I really did like this episode so let me get what I didn't out of the way. I didn't like how we had Seijoh characterized with a flashback dump, I'd rather we had them characterized in the game through their actions, or out of the game, or even through a longer more thorough flashback than what we got. Instead we got a weird mix and so little that it would have been better without. Melodramatic flashbacks about characters we don't care about to get emotion out of us are great right, well not really but Haikyuu seems to think so. This was reminiscent to the 'winners and losers' episode in that way. The biggest flaw in Haikyuu is its uninspired characterization of characters who don't matter, and its on the nose nature which spells everything out. I wasn't a huge fan of how Oikawa realized the notion of how he was looking at their future opponents face, rather than the opponent right in front of them. Something like Baby Steps did the exact same thing but much better with the character in question slowly realizing it for himself and when he realized it, it was the memorable changing point of the match. Here it's welcome, however it shows the cheesy quick nature of this anime which can sometimes be a little too quick, alike how Kageyama changed to trust his team in seconds after watching Suga play. It's not a bad thing, and sometimes it's a strength, but I think it could be done better and have more thoroughly explored ideas because of it.
But forget that. I stated this episode reminded me of 'winners and losers', and it did in more than the bad ways. Rather than seeing forgettable characters have sad flashbacks and montages, and a rather good scene lessened by on the nose storytelling, we had an incredibly sad release of the characters we already know and love losing. The one's that we don't need flashbacks to understand how much they want to win, or how much work they put in. This was strengthened due to the fact that I once heard that Haikyuu is an anime that ends a season mid tournament. Because I heard that I assumed deep down that Karasuno had to win this, there was no doubt in my mind. The final point was awesome and I was ready to see them win and ... they got blocked. I told myself 'NOYA'S GOING TO GET IT' off my understanding that this season would end mid tournament. And... he didn't. I couldn't believe it and it was great, although if I didn't have that false spoiler I would still be in a 50/50 over if it would end with a win or not due to there being one more episode that could be used for a set up to season 2 regardless.
Karasuno's losing moments were hard to watch. You could tell purely from the look on Hinata's face when he was told that the next team was coming in to warm up, that he was finally realizing that his time on the court was over. Everyone's responses to it were heartbreaking. At least during the last moments, we got the cutest shot of Kiyoko which helped lessen this blow.
There is no doubt in my mind that this episode was to show the process of falling over and getting back up. It was to show devastating loss to Karasuno but also end in a motivating fashion. It was well done and it's the most emotional I've been from an anime since I watched Devilman Crybaby. Not nearly on the same level but still pretty emotional. "Does losing make you weak? Staying on your hands and knees makes you weak". Words to live by! And finally in the eating scene we saw them all crying while eating to the message "eat, and grow stronger", furthering the point.
As much as I didn't like this episode and the last to a certain degree, the last being my least favorite episode in the series, this was some good stuff. This tournament opened up the one note characters like Kiyoko, Tsukki, and Yamaguchi, allowed Asahi to gain confidence and had an incredibly satisfying affirmation of Noya's words, opened up Daichi and Suga as characters- especially Suga, and allowed Kageyama to truly learn how to work with the rest of his team, confront his fears, and finally start reclaiming the title of king in a way that isn't meant to denote his egocentricity. That's only mentioning a few. I loved the Dateko game from start to finish, and loved what the Seijoh team meant for our cast even if overall it wasn't perfect. |