Myers-Briggs Types in Haikyuu!!: Daichi Sawamura (ENFJ)

Some years ago now, we received a request to analyze the Myers-Briggs personality types of the two main characters from Haikyuu: Tobio Kageyama and Shoyo Hinata. More recently, someone made an interested comment about one of the characters that provoked me to return to the show. After watching nearly the entire series, I decided to write a few more in-depth cognitive function breakdowns of some of these characters, starting with Daichi Sawamura. Popular opinion on Daichi Sawamura appears to be ENFJ, so I’m right in line with popular opinion this time. I did seriously consider ESFJ for Daichi, but ENFJ won out in the end.

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Daichi Sawamura

“We haven’t been a team for very long. We’re still kinda finding our groove, so we’re not very coordinated. On top of all that, this is our first game using our new starting line up. We don’t know anything about Nekoma as a team, but whatever kind of wall we find ourselves up against today, we can rise above it.”

Dominant Fe:

“Anyone who lets a petty rivalry get in the way of the team’s success, gets the boot. You two are banned from participating in club activities until you learn how to think of each other as teammates.”

“If you’re trying to learn something new, then you should keep at it. You might jump all by yourself, but we’re all right here to back you up.”

“He’s growing up before our eyes.”

“I’m not losing this game, but I’m sure they feel the same way.”

“Just like a good captain should. He knows what buttons to push to get his players all revved up.” – Takeda

“How many times, kid? You have to think about how your actions will affect other people!”

“You sound like a teacher, or a dad. Are you sure you’re just a first year?” – Sugawara and Asahi

Daichi naturally fits the role of captain. Essentially, he acts like the dad of the team, which is actually how his friends describe him during his first year. Daichi looks out for everyone, and oftentimes reminds them that the team is always there to back them up. As a person, he’s usually caring and encouraging, which extends beyond just his volleyball team. (For instance, he often encourages the captain of the girl’s volleyball team to keep at it.) In addition, Daichi sees himself as responsible for everyone, which includes ensuring that they act in a way that is socially appropriate. He constantly stops the more rambunctious team members from getting into fights, especially Tanaka. Countless times, Daichi is shown intervening, and yelling things like: “Hey! Knock it off! I cannot take you anywhere” or “Do I need to get you a leash?”

While typically a polite and friendly person, Daichi can get very forceful and intimidating. Although, he usually only does so in service to the team, to ensure cohesion and/or harmony. For instance, when Kageyama and Hinata first join the team, they immediately start fighting. Daichi bans them from participating in club activities and physically throws them out of the gym, saying that they can’t return until they learn to think of each other as teammates. Similarily, when a few of his teammates are failing certain classes (which would prevent them from participating in matches), Daichi sits them down and lectures them about studying and taking care of themselves.

Daichi often considers things from other people’s perspectives. For instance, during a game, he expresses his determination to not lose, but then immediately notes that the other team probably feels the exact same way. Of course, as someone that focuses on others, Daichi is good at influencing and motivating his teammates, both collectively and individually. In other words, he knows what works for each one of them. Takeda notes that Daichi knows “what buttons to push to get his players all revved up.”

Auxiliary Ni:

“They still have a lot of work to do, but if they keep trying, I really believe Karasuno High is going to have the perfect volleyball team one day.”

“No matter how formidable and unbeatable your opponent is, you’ll never win if you don’t believe you can.”

“If we’re too cautious, we won’t have the raw strength to go toe-to-toe with the powerhouse schools. In order for our team to be successful, even if we don’t stack up against our opponents, we need to hone and perfect our new weapons.”

“I sense a strong will in him. He’s not going to bow down to anybody.”

Daichi is the type that focuses on future potential. For instance, on a grander scale, he fully believes that his team is capable of reaching nationals, and becoming the perfect volleyball team. In this way, he is idealistic. He fixates on this collective goal, and emphasizes how important it is to believe that they can reach it. However, on a day to day basis, he sees potential in people.

Generally speaking, high introverted perceivers focus on future implications, and combined with high Fe, this focus is usually on the potential in people. Both Daichi and Sugawara, as high introverted perceivers, see alot of potential in Kageyama and Hinata, so they encourage the two to work together. Tanaka calls them both psychic afterwards, when he sees some of that potential coming to fruition.

Daichi often reads into people, but some of these observations specifically come across as intuitive in nature. Meaning, he’ll frame his observations in vague or abstract ways. For instance, when Tanaka first joins the teams, Daichi says, “I sense a strong will in him. He’s not going to bow down to anybody.” He doesn’t tie it to a specific observation, or concrete information, but simply says that he “senses” it.

Daichi keeps his focus continually on the future, which allows him to recognize early on that their special techniques would have to continue to evolve, rather than remain the same. For instance, Hinata at one point realizes that closing his eyes to spike is a limitation that he needs to overcome. Kageyama fights against changing this, due to the risk, past failures, etc. However, Daichi says, “Hinata finally said what I’ve been thinking for a while now.” Daichi pushes for them to not be too cautious, otherwise they wouldn’t have a chance against the powerhouse schools.

Tertiary Se:

“Can we just worry about today?”

“Let’s just play the game and win it. Don’t sweat the other stuff.”

Daichi is good at focusing in on the moment, when necessary, and ignoring everything else. On multiple occasions, one of his fellow third-year students would mention that it could be their last volleyball game. In these moments, Daichi usually dismisses the statement, either by outright telling them not to say it or saying that they need to just focus on the current game. In addition, he’s also shown getting so focused in on the current game that he fails to notice the people who came to watch them play. Sugawara finds this surprising, saying “Wow, Daichi, you’re just now noticing them?”

As someone who prefers to focus on what’s ahead, Daichi gets frustrated when the past is brought up. At one point, Takeda talks about how their team was known for being stronger in the past. Daichi initially doesn’t hear him, but when Sugawara repeats it, Daichi responds to Sugawara by saying, “Can we just worry about today?”

Inferior Ti:

“Alright, cut it out. There’s no sense in psychoanalyzing it. That’s just like trying to predict what somebody’s next move is going to be in a game of rock paper scissors. Don’t think too hard.”

“Look. I don’t know what’s going on inside his head, but we’re all still going down the path of development. And none of us know the limits of our own talents yet. We still have a lot of potential, and that includes him. And we all have to keep moving forward to reach that potential, even if we don’t understand why.”

Inferior Ti can actually be rather tricky to pinpoint, but there were a few moments with Daichi that showcased it. In short, Daichi’s inferior Ti manifests in the way he devalues certain types of overthinking. For instance, during a game, an opposing setter threatens to do a second setter dump, prompting Tanaka and Hinata to speculate about whether or not he actually would. Daichi tells them to stop, essentially claiming that it’s pointless. Of course, we know that Daichi excels at analyzing people, but in this particular situation, he sees no value in the analysis so he doesn’t allow his teammates to consider it.

Another example can be seen when he’s talking about the future. Daichi loves to talk about moving forward, and reaching their potential, but in the process, he mentions that they should continue to do so even if they “don’t understand why”. This failure to value understanding (or fleshing out) one’s personal motivations or reasoning is indicative of inferior Ti.

Daichi also devalues himself, in favor of the good of the team. Initially, he considers retiring from volleyball, thinking that it might be best for the team to restructure around the talented first and second year players. This is in spite of the fact that he really wanted to go to nationals. His fellow third years have to prompt him to share his true feelings and encourage him to stick around for the team. This initial impulse of his could be seen as inferior Ti because he suppresses his personal desires and discounts his personal value to the team while trying to determine what would be best for them.