Putting the words "sports" and "anime" together sounds like the weirdest oxymoron I've ever heard. The whole premise of anime is to escape reality (at least in the shonen sense), and sports are a testament to real-world effort. Now one would think that a sports anime could just never work because the audiences of both sports and anime appeal to different kinds of people, but it couldn't be farther from the truth in Haikyuu!! Since watching the anime I've had one question lingering in the back of my head, why does Haikyuu!! work?
Relatability is a quintessential part of getting attached to any source of media, and Haikyuu!! Passes this test with flying colors. The show revolves around the main protagonist Shoyo Hinata, a first-year in high school standing at 5'4", red hair, and an undying love for volleyball. After seeing "The Tiny Giant," a middle blocker with roughly the same height play years ago and perform on TV with great success, Shoyo strives to be just like him and joins the same school years later to be Karasuno High School's next "Tiny Giant." I feel deep down every interest we as people have is blossomed from watching others who have similar stories break the mold and achieve success. Instantly we the viewer is intrigued by the disadvantage in both his height and his skill but his drive to play, and in turn, are invested in the underdog story that's about to unfold.
The show isn't just about Shoyo however, and there's a whole cast of characters to sink ourselves into. Shoyo's complete opposite and greatest ally, Tobio Kageyama is a talented first-year setter who is leagues above anyone in his class, but suffers from his own arrogance and selfishness consume him, and this makes it difficult for him to reach his true potential with his team. Pairing these two up leads to possibly my favorite duo I've seen on screen. The constant banter of Tobio constantly belittling Shoyo due to his lack of skill and Shoyo constantly radiating this vibrant aura of pride and willpower is something I absolutely love to see. The cast isn't just primarily these two either, as Karasuno High School's volleyball club is full of lovable characters. From Daichi's collected attitude as the teams leader, to Tanaka's constant masculinity delivered with comedic effect, there isn't a single character you won't love when watching the show.
One thing that I love about this show is it's rivals. The other volleyball clubs don't act as villains, but rather other people who just love the sport as much as Karasuno does. Teams like Nekoma and Seijoh don't exist to tear our main characters apart, but rather build them up and become stronger from their encounters. One of the best matches in the entire series is the rematch with Seijoh, I won't spoil anything, but that entire match is a nailbiter from start to finish. The players aren't trying to win because there's some mystical prize behind beating other teams, they just get to play more volleyball, and that mixed with the hunger to win makes this anime feel a lot more authentic than most media I've seen, even outside anime.
Another thing Haikyuu!! does well is its ability to stay grounded. In my opinion, the whole purpose of animation is to accomplish stories that can't be told with real-world elements, but Haikyuu!! tosses all of that out of the window and delivers an excellent story regardless. Everything these characters accomplish is a real-world possibility to pull off. Obviously things like Shoyo's incredible jump height and Tobio's pinpoint accuracy aren't very replicable, but you could totally believe people like that could exist in a real-world scenario. I can't believe I've gone this far into the article without talking about the soundtrack Haikyuu has, it's INCREDIBLE by the way. Yûki Hayashi (the composer of most of the tracks for Haikyuu!!) manages to do an incredible job at making the perfect tracks to fit at the most vital moments of the show.
If you've made it this far into the article and you haven't seen anything Haikyuu!!, what are you doing? This show is too great to pass up, and with this whole quarantine thing going on there's bound to be people itching for something new to watch, so why not Haikyuu!!? Haikyuu!!'s first two seasons are available on both Netflix and Hulu, and sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have also listed episodes for past that in the fourth season. All in all, Haikyuu!! is possibly one of the most entertaining shows I've ever seen, from its cast, its themes, and its glorious animation and soundtrack. I simply just can't get enough
