Original subtitles

That was pretty good, Hinata.

You bastard!

Dateko Karasuno

The powerful iron wall defeated us three months ago.

All the blockers vanish from sight...

And the view of the other side of the net opens up.

That's what I used to see, too,

until the iron wall blocked my view.

What does the other side of the iron wall look like?

Rolling...

...Thunder...

Again!

All right. There's nothing to worry about.

All of you, keep your eyes forward.

Because you have me guarding your backs.

A-Awesome!

Fly

Iron Wall of Date

Line up.

Let's play!

Haikyu!!

Episode 7: The Iron Wall

Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go, Dateko!

Iron Wall of Date

All right, listen up.

I admit, Karasuno's quicks were amazing.

But they were amazing only because of that guy's height.

He jumps high, but the quicks themselves are nothing extraordinary.

Don't get mesmerized by him.

Shut him down completely, like you did their ace!

Show them the iron wall again.

Yeah.

Karasuno

Gauging from their first match,

they'll start off with a powerful serve.

The serve breaks your formation,

then they block your return.

Dateko's strategy is to attack those who can't keep up.

So, for the first serve,

make sure your receive is solid.

Yeah.

You know what to do. Right, Kageyama?

Yes.

All right.

Now, go tear down the iron wall!

Yeah.

Karasuno.

Fight.

Yeah.

Karasuno's ace starts as rear guard.

Yeah. They're starting with their best receiving formation.

But Dateko's formation is the same as in the first match.

Do your best.

Bring it on.

Let's do this.

Kamasaki, nice serve.

Nice serve.

Daichi-san.

Nice receive.

His form is clean.

I can't tell where he's going to toss.

All right. Nice spike, Hinata.

Too bad.

I thought that blocker was one step behind.

Is that what you call read blocking?

When they jump as soon as they see the toss?

Yeah.

All of our opponents so far

only used commit blocks. They jumped after they knew who would get the toss.

But Dateko has perfected the read block.

They jump as soon as the toss goes up.

In other words...

They're not easy to trick with decoys.

That would leave their blocks one step behind, if not for #7.

He quickly makes up the difference.

He's not only tall, but fast as well.

H-He's scary.

Those read blocks are going to be tricky.

I wonder how Karasuno's going to deal with them.

We'll see.

They haven't played their trump card yet.

Karasuno Dateko

Kageyama, nice serve.

Nice serve. Let's score.

I hit it to the libero.

His serve is as powerful as ever.

He'll be scary when he learns how to control it.

He saved it.

Amazing.

Ryu, sorry. Cover.

All right.

Back!

A back attack?

They didn't use that in the last match.

Asahi-san.

Damn.

Don't worry about it. Don't worry! Switch it up.

I'm sorry, Asahi-san! I'll save the next one.

Yeah. I'm counting on you, but I'll score next time.

Hey, what was that? He's supposed to get dejected.

Quit being mean-spirited, Futakuchi.

Ouch.

Karasuno Dateko

Huh?

All right.

Net violation...

Don't worry about it.

Dateko touched the net.

That was a close call for Karasuno.

But they sure are fast.

Two blockers are immediately ready, no matter how fast the attack.

This is going to be a tough one.

Nice receive.

Futakuchi.

Open.

Asahi.

Was that out?

Was that our point?

Nice, Azumane.

Karasuno Dateko

Karasuno is two points ahead,

but they're barely avoiding being shut down.

They're not scoring with ease.

They're barely getting by the blockers. And if that blocking keeps up,

Nice receive.

they'll lose momentum quickly.

Futakuchi.

Nice one touch, Hinata.

For real?

Chance ball.

When they think they're about to score,

we score instead.

That breaks their spirit, and boosts our morale.

It's the ultimate defense, the fastest offense.

That's what you call...

...blocking.

Iron Wall of Date

Nice block.

Nice, Aone.

A high, fast, and expansive wall...

Truly...

...an iron wall.

Damn it.

Don't worry about it. On to the next.

Huh?

We'll definitely score with the next one.

Definitely?

Are we doing it?

Are we gonna zoom? Are we?

It's about time.

Do your best jump, go as fast as you can,

and fly.

I'll get the ball...

...to you.

Commercial break

Karasuno's fastest attacker is probably that #10.

He knows his quicks are up against our wall,

so why doesn't he appear nervous?

When we faced Nekoma,

our freak quicks got blocked. Why is that?

I know. Because Inuoka was awesome.

Well... sure, let's assume that's true.

It's because Nekoma's middle blocker got accustomed to Hinata's moves.

That's right. He got used to it.

But I also think it's because Nekoma had a really smart player.

It was

probably the pudding-head.

You mean Kenma?

Kenma-san's caught a cold.

Shut up, Inuoka. I don't have a cold.

To be honest, I never thought they'd regroup that fast.

But fast or slow, any team will get used to our freak quick.

Your quicks are powerful weapons, but they aren't invincible.

What matters is...

...how we use them.

Karasuno Dateko

Ryu.

All right.

I don't care how fast your reflexes are...

Your read block won't be fast enough.

What was that?

All right.

Good.

And there you have it. The monster quick!

It sure is powerful.

It's scary. It's awful.

That genius gets on my nerves...

What a reckless toss.

He made a random toss to thwart Aone by brute force.

But the spiker was there to hit it.

He must've spiked it by sheer luck.

That #10...

Do you know who he is?

No. I never saw him in junior high tournaments, either.

Was it luck or by design?

We're counting on you, Tsukishima.

Yes.

King. Toss a little away from the net.

I don't want to get blocked.

Huh?

I said, "Okay."

You didn't say it clearly.

You don't want to take orders from peasants. Is that it?

Huh?

You guys, stop it. Don't you ever learn?

Kageyama finally used that quick.

Dateko must be confused right now.

You won't see a quick like that anywhere else in the whole world.

It's a scary thing to have to anticipate.

I'm sorry.

Airhead! Hinata, you lousy airhead!

But, other than that, they need a lot of work.

Don't worry. Don't worry.

Noya-san, I'm sorry.

Leave it to me.

Karasuno Dateko

Aone, nice serve.

All right.

That one was an ordinary toss.

Was the last one just luck?

Or is #10 the only one who can do it?

Good job.

Nice, Tsukishima. One more.

Tsukki, nice.

All right. If they score, we score back.

Nice, Kamasaki.

Way to go, Kama.

We'll score back.

All right.

Karasuno 6 - 4 Dateko

Karasuno 6 - 5 Dateko

Karasuno 7 - 5 Dateko

The point spread isn't budging.

Look at their rotation.

Karasuno's #10 is vanguard again.

There he is, #10...

Kageyama hasn't done that super-fast toss since.

I just remembered. He was in Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High.

I saw him do a similar toss, but it was too fast for the spikers.

That toss makes me think he's reverted to a bad junior high habit.

But...

That #10 spiked it.

He spiked it effortlessly.

Futakuchi.

Karasuno Dateko

Nice, Futakuchi.

You can't keep Dateko down for long.

As soon as Karasuno's #10 rotated to vanguard,

Dateko made that awesome #7 blocker the vanguard.

It's the iron wall versus the super-quick!

We used the freak quick only once. They must think we just got lucky.

Let's do another one.

Yeah.

Let serve! Move up!

He saved it.

But a quick would be impossible.

Who can he toss toー

All right.

Nice, Hinata, Kageyama.

That toss again.

And this time from the back of the court!

It wasn't... luck?

And Dateko calls a time out.

Karasuno's #10 is amazing.

Who can hit a toss like that?

The setter is the amazing one, for getting his toss perfectly to the spiker.

Who would expect a incredible technique like that?

We certainly didn't, at first.

Karasuno Dateko

If those quicks are intentional, our read block will be too slow.

And yet, if we abandon that, they'll start pummeling us.

When #10 might be about to spike, mark him instead of the toss.

Jump when you can anticipate the toss's trajectory.

But it's also possible those spikes were just lucky.

Remain calm, and be ready for anything.

Yes.

I've never seen a quick like that, ever.

I wonder if #10 is the only guy who can do it?

If that wasn't by luck, then he's a monster.

Sure, those quicks were jaw-dropping,

but their ordinary quicks are nothing to sneeze at.

Anyway, all we have to do is stop #10.

You're taking the matter too lightly.

Better than being too serious. That's never popular with girls.

What did you say?

Stop them, Aone.

You bastard.

But then again, all they have to do is stop #10.

#10's the only guy drawing attention.

Against the others, Dateko's blockers are definitely winning.

For sure.

Stop that #10, no matter what.

Yeah.

We must stop #10...

That #10...

That #10...

Iron Wall of Date

That #10...

That #10...

"That little #10" gets a big reaction.

The bigger, the better.

Bring it!

The more Hinata shines,

the more the blockers are blinded.

We're late! What if we missed the match?

Who knew it would be so packed?

Hurry, hurry.

Huh?

Oh, good. The boys' second match is still on.

Awesome! They're beating Dateko.

Bring it on.

Damn, that was fast.

Tough break, huh, Aone?

What was that?

A quick?

He's a first-year, isn't he?

Wasn't that little boy's jump amazing?

What are you smirking about?

Good job, Hinata.

Oh?

Way to go. Give us another one.

Nice serve, one more!

Sugawara is on the bench...

Nishinoya.

B!

Send me the toss.

A two-way attack.

Who's gonna spike?

He's gonna jump.

He didn't jump?

That was an ordinary quick.

They can change the speed of their tosses?

Well, we actually have some rather interesting first-years...

If those guys start playing their part,

I feel Karasuno is going to improve explosively.

That's what I think.

Amazing.

Damn, what's with that #10?

Hey, hey, hey.

Don't get overwhelmed.

Our attacks are scoring, too.

Sure, that #10's a shocker,

but you've ground all kinds of spikers into the dust!

Even Karasuno's ace!

You can stop them again.

Yes.

Don't say "you." Say "we."

Futakuchi, I'm sorry to have thought

you were just a damned cocky underclassman all this time.

You were thinking that?

Iron Wall of Date

He jumped twice!

He's so tall, he can reach above the net with just a slight jump.

He's not just tall. His arms are long, and his shoulders are broad.

Those are all powerful weapons,

but that's not all.

He stays calm and avoids tunnel vision.

He has the will to block no matter what.

He has it all. That's why he blocks so well.

Hey, that block was bad news.

Blocks like that can change a match's momentum.

If we don't score the next one, Dateko could break our rhythm.

Let's stop them again.

Yeah.

Stay calm!

One more!

Karasuno Dateko

Futakuchi, don't hold back!

Sorry! Cover!

Ryu.

All right.

Center.

Hinata.

Yes.

All right.

Nishinoya.

Kageyama.

Yes.

Three Karasuno vanguards...

Who will it be?

Bring it!

#10!

Clearing the path...

...for the ace.

The view of the other side of the net

opens up.

Yes.

This is the view.

All right!

That was the pipe Nekoma used.

Asahi-san.

Asahi.

Asahi-san.

You guys... are awesome.

Thank you.

What are you talking about? You're the one who scored, Asahi-san!

Nice, Asahi-san.

Be proud of it. Come on.

Please open the way for the ace!

Yes.

What's the matter?

It wasn't me that scored...

I didn't even spike the ball, but...

#10!

That...

...felt incredible.

Being the best decoy ever is as cool as being the ace.

"The best decoy ever."

All our secret weapons are out in the open.

The moment of truth is near.

Next Episode Preview

It's different.

What's different, Aone?

Karasuno's ...

I know.

That setter and shrimp make it hard to target blocks.

...lady manager's hairstyle.

Is that what you meant?

Next time on Haikyu!!: "Guarding Your Back."

Episode 18: Guarding Your Back