Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this manga review. Please read with caution.

Synopsis: The story—written and drawn by Haruichi Furudate—follows Shōyō Hinata, a first-year high school student who wishes to become the best volleyball player ever despite his short height. He attends Karasuno High School, where his idol “The Little Giant” went. After the “The Little Giant” era though, Karasuno lost its fierce volleyball reputation. Together with his first real teammates, Hinata works hard to restore Karasuno High’s reputation by making it to the Nationals.

On August 18, 2020, I started reading Haikyū!!’s “Tokyo Nationals Arc” and finished on August 27, 2020. What an emotional nine days I spent on this arc. There were many loose ends being tied up and character payoffs that I could feel the end was near regardless of how the tournament turned out. No matter what happened—win or lose—this would be Karasuno’s third-years’ last official high school volleyball tournament. It was pretty intense knowing that fact.

The arc’s beginning had a strong focus on Hinata, Kageyama, and Tsukishima as they prepared for Nationals in their own ways. Kageyama went to a special elite training camp where he met and befriended future opponents, while Tsukishima went to another training camp meant for exceptional high schoolers. Hinata crashed Tsukishima’s camp because he wanted to get stronger but not get arrested. At least Hinata was honest.

Hinata’s character development before, during, and after Nationals was truly amazing. He grew as a player, person, and teammate to the point where his actions weren’t considered “accidental” or “lucky” anymore. Every single move he made on the volleyball court was intentional, precise, and awestriking. Hinata earned getting the “marks”—players that were considered threats—of all the enemy teams they played against in the National Tournament.

Kageyama’s growth also became full-circled alongside Hinata, having grown past his “King of the Court” mentality. He gave out more compliments to his teammates and less backhanded insults—those are mostly reserved for Hinata now—to encourage the “teamwork” mentality. Kageyama’s “scary face” was still consistent while he gave out positive encouragement, but nobody’s perfect.

The third-years—Daichi, Azumane, Suguwara, and even Kiyoko—were given full-circle character arcs that made them feel fulfilled before and after Nationals was over. Kiyoko was given a backstory and resolution regarding her time on the track team, and how she couldn’t get over the hurdles. The payoff to when she needed to fetch Hinata’s shoes, jumping over a hurdle on the way back to the stadium, and passing the shoes to Yachi—like she was passing the volleyball manager torch to her—destroyed my frail heart; how Kiyoko was way less sexualized was also greatly appreciated.

The volleyball matches were also drawn better with higher stakes and ceilings. How the players had to adjust to a bigger court, lights that could blind them from seeing the ball due to the high ceilings, and other unexpected obstacles made the rounds more epic and tense as they progressed. The emotional moments were also cranked into overdrive.

Reading Haikyū!! has been my greatest honor. I’m looking forward to seeing how the “Final Arc”—the last 32 chapters—will play out for everyone. Then I will most definitely be hitting the anime as well. I highly recommend reading the manga for the whole story though. Thanks for reading this manga review, everyone! Let’s keep it reading until the end!

BRING IT ON!

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