Why the animation slacks for this season?

MaeStroLag said:
I agree with you 120%. I don´t have a problem with the new art style either and agree with you that some of the characters look better. The issue I have with the new season is the same as you - quality decline. I just rewatched the whole last 7 episodes and I think that if somebody looks on the practice match against Date Tech and then looks on the very last episode he will find out that quality is kinda on the different level.
What you write about the overall aspects of the match such as spikes, receives,... is true they are in bad quality or completely cut out that´s for sure.
Just as you as I hope too that it will get a lot better at least in the second part of the series. I don´t want any of those important moments and exciting matches that are coming to be ruined.
PS: don´t worry about English it´s okay.



For LauraBirdie: Of course, I don´t say that everybody will agree with my opinions if you like animation as it´s now then I´m completely okay with it.

I´m just calling the last episode worse from the rest from my perspective. It just doesn´t look good as I was writing before, even a practice match against Date Tech looks a lot better than the second part of the match against Tsubakihara. Why? because the ball´s trajectory just doesn´t seem realistic, run-up approaches look frickin awful, spikes and receives are without impact + are almost always drawn from the same angle + I´m not even talking about how are some of them animated (cut, no ball touches of the floor when block-outs, etc...) and I don´t even want to start to write about those audience scenes those gives me creeps in my dreams. Of course, I´m not writing all of that because I hate Haikyuu, no no no I love it but this very last episode looks incredibly bad from the others, in my opinion. Naturally, I´m writing this just for the sake of the series because I love it and don´t want it to go wrong and be ruined like for example NNT.

Plus it´s kinda hilarious that you are calling the very first match of the nationals "simple" when it´s literally one of the matches that we were waiting for sooo long. If you don´t get this then you are obviously the one that doesn´t get the weight of what is now happening in the series.

XCF_Konzarn said:
I don't really have a problem with the new artstyle, in fact I think some of the characters actually look better in the new style.In one of the press conferences last year, they said that with the new style, the drawings would become much easier. So I was very excited to see the changes. But my main problem with this season is the drop in animation quality - especially scenes of ball-impact (spikes, receives, blocks etc) and off ball movements. Also the spin and float on the ball don't seem very realistic. Frankly I didn't think that the change of the Director and Chief Animation Director would change the animation so much. The dynamics of the characters also seem off a lot of the times. I was waiting for the Tsubakihara match to see how they would handle the matches but I have to say I wasn't very satisfied. Apart from a few scenes by Hideki Takahashi (which were quite impressive on their own btw), I couldn't find the quality of animation I was looking for, the quality which till now separated Haikyuu from the rest of the sports anime out there.


Considering what we have witnessed from the first three seasons, it really pains me to see this season not getting the handling it deserves. Don't get me wrong though, I don't for a moment think that the series is in the wrong hands; imo Production IG is probably the best studio there is to work on anime related to sports (well apart from Madhouse ig.. ) and if you say that this season is still better than most of the works that are coming out, I would 100% agree with you. But after seeing what Production IG is truly capable of, I just don't understand why they had to drop the quality of animation now, since HQ is probably their best work till date and no doubt very popular. Is it because they are working on a bigger project at the moment?Is it due to budgetary restrictions ( probably saving for the 2nd cour?) Or during the formation of Wit Studios, most of the good animators moved there?


Being a sports fanatic myself, I was always interested in sports anime and Haikyuu became my favourite anime in no time. To me it was one of the few shows which not only did justice to the manga but also improved upon it in its own way. I just loved how realistic it was and how it portrayed character movement and interactions with a high degree of accuracy. So it will break my heart if the animation doesn't improve in the next season considering the most important matches are coming up, especially the one against the Miya twins.

Also, sorry for my bad English...

Carrot_Boii said:
I don't want to pour hate on the animators or pretty much anyone, but I reeeally don't like the new style. It looks a lot worse than before.
Even if it didn't look that bad I still wouldn't be the biggest fan of it since I'm already used to seeing the old design and changing it now, in fourth season, is probably not the best idea.
Some people say they enjoy it because it's more similar to the manga, but I'm gonna be honest - the only reason I'm not a manga reader is because I find the art style hideous XD
Anyway, Haikyuu is one of my all-time favorites and I'll still love the series no matter what it looks like. I'll just have to bear with the new style a little, until I get used to it.

MaeStroLag said:


Plus it´s kinda hilarious that you are calling the very first match of the nationals "simple" when it´s literally one of the matches that we were waiting for sooo long. If you don´t get this then you are obviously the one that doesn´t get the weight of what is now happening in the series.

AbrahamOmosun said:
I really think people need to do at least some research before saying things like lower budget and the staff is lazy

3 important members of Haikyuu production staff did not return from the past seasons

-the director(Susumu Mitsunaka),storyboarded season 2 op 2, personally key animated the climax in season 3

-the chief animation director(Takahiro Chiba)https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=takahiro_chiba

-main action director( Yasuyuki Kai)https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=yasuyuki_kai+haikyuu%21%21_series+

These are very important people for the series, especially Chiba and Mitsunka, since they were very responsible haikyuu's character looks and realism/weight. Having such high level individuals leave a show is not something any show would want and with the high bar they set with 3 seasons, it was inevitable that people weren't going to like it. But at least people should know the reaon and stop sprouting things that aren't true.

Edit: Also important, one of their main key animators, Shinji Suetomi (https://www.sakugabooru.com/post?tags=shinji_suetomi+haikyuu%21%21_series) stepped down from haikyuu, but his was due to health reasons so him coming back for season 4 isn't really known

ireallywantcake said:


Nah, it looks exactly like the manga actually. Most manga readers love it, i think you anime onlys are just not used to the manga artstyle LOL.

Here are some examples:
Akaashi - https://twitter.com/dorkuto/status/1196370290223267846
Hinata's "I want to beat you" to Hyakuzawa - https://twitter.com/mariaflora1208/status/1224694153012842496
Hinata's nosebleed - https://twitter.com/lovingkenhina/status/1220817137083785216

realnigga123 said:
I just watched the first 5 seconds of the first episode and I already thought something was off with the animation, so I came here and I guess I was right lol

Akbe_ said:
I am seeing that Toho Animation saving the budget a lot by cutting scenes like the impacts when the strike happens. Most of the "one touch" and serves are getting cut through out of the episodes. Was this Season worth to wait 4 whole years?

CRONOS21426 said:

Totally agreed. I have waited years instead of reading the manga, just so I see the wonders they would prefer with the animation ,but this is the shit they give us.It looks like they are making the anime just for the sake of it.Better it is that they cancel this season and we wait for another year so that another studio can adapt it again.

Tsarko said:
Animation is good as ever. Plus it didn't have much opportunities to shine since we haven't had a game yet. Just character designs changed because Chief Animation Director had changed.