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Player Information

Name/Alias: dai
Player Journal: daichiis
Contact: disarmingly
Timezone: cst
HMD: here
In-Game/Processing: Sousuke Yamazaki (jinbeizame)

Character Information

Name/Alias: Koutaro Bokuto
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Canonpoint: chapter 151 - he doesn't appear in the chapter, but he would know of the events up to this point (he's keeping track of the tournament)
Gender: male
Age: 17

Physical Description: hoots aggressively

Bokuto is tall (6'1") with an extremely athletic build (173 lbs). He has played competitive volleyball his entire life and has a body to show for it, with solid muscle and a lean frame. His hair is grey with darker streaks, spiked up around his head in a way that resembles a horned owl. Bokuto is extremely expressive, with high-arched eyebrows that usually show off what he's thinking (he's not very good at hiding his emotions anyway), and bright, gold eyes.

History: [ wiki ]

There isn't much about Bokuto's history that has been explained in the manga, despite the role he plays in the training arc and as a main rival character in the series. He lives in Tokyo and goes to Fukurodani Academy, and is ranked in the top 5 volleyball players in the country (though it is mentioned that he's not in the top 3, which leads me to believe he's the 4th best player in Japan). During his talk with Tsukiyama, he mentions how there was a time that he questioned why he played volleyball, but he found the moment that made him fall in love with the sport. His interactions with Kuroo also lead us to believe that they've known each other for some time - both being from Tokyo and playing volleyball, it would make sense to believe they've been friends for years.

He is heavily involved in the training camp arc in Haikyuu!!, where Kuroo and Bokuto both attempt to weedle a love of volleyball out of a stoic Tsukiyama. They then go on to play a three on three game with Hinata and Lev and Akaashi and Tsuki, where Bokuto and Hinata bond over a general excitement about life and similar outlooks on volleyball itself. The next day is the practice match between Fukurodani and Karasuno, and you see just how Bokuto interactions with his teammates and in a game versus practice after-hours, as well as his infamous Emotional Shift.

Everything else - from his parental relationships, to his more personal history, has not been given through canon. There are little habits and things he says that could lead to headcanons - to which I have many, but as far as evidence in canon is concerned there isn't much more.

Personality:

"He’s a player you kinda want to applaud even though he’s an opponent…
it might be because you end up thinking that he’s got mad skills."

Bokuto Koutaro is introduced as an opponent - a strong, powerful player from Tokyo who takes part in an intense training camp every year with other highly ranked teams in the area. Even his first panel is vaguely intimidating, a shadowed face with a serious expression, to show just how hard Karasuno will have to work in their oncoming week to get better. For all intents and purposes, Bokuto should be just that - ranked fourth in the nation for best player and a force to be reckoned with on the court, he should be intimidating. Terrifying, even.

And then you meet him, and that first impression doesn't last very long.

You find out, very quickly upon meeting Bokuto, that any and all of that intimidating aura that might have been coming off of him is misplaced. Or, maybe not misplaced, but definitely misread. Rather than intimidating, Bokuto is much more friendly in his personality. Much more honest about everything he does. He is easily excited, enthusiastic, playful, friendly and sociable, with a tendency to take things at their very basic level - do you love volleyball? Then you should always play volleyball. Don't love volleyball enough to want to spend every hour of every day playing? Then don't. He doesn't see anything, and doesn't approach anything, in a complicated way, because what's the point? Why waste your time? His team calls him 'simple-minded', though that has nothing to do with how intelligent he is and can be. Rather, he just doesn't do anything that he doesn't want to do. He is very over-dramatic when it comes to playing around, and especially when it comes to volleyball, taking things very personally when he can't best an opponent or makes mistakes. You see this a lot when he is hanging out with Kuroo - going off on puns and jokes with fervor and excitement and very little in the way of caring what others things. He has literally no problem with meeting people or talking to people, and his personality is one that gets along with just about everyone he meets. He has little to no concept of personal space and tends to be very interested in people who don't seem at all interested in him. It's very hard to break through the shell that is Bokuto Koutaro, and even when you do it's usually just because he wants to keep you close and be your best friend. In that way, Bokuto is extremely confident, anything that anyone says to him easily rolling off his back.

Some of the times.

That's the other thing about Bokuto that you learn when Karasuno plays Fukurodani - Bokuto's mood swings. The example given then was during a game, which is when Bokuto is most succeptable to them. Because he cares about playing so much, cares about volleyball so much, that if he messes up enough times in a row it becomes harder and harder to shake off. If it builds up too much, Bokuto will fall into a semi-depressive state, where he doesn't see himself as worth or acceptable of the title as ace or of even a toss from his setter. His mistakes affect him, not just as a player, but as an ace, a captain, who is supposed to be the strongest and to lead his team to victory. When Bokuto becomes crestfallen, there is very little that can be said or done to pull him out of it. Not unless - as Akaashi does - you leave him be to work himself through it. Usually it doesn't take too much, and the team is strong enough to withstand the momentary lapse of their ace, before Bokuto regains that confidence and strength.

Because his swings have little to do with the pressure on him - he never blames, or even considers, others when his mood drops. It is always and solely on him - his mistakes, his inability to work through it, the fact he can't manage to make a point - and when he doesn't believe in himself 100% it affects his performance. Not in the basics, but in his moves, in his werewithall, in his energy. But it usually it only takes a wait, a few plays where the team can regain its momentum, before Bokuto is back again. These swings, given the evidence from canon, can also happen off the court - but, again, have much more to do with his own internal struggle rather than any outside force. If he can't do something, it'll bother him. If he can't get over it, it'll hang over his head. He puts himself in these moods whether he knows it or not, and while he may need a little guidance, he is also the one who pulls himself out of them.

But at Bokuto's most basic level, his can be very, very childish. When he likes something, he loves it. When something upsets him, it's the end of the world. Luckily, the people who know him best or who have been around him know how to handle this, and can usually ease Bokuto through his mood swings. More often times than not, he is in a really great mood, which can at times be equated to a tornado moving through a small southern town - out of control, destructive, and entirely uncalled for. But he always does it with good intentions, and he always means well, and while he might be a handful to deal with he's also a bunch of fun, and anything he does is always, always done 100%.

Abilities: Boluto's abilities are specific to the game he plays. As one of the top ranked players in the country, his basic reflexes and in-game decision-making are prime and nearly unrivaled. In his trivia, he is stated as having a 5/5 power level, 4/5 jumping level, 5/5 stamina, 3/5 game sense, 4/5 technique, and 4/5 speed - which all comes into play with his powerful odd straight spike and amazing feinting ability. He isn't so much a genius player as he is above average in most every field, all of which he utilizes when he plays.

Samples

Dialogue: [ tdm, text thread from holly heights, network post from holly heights ]
Exposition/Introspection: [ musebox ]