Haikyuu!!
Haikyu!!

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I actually don't have the words worthy enough to give to Haikyuu, while it has given me so much.

Just recently, the 8 long year journey has finally come to an end. I say long but it actually felt short now that it has ended. It is the first shounen and sports manga that I read and stuck with. I started this in college, and now I am also an adult like the characters.

Haikyuu made me laugh, cry and feel so many emotions. And until the end, the emotions were still there. It feels as if I was saying goodbye to a dear old friend. ... Such a story foretold with so many life lessons and memories, I can't thank Furudate sensei enough. The success and praise for this story is very well-deserved.

No moment was dull. No character was left unappreciated. The character developments of each character is by far the best. Furudate really knows how to tug one's heartstrings.

Honestly, this is not a review. This is a farewell to my beloved manga. Truly a masterpiece that I hope will be remembered forever. Hinata and Kageyama's story will always have a place in my heart.

"Rather than despairing and giving up because you're not a genius, believe that your strength is not limited to this and continue on the path straight ahead of you." - This line from Oikawa's scene has always kept me going. So if Oikawa can do it, so CAN you (reference from the future chaps).

Again, this is not a review. But a farewell to my beloved manga. TO MY PARADISE. THANK YOU FURUDATE SENSEI. THANK YOU FOR CREATING HAIKYUU. FOR GIVING US THIS MASTERPIECE. FOR NOT GIVING UP ON IT. FOR THE MEMORIES. AND FOR INTRODUCING TO US THE WORLD YOU SAW.

Until we meet again.

I really liked how this manga has such a realistic feel to it and how it can still give off this lighthearted vibe. It's nowhere as heavy as other sports shounen but still manages to convey the effort and feelings of the players.

Story - 10
I loved the story so far, how it's not just training-match-training-match and so forth but also focuses on the players and their quirks, you get to know each one quite a bit. Moreover, it's super funny without coming over as forced or insanely stupid so the humour is definintely a big plus as well.

Art - 9
It's not the best ... I've ever seen but definitely fits the story, which is, in my humble opinion, way more important than it just looking pretty. Also, it makes the characters seem more alive, in a way, and adds a certain 'action' feel.

Characters - 10
There's one of every caliber which adds to the diversity of characters. The author really has a great feel for making characters clash and at the same time become great friends. It's hilarious at times, sentimental at others and always keeps the overall balance. I'm looking forward to future developments.

Overall, I rate this manga a 10 because all the factors above are making me enjoy it very much. It's a great read and I'd definitely recommend it not only to sports manga readers. Though you might enjoy it a bit more if you like volleyball/sports. ;))

Haikyuu is a manga about volleyball. There, the hottest take of 2020.

But no, really: volleyball is the actual hero of this story, and the only one at that. The enormous cast of colorful, likable characters with all of their ambitions and rivalries are mere canvas for the author Haruichi Furudate to paint his limitless, unrelenting adoration for the sport. Former enemies become rivals, former rivals become teammates; the entire corpus of character dynamics is shown almost exclusively through the lens of their relation to volleyball. Consequently, characters who have none of such relation almost never even enter the frame—that's just how laser-focused Haikyuu is.

I could ... go on about how Furudate makes a point to make the protagonist short to help break the common stereotype that only tall people are good at spiking the ball, or how Hinata and Kageyama have a strangely captivating yin-yang kind of interpersonal dynamics, or how Tsukishima is the unsung MVP of the team, but it feels almost pointless to delve into these comparatively minor details. Or perhaps it would actually be missing the point, simply because everything takes such a distant backseat to this great overarching goal of spreading the love for volleyball—which is really what the author wants to express first and foremost. Not some fantasy take on volleyball, but the real thing.

In this respect, I'm sure that after some years Haikyuu will be seen as the second coming of Slam Dunk in terms of its lasting influence on the sport, and it will deserve every bit of praise it gets in this regard. After all, it genuinely lives and breathes volleyball; the way the sport is portrayed is so vivid and enjoyable all by itself that such appreciation becomes contagious. In writing it, Furudate sets out on an evangelical mission to convert as many people as possible into volleyball fans and players, and does so very successfully in my opinion. I don't normally enjoy sports manga, and I used to be completely averse to volleyball, but now I kind of admire it more than some other sports in which I used to dabble as a kid. If that's what this manga did to me, I can only imagine the magnitude of its effect world-wide.

All of that aside, Haikyuu is a really by-the-numbers sports manga that follows the typical shounen formula of setting a goal, encountering an obstacle, training, and overcoming the obstacle, and repeats it while throwing in an occasional loss to shake things up until it decides it's done enough. Naturally, there's your usual cheerful spiky-haired underdog-type protagonist to go along with it. The plot can be described as functional; it's really only there to make you follow the games. Their portrayal is somewhat embellished for dramatic effect but never leaves the realm of realism and common sense; there are no weird superpowers, misplaced mind games, custom rules, or any other silly shenanigans. There's pretty much no romance, tragedy, or interpersonal conflicts, either: the sport provides all the conflict, and all of it is resolved on the court. The life off the court is mainly spent recounting the past games and preparing for the next ones. Nothing but volleyball matters—which, depending on what you value in a story, may be a big downside.

If you enjoy this sort of simple and sincere sports series, Haikyuu is definitely one of the very finest specimen you can find, and it will take its rightful place in history alongside the likes of Slam Dunk and Captain Tsubasa. But if you prefer to have a deeper character study with sports/games serving as the backdrop instead, I'd rather direct you to Ping Pong, Kaiji, or The Boxer.

Do note that the TV adaptation does the series justice and helps greatly in following the dynamics of the matches, which can get a little confusing at times. If you're choosing whether to read or watch it, the anime is a safe choice and the definitive experience in my opinion.

After his horror manga Furudate-sensei changed genre to sport and while the prototype one-shot of Haikyuu still lacked "something" and it wasn't so well recieved (mostly by the "western" audience ) it got green on serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump and author took advantage of Haikyuu's potential to the fullest and created one of the most popular sport series in WSJ in years with addition of really well recieved anime.

The one who first looked as nemesis became biggest ally. Of course the path isn't so easy and takes time. And so by turn of fate our main duo (a promising ... prodigy and quirky but high-spirited newbie) joins the same volleyball team. The team's goal is to become once again as famous as they were in past... While it is quite cliche proclaim in sport genre, it's overshined by characters. Their individual struggle, inside and also outside of the court feels quite realistic and really resembles a path of anyone who tried seriously doing a sport in school. With story progressing, we can see that even after some time, the team that come quite close to each other, still has it's own problems. Even if it is studing problems, sometimes low self-esteem, personal dispute or focusing on individual future. So step by step the team moves forward and while the path isn't easy, they won't give up (well you know, shounen sport manga :D) But...
One of the best part of this manga is the cast, there is a lot of different, unique characters and especialy their interactions with each other (often in very funny way). As the story goes on, aside from the main cast, which is expanding little by little, there also is vast variety of supporting characters, mostly from other teams. Thanks to experiences from matches, training,personal chalanges or even some common interests, the team bonds become stronger and after time some characters start to open up and develope. While we can see their growth, they still manage to keep their main quirks. We see a lot backstories, so it's easy to understand why are characters behaving as they are. It feels natural and it's fitting for sport manga stated in high school.
Artstyle is unique, and you can recognize author right away from it. On one hand it works nice with comedy aspect (author often uses funny visualizations of characters to lighten the mood) but when the atmosphere is serious, like in matches it is drawn really thrilling.
This manga is really enjoyable, especially for the characters and nice balance between comedy and sport. So if you are a fan of realistic sport manga, with a lots of humor, you should read this one ...

Holy hot damn, it's over. I never thought I would review this, and now that I have the chance to, I'm grappling for words. What a ride this story was, from start to finish, and it's bittersweet to know that such a staple in the manga universe has come to an end. I guess I'm gonna block this out by category and see if I can get a decent review out of that method because, otherwise, I'm at a loss for words.

The art style in Haikyuu!! is so special. I haven't read much manga, but even I can tell that the way Haikyuu!! was drawn ... and presented was unique. The sense of movement I felt from every panel during volleyball games was insane. When I go back and think about those scenes, I don't think about panels, I think about them as though I saw them in the anime. More than that, the style of art itself was just gorgeous. The detail work in the big panels, the character designs, the neat sketchiness of it all-- it all blew me away.

The characters just popped off the page, didn't they? Every character-- and I do mean, every character-- had a purpose and a story. No matter what game it was that I was reading, each pinnacle character had at least a chapter of development. It really allowed for the cast of characters to bloom and become something full and fun to read about. I noticed this, mostly, in the epilogue. There were characters mentioned in the epilogue that I wasn't even aware I cared about in terms of how they ended up x-amount of years later, but I did care because the story did so well developing them when they were presented initially.

We can't talk about characters without specifically talking about Kageyama and Hinata, though, can we? Those two, both individually and as a pair, felt so unique and precious in the world of sports manga and anime. They were both written so wholly and so wonderfully that they became figureheads for what good sports manga/anime characters should be. The care that was taken for both of them to realize their own desires and potential as well as the attention paid to their development as a cohesive team was just phenomenal.

Which brings me to the story. Now, I don't want to spoil anything for somebody who has just seen the headlines talking about the last chapter of Haikyuu!! and wish to start reading it all now, but damn was it special. Even when it felt like the games drug on forever, every chapter-- in-game or during training periods-- offered something extraordinary to the situation. Every chapter made me wonder how it could get better, and then it did. More specifically, the back-and-forth of the pacing was so well done, and every game really felt like it could go either way because of that. The way in which the story was written allowed for so much possibility and opportunity that, reading it, I really felt like anything could happen. The training sessions or camps in between the big tournaments were used very well, too, as it broke up the intensity of the games. In that vein, the character backstories were also placed perfectly to allow for a downswing in the momentum. And the stock this mangaka put into the epilogue was astonishing. It really made the story feel like it was worth it to see where these characters ended up two, five, eight years down the line.

I can't really pick apart Haikyuu!! in a meaningful way because it's just good. Brilliant, really. It's definitely something that's going to stick with me from now on as an example for how good stories can get, across any and every medium. Knowing how the story ends is always a joy, but I am simultaneously so sad that it is over. Haikyuu!! is always going to fill a place in my heart that no other story can fill. Thank you, Furudate sensei, for such an amazing journey.

ありがと.

Haikyuu!!, a really fun and enjoyable manga. And anime as well. A friend recommended this one, and I grew more and more curious. After the first episode I was already hooked on the show. I started the manga only a little after I finished the anime, and I loved each line of it.

The story is really well-thought and all I can say is that it never makes me bored. Each match ends with a different outcome, and this is, in my opinion, a very difficult thing to do. Try thinking about how to end ten matches all in different ways. Every time, it made ... me feel something different. I'm a little poetic right? But it's absolutely true. Then there's the fact that each character constantly evolves, evolves and makes himself stronger with his own hands. And every time the evolution is something... Really explosive. There's always competition and that's because "only the stronger can stay on the court longer".

The art is amazing and it's one of my favorites, because it represents human expressions well. And also the animals are done very well. I love how the magaka is able to draw the movements of even a single finger and to make each character different. The art truly shows the differences between every personality.

Overall, this is a true masterpiece, which completely defeats all of the other Sports Anime I ever watched. This is a must-watch for all of the action fans. I really recommend this manga.

You're looking for a light sports manga? Then Haikyuu!! it is.

Story : Love the 'Your greatest enemy became your formidable ally' concept. The story starts out with a nice start. A young kid who wanted to play volleyball after he was amazed by an athlete performance on TV and wanted to be like him. The story was a bit slow-paced though, I'm not surprise if some people dropped the manga because its slow-paced. But I think the match was pretty well written and drawn that it covered the slow-paced. It's an 8/10.

Art : The art was outstanding. It was soft (for me, at least) ... for a sports manga but it was well drawn. And when there's an unexpected situation or event, the art became even more outstanding and a pure perfection. The art was a 9/10.

Character : I love every character that have appeared in this manga so far. It was well drawn and their personalities were very interesting. From the duo main characters, to all of their team members, managers, the opposite teams and others. The mangaka also successfully wrote their interactions as well. Not to mention, the character development was a thumb up too!! It was a 9/10 for the characters.

Enjoyment : If you need a sports manga that was a light one, Haikyuu!! It is. As I read it thorough, this manga was very enjoyable. As I said before, the fact that the story was a bit slow-paced and more realistic, the match was well written and I couldn't forgot how amazed I was every time I read it. It was a 9/10.

Overall : It's an 8/10. This manga came out every once a week and the wait was worth it. I couldn't help but sometimes waiting impatiently for the new chapter to came out. I actually re-read Haikyuu!! couple of times already, but this manga never made me bored, no matter how I re-read it.

I've read the entire manga and honestly it’s a masterpiece. Furudate is extremely skilled at setting up thematic arcs with great symbols and motifs—amazing at crafting meaningful friendships and rivalries too.

Hinata as a protagonist IS cliche but honestly it works so well in this story, a story where it’s about a sport that values height. His optimism is realistic and you see him fail and stumble over himself as he tries to improve and become the best. Hinata and his team don’t suffer from the plot armor cliche you see many shonen protags get, which is extremely refreshing. They fail, struggle, and improve. The plot ... line is somewhat unpredictable in the later half of the series which is a nice breakaway from the formula most sports mangas take. You will see what i mean.

All the volleyball matches here are written so purposefully—Furudate writes with so much intention and it’s admirable. Most matches are set up with teams with opposing philosophies, or similar ones. These matches further develop characters and give them profound character arcs that feel realistic. They also force the characters to confront their issues head on and come to terms with them. Issues that occur in real life, and issues that readers can relate to. To me, volleyball is just a vehicle that Furudate uses to portray real life struggles and conflicts, and it’s done well. What’s nice is that most of Haikyuu’s themes (like talent vs hardwork for example) is applicable to everyone and anyone pursuing their passion—this is mainly why I took to this manga so well.

In terms of art there is not much to say other than the fact that it is phenomenal. At first it is somewhat rough and clumsy but within 20 volumes Furudate certainly finds their footing within their art style. It grows and develops with the characters, and supports the themes very well. The paneling and calligraphy is innovative and gorgeous. The double spreads are breathtaking and whenever I lay my eyes on one, I find myself staring for a couple minutes. The paneling shows the dynamic matches very very well, Furudate is extremely ambitious with their composition and it’s always fun to look at their spreads and see how they choose to portray a match. The usage of angled panels contribute to the high energy, and the amazing perspective shots of the characters are accurate as well as stunning. The style itself is endearing as well as amazing. Furudate’s stylistic language is so cool and portrays motion extremely well—which is important in a manga about volleyball.

if you are a character driven reader who enjoys meaningful character arcs and found family, this manga is definitely for you. (maybe not much so for more plot driven people.) Haikyuu’s character writing is what mostly drives it—I found myself rooting for rival teams and empathizing with them. Furudate is also insane at writing rivals in a way that is profound and relatable, but also serve to move the plot forward, and develop Hinata more as a volleyball player.

There is much more I can say about Haikyuu--it has grown along side me all these years and I am extremely fortunate to have witnessed it. It's a series about volleybal first and foremost, but as you read more and more you will find that it is beyond that. It portrays the human passion, bonds, and rivalries that drives us to get up every day and live and do what we love. Furudate poured their heart on these pages and panels, and these characters are forever an extension of their optimism.

--TL;DR at bottom--

Let me start by telling my experience with volleyball.

I come from a community that has a lot of volleyball fans and players and I love this sport. The best thing about this sport is that the basics are easy to get and it is really fun. I've played volleyball for a year before knowing that a volleyball anime existed (I first thought Haikyuu was basketball lol). Considering my love for volleyball, I was very excited to start the Haikyuu anime. I watched it till To The Top Season 2 (the current newest season) and switched to the manga soon. The journey afterward was ... whole another ride...

This is the almost perfect example of how good a regular sports high school story can get. Starting off with a match right away and meeting in high school in a totally unexpected then later becoming best buddies; the story has the right amount of drama, twists, and is filled with its own epic moments. Comparing this to some other sports manga (no I am not pointing out specific stuff), Haikyuu plays just makes sense. It just makes sense x was supposed to happen because y happened or x didn't happen because y was there/had happened. It's not some ridiculous story where the main character knows some kind of jutsu and scores a point every time. Also, another of the best thing is, if someone is totally unfamiliar with volleyball, they can still enjoy the story no matter how much experience they've had with just a sport in general. Its repetition is minimal and the story progression is amazing. And not to mention how good the ending was, the almost perfect ending a sports manga or just a high school anime focusing on the future of one's passion.

Unlike the Haikyuu anime, the manga doesn't reuse panels for just a normal point and every time Furudate draws something new, his art can reflect the parts of the story he wants to stress on; with crazy two-panel art and tear-worthy after-match moments, his art has depth and intensity which elevates the excitement of the reader feels while turning/scrolling toward the next page knowing that he himself is thrilled because even know matter how good the story is, if the art is bland and boring, people won't enjoy it much.

One of the problems I see with stories with a lot of characters is that they focus on only the important ones getting developed but Furudate gives development and a brief backstory to even characters that only appear for a single match. Imagine if he does that, how much development would go the important characters. The best thing? they get better but their personality remains almost the same so no one can blame them for a major "change". Absolute genius.

TL;DR / summary
With all these elements - amazing art, thrilling matches, and enjoyable development - this manga is peak. I love Haikyuu and I am glad I was born in this generation where something called "Haikyuu" existed. Thank you Furudate.

this is one of my top manga that I never really tired fromreading it. if slam dunk like the masterpiece of sports manga, I think haikyuu is like the little brother that could surpass the big brother^^

Story: 10!
i'm not a fan of sports manga because sometimes it gives that unrealistic moves like superkick and such, haikyu has such thing but they put it in realistic way that makes it looks cool and not awkward. i have zero interest in volleyball, but after reading this my perception of volleyball changed 100%. the story really easy to follow, a very heartwarming highschool drama, the humour & jokes ... fit for everyone, just perfect.

art: 9!
well at first the author draw the character quite detail but it changed a bit later on the series but it doesn't matter! it is still acceptable and the expression never fails me! the background always very well drawn. the tones that emphasize light & dark really give tensions & feeling. maybe because it's a sport manga it's quite hard to follow the character movement & motion, but still it's drawn very well that you'll understand if you really pay attention to the illustration ^^

character: 10!
at first glance i thought hinata was like the annoying idiot noisy lead character but after i find out about him, yes, he is a simple-minded idiot and noisy but he is really lovely. lots of sports manga character has this 'arrogance' feeling to want to be on top, but hinata is so innocent that you want him to reach the top..
and the way the author make kageyama a genius yet a gigantic innocent dork is really unique. the rivalry between the lead character gives this fresh feeling. almost all the supporting character has a good story and the character development is pretty well created as well! they have depths in each character

overall: 10!
it's a masterpiece, the manga & anime, i never really bored to re-read/re-watch because it always give this fresh energy! youthful and fun! the artwork is great, a light yet exciting vigorously story!
for you who needs refreshment and heartwarming story full of youth and man sweats it's highly recommended!

Here's the deal - Haikyuu seems to be one of the many newer sport-based series to appear. Volleyball however isn't really that interesting to depict in a manga - for anime it's so-so for the medium is more appropriate, but it's harder in manga.. Overall it's a good series with one major and few minor problems - the big one being pacing.

What I mean is - I was watching the anime(s) first and when I watched all that was available I continued from the manga (from around chpt 120), and for the remaining 71 chapters (read up to 191 at the time of writing) ... the story advanced ONLY TWO GAMES.... Awfully slow... One game took about 50 chapters.. A year for a game.. lol.. Had I been waiting for a weekly chapter I probably would have dropped it...

For a more detailed review :

Story - 7/10 - It's good but nothing special/new. Kinda a sports manga/anime stereotype - MC with some qualities tries to improve through trials and tribulations... But too bloody slow, as mentioned above pacing is ridiculous... e.g - a set can take up to 10 (or even more) chapters, yet the following one ends in half a chapter?! WTF? You can't just create such a disparity, a huge battle in one and nothing in the other one, like it doesn't even matter?? And this happens multiple times...

Art - 6/10 - Sometimes it's impressive, other times I'm having great difficulty deciphering who's who in the panel... Also sometimes lacks detail, like it was drawn in a hurry...

Character - 7/10 (barely) - Nothing really spectacular here, characters are really one-dimensional though, very little growth and only for some characters etc - the first years do leave some sort of an impression but the older ones are all bland and uninteresting... Maybe this is 6/10, or even 5? No, there were a few situations when things got interesting, so it gets a 7/10... But don't get your hopes up..

Enjoyment - 7/10 - Well, it's a sport series with some humor and something happening most of the time.. The sometimes bad art and lack of story/character progression does hinder enjoyment quite a bit, but the series overall are still passable - I do recommend the anime more though, much easier to go through, though I doubt it will catch up any time soon...

So the time is finally here, the Haikyuu manga has ended. Personally I am a big fan of the manga since I have been reading it for 8 years now and seeing it end is saddening but at least things ended on a good note. I really enjoyed it throughout the years, things were consistent and the hype was always there. It was actually surprising to see Furadate shift from the horror genre to the sports genre and he managed to make it into this big of a series.


Story 8/10
The story isn't something unique when you look at it from the surface, it's basically like ... any other sports manga/anime in a high school setting. So what makes the story so great? The story is actually really well-thought out, all the major matches are exciting, it never gets boring and each match helps the characters evolve. The story is a bit slow-paced so people have dropped the manga. But the payoff which we get at the end of each match/arc is pretty much worth it. Furudate was able to show the people, some who know the sport and some who don't know anything, the essence of volleyball. The drama element of the story was okay, comedy was decent and Furudate only tried to do what he could do best focus on the sport. The story lacks SoL elements (which I am a big fan of especially in sports oriented series)unlike many other big shot sports series in the industry but that eventually became its strength because the character interaction on the top of the intense matches did the thing for Haikyuu.

Like other sports series Haikyuu also used a ton of tropes but the way they were used is the best part, like "Your greatest enemy being your rival" trope was handled really well. The relationship between Hinata and Kageyama had friendship, rivalry and drama, even the way they ended the story this duo was one of the best parts in the story. One of my favorite part was that Hinata remained the decoy from start to end and it was done greatly (never felt forced). The ending, I was expecting more to be honest, but what we got was pretty decent. If we get a sequel Olympic Edition, I would be pretty satisfied. I won't put it on the same tier as Slam Dunk, Ping-pong or AnJ but it's not that far-off and it showed how great sports series can still be written realistically without giving them some SSJ powers.


Art 9/10
When you start reading the manga you may not enjoy the art that much but it grows on you as you continue reading. Furudate's art has seriously evolved from how it was at the start and how it is now. It is somehow really fitting for volleyball. The art is unique in its own way and you can distinguish it from the other arts. It is able to capture the intensity at the intense moments, fun at the comedic moments and the goofiness when it's goofy. The metaphorical depictions also looks great. The background art is amazing. The buildings, the details and architecture on the stadiums is great. The signature double page-spreads from Furudate are pretty good. The character designs are pretty simplistic, the characters can be differentiated based on their build, tropes and hair.

The best part for me about the art is the paneling and the composition. The intensity of a rally, serves and spikes is uniquely captured by the paneling. The character composition is realistic and doesn't break the flow/intensity and it only got better as the story progressed.


Characters 9/10
My favorite part from Haikyuu are the characters. The characters are that indispensable part of the manga that make the matches and the story interesting. The two protagonists are really well developed, especially after seeing how things turned out in the last arc (holy shit, our boy Hinata developed both physically and mentally). Both of them are rivals yet strong friends. The supporting cast is amazingly well developed as well. Take anyone of them, look at what compels them to play the sport and how much they have progressed individually. The characters from the rival teams are also great. Since everyone loves this guy let’s take Oikawa, the man is well written, has skills to back up his talks and has his own ambitions even towards the end of the story he was doing what he always wanted to do.

The character interactions are great and always interesting. Characters are what pull the weight for the lack of SoL element in the story. Some do complain about how there is an over-saturation of characters which sometimes leads to some weaker character which is somewhat true but that’s expected from a sports series especially with sports like volleyball, basketball and football. Towards the end of the story a “foil” to the main protagonist Hinata was introduced i.e. Hoshiumi Korai, this trope is often used in sports series but in a pathetic way where the MC miraculously overcomes the foil which is superior to him in one episode and the foil is useless for the rest of the story. But in Haikyuu the foil is used in an exceptional way, can’t explain how because that’s a big spoiler. Not many character I disliked and I guess that’s about enough rambling about the characters.


Enjoyment 10/10
What’s left for me to say, I personally loved the series. It was a memorable experience. Also would love to re-read the series in the future, pretty sure it would make me appreciate it more. The consistency made me read it through the years, even though it was slow paced. The characters and the intense matches with the art were the most enjoyable parts for me.


Overall the manga is 8.5-9/10 for me. Now for the question that should the anime only fans read the manga? Well if you ask I would say yes, the manga is a must read even if you don’t want to read beyond the story of the anime, try it from the start and then catch up the latest animated chapter and decide for yourself. But I got many people into reading the Haikyuu manga and their impression was that they were missing out on it big time. Definitely a sad yet happy occasion for me.

I stopped reading Haikyuu at around chapter 70, and I stopped watching Haikyuu mid-season 2 when it came out. I had started reading Haikyuu starting from the first chapter, but somehow I lost interest.

That being said, I recently started to rewatch Haikyuu, and I'm still astonished at myself several years ago--what was going through your mind to ever possibly think that Haikyuu wasn't interesting? I binge-watched Haikyuu from S1 to S4, and then I started my way to restart the manga. Ever since I heard that chapter 402 would be the final chapter, I binge-read from around chapter 70 to chapter 402 in less than ... a week, with my adrenaline pumping from each chapter, racing to catch up to the final chapter. I enjoyed every single chapter, rolling in my bed and fist-pumping whenever there was an extraordinary moment, putting a scowl on and crying whenever something distressing happened. Definitely, the highs hit highs and the lows hit lows.

In truth I am not an athletic person, and I hated sports. I didn't understand why people liked to watch other people move and get sweaty. I really hated running, jumping, or exerting myself. But reading Haikyuu has made me bring to respect sports, and in a way, enjoy watching them whether its on paper or in video. I've read Kuroko's Basket, watched Yowamushi Pedal, and experienced other sports manga that never really sparked my interest in a sport. Reading Haikyuu has made me much more interested in watching real-life volleyball plays and be able to actually understand what's happening/how awesome it is! It's also made me want to move more--to try jumping like Hinata does (which haha, really is difficult), to try spiking like Ushiwaka or Asahi does, or to build up my endurance and become work harder to be fit like... well anyone in the manga!! It's made volleyball and sports much more special and sparkly.

What truly highlights the strength of Haikyuu are the characters. It's nearly impossible to truly hate a character in Haikyuu. Trust me, I tried!

Growing, working, and connecting with others and yourself is the foundation of Haikyuu. Characters are friends, foes, and harbingers of explosive growth in each other. Genuinely, I enjoyed seeing characters interact with each other. The connections between these characters are so genuine and uplifting in the most competitive way. Each opponent for Hinata is simply another character the reader learns to love at one point. The determination to carve their path each person shows in Haikyuu inspires me to become equally as persevering.

To be honest the one upset I have with Haikyuu is the art--personally, I preferred how the characters were designed in the beginning rather than towards the end. However, mangaka Haruichi Furudate is truly awesome. The way the character's expressions are conveyed, the way that the perspective of the match is taken, the intensity yet simplicity of the art, the details of the characters and the background--they've all convinced me to love their new art style. I used to draw and sketch regularly years ago, but I stopped because I simply became too busy. Wanting to recreate some story and art as alive and free as Furudate's art style, I've started again.

If only Haikyuu!! lasted longer!! I was incredibly sad that there weren't more arcs and that Furudate didn't take more time with the last few arcs as I would've loved more detail and insight during these arcs. I won't go much into detail about the arcs but...!! they'll be some of the most rewarding and smile-inducing ones you'll read. Ones that'll make you just like Hinata whenever he sees a cool volleyball move.

Very rarely does a manga truly affect your life. Writing this review now do I realize what a positive impact Haikyuu!! has had on mine. Go read Haikyuu!! I highly doubt you'll regret it!!

Haikyuu.
Arguably the greatest sports manga/anime ever.
It was a bittersweet journey, for me especially.
I am an athlete myself, a swimmer actually, and even though Haikyu is about volleyball, it still holds a special place in my heart as the only manga/anime to ever accurately represent the feelings of being an athlete, the highest highs of winning and achieving a goal youve had for so long, the lows of losing after working so hard, Haikyuu encapsulates those feelings perfectly. No matter what sport, i still found Haikyuu to be the most relatable thing. The characters were endearing and inspiring, and wanting to be like them pushed me ... to new lengths as a swimmer, i was going through i tough time with my swimming, and was unable to find motivation, but the sheer determination that Hinata, Kageyama, and the rest of the crew had really woke something inside me. Haikyuu made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me scream with excitement. It taught me so much about volleyball, that even volleyball players ask me if i play on a team! And for people who dont know much about sports, being able to find something educational yet enjoyable like Haikyuu is amazing. The art is amazing, storytelling is an all time high, characters are lovable. Saying goodbye to the series after 8 years was heartbreaking for me, it was like saying goodbye to someone who had been there all your life. I can hope therell be a continuation, but with how it ended i doubt it.
The anime is great as well! Everything about this series resonated perfectly with me, as im sure it will you.

"Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish."
- Tooru Oikawa

"You dont win alone, thats just how it is."
- Tobio Kageyama

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Shouyou Hinata

Haikyuu as a manga sits in a very strange place of having strong messages and ideas that one can resonate with and being a corny nick jr manga that offers nothing in most story elements.

Let it never be known that I am disrespecting Haikyuu. I think most matches are incredibly tense and have a lot of feel good moments from our developing cast. Some matches during the latter end of the manga have moments that genuinely left me speechless. Haikyuu also has some of the best presentation and composition I have ever seen in manga. It is up there with Berserk, Vagabond, and Bleach. ... Hinata, as a main character, is extremely enjoyable and evokes a good feeling with the audience like "yeah thats our guy, dont look down on him!" I especially like how the author sets things up quietly. The author will foreshadow something in the same volume with just a small glance or action; that is super cool and plays into the presentation praise I gave earlier.

Despite all this, in my opinion, Haikyuu is horrendously bad at character writing. Unless you dive into the very shallow framework of the series and extrapolate the most benign ideas, this series has almost 0 QUALITY characters. I would not want to use massive names for comparisons but look at any other shonen, hxh, csm, even jjk have a cast of captivating characters. Kurapika's needs and desires or Gojo's intention and obstacle. The cast of Haikyuu, if you can stomach engaging with them for so long, fundamentally lack the charisma and modern writing behind them to actually bode well with. I am not a volleyball person like 99% of Haikyuu's readers. I have not played the sport outside of a P.E. class. I can verify if any technique or any rule said in Haikyuu is legit but I do know that any piece of media is suppose to respond to their target audience. I am not going to make a political mystery thriller with high tech machinery and weapons framed on a national sport for children (unless its cars 2).

Despite being depicted for younger male audiences, Haikyuu's character interactions and overall dialogue is GARBAGE. The author panders so far to literal children that when a character says "ass" there is a full page dedicated to character reacting as if the person just said a slur. So many character say the same thing that get so old so fast it is insane. If you took a shot every time the word monster was said during the 300s, you would not wake up tomorrow. I get hyping up characters and obstacles respectively, but Haikyu throws in the word "scary" or "frightening" or "horrifying" at every single turn.

I still rate Haikyuu a 7 because despite it's flaws I think it is a really well done manga for what it excels at. I was more critical in this review but that is a given; while the depth of flaws to praise favors the latter, the width prefers the former.

Starting out, the series is a typical underdog tail with our protagonist, Hinata, not being particularly good at volleyball and doesn't even process the physical traits to give him an edge. But there are two things he does have that can outshine almost everyone in the series. That is his crazy high vertical jump and his unyielding passion for the sport of volleyball. However, for this review, I'd rather not talk about the story in general because that just would be spoilers and I feel as though this is a manga/anime that doesn't even need much of a plot to be successful; so what I'll ... be discussing is what I think is Haikyuu's two greatest strengths: character writing and Furudate's dynamic artwork and panel organization.

Character writing: Furudate does this amazing thing of developing every character believably. And to a great extent, I feel like this is because this is manga grounded in reality. It isn't like so many of your other shonen anime whether they are about sports or not. The characters in this story feel like actual people and Furudate does an excellent job of letting us as viewers see all sorts of different perspectives. I have seen so many anime/ manga that just show the protagonist's point of view and occasionally the antagonists, but even here its seen through the lens of the hero. What makes Haikyuu successful in character writing is the use of Devils Advocate. At so many points in the story, you're not just focusing on our main boy Hinata, but you get to see the story from every perspective; through the other players on Karasuno, though the opposing team, even people in the crowd watching the matches tell their own separate tail of what they believe is going on whether we, as the audience, agree with their perception or not. These constantly changing viewpoints also give way to excellent character development and progression through the entire story. Because we can experience each character through their unique lens, not sure if Furudate did this on purpose, but I ended up loving all the characters. Even the "antagonists" became some of the most complex and nuanced people I have had the pleasure of witnessing.

Artwork and Panel Organization: If I had to summarize my experience while reading this manga it's that it was just FUN. The only contender I can think of for another mangaka who is able to illustrate a story that just makes me always smile with joy, I'd be One Piece. The way Furudate organizes his panels, especially during volleyball matches, is some of the most dynamic and bold organization I have ever seen. The way he doesn't constantly utilize the standard square or rectangular panel shape but opts for using various sizes triangles and trapezoids allows for the reader to clearly perceive the energy and passion not only exerted by the characters in the manga but conveys Furudate's passion itself. You can clearly tell just how much fun and enjoyment Furudate as an artist is having while reading. The way he places the panels, even with these altering shapes, clearly allows us the reader to feel both rises and falls in tension and tone as the story goes on. In addition to the dynamism of the panels, oftentimes you find the artwork itself jumping up at you. Not always being restricted to the boundary of the panel, the characters and illustrations are seen to be often leaving their panel to begin to interact with another. But Furudate doesn't end up doing this so often that it becomes tacky and tasteless, but instead carefully picks his moment and executes them with precision and brilliance.

Just to finish this review off, if you actually read all this, thanks a ton. I know this was almost like an essay but more than anything Haikyuu is definitely worth your time. This is not a story about some crazy plot with overpowered volleyball superpowers or some generic I want to be the best in the world type bullshit. This is story about people and their relationships. This is a story about peoples dreams to show others that their passion is worth the time of others. This is, without a doubt, my favorite shounen sports manga/ anime and it sure as hell won't disappoint.

Story- 9.5/10
Art- 9/10
Character- 10/10
Enjoyment- 10/10
Overall- 9.5/10


*Spoilers ahead-

Thoughts on ending-
... I never expected the end to be so good. Watching Karasuno beat teams one after another I never thought there will be a better match than against Nekoma (I think it's still my favourite). And then came the falling apart on the 'Hell day', I was quite surprised, I couldn't believe that Karasuno finally lost. But it was also an relief, they had managed to reach top 8 after all.
The time skip was handled well enough and when Hinata got back to Japan, seeing him getting to fight Kageyama in different team (finally!), nothing beats that.
It was quite amazing seeing how much everyone had improved their skills and yes, on individual skills that was the best match to watch. I was still reminded of Karasuno who multiplied that individual skills to a great potential.

In the end I finally could relate to Hinata, he always wanted to play more and more, often not wanting the games to end. And that's what I wanted with last match as well, no care for the score just enjoying seeing everyone do their best.

More overall thoughts-
Putting aside the last 5 volumes/the ending, the series was really about so many highschool teams competing and having fun. I really love how much attention all the side characters got and how much we got to root for or admire everyone.
My eyes filling up at the end just remind me how much I liked all the characters and how happy I felt seeing their grown up selves having moved forward with their lives.
I liked how the series wasn't about just one win or loss but moving on to do better.
Going to miss all the people and can't wait to watch anime when all of it comes out.

Story: 3/4. Some matches were less interesting than others and perhaps took more pages than needed, but the plot as a whole was still fun to experience. Effort to continuity was apparent with nice, fulfilling callbacks. The moments created, however, was far and away the manga’s strong suit in this department.

Characters: 2/2. While the manga was adequate in this respect at baseline, obvious efforts were made to flesh out backstories (excessive at times!) and establish individual quirks. Fantastic character development as its saving grace.

Art: 2/3. Flow was imperfect due to awkward page breaks (editorial issues?), and the perspective in select panels were suspect. Nevertheless, ... within the genre in question, art that’s easy to understand should be considered good art.

Enjoyment: 1/1. Very much so! I do hope that we could’ve seen Hinata go on more of an ascent pre-timeskip, but what we got, I loved. Mostly.

Great work.

I’ve always liked playing volleyball. It's a fun sport where ”you never look down”. But Haikyuu!! made my love for the game 100x stronger. Haikyuu is a great sports manga/anime and a story that can be recommended to everyone.
Before I start I’d like to say that this review is about the manga only.

Story:
The plot is good, but it’s nothing special. A small boy, wanting to become the best in a field of giants. And maybe for someone who isn't as invested in the sport as I am, it might not be interesting at first. It can also be predictable, but that applies to every ... fictional media with competition.

Art:
The art style changed a lot during the last 8 years, but it was always great. The fluidity of the movements were visible, the characters expression’s were relateable and the beautiful moments were beautifully drawn. Furudate’s art style will always be my personal favourite.

Character:
Haikyuu!!’s greatness is the characters. They are all well written and most characters get a ”spotlight” during the story. The kind and fun characters of Karasuno are the heart of Haikyuu!!. Hinata is an excellent main character along side with Kageyama. Haikyuu also has no villians. Everyone has their side of the story which makes us unable to hate them. The story’s most well written and realistic character for me is undoubtedly Oikawa Tooru, I recommend looking into his psychology and character more. The bonds and relationships between characters are also a big part of Haikyuu!!. We can talk about the soulmate bond between Hinata and Kageyama or the relationship between Akaashi and Bokuto. These bonds can be interpreted as romantic or platonic ones. I’m not a shipper when it comes to Haikyuu, but I do see where people are coming from.

Enjoyment:
I laughed with Haikyuu!!, I cried with Haikyuu!! and I experienced so many more emotions while reading Haikyuu!!. It’s an amazing and relatable journey of becoming the best. I’ll say it again, Hinata as the MC made the story really enjoyable.

Overall:
Haikyuu!! is very close to a masterpiece and is definitely a must-watch, even if sports aren’t your thing.

Thank you Haikyuu!! and Furudate-sensei for proving that volleyball is fun.

I IS AMAZING. First of all, I can't wait for the other volumes to be animated! I'm not exagerating but this manga is just amazing. The anime left me wanting more so I started reading the manga. I love how both the manga and anime were focused solely on sports and the other teams. It's not some kind of super rivalry kind of sports anime. It's basically a sports anime for every team. There's no distractions, only comedy and no more romance. Nowadays, animes and mangas add fanservices but this one doesn't. I LOVED IT.

STORY - 10. The story is beautiful. Especially the ending!
ART ... - 8. I liked the art and animation for the anime more.
CHARACTER - 10. They all have backstories and I love how it's not just karasuno but also other teams.
ENJOYMENT- I really enjoyed it!

OVERALL: 10/10! Actually it might be above the scale but please please read this if you want to know more about the haikyuu story after watching the anime. You will never regret it.