda.

Explaining why Asahi Azumane left the Karasuno volleyball team in the Haikyu!! series

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Asahi is one of the wing spikers of the Karasuno volleyball team in the Haikyu!! series, although he struggled a lot with self-confidence. That was when the team lost against Date Tech and Asahi struggled a lot, with all of his spikes blocked, hurting his confidence.

This led to a very harsh team talk between the players after the defeat, and Yu Nishinoya and Asahi had a disagreement. Asahi mentioned that he should be blamed for the defeat and doesn't understand why he is not being criticized, with him leaving the team afterward and Nishinoya getting suspended because of how he broke a broom, which was still left there the following year.

Eventually, Asahi was brought back to the team thanks to the efforts of Tobio Kageyama and Shoyo Hinata, with the former returning with a lot of confidence issues. He gained his form back after a victory over Date Tech and played with the team for the remainder of the series, although after the time skip, he started working with an apparel company.

Asahi and his role in the team

Asahi in the anime (Image via Production I.G.)

The most important element of Haikyu!! are the character dynamics and Asahi's arc is a very good example of how far the series can go. While this is a sports series, there is a strong element of human nature and what drives people to do their best, with Asahi often getting to deal with a lot of confidence issues and overcoming past issues on the court.

Asahi is also perhaps one of the least obsessive characters in Karasuno when it comes to drive and motivation in volleyball, which is probably why he managed to develop a career in another industry after the timeskip. It adds to his character that he managed to come back as the ace of Karasuno while also making his peace with it and also leading to other ventures.

Final thoughts

Asahi Azumane played for Karasuno in his second year against Data Tech but all of his spikes were blocked, which led to him retiring from the team by the time the Haikyu!! series began again. He eventually returned to the team thanks to Kageyama and Hinata, and, after the time skip, ended up working for an apparel company, which fit with his passion for fashion.

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