Haikyuu!!

I really liked how this manga has such a realistic feel to it and how it can still give off this lighthearted vibe. It's nowhere as heavy as other sports shounen but still manages to convey the effort and feelings of the players.

Story - 10
I loved the story so far, how it's not just training-match-training-match and so forth but also focuses on the players and their quirks, you get to know each one quite a bit. Moreover, it's super funny without coming over as forced or insanely stupid so the humour is definintely a big plus as well.

Art - 9
It's not the best I've ever seen but definitely fits the story, which is, in my humble opinion, way more important than it just looking pretty. Also, it makes the characters seem more alive, in a way, and adds a certain 'action' feel.

Characters - 10
There's one of every caliber which adds to the diversity of characters. The author really has a great feel for making characters clash and at the same time become great friends. It's hilarious at times, sentimental at others and always keeps the overall balance. I'm looking forward to future developments.

Overall, I rate this manga a 10 because all the factors above are making me enjoy it very much. It's a great read and I'd definitely recommend it not only to sports manga readers. Though you might enjoy it a bit more if you like volleyball/sports. ;))

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After his horror manga Furudate-sensei changed genre to sport and while the prototype one-shot of Haikyuu still lacked "something" and it wasn't so well recieved (mostly by the "western" audience ) it got green on serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump and author took advantage of Haikyuu's potential to the fullest and created one of the most popular sport series in WSJ in years with addition of really well recieved anime.

The one who first looked as nemesis became biggest ally. Of course the path isn't so easy and takes time. And so by turn of fate our main duo (a promising prodigy and quirky but high-spirited newbie) joins the same volleyball team. The team's goal is to become once again as famous as they were in past... While it is quite cliche proclaim in sport genre, it's overshined by characters. Their individual struggle, inside and also outside of the court feels quite realistic and really resembles a path of anyone who tried seriously doing a sport in school. With story progressing, we can see that even after some time, the team that come quite close to each other, still has it's own problems. Even if it is studing problems, sometimes low self-esteem, personal dispute or focusing on individual future. So step by step the team moves forward and while the path isn't easy, they won't give up (well you know, shounen sport manga :D) But...
One of the best part of this manga is the cast, there is a lot of different, unique characters and especialy their interactions with each other (often in very funny way). As the story goes on, aside from the main cast, which is expanding little by little, there also is vast variety of supporting characters, mostly from other teams. Thanks to experiences from matches, training,personal chalanges or even some common interests, the team bonds become stronger and after time some characters start to open up and develope. While we can see their growth, they still manage to keep their main quirks. We see a lot backstories, so it's easy to understand why are characters behaving as they are. It feels natural and it's fitting for sport manga stated in high school.
Artstyle is unique, and you can recognize author right away from it. On one hand it works nice with comedy aspect (author often uses funny visualizations of characters to lighten the mood) but when the atmosphere is serious, like in matches it is drawn really thrilling.
This manga is really enjoyable, especially for the characters and nice balance between comedy and sport. So if you are a fan of realistic sport manga, with a lots of humor, you should read this one ...

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You're looking for a light sports manga? Then Haikyuu!! it is.

Story : Love the 'Your greatest enemy became your formidable ally' concept. The story starts out with a nice start. A young kid who wanted to play volleyball after he was amazed by an athlete performance on TV and wanted to be like him. The story was a bit slow-paced though, I'm not surprise if some people dropped the manga because its slow-paced. But I think the match was pretty well written and drawn that it covered the slow-paced. It's an 8/10.

Art : The art was outstanding. It was soft (for me, at least) for a sports manga but it was well drawn. And when there's an unexpected situation or event, the art became even more outstanding and a pure perfection. The art was a 9/10.

Character : I love every character that have appeared in this manga so far. It was well drawn and their personalities were very interesting. From the duo main characters, to all of their team members, managers, the opposite teams and others. The mangaka also successfully wrote their interactions as well. Not to mention, the character development was a thumb up too!! It was a 9/10 for the characters.

Enjoyment : If you need a sports manga that was a light one, Haikyuu!! It is. As I read it thorough, this manga was very enjoyable. As I said before, the fact that the story was a bit slow-paced and more realistic, the match was well written and I couldn't forgot how amazed I was every time I read it. It was a 9/10.

Overall : It's an 8/10. This manga came out every once a week and the wait was worth it. I couldn't help but sometimes waiting impatiently for the new chapter to came out. I actually re-read Haikyuu!! couple of times already, but this manga never made me bored, no matter how I re-read it.

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Haikyuu!!, a really fun and enjoyable manga. And anime as well. A friend recommended this one, and I grew more and more curious. After the first episode I was already hooked on the show. I started the manga only a little after I finished the anime, and I loved each line of it.

The story is really well-thought and all I can say is that it never makes me bored. Each match ends with a different outcome, and this is, in my opinion, a very difficult thing to do. Try thinking about how to end ten matches all in different ways. Every time, it made me feel something different. I'm a little poetic right? But it's absolutely true. Then there's the fact that each character constantly evolves, evolves and makes himself stronger with his own hands. And every time the evolution is something... Really explosive. There's always competition and that's because "only the stronger can stay on the court longer".

The art is amazing and it's one of my favorites, because it represents human expressions well. And also the animals are done very well. I love how the magaka is able to draw the movements of even a single finger and to make each character different. The art truly shows the differences between every personality.

Overall, this is a true masterpiece, which completely defeats all of the other Sports Anime I ever watched. This is a must-watch for all of the action fans. I really recommend this manga.

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