Haikyuu is one of my favourite anime, but this will not be a review that contains fangirling. Will contain scene mentions, proceed carefully.
P.S: I'm not a manga reader, and i am not someone who rates everything over 7.
STORY&CHARACTERS&EXECUTION (9/10)
First of all, some of the people thought the pacing was an issue, so let's try to break down what actually happens in this season.
This season started in the middle of the match, we were introduced -this time with detail- to new characters. Going into the depths of the new characters such as Miya twins and Kita the captain was very well
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made and brought us closer to them just like all the other characters they showed before, be it Kuroo, Kenma, Ushiwaka etc. which is what made most of the people like Haikyuu to begin with. Knowing the different volleyball adventures and backgrounds of each opponent as if they were main characters, that is. You don't get to hate the opponent just because they aren't main characters, you actually start liking them and appreciating their style of volleyball -unless they're a jerk like Oikawa- jk (no i'm actually serious). This is the reason how we all got to love Nekoma and Fukurodani, which are essentially Karasuno's rivals but we love them just like we love Karasuno for the mere reason that they were introduced to us early, and have been in the show for a very long time even if not in every episode. That is the reason why i'm so hyped for Nekoma vs Karasuno, which i'm sure most of the Haikyuu watchers are, which again, is also why the pacing of this season should not feel any different than previous seasons. The formula was the same, maybe some disliked the Miya Twins, that's alright, that doesn't make the show any worse since not every character is made to be loved; hence why there are hardcore Oikawa fans and there are fans like me who dislike him but still gave second season a 10 because the pacing and match was as well made as ever. (would also like to squeeze in the fact that i disliked the twins) We have to understand that just because a new character is introduced, the show is not slow paced or ruined, actually on the contrary, that is the core of Haikyuu.
The episodes on which people were highlighted were a rather pleasant surprise, considering we never really got to have any Tanaka or Nishinoya breakdown moments. We were shown how chaotic inside of Tanaka's head was when he kept missing the spikes, and how he recovered from it. The show is very realistic i must say, as a volleyball player myself i can confirm that you have a billion thoughts in your mind when you are on the court, which are only squeezed into a few small seconds. We also saw that Nishinoya was targeted even though until this far he was shown to be the best libero ever. It was a different experience to see the two most cheerful characters breaking down and being targeted, and for managing to do that taking my hat off for Inarizaki.
The best part of this season's plot was that how they built everything up to this point, up to these final moments that we got to see character development in. All those times when Hinata missed a serve, messed up a receive, was mocked by Kageyama because he sucked at everything but spiking&jumping, and even the beginning of Season 4 first part, all those moments led to this one scene of Hinata receiving properly. If you aren't connected to the characters after 4 seasons i don't have an argument to make you like them, but even if you weren't, i'm sure even you knew how important that one receive was for the main character Hinata's development. I also want to mention that Kageyama was on his game for the whole season 4 part 2. Just as Hinata had his character development this season, Kageyama also had grown out of being the Dictator King, and became the Serene King. When he refused to stop giving the ball to Tanaka and made him spike instead, that was one of the most important parts of Kageyama's character development, much to Atsumu's surprise after what he had said to Kageyama: "You're a goody two shoes on the court." Just like this, in the moment he tossed the ball to Asahi, Asahi's thoughts are very important in explaining Kageyama's growth: "I'm jealous of the new first years who are gonna hit these tosses (after I'm gone), but I'm also sorry for them." Meaning that he appreciates Kageyama's tosses, but it's also implied that Kageyama is not at all a goody two shoes anymore. Same as when Kageyama forced Tsukishima to jump higher with a higher toss than before, which again shows us the character development of Kageyama built up for 3 seasons to be shown in this season.
Alongside these individual developments, the most important of them all is that Kageyama and Hinata, as a duo, developed after the battle against Aoba Johsai, and we got to see this proven again literally 2 seasons afterwards. The last block where Tsukishima explained how they knew the monster quick was powerful but not unstoppable hence they were quick to block it just like how they tried their monster quick in season 1's last point and were stopped, that moment was very well written for this mere last point of Inarizaki battle.
Special mention for Coach Kenshin finally having a moment of his own at the end of the season.
ART&ANIMATION (6.5/10)
Personally, i loved the old art style and i'm not a big fan of this new art style, but i've grown to like it, or rather get used to it. A few art problems such as the characters' faces or/and bodies looking weird in some scenes turned some fans off but it was fixed after a few episodes. Because of the COVID-19, of course we can't blame the art&animation team for not being to execute every episode perfectly.
I would like to especially mention that ANIMATION IS NOT EVERYTHING. I see some fans going crazy about how the animation wasn't as good as previous seasons and that's why this season was bad and stuff, GROW UP PLEASE. Animation quality increased as we got closer to the end, especially in episodes 10&11.
SOUND (9/10)
Opening and ending songs were pretty much same old Haikyuu, which were good. The soundtracks used which some of them were the same as previous seasons, were as good as always. I've always appreciated the amount of effort and work sound team has put into Haikyuu. Especially at the end of last episode, playing the first opening was a cruelly beautiful moment to close the season, and once again, to end the built up story as it did the whole season.
CONCLUSION
I rated this season approximately a 9 out of 10. Character developments&highlights, building up to important moments for this season only, soundtracks as amazing as always, art&animation rough at the start but great as episodes pass, i liked this season 4 part 2 of Haikyuu.
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Dec 19, 2020
Haikyuu!! To the Top Part 2
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Haikyuu is one of my favourite anime, but this will not be a review that contains fangirling. Will contain scene mentions, proceed carefully.
P.S: I'm not a manga reader, and i am not someone who rates everything over 7. STORY&CHARACTERS&EXECUTION (9/10) First of all, some of the people thought the pacing was an issue, so let's try to break down what actually happens in this season. This season started in the middle of the match, we were introduced -this time with detail- to new characters. Going into the depths of the new characters such as Miya twins and Kita the captain was very well ... |
