Great competition is built on rivalry. An impassioned clash of titans at the top of their game [clip audio] "Here is Muhammad Ali!" It's the key to success, of course, finding that person who pushes you further than you ever could have gotten alone, to innovate in wilder ways [clip audio] "Some of the most exciting work that I've done in my career has been the work that I've done with Steve on the Macintosh" to train harder than ever before, to test the limits of tradition, of safety, [clip audio] "Such was the impact that the car began to disintegrate then, every driver's nightmare" of sportsmanship, just to scrap your way to the top. It can be an ugly game of course, but at its best it's a meeting of minds that betters everyone touched by that indomitable spirit. Haikyuu understands that spirit like few properties do. A manga about volleyball turned anime sensation, it is a tale about where dedication, drive, and a lick of pure talent will take you. I'm not a big fan of sports anime. Hell, I'm not a big fan of sports, but when I first sat down to watch its inaugural season five years ago, it was like a shonen infused shot to the heart. Before its first cour came to a close, I realized I was watching a favourite, and today I'm going to tell you why it might be one of yours, too. Because regardless of whether you care about volleyball, or even sports in general, the competition, camaraderie, compassion, and sheer force of will on display in Haikyuu, is likely to ignite something in all of us. To cheer as our heroes succeed, to wipe away a bitter tear as they fail, and to roar in excitement with every ball spiked majestically onto the court below. In 2012, the secretive artist, Haruichi Furudate, so private that this was the only footage I could find of them, began a new serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. The unassuming Haikyuu fit right in alongside the likes of Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. It's not just because of its incredibly energetic art style and the largely male cast either, much like The Big Three, whose dominion over the scene sets a hard-to-shake standard, Haikyuu is all about the power curve, the learning of new skills, and of course, a pantheon of well-written foils. It might have traded the kamehameha for a powerful service ace, but it's pure shonen through and through. Initially focused on the diminutive Hinata Shoyo, a volleyball obsessed high-schooler who has finally found his place on a team of equals, Haikyuu wastes no time in showing its hand as an ensemble piece. The members that make up Karasuno High's scrappy club of underdogs are a varied lot, and it's in this group that we find a team of heroes that demand our support. Even as the series is finding its footing, the spotlight pans across each member to reveal plenty of depth and nuance hiding just beneath the surface. It doesn't take long for Furudate to mine these personalities, effortlessly making each one as flawed, as determined, and as loveable as the last. Watching Haikyuu can be intense. Shonen often is, especially considering the genre's penchant for constantly upping the ante and having its heroes scream louder than ever, but when you're in the middle of a match that has already lasted an hour, where every point means more than the one that came before, a different atmosphere descends. It's massively important then, that Haikyuu knows when to break its own tension. Luckily, thanks to its fantastic characters, it's just as good at being funny and touching as it is at being dramatic. The chemistry between them works because they're all multifaceted individuals never relying on the templates you might mistake them for initially. The captain, Daichi, is calm and collected, with no specific skills on the court other than being able to rally the troops and bring the best out of his team. Out of his gym kit, however, he's a bit of a goof, utterly clueless when it comes to matters of the heart, but a loyal friend. A second-year, Ryū, is trying to shake an irresponsible reputation he earned as a carefree freshman, but is struggling to meet these new expectations, sometimes proving to be surprisingly sage, when he doesn't instinctively settle things with his fists, that is. The overly cool Asahi turns out to be licking old wounds that shook his confidence. Even Kageyama, the Sasuke to Hinata's Naruto, bucks that initial mold by proving to be perfectly flappable in the face of tough competition, insecure about his old habits, aware of his shortcomings and as obsessed and useless when it comes to girls as the rest of the group. Haikyuu never forgets these guys are high schoolers. Angry, horny, and hungry for victory. People who are attempting to temper their ideal of who they want to become with the sometimes disappointing version they are right now. This unforgiving focus serves the series incredibly well. Whether you're reading or watching Haikyuu, you can feel real, tangible progression for its many characters and it quickly proves to be a winning formula. Whilst the genre typically lives and dies with its wildly overpowered battles, Haikyuu provides a refreshing change of pace. Its action might be exaggerated, but it's also grounded in a way that its peers rarely are. Focusing on an after-school sports club, Haikyuu never feels like fantasy - the biggest suspension of disbelief is in just how much dialogue can be traded whilst the volleyball sails through the air in super slow motion. It's a conceit you don't just learn to allow, but come to appreciate, - at least, as someone who had never watched a game of volleyball in my life, I certainly did. Indeed, my knowledge of the sport largely revolved around my time with the lovingly lewd Dead or Alive spin-off series, and it's a testament to just how exciting and emotional Haikyuu is that I never once missed the ludicrous assets that game brought to the sport. But between the spikes that ring out like a gunshot, the crafty setter dumps, and the deceptive float serves, Haikyuu is always there to smartly explain what's going on to the layman. What's more impressive is the fact that this rarely comes at the expense of painful exposition, and it never derails the momentum that the show carefully builds. We don't even get a naive audience proxy until the second season which tells you everything about how confident the show is at explaining itself. Instead, through context and smart directing that always highlights where the audience should be looking and what they should be picking up on, Haikyuu effortlessly lays out its setups. It's a tricky balancing act that the show nails time and time again, never coddling the viewer, but also never feeling unreadable to the uninitiated. By the close of your first season, you'll likely be shouting a glossary of volleyball lingo at the end of every rally One touch, chance ball, nice kill. It's contagious, the excitement of these games, and they truly sing in motion. Whilst the manga is absolutely fantastic in capturing the kinetic energy of an intense game, and even the unexpected stage productions make that tension work with clever theatrical tricks, the beautifully fluid animation of Production I.G.'s adaptation makes a compelling case for it being the definitive experience. Careful editing steadily builds hype, leading to moments that send chills down your spine. These are aided by a killer score that punctuates every breathless moment, emotional voice acting that sells the joy and despair of every result, and a style that is never afraid to depict just how intense and, at times, possessed our heroes can look in the heat of a game. Best of all, the lightning-fast quick attack our heroes perfect - one that consistently stuns their opposition - can finally feel as stupidly instantaneous as it's meant to be. It's used sparingly, but you can't help but grin every time it debuts against a new and unsuspecting foe. It's in those foes that Haikyuu performs its greatest trick: it makes you love them all. Getting acquainted with the Karasuno crew and falling for each and every one of them was inevitable. Over a long enough run, they were always going to win us over. Their dreams are explained carefully and their motivations explored in ever interesting ways. But Haikyuu blew me away by how consistently I cared about the coaches and managers, the fans in the stands, and even the guys on the other side of the net. It regularly manages to get you to feel for every team Karasuno cross, fleshing them out in smart and subtle ways, to the point where you're almost rooting for them too. It results in a massive cast that is positively bursting with personality, and this pack of memorable, distinct characters somehow avoids the pitfall of feeling bloated. It's this wide focus that fills every game with stakes beyond the obvious: of course we want Karasuno to come out on top, but there's a weight behind every point, a back story behind every personal victory that manages to make a match that spans multiple episodes remain absolutely captivating. It feels strange to be praising the pacing of a show that would go on to pull the stunt of having one match span an entire season, but its tempo is never anything but perfect. Furudate proves time and time again that their ability to introduce a character and get you to care about them within a few pages is unparalleled... ...and then proceeds to emotionally punish us for doing so. To understand how masterful Haikyuu's characterization is you need look no further than the 16th episode of its first season: "Winners and Losers" "Winners and Losers" is one of my favorite episodes of anime, full stop. It's the first match of the season with any real stakes, and it's the beginning of a road that could lead to Nationals. Instead of watching from within Karasuno's ranks, however, as we have been up until now, the episode takes place from the point of view of the opposing team, and with this new perspective, we see our leads in a totally new light: as an intimidating opponent to a team that were never really ready for this competition. It's full of daring direction that demands you reevaluate a group we thought of as underdogs, and to consider what winning and losing means to everyone involved, not just our protagonists. In its 20-minute run, with multiple story threads and matches happening simultaneously, we are shown a rare glimpse into the brutal nature of competition, to experience not only its elation, but also its heartbreak and it's a beautifully balanced piece. That balance extends across all three seasons of the show, and this trick of perspective is a repeated one, to great effect, but this episode feels special. It sets a precedent that you carry with you as you enjoy everything that follows and reminds you that there's no such thing as a villain in Haikyuu... ...just another team we aren't following as closely. Watching the members of Karasuno grow, not individually but together, knits a genuine team out of their disparate parts. A team whose dynamic shifts and struggles and swells over the course of its seasons. It boasts a group of believable heroes that you can't help but root for, and therein lies Haikyuu's greatest strength. Shonen, above all else, has to make you give a damn about why these characters are fighting; compared to that, the actual result of the brawl barely matters. Haikyuu demands an empathy that few shows are able to provoke Excels in making you feel for every single member, of not just one but a handful of teams. In an arsenal of reasons why you should watch Haikyuu, the best one is the simplest: It makes you care. As always thanks for watching. Apologies for the slight delay between releases, the holiday season was busy and full of unpredictability, but my focus is squarely back on Beyond Ghibli once again. It was a lot of fun to finally pour my feelings about Haikyuu into a video. I wouldn't have given it a second look had I not heard such glowing praise back in 2014, and it has since become one of my favorites, so I hope that by making this piece I've convinced others to give it a go. A huge thank you to Saku, who animated those lovely little eyecatches with our channel mascot, and of course to all my supporters on Patreon. If you want to join their lovely ranks and kick it with the nicest community on the net, pledge a buck and join us on the discord. Otherwise, consider subscribing here on YouTube or following me over on Twitter, If, instead, you're tired of me constantly alluding to Dead or Alive in the margins of my work, and think I should drop the act and dedicate the entire channel to Kasumi and the gang, hit the like button and Beyond Ghibli will become a far bouncier place.
