Haikyu!!

This week's anime is a comedy, sports, coming-of-age shonen. You're probably thinking, "a show about volleyball?? gross" but trust me, this show is good.

The show follows Shoyo Hinata, after constantly losing every volleyball game (due to forcing random people on his team since nobody else wanted to join) decides to attend Karasuno High School to become the next "Little Giant"--his idol nicknamed that for his small height but took the school to the nationals years prior. But once Hinata enrolls in the school and joins the club, he learns that the current volleyball team is one of the worst ones in prefecture. Karasuno means crow and now with their reputation as a powerhouse volleyball school is gone, they are now "The Wingless Crows".

Hinata wasn't the only first year to join the volleyball team, Tobio Kageyama also did who actually faced Hinata in a volleyball game during middle school. With Hinata's raw talent of jumping incredibly high and speed and Kageyama's quick thinking and setting skills--they would be great additions to get the volleyball team back on their feet, but, the two don't get along too well.

After a rough start, both do end up joining the team. Kageyama replaces the current setter Sugawara and Hinata is subbed in as his title is "decoy". When the positons on the field are to Hinata's advantage (Hinata is able to be in front), then that's when they bring him in, but if not he stays out. He isn't too good at anything else but quickly jumping really high.

Not soon after, two more first years join the team, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Tsukishima is automatically put in as a blocker due to his insane height for a first year and Yamaguchi is a sub who eventually becomes a huge asset to the team with some interesting skill he learns.

The Karasuno team already had some powerful upperclassmen players like captain Daichi, Sugawara, Tanaka, (later Nishinoya and Asahi) but obviously you need more than two or three players to make a good team. But now with these four first years, there is hope for "The Wingless Crows".

That is only the beginning. Because of Karasuno's low rank across all schools, they have to work hard to get back to the top--to face those at the top. They have to find a coach, find games with schools who would play them, face injuries, train, train some more, and more. They're a goofy bunch so a lot of these events are pretty fun to watch and see the boys interact with one another.

Yes this team is important and you get to learn about the characters backstories and motivations but so are the teams they face. Each team they go against have their own players with their own skills. What's great about this show is that it makes even those "minor" characters feel important. Throughout each volleyball match we learn and see what each character is feeling whether it's the Karasuno team or the opposing ones. You may even root for the enemy team because of how strong those emotions are portrayed.

Imagery is heavily used in this show which adds to the effect, it helps with keeping you on the edge of your seat. You will feel the enjoyment for the winner but you will also feel the regret for the losers. 

Here is a trailer of what to expect:

And here is where you can watch the show:

• Netflix
• Hulu
• Crunchyroll

This show has 25 episodes with each being around 22 minutes long. There are multiple seasons. Season two has another 25 episodes, season three has 10 episodes, and season four part one has 13 episodes with part two coming soon. Here is an episode guide to help. This probably seems like a lot but trust me, the show gets better and better. Karasuno faces the craziest and most powerful opponents and you never know which side to root for. Yes the show is about volleyball, not something a lot of people enjoy, especially sports anime in general--but this anime is the one sports anime you need to watch. 

If you already watched this anime or plan on it, let me know your thoughts in the comments below! (: