Cinematography:
Yumiko NakataCast:
Ayumu Murase, Kaito Ishikawa, Satoshi Hino, Miyu Irino, Daisuke Namikawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Yūki Kaji, Shin'ichirō Miki, Shinnosuke Tachibana (more)VOD (2)
Seasons(4) / Episodes(85)
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Season 1 (2014) - 25 episodes
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Season 2 (2015) - 25 episodes
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Haikyu!! Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy (2016) - 10 episodes
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To The Top (2020) - 25 episodes
Plots(1)
Shoyo Hinata may be a small guy, but he’s got big ambitions. Ever since he saw a short-statured volleyball pro dominate the scoreboards in the National Championship, he’s been determined to become the next big thing in High School Volleyball. Unfortunately, he’s barely played the game. The only time he was able to assemble enough players to form a team was in junior high, when the team suffered a crushing defeat in their first and only match against a team lead by up-and-coming setter Tobio Kageyama. Now, as his first year of high school begins, Shoyo’s finally getting the chance to join a real club and play with a real team. There’s just one problem: Tobio Kageyama’s decided to attend the same school, and he’s established a reputation as being one of the best players in the game. Can this small fry hold his own against the King of the Court? Or could the rivalry and competition actually be the best thing for both of them? (Sentai Filmworks)
(more)Reviews of this series by the user Jeoffrey (3)
Season 2 (2015) (S02)
I quite often hear the opinion that Haikyu!! is the best sports anime series and I have to agree. I like Kuroko's Basketball as well, although Haikyu!! is funnier and does not even need to feature characters with constantly developing sports "superpowers" to keep the suspense going. Sure, many of the characters have above-average and almost unbelievable talent; however, unlike Kuroko's Basketball, Haikyu!! does not give us that all the time. Rather, it emphasizes that volleyball is a team sport and that good results are all about a combination of teamwork and team spirit. The characters are great, and I enjoy the interactions between the two main protagonists and the fact that the characters are evolving, which was very apparent, especially in the first season with Tobio Kageyama. Plus, the anime's creators are very good at the episodes that do not have any acting in them, so I found the first two episodes of the second season quite entertaining. Plus, there is a new manager in training, and I like her too because she comes across as a cute girl, and even though it is pretty clear where her character will go next, I already believe I will enjoy watching her. I like the animation, and the soundtrack is again awesome. The narrative is heading in exactly the right direction. All in all, an absolute 10/10.
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The conclusion needs to be massive and epic! Anyway, dedicating an entire anime series (even if, in this case, it "only" has ten episodes) to just one single volleyball game is a pretty big gamble. Could this kind of thing sustain a drive with the same characters over and over again, and in a game that is supposed to be five sets long, which in itself feels drawn out? Speaking for myself, I would have to say it could. Admittedly, I do miss those interesting, funny, and breather passages between the games and the more significant deepening of the relationships within the team. However, the question is whether that was necessary. After all, the team had fought their way through to the finals, and they took us on a journey. So there does not need to be too much focus on the relationships because the team is actually functioning as it should, and we just need to see how they are doing now to feel good. Plus, there are a few nice twists, with individual players pulling the latest tricks and ideas out of an imaginary hat. However, these still feel realistic, so we see improvement in, for example, a player learning how his teammates play in other positions. Another very positive thing is that this final game is hardly about one team at all. Shiratorizawa Academy has a talented team and is a worthy opponent, and the screenwriters introduce us to some of their players. In fact, you could say that the attention and such classic "flashbacks" are mostly focused on them, so you are introduced to the players of this team as well, to get to know them. Perhaps you are going to be rooting for some of them a bit, and all the more to enjoy the one big dramatic final game. Of course, you could expect a strong atmosphere with the final and plenty of twists and cliffhangers from this anime series. That is all there, even though I have to admit that it does not feel forced in any way. So the conclusion has to be massive and epic, and Haikyuu!! has done it again, in my opinion. 9.5/10.
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To The Top (2020) (S04)
I have probably already written this twice before, and I am going to repeat it. It is hard to follow up the previous season, which was the ultimate pinnacle (for now), with the atmosphere, well-established relationships and hours of training came to full fruition. I did not enjoy the first few episodes of this season very much, and what is more, I was even a bit irritated that the anime’s creators brought up an issue that's been dealt with so many times - Hinata's height. It was as if the grand finále of the qualifier never happened and we were back at the beginning when the main male protagonist needed to address his biggest problem (which he has already dealt with at least once before) and find his place (again). I was not impressed by the individual training camps either, I thought it was nice that they introduced us to some other excellent players even though that did not seem enough to build the same atmosphere as they did with the Shiratorizawa Academy... Gradually, though, it started to interest me again. Hinata's improvement, as he managed to keep his head down and his eyes open, actually started to be quite charming. The atmosphere also gradually builds up around each opponent (at least in the thirteenth episode the tension is used to great effect) and still Haikyuu!! manages to keep the right balance between the sport itself and a shitload of (encouraging) motivational scenes, and these things succeed to keep the audience excited for the big matches and the pretty ordinary stuff that shows us that volleyball is actually played by pretty normal people. At this time, I think that Haikyuu!! is still the best sports anime series, even though this was definitely the weakest season so far. However, I am looking forward to future seasons in the hope that, because it seems obvious, the next part could be as great as it was before... Halfway through season four I am rating it as 8/10, and looking forward to the summer... EDIT 09.01.2020, Part 2 - Well, what a disappointment, there was no suspense, no drive, except at the very end, when I was reminded of what used to be good about Haikyuu!!. In other words, there were ten very boring episodes where I more or less could not have cared less about the action on the court. This was especially true when there was that whole stupid episode with Nekoma which was just shoved in. This irritated me because it ruined the already lackluster pace with another (and for me not very pleasant) cold shower. The atmosphere the anime’s creators managed to build up in the previous series gave me chills watching every second of it, but in the second half of season four they probably only managed to do so in the last few episodes when it regained some feeling and tension and everything worked the way I think it should. However, it was too damn late!! I cannot say anything good this time, because I did not particularly enjoy the episodes up to the finále. This was not very good. I could award the second half of season four 5/10 at most, and on the whole, I am awarding it 6.5/10 which is a damn feeble four stars and a disappointment, and I am dreading the next season in case they repeat the same mistakes…
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