Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2018-2019

    Quote from sitenoise

    Very well put.


    Before anybody attacks me or calls me names, I wouldn't characterize any of the foreigners who I've seen play in Japan as prima donnas (maybe one last year) (and/but remember this is really only the 2nd or 3rd year I've been paying attention), BUT there are definitely some who are more "into the team" than others. There are language and cultural issues, and personalities in play. All of that matters towards success. Even though Neriman was a bit of a ball hog (not saying it's her fault) she was INTO that team. Engaged and caring. Freya :!:Foluke <3 Heyrman :rose:... Some foreigners make their teams winnier, some make their teammates better, some achieve both. It's silly to assume, presume, and insist that any of them do anything based on a generalized platitude.

    I would like to apologize to you, I might not have read what you said well enough and formed an opinion too quickly. Whatever I said in general I don't think you're any of that and I can understand your point even better now and actually agree.


    I hope you accept my apology... I don't want to upset anyone or call them names esp. someone as you who doesnt deserve that. Sorry again I was wrong and should have read better and more of your posts.

    :drink: Hey let's party :!: Call over QPL . We got some good vibes going on here :super:

    Quote from brahmin

    represent the club and their sponsors well.

    I'll take this a step further and suggest that Himeji, to some degree (big or small, I won't say) take a potential players' propensity to walk in high heels, do makeup, and avoid a devastating hairstyle malfunction--metaphorically speaking, of course--into consideration when drafting. I've said a dozen times here that Yuka Kanasugi was perfect for Himeji. She wasn't the best player in the V2. She didn't even really play that much. Riho Sadakane showed up mid-season and kind of bumped her. But Kanasugi was on the floor of the V2 All Star game for almost every single minute. That's unusual. Why? Because she's engaging, bursting with style and personality. She's not a traditional beauty or a kawaii type by any means. And I'll bet she can't walk in high heels.


    I watched Himeji's games, their fan service videos, and their post game interviews. They are good, maybe/probably trained, in how to be engaging and likeable. A very large percentage of Japanese players on other teams look like a deer in headlights. I'm only saying I don't think it's a random coincidence.


    Yuki Kawai (damn girl, what a name), Kana Yoshioka, Shuna Omoto and Yuka Kanasugi are good for Himeji and the league in terms of raising fan support. They are likeable. You want to root for them.

    And photos are important. That photo of Nao Horigome from the JVA site I posted is a prison mug shot. I think it's insulting and disrespectful. This photo from Hisamitsu's Home page of my love Yuka Imamura is a Frankenstein Anime rendition of a photograph.



    :offtopic:

    Quote from MyNameIst.

    Do you have links where i can wantch the black league. Please.

    Assuming you mean the Kurowashiki Black Eagle Tournament ... I doubt any of it is broadcast until the Finals. Them maybe here:

    MBS

    Quote from brahmin

    Megumi Kurihara just announced her retirement at 34.

    Congratulations on a fine career, Megumi! :drink:

    Denso Airybees retirement news


    Mizuho Ishida

    Mika Yamada

    Chitose Nakagawa

    Yuko Suzuki


    Yamada was the Captain this past season. Two liberos retiring. Nakagawa was the one I liked. Mizuho Ishida will be missed. Congratulations and best wishes to her after a long and successful career!


    Nanaka Sakamoto appears to be returning to the team sometime this month after her season in Germany, maybe a few pounds heavier ("beef stew, tiramisu, etc.!") and ... ahem:


    "Confluence of the Airy beads, after the Bundesliga the end, is scheduled for mid-May 2019. One size larger, please look forward to the play of Sakamoto players became Horny."



    Denso new recruit Rena Sano 1999-04-19 celebrated her 20th birthday last month with her little sister:



    Quote from brahmin

    Horny can be translated as excited or looking forward to.

    :thumbup:

    :obey: N K Youtuber goes down ;( I can't believe it lasted as long as it did. It served the community well. Big thanks for getting us through the season.


    I'm glad I found and grabbed those University matches before the final nail in the Apocalypse coffin was nailed.

    Quote from QueenPiccininiLover

    R.I.P. vibes for this channel. ;(


    Sitenoise, whatever you need, I'll be there for you, my funny friend. You'll get through this. I know it for sure. :saint:

    If you could move to Japan and get an account with DAZN and record all the matches and then upload them to a private youtube account, that would be cool :rolll: thanks:!:

    Watching the University matches is pretty cool. The High School matches are more entertaining and exciting--by far. I'd even say the HS matches are a higher quality volleyball, but I conflate quality with entertainment.


    But this girl Haruka Maruo from Tsukuba U is pretty special. Too bad she went off to the Panasonic Bluebells, whatever they are, and didn't come to the V.League. She's called a middle blocker and does that job well (won the award for it), but she's also a receiving OP. She's all over the place. It's bizarre. She's a good passer. And scrappy. And a good team leader. And a whopping 177cm!

    This is too good. I've made it to the Final Match: Tsukuba 3–1 Aoyama. On Tsukuba's side of the net this wonderful player Haruka Maruo--MVP & Best Blocker. On the Aoyama side of the net Okayama Smiler Mayu Oikawa--Fighting Spirit Awardee. This match is at another level from the Semi Final matches. Definitely a higher level than the High School matches 8)


    I only know the names of the players who won awards because that's the only place on the whole Internet any of these players are named. These two colleges played the Final last year and Aoyama won it. So this is payback. Aoyama looks like a better team to me, with a brutal lefty OP, but Tsukuba (w/Maruo) is intense.




    Haruka Maruo. Fuck. She's a middle blocker who flies in from downtown:!:and plays great back row floor defense :!:She's all over the place. She's not a HULK SMASHER when she's middle blocker attacking. She's more of a "placer". A unique style of putting the ball over the net. Kind of weird, actually. She keeps her arm swing to close to her body. Not a good follow through. She owns the court, though. And she has a good setter -- Manami Mandai --:



    Manami Mandai is a 2nd year sexy cute ballet dancer. Victorina Himeji better be scouting her.


    The heartbreaking tragedy is that I only have Sets 1 & 4 of the Final. All this stuff is in Japanese which is a foreign language so it's hard to tell what's what. And that bastard N K Youtuber went and got busted before I could go back and look for Sets 2 &3. On the bright side, at least I have the crying parts ;( Tsukuba has some decent criers. And a good libero.

    brahmin Please, I beg of you, can you translate these player names for me?




    Where's the next Saori? We hear this from time to time as referencing Saori Kimura. I wanna know where the next Saori Sakoda is. I think I found her.


    Haruka Maruo. Why didn't she come to the V.League? Maybe some familial or friendly commitment to the Panasonic BlueBells has only delayed it and she'll appear next season. Let's break her down:


    She comes from Kinrankai H.S. She was a best 6 player when they won the National Championship (or something that's not the big one) in 2014. I don't think Kinrankai placed in top 4 of the big one while she was there.

    • 2014 Asian U19 Championship MB
    • 2015 FIVB U20 World Championship MB
    • 2016 Asian Cup J-U23 MB
    • 2017 Universiade Games OH
    • 2017 VTV Cup OH

    She's ostensibly a MB. That's where her true skill appears to be. Not sure about that drift to OH with the U-Teams.


    Here is her Rotation (she is not a receiving OP as I suggested. I was fooled by the way she plays like a very good defensive OH when in the Back Row--and saw her receive a few serves by accident):

    • Pos 5 -- Starts the game on the bench
    • Pos 4, 3, 2 -- Does three rotations as a MB. Attacks from Pos 3 and does lovely slides. The slides are usually on out of system plays. She defends Pos 4 deep instead of the OH. When she fake lines up for Pos 2 she's dead center court and this is where she receives an occasional serve. She's a fast, smart, good blocker. I would kill for stats.
    • Pos 1 -- Serves, defends Pos 1 or 5 and Back Court Attacks like a mofo.
    • Pos 6 -- Same as Pos 1 activities.
    • Pos 5 goes to the bench most times

    Haruka Maruo's clearly the leader of the team and takes the most swings but it's not boring--like the way Chinami Furuya is for Shoin U--because she takes half of them as MB, which you can never have too much of or get bored with, and half of them from the back court, which you can never have too much of or get bored with. She executes a perfect Neriman-style full body jack-knife from the back. I have never seen another Japanese player do that--Saori Sakoda came close. Check the photo in the post above. Here's another angle:



    Beautiful. And she scores with it. She's two completely different players. I've never seen anything like her. I am so bummed I have only two sets of this match. It's really a fun, quality volleyball match. Aoyama is a good team, but Tsukuba had destiny on their side in the name of Haruka Maruo.


    Speaking of Harukas, Tsukuba's sexy cute/tough setter, Manami Mandai, not only distributes the ball well and stylishly, she's taken a page right out of Haruka Miyashita's floor defense manual. I will love her forever.




    I'm a little worn out from all this love but I have to mention the libero again. I think her name is Kanoha Kagahara. She gets a lot of camera time for diving saves, but what kills me is that she starts out to get one before the other team has hit the ball to her side of the court. This kind of intuitive, skating-to-where-the-puck-is-going-to-be is rare.



    Fabulous stuff :!: