Haikyuu!! is so much more than just a sports anime.
Not every sports shonen stands the test of time. So many of them generate a lot of hype for a season or two and promptly fade into obscurity. Haikyuu!! is not one of them. Even though the manga came to an end three years ago, the shonen continues to bring in heaps of new fans. But what makes Haikyuu!! so special?
In short: it’s a very simple story about very complicated, but deeply relatable people.
The plot revolves around Hinata, a first-year at Karasuno High who dreams of making a name for himself as a volleyball player despite his short height. With the help of his teammates, Hinata tries to make it to the finals of the high school volleyball tournaments. While the premise is relatively straightforward, it's the characters that give it so much life and charm.
Haruichi Furudate, the author and illustrator of Haikyuu!!, didn’t just sketch out a bunch of “good guys” and “bad guys” in broad strokes and pit them against each other. No one gets sidelined; every character has depth.
And that’s what keeps fans coming back to the manga and anime time and time again: at the heart of it all are believable, realistic teenagers. Like most teens, they have their own embarrassing habits, overly ambitious dreams, and trivial problems. Everyone has a story to tell.
The cunning guy Daishou from the team of cheaters? He has a pretty girlfriend he tries to impress with his in-depth knowledge of the game. And Bokuto, one of the most skilled and feared players in the story, seems to have trouble with his Japanese studies. And the cocky, arrogant Oikawa teaches kids to play volleyball on Mondays in his spare time. It’s details like these that make you root for the series’ supposed antagonists and rivals.
_15462.webp)
Where other shonen would have these young athletes make dramatic speeches or tell villain monologues, Haikyuu!! creates a universe of high school volleyball that is so easy – and so beautiful – to imagine. It is still full of intense scenes that get your heart racing, but ultimately this is a story about kids trying their best. And who cannot relate to that?
Haikyuu!! has already firmly cemented its reputation as one of the greats not of just sports anime, but of shonen in general, with a fandom that is still just as alive and active as in its heyday. Naturally, the highly-anticipated two final movies that conclude the adventures of Hinata and his team are guaranteed to win over even more new fans.