I’m so close to finishing my favorite manga ever; Haikyu. Just one and a half volume to go and I really don’t want it to end haha. There are different arcs in this manga, but most of it takes place during Hinata’s high school years. Since I just finished that part, I thought it would be fun to do a review of the high school arc. That does mean there will be some spoilers for the earlier volumes because I need to talk about the spring tournament arc! Let’s jump in!
Ever since he saw the legendary player known as “the Little Giant” compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! Who says you need to be tall to play volleyball when you can jump higher than anyone else?
The high school arc ends in volume 42 of Haikyu. I still remember picking up that first volume and falling in love with the series right away. It’s been almost a year and a half and I’m so close to the end now.
Our journey starts with Hinata going to high school to play volleyball. He did a bit of volleyball in middle school but only got to play one game and lost to Kageyama. He vowed to beat Kageyama, only to find out they’re going to the same high school and they will be teammates.
Hinata’s team at Karasuno starts off as a team with potential but also one that hasn’t been winning or doing that well. With the new rookies Hinata and Kageyama, but also Tsukishima and Yamaguchi the way back to the top is started. We slowly get to know the teammates Hinata will be dealing with, and in the first couple of volumes more of them are introduced. I like that we didn’t get all of them at once, this way I got to familiarise myself with them before meeting new ones.
Throughout the series we learn more and more about volleyball and I have to say, I totally feel like I’m a pro now haha. I know so many terms and feel like I could tell you all about volleyball. We also get to know more and more teams and fall in love with so many characters.
I love all the members of Karasuno’s team, and I have been rooting for them every single match. But it has been hard seeing some of the other teams lose to be honest. There have been so many wonderful characters, Kenma, Kuroo and Bokuto are definitely some of my favorites. But I could mention probably 10 more that I love almost just as much.
We see all of these teammates pushing each other to higher and higher levels to try and get to the national stage. Like I said, along the way we meet multiple teams and my favorite team beside Karasuno has to be Nekoma. Karasuno and Nekoma would love to play an official match against each other but the only way that will happen is if they both make it to the Spring Tournament.
Soms of these matches stretch over multiple volumes but I still never get sick of them. There are all these little backstories going on and I just wanted to know more and more and more. That is also part of the reason I felt bad for whoever Karasuno was playing. You really get to know some of the other team’s players and you can’t help but root for them a little bit too.
Like I said, the goal was to go to the Spring Tournament and obviously the end goal was to win it all. These 42 volumes span just one year and I wasn’t completely sure how I wanted it to end. Them winning it all wouldn’t be super realistic but I also want to see them win…. I think in a perfect world I would like to see them lose at some point during the Spring Tournament and then get at least a 100 more volumes and follow them for the next two years and see them win the whole thing at some point haha.
Unfortunately that’s not what happens. I won’t spoil how the Spring Tournament ends but I will say that after thinking about it for a bit, I’m happy with the outcome. And I like that we got a bit of a summary of Hinata’s second and third year at Karasuno. However, I will forever be bitter that we only saw his first year and if Haruichi Furudate ever decides to go back in and give us those missing years I will be the first to buy those volumes.
Overall this is such an amazing manga and I could talk about it for hours and hours. The kids in my classroom saw that the Haikyu movie was currently in the cinema and they all told me so because they know how much I love Haikyu. So cute! But yes, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a sports manga or just a fun, contemporary manga with amazing characters!
