Short review: Haikyuu!! is an engaging story about the fallen-champions men’s volleyball team of Karasuno high school. Despite not being big on sports manga or not knowing anything about volleyball, giving this a try is absolutely worth it. Without realizing it, you’ll be immediately hooked and rooting for the boys all the way. The story and the characters’ development is told brilliantly through the volleyball matches, and no play is useless in the entirety of the story - everything is connected.
Full review:
Warning: review contains spoilers
I’ve been meaning to start this for a while now, but I only decided to start reading Haikyuu!! because when the manga finished it was all I saw on my feed. A bit sad that I got on the hype train a bit late, but it was also nice to get into it with zero knowledge. We begin with Hinata, of course, being beaten by Kageyama in middle school really badly then ending up teammates with him. This does sound like the beginning of a whole bunch of Shounen Jump titles, but Hinata is such a support-worthy MC that you just keep on going.
Plot-wise, I’m not sure how it compares to other sports manga, because I haven’t read any others. However, to me, the simple plot of [the year that changed the team’s lives] going on to [a glimpse of how everyone is doing in the future] is great. I think some people feel like Hinata/Kageyama’s second year and third year stories should be told, but I think we already saw everything that we needed to see with Karasuno’s lineup that made them fly again. We find out anyway that they did make names for themselves, and the MSBY/Adlers game really feels more fulfilling because we see all the powerhouses still playing. After that short arc, we get even more timeskips and see our heroes succeeding - playing in the same team AND as rivals, which is exactly what we’d expect them to keep pursuing.
For the characters… where do I even begin? I am an absolute sucker for ensemble casts where you just fall in love with everyone. First of all, Hinata Shouyou is just a ray of sunshine that I immediately wanted to root for. He’s just got spirit and is such a sweetheart, he really affected so many people around him. Watching him grow out of the shadow of the Little Giant and coming into his own as Ninja Shouyou and an olympic player really made me proud. Kageyama as the darker rival archetype is the usual except that he’s only a volleyball genius and a dumbass in everything else and that makes him so endearing!! The other Karasuno members are so lovable as well, with how supportive they all are of each other and how they become catalysts for each team member to grow. I was especially happy with seeing the growth of the other first years - Tsukki during the Shiratorizawa match, Yachi no longer just a side character, and Yamaguchi becoming a great pinch server. The stable senpais are also so great - how they bring up the first years is just so heartwarming to see - especially Sugawara who doesn’t play in the starting lineup still teaching Kageyama. Coach and Sensei of course are also such great pillars for the team, without them, none of this would have happened.
The other teams are great as well - I ended up rooting for so many characters lol. Some stand out characters are Oikawa - not a genius, but ended up competing against the Japan team? Damn. Bokuto - how could you not like this guy, really. Ushiwaka - when we see him more outside of just being a strong player its amazing. Of course we have the Miyas, too… Nekomata’s members (all of them 🙁(() and I could go on and on, but basically the cast of characters is really memorable and easily, you will find a favorite… or seven.
Lastly, we have the art. Again, I can’t compare this to other sports manga, but I can say that the art is nice and clean. The art style had subtle changes too from the beginning to the end, but that’s how it usually works with series that go on for over five years. Still, as someone who doesn’t play volleyball, I was still able to grasp what was happening on the court. The constant reminders of the current rotation, the explanations of the plays, and the the drawings of the ball’s trajectory really helped me follow what was going on. It wasn’t overwhelming at any point.
Overall, I’d recommend this to… anyone. Even though I might have initially been disinterested in following a story about some high school boys playing volleyball, by the end of it I was so attached to the characters and so proud of the tremendous growth they made. It’s definitely not difficult to get into, and the message of the whole thing - how everything is connected - and how Furudate showed this from the beginning to the end really felt like a beautiful set into a wonderful play. I hope more people would give Haikyuu!! a shot.
Plot 9/10
Art 8/10
Characters 10/10
Overall 10/10
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