Haikyū!! - Anime Review

Today we are presenting a small review of the anime Haikyū (or haikyuu) written by our friend Leonardo Fragozo from the blog leojapanesequest:

A Shōnen series of 25 episodes, which I watched in 5 days (whoa for me), with abundant elements of this genre, such as “despite endless mental monologues, charismatic and humanized characters,” Haikyū!! is about a sport I have never shown interest in (Volleyball); however, the approach is both dynamic and content-rich, which is something interesting. The anime does not have superhuman characters who go into “berserk mode” and solve all of humanity’s problems or, in the case of the team, but more than that, it teaches us the importance of working in groups, with our qualities and also our flaws.

It uses a fun approach but sometimes delves into technical foundations of Volleyball, many of which even resemble the movements of a chess game. It is an anime for those who do not like clichés like “supaaaaahhh attackus”; however, it is not a “shallow” anime, especially in terms of character personality variety. The music is upbeat and fast-paced, ideal for the moments of “tension” that accompany any real Volleyball player or an anime.

In fact, the “transition” from the first OP (called “Imagination”) well depicts what this world would be like from the perspective of the protagonists Hinata and Kageyama, while the second, called “Ah Yeah!!” properly denotes the “evolution” of the protagonists in their familiarity with the concepts of teamwork and competition.

Embedded video (YouTube)

The animation is well-made, despite the “monster faces” that the characters make, but like it or not, that is one of the characteristics of animes in this theme. The animation itself is extremely fluid, and the physics of the series has poetic license, after all, it is a work of fiction. The anime also currently has a second season.

The anime (ハイキュー!!) is based on a manga series written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate in the weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. You can watch this anime on Crunchyroll.