Haikyuu - Review
Link to the author's (H. Furudate) personal website
Genre: Fiction
Publication Type: Illustrated
Tags:
- Average Age of Main Characters (16)
- Length (10 / 10)
Link to Goodreads
Blurb: Determined to be like the volleyball championship's star player nicknamed "the small giant", Hinata joins his school's volleyball club.
Review: A motivating and endearing story. The general plot and the cast of characters portray an incredibly healthy example of camaraderie and drive to a joint goal. Hinata, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Azumane, Sugaware, and Daichi are simply fun to read about. The interactions within the team and the personal journeys of each character tie in beautifully with the larger objective. I absolutely adored coach Ukai too.
One thing that was done especially well in this manga was to flesh out opposing teams. They were not there as simple obstacles, but rather were well-written characters themselves, even often defeating Karasuno in important moments. Many of the opposing teams were continually checked in on throughout the story, with these updates helping to provide hype and showing that they are on their own journeys independent of the current status of Karasuno. The joint training camp arc is a highlight of the manga, being one the most brilliant arcs I've ever read + watched. It made me extremely happy.
The manga is not perfect though. Much of the magic from the earlier half of the manga got too heavily stretched over games that dragged out for months on end. The formula of inter-splicing training and everyday life between matches disappeared for the later parts, and the back-to-back matches became individually much longer. Maybe it was also that I was getting older as I read it. I am just sure that my enjoyment of the manga dropped a level at some point, although never dipped into unenjoyable. Additionally, while I respect the way the manga ended as I imagine there was an immense pressure and incentive to extend the manga, I did not absolutely love it.
This manga is a recommend from me. It is my go-to example of a sport focused manga.