Kenma Kozume.

description.

Kenma Kozume (Japanese: 孤爪こづめ 研磨けんま, Kozume Kenma) is a second-year student from Nekoma High. He was the Volleyball Team's setter and was referred to as the "heart" and "brain" of the team by his teammates.

appearance.

Kenma is depicted with an average height, a small build, and has an unsteady posture. He has many outstanding features, including his cat-like golden eyes and blond hair with black roots (sometimes referred to as "Pudding-Head"). He dresses casually, and his Nekoma uniform is the standard black and red jersey. He is usually seen carrying a portable game console and a cellphone with him. He has naturally dark hair that he had dyed in his first year of high school, claiming that he did not want to "stand out" after Yamamoto pointed out that he looked similar to Sadako. Kenma also stated that he keeps his hair at its current length because he does not like his field of vision to be too broad.

personality.

Kenma usually has a quiet, composed and analytical personality. He rarely loses his temper, and usually does not get too excited or fired-up about most things, with a few exceptions being video games. Because of his reserved nature, Kenma does not often voice his opinions since he is afraid of what others might think of him and does not like standing out or being noticed in any way. His shy tendencies also prevent him from being very approachable and because of this, he has a difficult time making friends, with Kuroo being stated to have been the only friend he's made since elementary school. He also is not fond of the authority that comes with being an upperclassman and doesn't expect his junior's to automatically respect him, often reminding Lev that he does not need to be so formal with him. Kenma rarely tends to show many emotions which usually causes him to look like he is giving a cold impression to others. However, it is shown that he does care about his friends and notices small upsets in their behavior. An example is when they were younger, Kuroo's team had badly lost a volleyball match and was feeling down. Kenma noticed this feeling and, despite not caring for volleyball, asked if Kuroo would like to practice and "level up" to which he agreed eagerly. Another can be seen later in the manga when he admits that he tries hard to win for his friends. Despite his modest personality, Kenma is quite skilled in volleyball with his extraordinary game sense, technique, and strong strategic abilities, which make up for his lack of power, speed, and stamina. Although he seems somewhat apathetic about it, Kenma is the type of person to only do things he enjoys and would therefore quit volleyball if he didn't enjoy it somewhat, which according to him was the aspect of improving his skills in the same sense as a video game. However, despite having a tough time admitting his feelings, the real motivation behind his continuation of volleyball is his friends.

background. ( 1 / 2 )

When Kenma was younger, he was shy and unable to make friends on his own. His only friend back then was Kuroo, who was around his age and lived next door. Though the two seemingly had little in common besides their age, they spent a lot of time together which at first had mostly consisted of playing video games. Then one day, Kenma asked Kuroo if he had something in mind that he had wanted to play. Kuroo was timid, but excited, as he introduced Kenma to volleyball. Although Kenma did not like sports back then, he found that volleyball was somewhat fun and especially enjoyed watching games on discs that Kuroo would have. Kuroo convinced him to come with him to a practice session and even convinced him to be a setter by telling him of the setter position that seemed like it would be a good fit for a strategist like Kenma and also didn't require much movement, although Kenma would later learn this wasn't entirely true. Kenma later joined the junior high volleyball club where he received the number 4 on the team. When he joined the boys' volleyball team in high school, Kenma thought of quitting at first because of the uneasy relationship he had with the third years at the time. They often left him out specifically and made him run longer than the other members did. However, Kuroo convinced him otherwise by reminding Kenma of how amazing he is, and that Coach Nekomata would soon be returning to the team.

background. ( 2 / 2 )

Around his time as a first-year, he also ran into Yamamoto and was quickly annoyed by his overzealous behavior and constant talk about "willpower"[4]. Yamamoto himself was annoyed at Kenma for being good despite his lack of passion or enthusiasm. At one point, Kenma noticed Yamamoto was feeling down about his performance during a practice match they had where he hit a lot of out of bound serves and, due to Kuroo's advice about making more of an effort to get along with others, gave Yamamoto a piece of advice which then quickly turned to a clash of ideology, causing Kenma to yell for the first time in a while and ended with Fukunaga splashing water on the both of them to stop the fight from escalating. Later on, Yamamoto realized that while Kenma is a "lazy sloth", he hates losing, and during a match against another school, was thankful that his analytical prowess was on Nekoma's side. Afterward, Yamamoto told Kenma to call him "Tora" as a sign of friendship, to which Kenma replied with: "Do I have to?" but does occasionally call him by this name.

skills.

Kenma is known as the "brain" of Nekoma for his sharp strategic mind and incredible ability to develop extensive plans against his opponents. He is naturally observant of others' behavior due to being overly concerned about what other people think of him[3]. This helps him notice the tiniest details of his opponents, including their habits and personality, and use these traits to his advantage. Kenma would calculate his opponents' skillset before coming up with a meticulous plan for his teammates to follow. Most of his plans are unnoticeable in the beginning but become more effective as time progresses. As such, his opponents often fail to realize they have fallen into his trap before it's too late. While Kenma excels at strategizing, he is unathletic and possesses low stamina. According to Coach Ukai, he, as a setter, is supported by the entire team's receiving power. In other words, Kenma can utilize his talents because of the receivers' ability to cleanly return the ball to him. More recently, he has become more active and would seek out offensive opportunities instead of solely relying on his teammates' perfect receives[8]. Like the rest of his team, he is flexible and good at digging and receiving the ball. Jumping Reach: 295 cm.

relationships with nekoma (1 / 2)

Tetsurō Kuroo: because of Kenma's lack of interest to make friends of his own accord, Kuroo, who was around his age when he moved into Kenma's neighborhood, became his friend just due to their similar ages. In the beginning they would just play Kenma's video games in silence, but once Kenma asked Kuroo what he wanted to do, Kuroo introduced Kenma to volleyball. During their youth, Kenma being the attentive person he was even at that age, was sensitive to Kuroo's own shyness and often internally understood the latter's reasons for being so withdrawn at the time. Under Kuroo's influence, Kenma joined the volleyball club in junior high and high school, and even talked him into not quitting and staying in the club during Kenma's first year. Kenma has also admitted the reason why he hasn't quit volleyball is because he would feel bad for letting Kuroo and his other teammates down. Kuroo is usually being seen looking after Kenma. He once brought Kenma back to the team when the latter got lost in Miyagi, and he made sure Kenma ate during the summer training camp. Kenma also calls Kuroo by his nickname "Kuro". In the Cross Team Match game, Kenma has stated that he had never failed a test because Kuroo teaches him before them. They are still close friends post-timeskip and even have conversations of being in videos together. Taketora Yamamoto: The two started out on rough terms due to their completely different personalities that nearly escalated into a physical fight. Kenma was often annoyed by Yamamoto's over the top enthusiasm and determination to prove himself a strong player. While trying to follow Kuroo's advice of trying to get on better terms with others, Kenma began to notice Yamamoto's struggles in wanting to become better and tried offer advice to improve his spiking form, but this nearly led to a fight. Once things settled, the two began settled things and eventually became good friends and trusted teammates.

relationships with nekoma (2 / 2)

Lev Haiba: In the Nekoma OVA, Kenma is seen to not be too enthusiastic about being paired with Lev due to not being able to match up with the middle blocker's timing and height of his spikes. He admits to not knowing much about Lev since he had joined the team and is often off put by his energetic nature and need to prove himself as an ace. There are several occasions in which Kenma is asked to guide Lev along during games, being considered the most fit to do such a task, and Lev always follows Kenma's instructions, receiving genuine respect from the middle blocker.

relationships with karasuno

Shōyō Hinata: although their personalities are complete opposites, Kenma is noted to not be as shy or quiet when around Hinata and actually shows signs of excitement when watching or playing against him. Ever since the first practice match between Karasuno and Nekoma, Kenma usually seeks out Hinata when their teams meet again and the two can often be seen spending time together when outside of matches and are away from their teams. They are also known to regularly send text messages to each other, and Kenma is also one of the few people who regularly calls Hinata by his first name. After the timeskip, the two have remained close friends and Kenma became Hinata's sponsor when he traveled to Brazil. According to Kuroo, Hinata was a friend that Kenma was able to do by himself and the setter has done things he normally wouldn't because of Hinata's influence, such as staying for extra practice and eventually finding volleyball enjoyable.