One of the main factors that have caused me to enjoy the series more this season was a result of the fact that the series didn't have to introduce anymore entry pieces and could focus mostly on what I'm watching this series for, the sport. Rather than focus on the drama of the players before the team gets created and how they try to fit with one another, the team is already together, the only thing left is progressively improving it and polishing each character individually. And that's what this season focuses mostly on. Character moments and interesting matches.
Haikyuu always put a lot of focus into its characters, don't get me wrong, the first season literally starts by focusing on how the characters come together and their mentality, however, what it doesn't do particularly well early on is the sport. It takes its time to get to what's entertaining about the sport and how it works in order to entrance the viewer by making sure we understand the characters. And since we already understand the characters...
It will instead put equal focus into the sport, teaching us and the players new techniques and new strategies, as well as introduce new people with different skillsets to spice things up. And as new strategies and techniques are introduced, there's just as many different mindsets and mini character arcs introduced in a fashion that complement each other well, without feeling like the problems the characters encountered are taking away from OUR OWN enjoyment of the sport itself.
The action of the series, the volleyball, finally feels like a proper battle of wits where the team has to use the skills they have honed to perform the most ingenious plays they can in order to win. I can wholeheartedly say that the matches this season were very entertaining and they do fit the description I've just given.
However there's something that didn't really dissapear. And that's the overinvolvement of some characters where it borders melodrama when they react to a negative event. It did somewhat diminish, but I think it's a result of the narrative thread taken rather than an improvement in writing, and there's still some events where you're like "Why does that matter THAT much to you?" or "Why do you have to yell, seriously, you could wait a little bit more and say that casually."
There's hardly any reservation in the actions and reactions of characters to most events, but note that it isn't as ridiculous as I might've possibly have made it sound. I'll try explaining it through giving an example of one arc a character went through, and if you wanna go blind on how things will go in the series, you can skip this paragraph, but trust me, this is just one out of many, so, keep that in mind when deciding, but it's also one of the ones that was more in focus, so what I'm continuing with in this paragraph is a spoiler even if I won't be specific, so also keep track of this fact. So there's this character who's rather reserved and doesn't really want to get into volleyball. You see, the train of thought and the events that influenced him are explained rather well and make sense, basically a person that he looked up to was lying about the fact that he was the best player in a team and then eventually he found out that was a lie and saw that being overlyinvolved in something may cause you to respond in a shameful way when things don't work out and wonders if that level of dedication is worth it if that's how you'll behave if you fail. How do you think he got over this? How do you think he decided to change his ways? Is it by being shown that when you succeed, you'll enjoy what you're doing and take pride in it and that's an addicting feeling? Sure, there's someone that does plant that little seed there, sure. Is it by understanding that an overorgolious ego is a bad thing? No. Is it by understanding that most things that are worth experiencing may cause you to experience shame? No. But what then? A dude goes like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! in his face, he says cool, and then he gets over it. Well, while there is more to it than that, when an interesting character gets solved with a dude screaming about highschool volleyball, I can't help but be somewhat dissapointed at the blown out of proportion reaction due to overinvolvement.
If you haven't read the previous paragraph, what it boils down to is well done and articulated characterization with a hint of overblown emotion to spin it in the right direction where you might occasionally scratch your head or look in the other direction for a few seconds.
That's pretty much it. The series didn't really weaken in any aspect as it went on, the animation is still consistent and well detailed, the sound of the series seems to be in better sync than in the previous season, overall, it genuinely feels like a better series.
Ultimately this season of Haikyuu featured interesting matches that were consistently entertaining and always bringing something new to the table, characterization that was always welcomed on screen rather than snatching some of the spotlight for the sport itself, albeit sometimes still overlydramatic, but definitely better in terms of that than its preceding season. It turned Haikyuu from an ok show for me to a good one. If you're looking for the same things as me from a sports series, the end result was good for me.
