Haikyuu!!

Ever since having witnessed the "Little Giant" and his astonishing skills on the volleyball court, Shouyou Hinata has been bewitched by the dynamic nature of the sport. Even though his attempt to make his debut as a volleyball regular during a middle school tournament went up in flames, he longs to prove that his less-than-impressive height ceases to be a hindrance in the face of his sheer will and perseverance.

When Hinata enrolls in Karasuno High School, the Little Giant's alma mater, he believes that he is one step closer to his goal of becoming a professional volleyball player. Although the school only retains a shadow of its former glory, Hinata's conviction isn't shaken until he learns that Tobio Kageyama—the prodigy who humiliated Hinata's middle school volleyball team in a crushing defeat—is now his teammate.

To fulfill his desire of leaving a mark on the realm of volleyball—so often regarded as the domain of the tall and the strong—Hinata must smooth out his differences with Kageyama. Only when Hinata learns what it takes to be a part of a team will he be able to join the race to the top in earnest.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Haikyuu!! adapts the first 8 volumes of Haruichi Furudate's manga of the same name.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Haikyuu!!
Side story:	Haikyuu!! Lev Genzan!, Haikyuu!! (OVA)
Sequel:	Haikyuu!! Second Season
Summary:	Haikyuu!! Movie 1: Owari to Hajimari, Haikyuu!! Movie 2: Shousha to Haisha
Other:	Haikyuu!! Quest Picture Drama

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Hinata, Shouyou

Main

Murase, Ayumu
Japanese

Kageyama, Tobio

Main

Ishikawa, Kaito
Japanese

Nishinoya, Yuu

Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko
Japanese

Oikawa, Tooru

Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke
Japanese

Kozume, Kenma

Supporting

Kaji, Yuuki
Japanese

Tsukishima, Kei

Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Kuroo, Tetsurou

Supporting

Nakamura, Yuuichi
Japanese

Sugawara, Koushi

Supporting

Irino, Miyu
Japanese

Tanaka, Ryuunosuke

Supporting

Hayashi, Yuu
Japanese

Yamaguchi, Tadashi

Supporting

Saitou, Souma
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Morihiro, Fumi

Producer

Matsushita, Keiko

Producer

Mitsunaka, Susumu

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Animation Director, Key Animation

Kikuta, Hiromi

Sound Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "Imagination (イマジネーション)" by SPYAIR (eps 1-13)
	2: "Ah Yeah!!" by Sukima Switch (eps 15-25)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Tenchi Gaeshi (天地ガエシ)" by NICO Touches the Walls (eps 1-13)
	2: "Ah Yeah!!" by Sukima Switch (eps 14)
	3: "LEO" by tacica (eps 15-25)

More reviews

Reviews

Sep 21, 2014

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

SheasonDuerulo (All reviews)

753 people found this review helpful

To be honest, I'm guilty of being biased and judgemental, and more than once to boot. A few years ago I had seen my friend's collection of Naruto manga. I scoffed and even teased him a bit, having seen what appeared to be ridiculous anime promos on TV aimed at children. Within a year, I had discovered anime and manga myself. I have since apologized. Then, a year ago in the fall FAL league, I found myself incredulous at how popular and highly praised the sequel to Kuroko no Basket was. Subsequently, I stumbled across a volleyball anime with what seemed to be an interesting premise.

Therefore, I believe apologies are in order. I'm sorry, sports anime genre. I'm sorry I looked down on you. I'm sorry I didn't give you a shot sooner. I'm sorry I wrote off Kuroko no Basket and Yowamushi Pedal and the several other of the genre I have since added to my plan to watch list. If you want to give thanks for my change of heart, you need look no further than a wonderful little gem called Haikyuu!!

Quickly becoming one of my favorite anime, Haikyuu!! was the show I looked forward to most each week. It is a well-rounded work that made every Sunday a little better. As today is the day it finished airing, I'm a bit surprised that more people haven't completed it and/or written reviews. Hoping to help others that may not have given Haikyuu!! a chance, here I am now expressing my humble opinion.

Adapted from a Shounen Jump manga, the story could be boiled to to pretty typical shounen stereotypes. It contains an underdog, teamwork, perserverance, etc. However, in my opinion, Haikyuu!! integrates these themes incredibly well, and also sets itself apart from your run of the mill Jump product. The protagonists are relatively inexperienced and are far from being the best volleyball players out there. Crazy quick 'level up's don't exist, and you will find no inexplicable victories here. Instead, we receive a well crafted story with good pacing that follows the formation of the Karasuno to their foray into the high school volleyball circuit.

Another issue people typically have with the shounen genre is flat, 2-dimensional characters that have little or poor development. I like to think this problem does not plague Haikyuu!! In fact, I'd say this is a strong point in relation to many other anime/manga. Haikyuu!! mainly focuses upon the exploits of the two main characters and the team as a whole, but does take the occasional detour to explore backstory, relationships, character development, comedic moments, and minor characters. That last item especially separates this show from the rest. A recurring theme throughout this sports anime is, not surprisingly, losing. I was very impressed with Haikyuu!! on how it depicts the emotions and point of view of nearly all minor characters, whether they appear again or not. For me, the level to which they were explored is rare among any story I've come across. On a side note, having not experienced not much from the sports genre, I am no authority on how others deal with losing games. However, subjectively, I think it handles the concept fantastically, and possibly better than the above-mentioned basketball and biking anime. It spends a fair amount of time presenting how the characters react and cope with loss.

As far as technical aspects go, Haikyuu!! does not disappoint. The artwork is clean and the animation fluid. Production I.G. did a wonderful job putting together a great visual work. In addition, the OST is superb. Personally, the background tracks helped set the scene and kept me emotionally invested throughout intense, comedic, and dramatic scenes. I cannot compliment the audio side of this anime enough with how well it worked. As a bonus, I fell in love with all of the openings and endings. Hopefully, you're as lucky as I was.

I pray you give Haikyuu!! a chance. If you are new to the genre, this might be a gateway to a new horizon for you. If you have enjoyed sports anime before, Haikyuu!! will continue your enjoyment of the genre. Inevitably, this show is and will be compared to Production I.G.'s other sensation, Kuroko no Basket. In the interest of bipartisanship and brevity, I will simply say that the main difference is that Kuroko no Basket relies more on spectacle, whereas Haikyuu!! integrates more realism. Regardless of opinion, I believe that you will really enjoy Haikyuu!!and, quite possibly, like me you will be eagerly awaiting season 2.

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Aug 17, 2015

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

0207xander (All reviews)

504 people found this review helpful

[Spoiler Warning]

Uh oh, I'm about to do something not many have done: bring up problems with Haikyuu! Disclaimer: I do play volleyball, so please understand where I'm coming from.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Haikyuu! and will be watching the second season, but in this review I'm going to talk about what I didn't like because everyone else gushes over it. Remember, I did genuinely like it.

When I first found out there was an anime about volleyball (and not only that, it was really popular and well-liked) I kind of got really excited and placed it near the top of my "Plan to Watch" read more

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Oct 1, 2014

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

morphinup (All reviews)

186 people found this review helpful

So if you can tell from my score, I really freaking love this anime. I have to preface this by saying, I am NOT a sports anime fan. It's one of the last genres I look to because I've disliked/dropped over 90% of the ones I've seen. So I'm incredibly biased.

Story:
The story in Haikyuu! is what amazes me most possible.

It's all volleyball, volleyball, volleyball, yet I'm never tired of it (despite not being an avid volleyball fan). The relationships between the players develops in all aspects: the relationships between the players as friends, as teammates, as students in different school years, as a read more

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Nov 16, 2014

25 of 25 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

elleyonce (All reviews)

168 people found this review helpful

The most important thing in a team sports is, without a doubt, the team. This holds especially true for volleyball. Having six talented players is all fine, but as long as they aren’t a team and don’t show team spirit, that talent is surely in vain. But what if it’s the other way round; is it a surefire way to win when you have one team where not everyone is talented?

Not really. But the chances are higher when there’s one team, rather than six players.

Haikyuu!!, or High Jump in English, is about Hinata and Kageyama, two players who originally stand at the opposite side of the volleyball net – plus are personality-wise polar opposites too - and are, due to the fact that they attend the same high school, forced to work together. During that process, they learn the importance of a team and that you don’t lose or win alone. The show eventually does focus on the entire Karasuno volleyball team (and on other teams too), but it’s still obvious who the main characters are.
As with most sports anime, the plot starts with Hinata and Kageyama meeting (and fighting), then joining the Karasuno volleyball team, and the team battling others all the way to the Inter-Highs. The volleyball aspects are well explained though and nicely weaved into dialogues. We learn about the libero when the libero appears. We learn about Quick As when Kageyama and Hinata perform a Quick A. There is no huge info dump in that manner; the viewer is pretty much spoonfed with information, one term explained at a time. The plot isn’t very original and average at best, but to be fair, Haikyuu is an anime where it’s more about the characters than the story.

What I liked about Haikyuu was the fact that the show doesn’t rely on superpowers, even though it was somewhat unbelievable at some points. There is the fact that Kageyama can exactly pin-point where to toss the ball, for example, or Hinata jumping a felt hundred metres high. But except that, there are no laser beams emerging from the player’s eyes, there is no “super saiyan”-mode, nothing like that. And the best part is: Even the supporting cast thinks it’s weird. They think it’s weird when Kageyama perfectly tosses the ball to Hinata, who jumps a felt hundred metres high. They laugh when a character names his moves. I simply loved that because most sports anime tend to take those things for granted, which isn’t realistic at all.

As previously mentioned, Haikyuu lives off its characters. The first eleven episodes are about the main team, Karasuno, which helps the viewer to learn and love the boys one by one, as most are characterized well, have good interactions with each other and their motivations are shown too. Then the opposing teams and characters kick in. There is the ”fated rival” Nekoma, who appears in three episodes and then vanishes into thin air with the promise to meet again in the Inter-Highs. There is Tokonami, the loser team, and Dateko, the team that caused the ace Asahi to have a volleyball trauma. But the only opposing team truly worth mentioning is Aoba Johsai which we get a lot to know of, as many of the players were once teammates or upperclassmen of Kageyama, but especially so Oikawa, who can be seen as the antagonist of Haikyuu. He gets such strong characterization and his motivations are laid out so well that it makes him easily one of the best characters in the series. Other characters who develop really well are Karasuno’s Tanaka – who gets introduced as one of the comic relief characters in the beginning and gets fleshed out properly later on – as well as Nishinoya, who is introduced as a hot-blooded, loud character, but quickly turns to one of the pillars of the protagonist team.

I wish I could say the same about Hinata, but sadly, that isn’t true. While his motivations do get shown early in the series – as he is the main character – he still acts most of the time like a “volleyball Naruto”; hotblooded, highly friends-focused and especially annoying in matches, when he screams “Bring it on!” for the tenth time (even if it does get revealed that it has a reason why he screams that way). As for the other main character Kageyama, he certainly develops from the mean, oppressing attitude which brought him the nickname “King of the court” (no, that’s definitely not praise), to a person who learns to depend on others and to listen to them for once. I really like Haikyuu’s cast, save one or two characters, and they make the show very good.

The animation, as the studio behind the series is Production I.G, certainly does not disappoint. The scenes look crisp, the matches look fluid, and what I loved especially was, in some parts of the show, when the characters smash the ball – that was when the animation became a lot like a sketch and that was very impressive in my eyes. There is also a scene which was reminiscent to the Monogatari Series to me in Episode 21; when the vice-captain Sugawara wants to tell Kageyama to “do his best”, but stops in the middle of the sentence and the plain text “Let’s win” gets shown for two seconds. Sometimes the characters look off-model (especially the ones watching the game), and sometimes scenes are reused over and over again, but overall, it’s certainly a visual feast.

As for the sound, it always fits to the mood, and varies from electronic to straight up swing over rock; this applies to the opening and ending themes as well. A special mention belongs to the voice cast; there were many familiar and unfamiliar names, and all of them did a great job. All of them suit to their respective characters, but the one that shined the most was Oikawa’s voice actor and my favourite, Namikawa Daisuke, who made Oikawa to the great antagonist that he is.

When I watched Haikyuu on a weekly basis, I was looking forward to every next week, and loved every single episode. When I rewatched it once the show was over, I didn’t enjoy it that much. I thought the events before the Inter-High (which starts in Episode 15) to be average at best. But after the Inter-High started, that was when my enjoyment had a peak, especially so in the last match, Karasuno vs Aoba Johsai. To me, that’s when the series really evolves from the average sports anime to a great one.

Haikyuu’s core theme is the team. It’s about learning to trust each other when you’re in a team, it’s about winning and losing as a team, it’s about overcoming obstacles as a team. For being that team-focused, Haikyuu really spends lots of its time for the viewer to get to know the team, and handles its characters with great care, even though the plot is by no means unique. It has great animation, a fitting sound and a wonderful voice cast. If you are debating whether or not to watch this, then don’t hesitate and start Haikyuu. You won’t regret it.

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Haikyuu!!

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Characters & Voice Actors

Hinata, Shouyou

Kageyama, Tobio

Nishinoya, Yuu

Oikawa, Tooru

Kozume, Kenma

Tsukishima, Kei

Kuroo, Tetsurou

Sugawara, Koushi

Tanaka, Ryuunosuke

Yamaguchi, Tadashi

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Haikyuu!!

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

External Links

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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