Nekoma High (Japanese:
Uniform[]
Male Uniforms as worn by the volleyball team.
Nekoma, like most Japanese schools, has a uniform and dress code. The male uniform consists of a white shirt, red tie, black sweater vest, dark blue blazer, and grey pants. The female uniform, meanwhile, appears to have a light (likely white) top and matching collar, with a bow at the neck and a darker skirt.
Nekoma's volleyball uniform.
The boys' volleyball club's uniform consists of a red tracksuit with white details with the school name written on the back of the jackets and the club written along the sides of their track pants (this trait was not present in the anime). The members wear black t-shirts and red shorts during practice matches and often don a blue sports bib on top. During official matches, the majority of players wear a red jersey and shorts with black details. The libero has a contrasting jersey in white with red and black details.
If their opponents have a uniform that is similar to theirs in color, then the players will wear a white jersey with red and black details, and the libero a red jersey with black details.
Volleyball Club[]
Due to the players' flexibility and solid receives and digs, the Boys' Volleyball Club team is nicknamed "The Cats" which is also an allusion to the school name. The club banner reads "Connect" which often refers to the connection of plays.
Nekoma and Karasuno are said to be "destined rivals" because of the longtime competition between their respective coaches, Yasufumi Nekomata and Ikkei Ukai. Since the two teams' animal representatives (cats for Nekoma and crows for Karasuno) are animals that are usually found at the dumpster, the matches between the two teams are often called "Battle at the Garbage Dump" or "Trashcan Showdown" in the anime English dubbing. So far, Karasuno has never won against Nekoma in their practice matches. However, the teams have not played against each other for a noted while until recently during the current time period when Nekomata returned from retirement (It was noted that when Kuroo and the other current third-years were second-years, Nekomata had not yet returned to coach the team).
Before matches, to "set the mood", Nekoma players would always recite the chant: "We're like the blood in our veins. We must flow without stopping. Keep your oxygen moving and your mind working"[1]. The English dubbing has rephrased this chant to: "We are plasma. Let's make our motions fluid. Keep the oxygen flowing so the brain can work to its full potential."
Nekoma lost in the Tokyo Prefecture Interhigh Preliminaries in the quarterfinals, but the third-years decided to stay in the team for a chance to participate in the Spring Tournament.
Nekoma qualified as the host representative for the Spring High. Due to Tokyo's size and it being the usual host for the tournament, the prefecture gets three representative spots, so although Nekoma lost to Fukurōdani Academy in the semifinals, they defeated Nohebi Academy in the third place match and therefore qualified for the tournament along with Itachiyama Institute and Fukurōdani.
The Fukurodani Academy Group, from left to right: Nekoma, Fukurodani (top), Ubugawa (bottom), and Shinzen.
Nekoma is also a member of the Fukurōdani Academy Group, which is composed of teams from the Kanto Region, including Fukurōdani Academy, Shinzen High, and Ubugawa High. For years, the schools have been holding summer training camps and practice matches with one another.
Members[]
Girls' Club
Practice Matches[]
- Nekoma High School vs Tsukinokizawa High School (2:0 / 25-21, 25-13)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (2:0 / 25-22, 25-23)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (2:0 / 25-22, 26-24)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (2:0 / 27-25, 32-30)
- Cats vs Owls (?:? / ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ??, ??) (Score was 16-15 during 7th set)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (2:0 / ??, 26-24)
Spring High Nationals Tournament (????)[]
First Round
- Nekoma High School vs Oga Daifu High (Akita) (0:2)
Spring High Nationals Tournament (2008)[]
Quarterfinals
- Nekoma High School vs ??? (?:2 / ??, ??, ??)
Summer Training Camp[]
Nekoma plays several sets against Karasuno, Fukurōdani, Shinzen, and Ubugawa (42 wins, 22 losses).
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (25-17)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (25-19)
- Nekoma High School vs Ubugawa High School (25-20)[2]
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (25-18)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (25-15)
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High School (25-16)
- Nekoma High School vs Fukurōdani Academy (22-25)
Interhigh Preliminaries (2012)[]
Nekoma is said to have lost on the second day of the Interhigh Preliminaries against last year's winners[3]. It is commonly believed that Nekoma lost to Itachiyama. However, there is no official indication of which team Nekoma lost to.
Quarterfinal
- Nekoma High School vs ??? (?:2 / ??)
Spring High-Tokyo Representative Playoffs (2012)[]
After placing within the top 4 during the preliminaries, Nekoma proceeded to the representative playoffs held in mid-November. As Tokyo is the hosting city for the Spring Tournament, the prefecture is awarded three representative teams. The representative playoffs took place at the Sumida City Gymnasium where Nekoma played alongside Fukurōdani Academy, Itachiyama Institute, and Nohebi Academy. Nekoma would lose their semifinal match against Fukurōdani but would win the representative playoff match when they defeated Nohebi, and thus became the third team to represent Tokyo.
Semifinal
- Nekoma High School vs Fukurōdani Academy (0:2 / 21-25, 28-30)
3rd Representative Playoffs
- Nekoma High School vs Nohebi Academy (2:0 / 28-26, 26-24)
Spring High National Tournament (2013)[]
For Nationals, Nekoma wasn't exempt from the first round.
First Round
- Nekoma High School vs Kiyokawa High School [Kochi] (2:0 / 29-27, 25-21)
- Their first match was played on Court B as the third match on the court.
Second Round
- Nekoma High School vs Sarukawa Tech High [Ishikawa] (2:0 / 25-23, 32-30)
- The second round match was played on Court C as the second match on the court.
Third Round
- Nekoma High School vs Karasuno High [Miyagi] (1:2 / 27-25, 24-26, 21-25)
Spring High National Tournament (2014)[]
Second Round
- Nekoma High School vs ?? (?:2 / ??)
Spring High-Tokyo Representative Playoffs (2014)[]
Unknown Round
- Nekoma High School vs ?? (?:2 / ??)[4]
Trivia[]
- Even though Nekoma is represented as cats (猫 Neko), the kanji in its name (音駒 Nekoma) are unrelated to the animal. Their actual meaning, "sound of [moving] a shogi piece", may be a reference to their play style of analysis and strategy.
- Ne (音) = sound
- Koma (駒) = shogi/chess piece
- Nekoma has participated in the Spring High tournament eleven times and this time is their first appearance in five years.
- It was seen in Chapter 304 that they have a girls' volleyball team.
- Their volleyball club's official banner reads: "Connect"(繋げ).
- The kanji in the club's motto, 繋, is also found in Ikkei Ukai and Keishin Ukai's given names, possibly referencing the school's connection to Karasuno.
- It's confirmed through Akane Yamamoto's introduction that there is a Nekoma Junior High. A Nekoma Grade School was also confirmed in one of Kuroo's flashbacks[5].
- In the Haikyū!! Final Guidebook Volleyball Climax!, Nekoma is said to have only made it to the second round for Interhigh Preliminaries (2012). However, this is an error as both the anime and manga stated they made it to the quarterfinals.
Gallery[]
