Haikyuu!! is a story about volleyball, it's a sports shounen, do not expect any deep metaphors for the meaning of life and existence, but you can expect a very well paced and action packed story filled with terrific characters.
Story - 8
Haikyuu!! is a shounen about sports, and as stated above this normally does not call for anything complex, it is a basic story of a small group of misfits banding together to take on unfavourable odds, the pacing however is terrific and will have you on the edge of your seat for certain moments and feeling some intense emotions at others (though this is by shounen standards so don't expect the need for a tissue box). So while the story is pretty basic and nothing new, it is well realized, it throws in some curve-balls to keep you on your toes and wondering what will happen next and it possesses a terrific pace with slowly building anticipation to tension filled climaxes. These more than make up for the traditional story in my opinion.
Art - 8
I really don't care that much about art unless it looks brilliant or horrible, in this case the aesthetics for Haikyuu!! do their job very well and are appealing to the eyes. There was also no problems telling people apart despite the fast pace of the scenes and the limited view of the court you receive is well used and you will always see the action from a good angle.
(My favourite artistic touch was the addition of the sort of tunnel vision filters around the side of the screen during certain scenes)
Sound - 8
I really enjoyed the soundtrack of this anime, the OP's and ED's were very god (although I believe the first OP should have been used for the latter half of the series as it is much more intense). The background music is also very good for both the intense moments and when the character's are dealing with heavier emotions. No complaints other than the soundtrack not being outstanding. (My favourite track was the first OP; Imagination by SPYAIR, just a great song to get you hyped)
Character - 9
One of the shows strongest qualities is it's characters, they really spill out in every scene you see them in and all of their actions reflect it, also each character feels like a character and not just some random stereotype thrown in for the fun of it (i.e. goof balls can actually play and will cheer the team up and less skilled characters aren't oblivious to their situation). Every scene a character is in will scream the character's personality and even the main antagonists feel like realistic characters instead of things put there to stop the main character's progress. (My favourite character is Kei Tsukishima, a tall blonde dude that couldn't seem to care less about volleyball but is still surprisingly good)
Personal Enjoyment - 9
This anime's enjoyment is likely to be susceptible to changing greatly based on the eyes of the beholder. I came into this anime wanting to have a good time, but if you want this anime to be painful I do not think it impossible to only focus on it's negative points, but if you are watching for enjoyment you should probably have an enjoyable time even if you are not a fan of the sports genre.
Overall - 9.2
Summary - A pleasant sports anime that you will enjoy thoroughly if looking for an entertaining time, but may not be your cup of tea if you need complex plot lines and story lines with nothing less then the entire world on the line.
