STORY-The story of Haikyuu is pretty much similar to most sports animes but with a small twist. Now with most shows of this genre the story centers around the two new comers who join the sports team who at first seem the polar opposites of each over but slowly over time they use that to their advantage and their friendship grows from it.Now while I wont say that this is not this shows main plot, it does go through it in a different way. The story follows two young volleyball players Hinata and Kageyama as they train together with their rag tag bunch of friends as part of the Karasuno volleyball team to become the best volleyball team in japan. As you could probably tell, this plotline is very similar to Kuroko no Baskets plot as the two main characters seem completely opposite but they work together very well. What makes this anime different from it is that Kuroko focused on the team working together to beat a single player (the generation of miracles), in Haikyuu it focuses on working as a team to beat another team that is similar to them and to be honest I prefer Haikyuus method.When watching a sports anime you should treat the team in the show as a team and not as a single character.The whole context of the sport of volleyball is something that has never really been done before so when I came into this series I was a bit worried that nothing would make sense to me. But the series makes it quite clear about the rules involved and the positions involved, even if you join in the series a bit too late you will still understand the rules quite well. Another example of its relation to sports is how it describes certain aspects about not just volleyball but all sport in general. In one episode in particular when Karasuno win a match against a low league team it talks about how to certain people deal with losing at a big tournament and it handles it very respectfully. It treats the idea as a key point in any sport which is something not many sports animes look at in an adult manner and it works very effectively.
CHARACTERS-If there's one thing that this show had that got me hooked on it for 25 episodes, it was the characters. When it came to developing characters for a sports show, they needed to be very powerfully developed and engaging characters so that when they perform a big move in the anime you are cheering them on in real life, and Haikyuu did this beautifully. There is no character in the entire volleyball team that someone wont like.Each character appeals to a certain audience member whether it be the hyperactive one,the serious but secretly nice team leader and even the silent one who never gets involved with the teams mess, whatever character trait you want its there.This became incredibly effective as when the show continued to the last few episodes in the final match it was like I had become a supporter of that team and that I desperately wanted them to win whatever the cost. Whenever Asahi made a spike I would shout out loud, whenever Hinata did the quick play with Kageyama I would freak out.This is done by the show taking its time by making certain episodes about one character and developing them from their. For example, when we meet Nishinoya for the first time, no one really expected much from him, but as his charisma improved over time we started to understand and fall in love with his antics. This was the same for most of the characters as they were all enjoyable in the end, even Tsukishima who at first seem like the most pompous jerk in the story became slightly more enjoyable near the end. But the one character who I cheered for the most was probably Yamaguchi since he didn't do anything throughout the entire first half of the series and all it took was one episode of him playing for only one turn to make him one of the best characters in the series, while Kuroko also had this down with some of their players the didn't develop as much as Haikyuu did as their were some characters in Kuroko that even after two seasons I still didn't recognize on the team where as I recognize everyone on the Karasuno team.ANIMATION- Production IG has been well known for not cutting down quality when it comes to animation so you will be pleased to know that they didn't hold out on this one. While the regular animation is smooth and well put together, it doesn't seem ground breaking. There are some moments were the animation goes out of its way to make your eyes explode, especially when someone is about to make a spike. This use of holding back animation is common but I might of preferred something different from someone like Kyoto animation who could make it seem more beautiful.Also there were certain uses of chibi animation that worked very well to convey the childlike essence of the show which at times made the show far more amusing.All in all the animation was average which is a shame considering how great the story is but hopefully it will improve over time.
So overall, this is defiantly up their with the greats of sports anime and if you are a fan of this genre I highly recommend watching it. while it is a bit silly at times and doesn't take itself nearly as serious as other anime, it is lovable, enjoyable and action packed. While this year has seen some amazing new releases this might not be named as the anime of the year but if you are ever in the mood for a heartfelt show about a bunch of friends playing a sport you thought was for beach lovers, then give it a go. Since this series ended with a clear sign that it will continue, a second season is bound to be in the works so if you want more afterwards you might just be lucky This is a great story of friendship and love of sport and should not be missed.
