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Kōtarō Bokuto (Japanese: 木兎 光太郎 Bokuto Kōtarō) is a third-year student at Fukurōdani Academy and the volleyball team's wing spiker, ace and captain.
Appearance
Bokuto has round, golden-colored eyes and spiky white-grey hair with black streaks; certain sections of it done up as if to vaguely conform to that of an animal, strongly amplifying the uncanny resemblance he bears to a horned owl. He has a solid build. His physical appearance in the anime is considerably less athletic and muscular compared to his physical appearance in the manga.
Unlike most volleyball players, Bokuto wears knee pads that go up to his thighs instead of simply ending above his knee.
Personality
He has a playful, friendly, energetic and child-like personality and is described by his team as having mood swings, where even the slightest thing can change his mood which then impacts his performance. He was referred to by Yukie as 'simple-minded' because of this, but is both admired by his own team and the opponents for his impressive skills and morale-boosting demeanor.
When he makes a comeback, he clearly shows his pride as the ace and believes he is the 'strongest'. Bokuto is energetic (similar to Hinata), often making jokes about everything and acting rather dramatically about his plays. His personality is so compatible that he gets along with many people. However, he's rather ignorant to other people's discomfort, such as with Tsukishima. Despite his general behavior, there are moments when Bokuto exhibits something akin to a wise form of intelligence, his words inspiring Tsukishima in Karasuno's game against Shiratorizawa.
He occasionally displays kind, just traits, leaning towards defensive when during the 3 on 3 match (cats vs owls) Bokuto told Kuroo, Tsukishima and Lev off for ganging up on Hinata when he was attempting to score. He can be seen as "a little off-putting" during matches, as stated by Sugawara.
Statistics
| High School Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 5/5 | ||
| Jumping | 4/5 | ||
| Stamina | 5/5 | ||
| Game Sense | 3/5 | ||
| Technique | 3/5 | ||
| Speed | 4/5 | ||
Bokuto used to specialize in the cross spike, but it kept getting blocked. Out of frustration, he decided to practice his straight spike (which was looked down upon when he first began playing) instead and eventually improved it to a level where it couldn't even be touched by his opponents. He also has an amazing ability of doing feints, teaching Hinata the move during the Tokyo training camp. He is also talented at performing wipes, and a good ball sense to hit an insane cut shot when facing tall blockers. Bokuto's fragility as an ace draws out his other teammates' strengths, while at the same time becoming a strong foundation which isn't easily broken. It has also been stated by Kuroo that when Bokuto becomes serious he becomes as strong as a Top 3-tier Ace.
Trivia
- Favorite Food : "Yakiniku " (Barbecued meat, usually beef)
- Current Concern: ".... How do you write the kanji for worry (nayami)?"
- According to the Haikyuu store in Japan, Bokuto has smaller hands than Akaashi because the latter has longer fingers.
- His birthday is three days before the Autumnal equinox within the Japanese calendar.
- His star sign is Virgo.
- According to Akaashi, Bokuto has at least 37 weaknesses.
- At last year's Spring High Tournament, he bought an unpopular t-shirt that reads: "The Wisdom of the Ace: Firstly, the figure of the ace is one that inspires his allies. Secondly, he should shatter any wall. Thirdly, he should hit any ball to his utmost ability." Unsurprisingly, he and Hinata find it cool.
- He starred as himself in one of Ennoshita's road show called "The Day Armagedon Arrives on Earth".
- Despite being the captain, Bokuto wears #4 rather than the expected #1. This is most likely because Fukurōdani is the type of school where #4 is traditionally worn by the team's ace, and because he is very proud to be Fukurōdani's ace.
- Nomenclature:
- Kōtarō (光太郎) - 光 (kō) refers to Light while 太郎 (tarō) is a very common masculine name. The character "太" in common usage means thick or big. The last character 郎 simply means Son.
- Bokuto (木兎) - Horned Owl
- The two can roughly translate to "Thick Owl."