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Yamato Sarukui (Japanese: 猿杙 (さるくい) 大和 (やまと) Sarukui Yamato) is a third-year at Fukurōdani Academy. He plays on the Boys' Volleyball Team as one of the starting wing spikers.

As of 2018, he is a civil servant in Tokyo.

Appearance[]

He has tousled black hair (which appears dark brown in the anime) and thick eyebrows. His most prominent feature is his mouth that resembles like a monkey's, which goes with his nickname, "Saru".

Post-timeskip, Sarukui's appearance has stayed relatively the same with the biggest change being he has grown his hair out.

Personality[]

Not much is known about Sarukui's personality, although, just like the rest of the team, he knows when to enlighten Bokuto when the latter is in a bad mood. He does appear to be hardworking an observant of those around him, as seen when he noticed Akaashi was overthinking things after their match against Morikawa High.

Plot[]

Tokyo Expedition Arc[]

Sarukui first appears along with his team during the summer training camp at Nekoma High. During the camp at Shinzen High, he appears more and plays against Karasuno in their final match of the camp. Like his teammates, Sarukui is thrown off when Karasuno is able to make their new attacks work and start to take the lead against them. Because of this, Bokuto would slip into one of his moods but Sarukui and the rest of the team were able to play like usual and keep the team afloat until Akaashi was able to bring Bokuto out of his state and win the match. Afterwards, Sarukui attends the barbeque and is one of those who attempts to help Yachi when she ate a burned piece of meat.

Spring High Preliminary Arc[]

Sarukui OVA 4-1

Sarukui is the one to start the game with his jump serve, to which he is noted by Akane to have a powerful serve, though he believes his first serve not to be commendable since it goes straight to Yaku. Sometime later, Sarukui spikes past Nekoma's defense and high fives Bokuto. Shortly after, Sarukui becomes annoyed at how Fukunaga keeps aiming at hard-to-reach spots.

Sometime in the second set, Akaashi asks for someone to cover the bump he had trouble with. As a response, Sarukui does so. For the third touch, both Konoha and Bokuto are willing to get it. After Bokuto's offer and Konoha's imitation of his signature "Hey, hey, hey!", Sarukui decides to send it to Konoha because he finds Bokuto annoying to deal with when he's aggravated.

Shortly after, Akaashi sets to Sarukui, who spikes but fails to score. Because of this, Sarukui is set to once more, but this time by Konoha, and they finally manage to score. When Bokuto becomes depressed when he forgot how to hit a cross-shot, Sarukui is seen with a look of mild annoyance. Later when Fukurōdani wins the game, Sarukui celebrates along with his team.

Tokyo Nationals Arc[]

Fukurōdani Academy vs. Eiwa High[]

Sarukui overhears Bokuto's wish to have a bigger audience watching them and feels as if he let his guard down in not keeping a better eye on the ace's mood. Later, Konoha makes an emergency set to him and the two celebrate their successful play. After Fukurōdani wins the game, Sarukui praises Akaashi for finding Hinata in the crowd and using his presence to help get Bokuto back on track. Despite thanking Akaashi, Sarukui still says that the vice-captain would've been able to find another ploy nevertheless.

Fukurōdani Academy vs Morikawa High[]

Fukurodani s4-e25-1

When Fukurōdani wins the match, Sarukui cheers for his teammates. After this, he notices that Akaashi is overthinking things when the setter notices that Bokuto has been playing better than normal. That evening, Sarukui is seen conversing with his teammates back at their hotel.

Fukurōdani Academy vs. Matsuyama Nishi Biz High[]

Sarukui briefly appears during the game.

Fukurōdani vs Mujinazaka High[]

Sarukui is amused but not surprised, unlike many others, at Bokuto's statement that he will become the top ace in the nation. During the match, Sarukui is seen doing an overhand receive of Usuri's serve that Daichi remarks to have been difficult despite having made it seem easy to pull off.

Sometime later, Sarukui sets up a triple block that deflects Kiryū. Shortly after, Sarukui refuses to set to Bokuto and instead tosses to Sarukui. After zipping past Mujinazaka's defense, Konoha and Sarukui both cheer for each other. In the second set, Sarukui narrowly saves a shot from Kiryū. Sometime later, Sarukui spikes past Mujinazaka's blockers with a line shot. When being praised by Onaga about this, Sarukui brags for Akaashi about his set. When Komi gets surprised about Bokuto being able to put Akaashi's spirits up, Sarukui remarks on how feedback wouldn't be very useful as this is most of the team's last tournament in high school.

Final Arc[]

Sarukui joins Konoha and Komi in a bar to watch Bokuto play with the MSBY Black Jackals on TV. After high school, Sarukui has become a civil servant in Tokyo[1]. It's shown in a flashback that Fukurōdani Academy had advanced all the way to the finals of the Spring Tournament in 2013 but lost the final set. Despite their loss, Sarukui agreed with Konoha that Bokuto could be difficult to deal with at times but would continue to support his friend in the future.

Statistics[]

High School Statistics
Power
 
4/5
Jumping
 
4/5
Stamina
 
3/5
Game Sense
 
3/5
Technique
 
3/5
Speed
 
2/5

Sarukui is shown to be above average at receiving and digging, with Daichi complementing his "top-level receive" against Mujinazaka. Additionally, his jump serves are decently powerful since Akane Yamamoto commented on one of his jump serves as "vicious". He is also excellent at spiking.

Jumping Reach: 328 cm.

Relationships[]

Fukurōdani Academy[]

  • Haruki Komi: He has a good relationship with Komi and is often seen around him and Akinori Konoha.
  • Akinori Konoha: Konoha and Sarukui have a good relationship. They get along and play together very well.
  • Fukurōdani Academy: He is seen to get along well with the rest of his teammates and appears to know Akaashi fairly well since he is able to tell when the second-year setter starts to overthink. Like the others, he becomes annoyed when Bokuto would fall victim to his mood swings but still acknowledged how strong and reliable the ace could be.

Trivia[]

  • Current Concern: He's been told to stop smiling when he's not actually smiling at all.
  • Star Sign: Leo.
  • It is confirmed that he shares the same class with Haruki Komi.
  • He is the oldest third-year and member on the team.
  • Nomenclature:
    • Yamato (大和) – Big Peace
    • Sarukui (猿杙) – Monkey (His first kanji of his last name shares with Sarukawa Tech High, but the school's kanji form is unrelated to monkeys.)

References[]

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