Not to be confused with Hinata Hyuga from Naruto, Shoyo Hinata (to put his name in a western orientation) is the orange-haired star of Haikyu!!, the volleyball shonen series from Haruichi Furudate.
He may be the shortest person in the world (on the team,) but his bubbly and bright personality has him standing above the haters. Small Giant, indeed. You’ll get there, buddy.
Haikyu!! Is one of the earlier entries into the fairly new sports shonen trend that emerged in English-speaking anime audiences.
Volleyball Club proves to be a good setting for drama, determination, and triumph.
Hinata Shoyo’s Age
Shoyo idolizes volleyball legend Tobio Kageyama, who he sets out to emulate and surpass. When he moves on to high school, imagine his surprise to bump into his idol himself, a member of the team.*
*This anime trope of huge celebrities in certain niches unexpectedly showing up in high school is… confusing. If you’re a huge fan of someone, you’d know if they still attended high school.
Does Japan have an above-average number of celebrities that continue to attend public school? That would be interesting to find out, to be honest.
How Old Is Hinata Shoyo?
High school students in Japan are not different in age from high school students around the world. Most countries have students in the form of standard, compulsory educations before the age of 18.
Hinata Shōyō is a first-year student at Karasuno High. Hinata Shoyo is 16 years old. This is the average age for students at this level. This information should not be new or surprising.
What’s more surprising is the fact that Shoyo didn’t know the real Small Giant was also the first year. Seriously, what?
Is Hinata Shoyo a Girl?
This is a common question because of the Naruto character of the same (not really) name. We will clear up the confusion.
Hinata Shoyo is not a girl. He is a high school boy. His first name is Hinata, while the confounding Naruto character’s LAST name is Hinata.
To put this into a western lens for you guys: Darby is an American and English last name, but also a girl’s first name.
Darby James reads like a feminine name, while James Darby reads like a masculine name. I hope that helps!
The fact that sources will reverse the name Hinata Shoyo to Shoyo Hinata just furthers the confusion.
Both configurations are correct, one mimicking Japanese while the other localizes it to English; one needs to be consistent to keep what the names mean straight.