If it weren't for Marvin, I would have neglected to watch Haikyuu!!. With my husband's continued fascination with the sports genre in anime, it was no surprise that he asked if we could watch the volleyball centered series (he is also responsible for my more timely viewing of Yowamushi Pedal and the still-ongoing Ace of Diamond).
Hinata Shoyo's life was forever changed after watching a televised volleyball game that featured a player nicknamed "Small Giant". He pursued the sport through middle school, even though they don't actually have a proper boy's volleyball team, there weren't enough people who were interested in the sport and he was considered too short to be playing a sport dominated by tall players. On his last year in middle school, he was able to gather enough members so that they can qualify for a tournament, only to find out that they were playing against a championship team, headed by setter and "King of the Court" Kageyama Tobio. Despite his team's crushing loss against the more experienced school, Hinata gains Kageyama's acknowledgement regarding his physical prowess despite his short stature. Hinata vows to defeat Kageyama and enrolls in the school attended by the "Small Giant", Karasuno High School. Much to his surprise, he finds out that Kageyama is also enrolled in Karasuno.
Volleyball is an exciting sport on its own, but the anime adaptation of the popular manga series by Furudate Haruichi proved to offer something special on top of the adrenaline-pumping volleyball matches that you expect them to feature. And a lot of that has to do with the characters in the series. Each character is distinctive in design, highlighting the varied personalities that make up the team members, as well as the opponents, of the Karasuno High School volleyball team. While there are conflicts or rivalry at play at every turn, you can expect that each one regards the sport to be an important part of their high school experience, if not their life.
As starkly different Hinata and Kageyama are, whether in personality or amount of experience in the sport, they have more in connection with one another than just plain rivalry. And their relationship would be a driving force in the series's storytelling. Hinata and Kageyama would discover that in becoming teammates, they would find something that would make their playing infinitely more effective and their experience in playing the sport infinitely more satisfying. While they continue to consider each other to be rivals, the series does very well in establishing the importance of their particular teamwork, in both their individual goals as a player and in their roles in the Karasuno High School volleyball team. Hinata finds in Kageyama a setter who can make the most of his quick movements, and Kageyama finds in Hinata a spiker who can keep up with his plays. Some of the series's more compelling scenes are those involving plays that make the most of their combined efforts as volleyball players.
While it's easy to focus on Hinata and Kageyama, the series doesn't let you forget that there are other players in the team and that each of them have their own story to tell. Team captain Sawamura Daichi aims to elevate the team to its former championship glory; Sugawara Koshi places the team's goals ahead of his own desire to play as setter in every game; Azumane Asahi re-learns what it means to be the team's ace; and Nishinoya Nu, who shares Hinata's short stature, aims to defend and receive against every play made by their opponents. As much as it is fun to watch the team's more comedic interactions, it's when they are serious about their game play that makes them more interesting to watch.
You can expect that rivalries with other teams would crop up, such as the hilariously titled "Battle at the Garbage Dump" rivalry with Nekoma High School, or Kageyama's face-off with former team mate and fellow setter Oikawa Toru of Aoba Jousai High School. But instead of playing off these teams and their players as villains, the series also does a great job of telling their stories and their goals, making them equally worthy of empathy (though you are and will always be partial to the Karasuno High School volleyball team). One particular episode highlighted the sentiments of those who have experienced loss and elimination from tournaments, making viewers realize that it's easy to disregard teams or players that are in the periphery of the storytelling or might just be considered cannon fodder in order for the central storyline to progress, when they also have their own goals and struggles. It is one of the prime examples of how the series excellently straddles the balance between comedy and drama.
Haikyuu!! covered the Karasuno High School volleyball team's bid to win the summer national tournament and ends with their eyes set on participating in the more important spring competition in a twenty five episode run, which ended way too soon for Marvin, myself and the rest of the viewers who gained enjoyment in watching the series. I'm still not sure if the series will get a second season run (or even if the manga has enough material to warrant a continued anime adaptation).
I'm hoping that it does get a second season run, because Haikyuu!! is a guaranteed must-watch and where the series left off just makes you want to view the rest of the journey that the Karasuno High School volleyball team has to make. This is especially important when you know that the third year members of the team opted to juggle working on their future prospects after high school with playing, instead of retiring like most high school sports team members opt to do after summer tournaments are over. As much as Haikyuu!!'s lone season run is enjoyable on its own, I think that the series could offer so much more in its future storytelling.
I suppose I could take solace in the fact that I can always check out the original manga version, but for those who are planning to give the first (and, so far, only) season of Haikyuu!!...
Happy viewing!!Labels: Adaptation, Anime, Comedy, Drama, Haikyuu!!, Must-Watch, Sports, TV
