What killed this season for me was the pacing. Everything until the official matches felt so slow. The training camp feels like a waste of time for Hinata, and the practice match feels too similar to previous ones. At one point, Hinata asks himself what's he doing wasting his time, and I found myself asking the exact same question then. While Hinata does improve after his "unconventional training", I question how realistic this improvement is. Conventional practice just seems so much better; the show didn't do a good job convincing me otherwise. On top of that, the payoff for the official matches feels short lived. The official matches are as thrilling as they've ever been, but they're over in a flash. In the end, I wasn't sure if they were worth the wait.
The charm of Haikyu's characters is getting a little stale. While each character remains endearing, they've become predictable. You kinda already know how characters will react to team drama and challenges. Sometimes characters feel like flat caricatures that occasionally say snappy sports one-liners. Kageyama and Kiyoko are perhaps the exceptions this season with their new development. As a Haikyu fan, this has me worried about future seasons, since the hearts of this series is its characters.
I didn't dislike this season, but it was a letdown compared to previous seasons. The season did many things right, like music and the official matches. However, this season has to stand in the shadow of ones, and it just failed to live up to expectations.
