In more exciting news, I visit https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/volley/news/ every once in a while and there is ALWAYS an article about Maiko Kano's newest mini-skirt or Megumi Kurihara's latest pilatés photoshoot 
Japan - V.League V1 (Division 1, Women) 2023-2024
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And why is Runa Tanaka hanging on? What hope can she possibly have of anything beyond a serve sub in a Summer League that exists no more
NEC has been weirding me out for years. Seems like they hoard players just so other teams can't have them
I don't think that's the case with NEC. Maybe something in their location or management is desirable for other players so they hang in there longer than they should. Runa Tanaka joined NEC when they are already complete and there's no way she expected to have playing time, so maybe she likes to be there?
Maybe she likes to be employed in a bigger company and a more stable team than where she was before?
As viewers, we only see it in the view of having playing time, but unless you are a top player like National team players, I think most of them just see it as employment anyway. That's why it's not surprising to me seeing most players crowd the bench of top teams instead of going to bottom teams for playing time, where those teams can be easily disbanded or discontinued vs top teams -
I don't think that's the case with NEC. Maybe something in their location or management is desirable for other players so they hang in there longer than they should. Runa Tanaka joined NEC when they are already complete and there's no way she expected to have playing time, so maybe she likes to be there?
Maybe she likes to be employed in a bigger company and a more stable team than where she was before?
As viewers, we only see it in the view of having playing time, but unless you are a top player like National team players, I think most of them just see it as employment anyway. That's why it's not surprising to me seeing most players crowd the bench of top teams instead of going to bottom teams for playing time, where those teams can be easily disbanded or discontinued vs top teams brahmin likes to remind me that Kawasaki is across the river in a different Prefecture ... but it's still Tokyo to me. That's a draw for sure
Runa was Champion, MVP, Top Scorer, and Best Server on a team that has been around since 1975. She may look at NEC as retirement with benefits, I guess
I don't think NEC "really" just signs players so other teams can't have them but the result is the same. I'm sure players like the prestige of being on a wealthy donor class team that wins, and probably feel safer if they were to get injured, but it's going to get more absurd now with double the imports
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About Wada being the New Koga WHY though?
Any time there's a New _____ shouldn't they be fresh from their highschool or uni stardom. I don't think it will start with Wada. She doesn't have the background for that. I don't know if we can even consider her an allrounder but she should be NEC's biggest weapon starting next season which should be enough traction for her to build her own brand by LA28 should she make it that far without any issues.
But are they making her perma OH to reserve the OP role to taller perspectives for the NT? That's fine too
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Miku Akimoto (185cm, 2006) won Best Opp at U20 Asian Championship last week and she’s also the best scorer at U19 World Championship last year. She plays both OH-MB hybrid at her high school, in the games I watched.
She’s already graduating so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll be at SVLeague by January. Exciting to know which team she’ll go to.
A prospect for LA2028 if she continues to develop. -
Miku Akimoto (185cm, 2006) won Best Opp at U20 Asian Championship last week and she’s also the best scorer at U19 World Championship last year. She plays both OH-MB hybrid at her high school, in the games I watched.
She’s already graduating so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll be at SVLeague by January. Exciting to know which team she’ll go to.
A prospect for LA2028 if she continues to develop.Mum's a NEC OG and Kyoei is a NEC partner school so 99.9% NEC.
I understand now that Wada shouldn't compete with her as opp
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With Koga's exit things will definitely heat up in search for the next figurehead. I'm gonna be honest I'm looking forward to that more than this Olympics lol and I don't even know most of the new kids who I will gladly roast and while on the men's side Blain announced that he will step down after Paris, Manabe probably intends to continue should they miraculously medal up
but if they don't then that's another discussion I'm very interested in.
I almost got JT's coach right wink wink wink wink even though I was hoping for Winzer lmao
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With Koga's exit things will definitely heat up in search for the next figurehead. I'm gonna be honest I'm looking forward to that more than this Olympics lol and I don't even know most of the new kids who I will gladly roast and while on the men's side Blain announced that he will step down after Paris, Manabe probably intends to continue should they miraculously medal up
but if they don't then that's another discussion I'm very interested in.
I almost got JT's coach right wink wink wink wink even though I was hoping for Winzer lmao
is there any doubt that mayu will fill that role easily? and it's obvious she wants it
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is there any doubt that mayu will fill that role easily? and it's obvious she wants it
They all stand on equal ground post-Paris with Mayu likely to be given top priority especially if she does well in Italy. But if you wanna talk about her approval rating it may not be as high as some people think with her height being the biggest flaw.
People in the NT thread already pointed out that Kawai and JVA plan to incorporate the "Eurovolley system" to the women's format since the men's are already doing it so should the women. I read somewhere and I'm not sure who Blain was responding to exactly but he said that their middles don't work as they should but he also said that it will be addressed in the future but he specifically won't be touching on that area too much. So we can probably look forward to more focus on opps and mbs in the next cycle for both men and women.
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They all stand on equal ground post-Paris with Mayu likely to be given top priority especially if she does well in Italy. But if you wanna talk about her approval rating it may not be as high as some people think with her height being the biggest flaw.
People in the NT thread already pointed out that Kawai and JVA plan to incorporate the "Eurovolley system" to the women's format since the men's are already doing it so should the women. I read somewhere and I'm not sure who Blain was responding to exactly but he said that their middles don't work as they should but he also said that it will be addressed in the future but he specifically won't be touching on that area too much. So we can probably look forward to more focus on opps and mbs in the next cycle for both men and women.
Isn't that totally normal. Koga is made to be this era's main character after all and Mayu has not yet won a single major award to her name but in terms of potential face of the team leading to LA28 she's the next best thing people already know about
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Isn't that totally normal. Koga is made to be this era's main character after all and Mayu has not yet won a single major award to her name but in terms of potential face of the team leading to LA28 she's the next best thing people already know about
You should know by now that it doesn't always work that way. A lot of things and unknown players can happen unexpectedly in the next years to come.
Til then JVA scouts and other divisions will continue to look for younger girls, freakwhackers, 6'5, fire in their eyes. younger girls, freakwhackers, 6'5, fire in their eyes
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Isn't that totally normal. Koga is made to be this era's main character after all and Mayu has not yet won a single major award to her name but in terms of potential face of the team leading to LA28 she's the next best thing people already know about
Mayu is known for the most part as Yuki's little sister to the rest of the world she's not Japan's Ana C, Arina, Vargas or any other rising star just yet. Popularity is one thing but she still has a long way to go.
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Mayu is known for the most part as Yuki's little sister to the rest of the world she's not Japan's Ana C, Arina, Vargas or any other rising star just yet. Popularity is one thing but she still has a long way to go.
Tbf those players you mentioned already got their big introduction in Europe earlier than Mayu but if you say Japan's rising star the first player most people would think of is undoubtedly Mayu followed by Hayashi if they actually follow the team closely but for those who don't, Mayu is right up there with those names in terms of each country's most promising players. Let's not downplay her role either
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younger girls, freakwhackers, 6'5, fire in their eyes. younger girls, freakwhackers, 6'5, fire in their eyes
good one lol i automatically sang this and it fits the original meme so well
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Mum's a NEC OG and Kyoei is a NEC partner school so 99.9% NEC.
I understand now that Wada shouldn't compete with her as opp
I feel like she’s gonna sign with JT because they currently lack a true local OP. All the foreign god tier OP don’t wanna go to Japan anymore, so I guess she’ll be able to compete for her spot against whoever that
leftover2nd-tier OP import will be.Btw, Nwakalor and Van Hecke haven’t signed with any clubs yet. It seems they’ll still play in Japan, and I’m pretty sure one will join JT.
Edit: I forgot about Karsta Lowe. She might return?? She’s a better choice than those two for me tho.