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I take it back, I take it all back. I originally wrote a review during the season where I was of the opinion that this season was lacking compared to the first two. Still good, but not as great story wise. Well I just watched the final episode and hours later I'm still an emotional wreck.

If you're a fan of Haikyuu!! (as I assume you are, since this is Season 3) don't get discouraged while watching this season. Originally, I had thought that since this season was one long game that the story was a bit lacking. That it may have been a mistake to ... make the season solely focused on Shiratorizawa. But, my friends, I easily admit I was so wrong. The build up that the entire season works towards... it's just epic.

Watch it, and you'll understand what I mean.


My original review, just to show that I really was of the mind it was lacking:

Haikyuu!! is basically my favorite anime of all time, to reiterate on my review of the first season. To also reiterate sports anime aren't really my favorite genre,

But even though I'm a huge fangirl I have to admit, this season isn't as great as the first two. I'd give it a 7.5 if I could. What's largely lacking is the story. Of course, since the season is less than half the number of episodes of each of the previous seasons it's going to not have room for as much development. But it's still a little disappointing that it's literally just one long stretched out game. I've done something I've never done with Haikyuu before... and that was hope that a scene would hurry up and be over. Saddened me a bit. I do understand that they set it up as it is because they have to pace out the anime in accordance to where the manga is.

Anyway, there's not really much to say that hasn't been said about Haikyuu!! already, excellent plot, excellent sound, excellent characters. The only flaw this time is the lack of story development/complexity. On one hand, I think they made a mistake and should have just waited to make season 3 a longer season, with this Shiratorizawa match + what is to come. On the other, I get that it's supposed to be THE match, the one that seasons 1 and 2 were building up towards, so melding it into a season with other plot points of Haikyuu!! would have sort of lessened it's importance and impact.

That's basically it. It's an entire season spanning one match, so you can't really discuss much about it. What I can say as a fan is that despite the lack of story development, there is some nice character development among some familiar characters that make it really nice to watch.

Something else random... I don't really get why people are continually criticizing it because it's not as realistic as real life volleyball. There is NO, literally NOT ONE SPORTS ANIME THAT IS REALISTIC. Insane, athletic moves that not even pros can pull off being performed by school kids? Weird, unrealistic moves that don't exactly exist in real life being performed by school kids? Plot points that put a twist/unexpected spin on the sports rules? WELCOME TO SPORTS ANIME. Kuroko no Basket, Ace of Diamonds, Major, Initial D, Free!, Yowamushi Pedal, Prince of Tennis, Days, etc. etc. etc. even Chihayafuru, a "card sports" anime: the moves are always unrealistic, the players are always better than the pros. However, Haikyuu!! is one of the few that actually make the unrealistic moves/power/skills on the more realistic side. It seems like a really weird thing to rate badly... just my opinion.

I’ve tried watching this anime twice now. The first time when it came out I got up to episode 5 before I stopped. The second time I decided to watch all the way through, because I rarely disagree with anime that are rated highly on myanimelist. I go through the anime on this site that are highly rated, when I'm wanting to watch an anime and have no idea to watch. This is actually the first time I have disagreed with the overall good rating of a show.

I don’t get the hype. At all.

Sometimes, even if I don’t like an anime, I can see ... why other people like it: It’s just not my taste. I don’t click with the characters. I’m not particularly fond of the art style. Etc etc. But I honestly just can’t understand why this show rated so well. In my opinion, there’s barely anything good about it.

I love fantasy anime. I especially love fantasy anime set up in a kingdom setting. Love shoujo and romance, so this should have been right up my alley. But it’s not.

This may contain the slightest bit of spoilers, but only because I can’t criticize what is wrong with it, without mentioning plot points. I will keep them as vague as possible.

Everything is so pseudo-melodramatic it’s irritating. The “problems” the main character faces are presented as super dramatic, even life threatening, blah blah blah, but then get resolved so easily it’s laughable. They try to make Shirayuki “different” from the typical damsel in distress in that she tries to solve problems on her own, but ultimately in the end, the prince always shows up at the last minute to save her.

Everyone is in awe of Shirayuki because of her red hair and because of her character, but all she does is act like a typical, normal person. She doesn’t do anything extraordinary. Everyone else acts weird and super stereotypical towards the archetype they’re created as, so her utterly normal actions get glorified like they’re wondrous/amazing/so odd and quirky and charming, when they’re just normal, human responses to problems. So many of the side characters and minor characters are irritating, judgmental insufferable idiots, so of course, Shirayuki, who is just a plain, nice person, is a hundred times better than they are. Anyone set up against those types of people will shine.

Seriously, it’s not an exaggeration. Skip this one paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers completely, because it will contain a slight minor scenario spoiler (but doesn’t affect anything about the story). In episode 4, a sick patient comes to get medicine. Yet, instead of being grateful to the herbalist he insults them horribly to Shirayuki. Like… how believable is it that a patient will show up to the doctor, then directly insult the doctor to one of the staff, instead of just getting the medicine they need. Like I said, side characters and even minor characters are set up to be so unbelievably stupid and rude so as to contrast with Shirayuki’s not-so-amazing character to make it seem amazing. And of course Shirayuki won’t stand for the insults and insinuations against her senior (as any plain, normal person wouldn’t) so she’s seen as super amazing and different and shocking when she takes offense towards the incredibly offensive comments.

So of course, since a normal, nice person is apparently the rarest of the rare in this world, the prince (and everyone else) end up being so utterly charmed and surprised by Shirayuki [insert massive eyeroll here]. It's really not amazing when someone doesn't want to be insulted or treated poorly, nor is it amazing when someone doesn't like it when their friends are insulted/treated poorly, but apparently, in Shirayuki, it's utterly amazing and unique and seemingly in this world, Shirayuki is the only person in history/existence to ever feel that way, so everyone is in complete awe of this aspect of her character episode after episode after episode. -_________-

Because of this, the story is lacking. It revolves around Shirayuki doing these “amazing” things, that really aren’t so amazing, so there’s nothing to build off of. We don’t learn much about the characters besides the prince. We don’t have a solid plot to follow. It’s just Shirayuki getting into predicaments, then she struggles with solving them, solves them a bit but then gets stuck again, then gets rescued by the prince. Then she encounters more new people. Some of these new people cause her problems, which then repeats the cycle. To mix it up a bit, they throw in problems that are ALWAYS plant/medical related, so unsurprisingly, Shirayuki as a herbalist, is always able to easily solve them.

They try to develop some side plots revolving around the prince and related royal conflicts, but they’re so shallow and laughably simple and barely concentrated on (and of course, following the pattern of this anime, easily resolved) it’s just an annoyance.

You never even have the slightest bit of worry that problems won’t resolve themselves because they’re so incredibly simple. It's marketed as a drama anime, but there's nothing dramatic about the story, just that things are presented in an overtly dramatic fashion.

Meh.

The best thing by far in this anime is the artwork and the setting/world building. Stylistically, it’s not the best or the highest grade of artwork, but it’s richly detailed and the details of the kingdom setting are nicely developed and pleasing to see. However, nice artwork can't save a show that is lacking in every other aspect.

So yeah, I don’t like it. Plot is lacking and undeveloped, and what is developed is always predictable. Problems follow the same repeat pattern over a over. Problems also lack any depth or complexity. Characters follow their stereotypes, so it's easy to "get to know" them, but that leaves them incredibly one dimensional and predictable.

I guess though, I could recommend it to people to watch if they’re in a really bad mood/having a bad day/week and want to watch something that is incredibly easy to follow and doesn't require thinking if you're exhausted, and everything predictably always works out so your day won't get worse than it already is. Like how adults watch simple kids cartoons sometimes when they're feeling bad, because it's simple and easy and you know you don't have to think or feel or see anything that might disappoint/hurt your heart/worry you, about the characters or story.

First thing I just feel the need to say, everyone who is saying this is like One Punch Man... sorry but THAT IS ABSOLUTE BS. Beyond the fact that they're both series with heroes and superpowers and that the character designs are are a little funky/quirky (haha pun intended), there is NOTHING SIMILAR. That's like saying Death Note and Bleach are similar series since they happen to both focus on shinigami as a supernatural element in a previously seemingly normal world and both MC are high schoolers. Bleh. No. Just no. Just needed to get that off my chest, since I feel like people ... might watch this with the expectation that it's like One Punch Man, or might not watch it because they think it will be like it. It's not.

Since I'm late to the party in watching this, rather than give yet another description of the plot like all the other reviews before mine, I'm just gonna say it straight:

This show suffers from a SERIOUS pacing issue. Every single episode, from the first to the last, feels like a forth to a half is filler. The story is dragged out beyond being dragged out. It doesn't work because for this first arc of the story, the plot is very simple and predictable and follows a typical shounen genre type plot with magical schools/superpowers we've seen dozens and dozens of times beforehand.

You can literally fast forward through a lot of it, and the characters will be doing the exact same exercise/dialogue topic/training, whatever, as minutes prior. And it's not complicated stuff, there's no amazing fight scenes or complex plot points to warrant such drawn out scenarios. Basically, it actually gets boring.

I'm being repetitive, but it's just truthful, you can't drag out a show with such a simple story line. I feel like what happened in 13 episodes could have happened easily in half the time, and it still might have felt a little dragged out.

I actually ended up reading the manga after, because I really like the whole superpower/magical school genre, (and it's rare to find one without the females being stupidly cliche weak/annoying idiots or overly sexualized characters only being placed for fan service. Kudos to the author for that.) The manga is bounds and leaps better than the anime, and after reading it I can see WHY people rate this show so highly. If you're a fan of the manga, seeing the characters you like come to life, and knowing the cool storyline that unfolds afterwards, is really awesome and exciting. But as an anime on it's own, if you're not already a fan, it's just alright.

The show gives off that same feel that Naruto filler episodes do: the creators are trying to milk it for everything it's worth to make as much money as possible. I don't blame them, since it's a business, but it could've been an amazing show. As it is, it's just sort of good. I wouldn't be disappointed if it's discontinued, but I would still be sort of interested to see if it gets better in the next season, giving how well I like the manga. That sort of feel.

To sum it up, to just rate this show based on its merits as a stand alone anime, it barely receives a passing grade.

Story:7
The story is it's weakest point. There is a main storyline, like the description says, where Michiko and Hatichin are looking for the man they are seeking. But in actuality, that is the background storyline, the main story, or I should say stories, are about their adventures together. Each story is episodic, with the storyline of the search for the man they are seeking the one thing that ties each story together. So while it's an on a running time lime, the events that unfold are more like miniature stories in each episode. This makes the story a wee bit fragmented, with what feels like ... filler. However, each individual story is pretty interesting, but ultimately it drags the plot somewhat.

However, it is richly riddled with metaphors and subtle insinuations about philosophical topics. You can tell the writers really wanted the viewers to think about things, like the complications of life, love, growing up, etc.

Art:10
The art is incredible. I'm watching this in 2014, so it's been 5 years since it has ended, and even with 5 years of new art development, I'm still blown away by it. It's gorgeous to watch, and incredibly detailed. The backgrounds and scenery are amazing and richly detailed.

Sound:10
Sound is great. Songs, sound effects, voice acting. Everything is spot on and fitting.

Character:10
The characters make this show very interesting. Each of the characters are very intricately written. It's a great show in the fact that the characters, and especially their relationships, are very multifaceted. The characters in this are definitely the type that don't fit stereotypes (though they may look it), and are not black and white, but display all the shades of gray in between.

I think this series has some of the most complex characters I've ever seen in an anime. Not really a spoiler... but this all takes place in a society of abject poverty. Not just a poor area, but down in the dumps slums, third world hunger deal. So it's incredible to see the difference this kind of environment has on all the characters. They are all literally a product of their environment, who are all, ultimately, just trying to survive.

Enjoyment:9
So overall, enjoyment is a nine, because of everything listed. Not a 10, because of the story, as I stated above. I found myself fast-forwarding parts, or sneaking a look ahead because I was bored at times, with what was happening.

Overall:9
Michiko to Hatchin is a beautifully hectic anime full of spunky, gorgeous cacophony. It's very much like real life. At times it's incredibly crazy, heartwarming, bittersweet, sad, idyllic... a whole bunch of different feelings and emotions, much like the complexity of real life.

So if you can tell from my score, I really freaking love this anime. I have to preface this by saying, I am NOT a sports anime fan. It's one of the last genres I look to because I've disliked/dropped over 90% of the ones I've seen. So I'm incredibly biased.

Story:
The story in Haikyuu! is what amazes me most possible.

It's all volleyball, volleyball, volleyball, yet I'm never tired of it (despite not being an avid volleyball fan). The relationships between the players develops in all aspects: the relationships between the players as friends, as teammates, as students in different school years, as a ... cohesive team against other teams. In between is volleyball. At every corner is volleyball. This is literally a volleyball explosion. But you really see the story behind why the characters love it. How the love developed for them. How much of themselves and their past they've put into the game. What torment and triumph they feel from the sport.

Like every other sports anime, Haikyuu! there are out of this world, impossible moves that even pros can't do. BUT I never feel that way. They don't drag it out or make it ridiculously over the top. It happens, then they move on with the game.

In sports anime, another thing I noticed that can drag a story down is when they try to work in explanations of how certain aspects of the sport works. Haiykuu! manages to work it in flawlessly. My knowledge of volleyball stops at the grade school level (where all we did was rotate, the positions weren't named, and players weren't allowed to even dive or roll). The explanations are short, to the point, and staggered. But now I know all the positions, the rules, the different types of moves, special attacks, formations, etc., without really realizing at the time I was being schooled on the subject.

Every single sports anime I've seen, I'm guilty of fast forwarding through games or matches or tournaments. Literally every one. I've never done it with Haikyuu! Not even when I rewatched the whole series.

Art
The art is very good, a solid 8, but not the best ever. It really works to highlight the fluidity of movement throughout sports play. It's not over the top or excessive, so it's a bit quiet with how good it is. I think the best indication of how good the art is, is when you're looking at someone on the opposite side of the net, and the player is basically melding into the net, but it doesn't look weird at all. If you watch it, you'll get what I mean.

I also really like the character designs. The characters are drawn in the more realistic, life-like style vs. cartoon-like. This really adds to the game play; their muscles tensing, their movements, their presence.

Sound
The sound is what gets me. It's really effective. Just like the art, it's not over the top. A certain sound happens and you know something is about to go down, like a cool move. A certain tune plays and you know you're about to see someone who is a worthy opponent. It really highlights the mood. Also the sports sounds, the squeak of shoes on a gym floor, the smack of the ball, even the sound of the ball slicing through the air makes everything more believable.

The voice acting is very good as well. The tones and nuances fit each character's personality. I can't say any examples without giving things away (because not all characters are introduced at the same time).

Character
Haiykuu! does a really good job of developing the characters. You know what each character's personality is like. What their role is on the court and on the team. Even the characters that are on the bench, you really feel it and connect with them even if they aren't the ones playing in the main match (i.e. their disappointment at not playing, their desire to be on the court, their feelings of support for their team).

If someone does something hilarious or quirky, as the viewer you can easily think to yourself, "that is SO like so-and-so to do that."

You really get a sense of the character's ability, athletically and emotionally. their maturity levels (both mentally and sports-wise). Their tendencies and characteristics that make them, THEM.

Even a lot of the teams they face, you can easily fall in love with the opposing players, because they make sure to develop them as well. This also makes matches much more interesting and makes you more emotionally invested in them.

Enjoyment
I personally love Haikyuu! to beyond the moon and back. I'm going to state it here, that this is the first time ever that I have liked an anime much more than the source manga it's adapted from. I'm just being honest. If someone had told me to read Haikyuu! the manga, I would have eventually dropped it. I started reading it after I started watching the anime, and I'm only continuing because I'm so emotionally invested in the characters and want MORE!

The anime really brings the story to life.

Plus the overall humor woven throughout the whole series, is an awesome bonus

Overall.
Yeah, 10 out of 10. Again, this coming from someone who is not a sports anime fan. Or maybe I just hadn't been introduced to the right one, ehem, in order to see the light.

Story:
Slice of life is my favorite genre so I've seen tons. I'm used to the slow, tepid pace of many slice of life anime. But Glasslip manages to be excruciatingly slow, yet at the same time frenetic because of the way they jump from character to character. You can watch the first episode, skip over to the 9th (where I am currently dropping this anime) and have no more insight into what is happening that watching the first five minutes of the first episode.

I started watching this after reading the description about glass making, thinking at least this would be an interesting look into the ... craft, but there is so little about glass making it's almost like false advertising. The actual substance of glass plays a slightly bigger part. But it's like a small tool they use try to fuel the story plot. If you watch you'll see exactly what I mean.

Art:
The art is the only thing I enjoyed about this show. Not specifically the character designs, but the background settings are beautiful to look at. Especially the way they set up to reflect the different times of day. It's nice to look at.

Sound:
The sounds fit what is happening at the time, but beyond that, there isn't much to say. They don't stand out as anything other than fitting, not above average or memorable. None of the songs or soundtracks stand out.

Character:
There is no character development. At all. You find out some things, but not much. What you find out they try to make mysterious so you'll want to keep watching, but you find out so little it's very uninteresting.

This is slice of life at it's worst. They focus on the absolutely wrong time of life's moments.

You see the characters sitting, or sitting at eating, or sitting and talking, or sitting and looking at the sky, or sitting and reading.

That's basically all they do, except you can substitute sitting for lying down or walking or hiking. It's so utterly boring and uninteresting.

I was excited after stumbling upon the first episode... alchemy! magic! quests to find rare items or complete jobs! But this show is rather... boring. It's more suited for 7-10 year olds, ecchi notwithstanding. The stories are resolved per episode. They're easy to understand, uncomplicated, uninteresting, slow paced... basically enough to capture the attention of a child.

I actually really like the whole idea of the plot, small old town with magic and alchemy, going on jobs/quests, friendly townsfolks with everyone having a job. The whole thing is set up well, but the story falls flat: it's too uncomplicated, the characters are undeveloped beyond ... their job roles, story lines in each episode are juvenile, art is mediocre though I like the character designs and sound/music leave absolutely no impression on me.

So while it's cute, I can't say I would recommend it.

I really like this anime. I personally rate shows based on how successful they are for what they are marketed as. Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun pretty much masters what it is supposed to be a shoujo rom-com slice of life.

The characters act like high schoolers. The love is awkward at times because, that's exactly what's it's supposed to be, awkward love between awkward members of society. The main characters are social misfits with social ineptitude. What ensues make sense. This is where the comedy aspect comes in. The take this awkward approach to love to showcase the hilarity of how out of norm ... the characters are and used to poke fun at cliches. It definitely kept me laughing. But the slice of life aspect remains strong; the characters continue living on as normal. Rather than showcasing secret illicit romance rendezvous to hot springs, or other unbelievable likewise situations, like so many other high school romance animes do, they showcase the characters doing things like studying or just hanging out with one another. There are moments that make you laugh, that tug at your heart, that make you say "aw", just like real life.

For technical aspects the art is very good, and smooth flowing. I personally really favor the soundtrack of this anime. The main song has just a beautiful nostalgic feel to it.

I watched this when it first debut and at the time, there really wasn't anything like it.

Nana has beautiful art. The tone and mood of the series is very successful, you find yourself emotionally drawn into the story and the characters. I watched it only one time and still remember it. I never re-watched it because honestly, it became sort of tedious. If Nana was categorized into American television genres it would be a "soap opera" mixed with "teen drama" you know the kind where the teenage daughter of a multimillionaire gets pregnant from a boy who is going to become a professional baseball player ... but it turns out he's an illegal immigrant whose dad slept with his half-sister (obviously not the premises of Nana, but you get the kind of ridiculous situations and setting I mean). As the story goes on, the situations that occur and the actions some characters do become so unbelievability ridiculous and dramatic. Despite that, it is still good enough to give a chance.

Take Free! for what it is, a fan service sports anime, and you will not be disappointed.

This isn't to say that men can't enjoy this show, but just don't expect it to be something it's not. It's a sports show aimed at a female audience. Instead of the sports matches being dynamic and action packed, they are visually stunning to watch. The sports scenes have amazing artistic detail and flow, coupled with the realistic water sound effects and dramatic music (to enhance the emotions of a scene). I re-watched this purely for how breathtakingly beautiful the art is.

The main story is ... nothing to write home about, it's simple male competitive tension with an underlying hint of sexual frustration. What drives this anime is the emotional aspect; a lot of the story is told through loaded gestures and the hidden meaning in actions. It's friendship full of longing, anger, jealously, nostalgia, support, love, etc. The emotional aspect is what keeps an otherwise simple story, pretty interesting.

This is one anime where the music is really successful. Because of how they set up scenes and how they pair certain soundtracks with emotionally charged incidents from the very beginning, just hearing the same music that will set up a scene is very successful in evoking emotions in the viewer.

In sports anime I feel I always have to touch on the realism of the athleticism in the show. The level in this anime is one of the most believable that I have seen. Some characters are ridiculously good yes, but it is because they competitively swam (and thus appropriately trained at a high level at proper institutions) since childhood.

This is a sports anime that has a different take on sports anime, which is why I think it's so successful.