This anime was always going to be compared to Haikyuu and it should. It's only natural to compare shows of the same genre. Of course that's not to say that it can't differ in stories and emotional beats, in that sense it's very different from Haikyuu but unfortunately it's not very good.
Characters - 1
The biggest con is without a doubt the characters. They are all incredibly boring and awkward. How are we halfway through this anime at the time of writing and still only know like three or four characters on the Seiin team? Kuroba is annoying and overdramatic. His reasoning for falling out with Haijima in middle school makes no sense and feels like it was only done for the sake of drama. Speaking of Haijima he might be the only character in the show I kinda like but that's because he's a Kageyama clone and anyone who disagrees with that is kidding themselves.
Story - 3
The story is simple, a small volleyball club wants to go to nationals and thanks to their new first year duo finally have the means to do so. It's literally the exact same plot as Haikyuu but it's fine. When making an anime about high school volleyball there's not exactly many directions the story can go. So far the story has been more about the characters and their relationships with each other and volleyball than actually playing volleyball which is a shame as the character's suck so much. It's more dramatic and gayer than Haikyuu so if you're into that then you'll probably like this anime.
Sound - 7
The soundtrack is nothing to write home about but the opening is stupidly good. Like it should be illegal for an anime like this to have this good of an opening.
Art - 8
The animation is really good. I wish there was more volleyball scenes as those are the most enjoyable parts of the show. The ball moves so fast and every spike has an impact. This is probably the only area of the anime that is superior to Haikyuu.
Enjoyment - 5
The story is really mediocre, the characters suck but it looks so damn good and the opening is amazing so it's not a complete waste of time. If you are bored and have nothing else to do just watch this anime and skip the non-volleyball stuff.
Overall - 5
