Katsuro Hara

* Pre-timeskip
* Post-timeskip

## Image gallery

**Katsuro Hara** (Japanese: **原勝郎** *Hara Katsurō*) is a second-year student from Kumazawa Academy and plays as setter for the Boys' Volleyball Team.

## Appearance

Hara is moderately tall young man with long, straight black hair. In front, his hair is kept stroked backward, with occasionally a few strands of hair falling down to his eye. He sometimes keeps his hair out of his eyes by using a hair band. His eyes are also very narrow, and are a slate blue in colour,

## Personality

In general, Hara is very easy going and seeks fun everywhere. He enjoys playing volleyball but isn't particularly focused on the aspect of winning the game but rather crushing his opponents mentality. To his teammates, Hara is the encouraging player who assures that his team will do well. However, when facing off other teams, his crushing mentality arises and Hara becomes manipulative and is able to alter the opponent's conditions in game with his planning. His personality is described as awful or shady when he gets overly excited into the game; finding noticeable pleasure in his opponents' despair when they are being overwhelmed by his team and is almost always seen with a smirk on his face.

## Statistics

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

Hara is a very analytical, observant, and intelligent setter. He is the type to play mind games and plan many steps ahead. He is seen deliberately using a weak serve to bait the opposite team into a using a quick set over the middle, where the Kumazawa blockers are waiting. Other setters have described him as vile, stating his ultimate goal is to "crash the opponent's spirit".

### Skills

* **Jump Serve**: Hara is renowned for his role as a pinch server and possesses an incredibly powerful and accurate jump-serve. He serves with pinpoint accuracy, often strategically targeting a member of the opposing team, a gap between two players, or using a different scheme to win a service ace. It is very difficult to return, but several players have managed to get the ball up.

* **Ball Control**: As a setter, Hara possesses superior ball control. He can set with a clean form and minimal movements, thus making it hard for opposing blockers to read his intentions.

* **Court Awareness**: Hara is very observant and keeps track of what's happening on the court at all times. He can quickly understand players' formation and deduce the path his opponents will take. This ability allows him to adjust Kumazawa's defense accordingly and develop plans using serves to constrain a certain player. It is also mentioned that Hara never returns a simple chance ball. He is always looking for holes in the formation and targeting the return ball to a difficult position to throw off his opponents.

* **Glance Feint**: Hara uses a type of feint in which he would fake a glance toward a spiker before he sets to trick the opposing blockers. Once the blockers react, Hara would toss to a different spiker usually opposite of his glance direction. Due to his minimal movements, every little action becomes a bigger distraction. This makes his glance feint even more effective because blockers can't help but read the slightest movements.

* **Dump Shot**: Due to his awareness of his surroundings, Hara can tell when would be the perfect opportunity for a dump shot. As he does not often use a dump shot, he has a high success rate when using it in a match as he tends to wait until there is a low block or no blockers present to try to stop him. Recently, he is seen using a dump shot as a feint before switching to a set to lure opposing blockers into a foul.

* **Receives**: Like his team, Hara is skilled in receives. He is shown being able to make saves with either one or both hands and makes occasional dives for the ball if no one else is able to save it.

## Etymology

* His given name, **Katsuro** (**勝郎**) means "...".
* Katsuro's surname **Hara** (**原**) means "field" or "plain".