3ET: Haikyuu

Time to hit that ball like it stole something!

Studio: Production I.G.

Director: Mitsunaka Susumu (Cuticle Tantei Inaba)

Writer: Kishimoto Taku (Gin no Saji, Usagi Drop)

Main Cast:

Murase Ayumu as Hinata Shouyou

Ishikawa Kaito as Kageyama Tobio

Character Design: Kishida Takahiro (Durarara, K)

Music: Hayashi Yuuki and Tachibana Asami (Robotics;Notes)

Being a sports fan is fun, but one of the downsides is that I usually get either bored or annoyed when I watch sports anime. I get bored when there's an explanation of a rule or strategy I already know. And I get annoyed when things get stupidly unrealistic (hi Kuroko no Basket, how are you). So, the fact that Haikyuu is about volleyball, a sport about which I only know the basic rules and none of  the strategy, puts me on the level of the ordinary anime viewer. I look forward to having this perspective because it will be easier for this show to hold my attention during those explanatory scenes. A

One thing Haikyuu does really well is make the characters easy to like. The main character, Hinata Shouyou, is a third-year middle school student who loves volleyball. He loves it so much he convinces his friends and recruits younger players to have the six players necessary to make a team. This team competes at a preliminary tournament for Japanese nationals, and will be his only tournament in middle school. While his team gets crushed in the first round by one of the favorites, Shouyou doesn't ever get down on his team. He encourages them when they screw up and gives up his body on multiple occasions to keep points alive for the team. It's easy for me to root for someone like that, especially a short kid playing a sport where being tall is a major advantage. As for his rival, Kageyama Tobio, he is a naturally talented setter and a bit of a jerk. This comes out in how he is tough on his team, but this is not without reason. He takes every point of every match seriously, even ones against less talented teams, like the one Shouyou is on. So, when he calls out his teammate for not running his hardest after a tipped ball going out of bounds, he isn't being a hardass for the sake of being a hardass. He's doing it out of respect for his opponent and because he has the same will to win as Shouyou. This common will to win and competitive spirit makes it all the better when the two of them end up at the same high school.

"Hey, we better not be on the same team in high school. That's be awkward."

Another common goal for a sports anime is getting the audience to care as much about the sport as the characters themselves. Or at least making us understand why the characters love their sport so much. Again, Haikyuu excels at this. Shouyou's passion is shown multiple times with the flashbacks interspersed in the first episode. Every opportunity he has, he is shown asking his friends to help him hone his skills as a spiker, even with his diminutive height. There is also a montage of him working with the more popular girls volleyball team, as well as him training by running as the seasons change. With all of this, it's quite clear that Shouyou eats, drinks, and breathes volleyball. Tobio's passion is shown off as he talks aboutt why he loves being a setter so much. Setting is something he is very talented at, and the idea that the captains of the volleyball team would keep from doing this unless he is able to get along with Shouyou is an anathema to him. This makes their clashing personalities interesting. It can work when two hyper-competitve people are on different teams; their battles amount to a zero-sum game where someone is going to win and someone is going to lose. But, when they are teammates and actually have to work out their differences to reach their common goal, that's where something really interesting can and does happen.

Antoher thing this teammate rivalry adds to the show is plenty of room for comedy. And one thing that I saw when I watched Haikyuu is good comedic timing. Yeah, some of the jokes are pretty standard. But, even the ones that are common to the type of show, like the over-the-top reactions, are helped by waiting that extra beat before letting the punchline fly. This also helps establish the characters, by showing  how they laugh and react to these moments, like when a stray volleyball smashes into the principal who is visiting the club. Even the comedic eycatches between the A and B parts (the characters try to hit a water bottle from the other side of the net, miss the first time, hit it the second time, and we get their reactions) add to the characterization. All of these are signs of a good writing and smart direction.

And I didn't even have time to talk about these guys on their team. Total bros, all of them.

I could probably go on giving this show a sloppy blowjob in text form, but that will have to wait for the full review. That's because Haikyuu is an easy pass. I don't think this is just my love of sports shows and cute boys manifesting itself, though it might have something to do with it. Or it might be that in addition to the good characters and sense of humor, the animation looks great. And the soundtrack is pretty good too. And the fact that the first three episodes have been mostly training doesn't bother me one bit. No one gets good at a sport by just natural talent, that talent has to be refined through practice, and shows like this one that concentrate on that will always have a place in my heart.