Haikyu!!, Vol. 1: Hinata and Kageyama

I hate sports. But I do love the occasional sports manga, at least until they get bogged down in presenting game after game in tournament after tournament in the later volumes. Having read the first three volumes of Haikyu!! back to back, I'm still in the honeymoon phase. The characters and energy are marvelous. And I really like the focus on building a team from a group of people all broken in their own little way. It seems the team will really be greater than the sum of its parts, and being part of the team may help those individual parts become better people. This is the real inspirational stuff at the heart of sports that I can never get out of watching the real thing.

This counts as my review for the whole Haikyuu!! manga

”You don’t win alone.
That’s just how it is.”

READ FOR: best character developments and themes that I have ever encountered
READING LEVEL: Level 1-3 out of 5

*All of my reviews are as spoiler-free as possible unless stated otherwise*

I don’t think I’ll ever have enough words to express how much I love this manga and anime series but I’ll try anyway. But I just need to make it known that this has changed my view in anime and manga forever. I caught up with this manga in the last 30 or so chapters but I won’t say much to avoid spoilers... but it was crazy.

It made me laugh, cry, fall in love, think, and honestly... what else do you need in a series? I can keep going on and show more on about this series but honestly I think you should just read it for yourself. I really don't think you'll regret it.

When someone asks me what the plot is, honestly, all I can say is “they play volleyball” HAHAHA… but it’s so much more than that.



PLOT: ★★★★★
The plot was so well thought of from the very beginning and when I re-read the manga I can’t believe the amount of foreshadowing Furudate actually placed. My mind was so blown… I just. No words. I am seriously in love.

ART STYLE: ★★★★★
The art style… *chef’s kiss* especially in the later arcs. There were so many matches but even then Furudate never failed to leave me breathless at each one.



CHARACTERS: ★★★★★
The character development here is THE BEST. HANDS DOWN. that I have ever come across. I fell in love with the so many characters in this series that I did not even think that was possible.

The character relationships... the character dynamics... their mindsets... they are all so perfectly well done and realistic GAHHHH I've said this so many time throughout this review BUT THEY JUST MADE ME FALL IN LOVE SO EASILY. I can't pick my favourite one but hinata and kageyama just hold a special place in my heart.

This connects to the themes but my favourite thing that was done with the characters here was that each one of them embodied a theme or a message that the author wanted to get across. Those are spoilers so I won’t really talk about it but just know that it was one of the main reasons that made me go so crazy about this series.

*cough* hinata kageyama atsumu sakusa bokuto kita noya ushijima tendou tsukki suga kenma kuroo *cough*

Note: if you think this series is focused on only 1 team... you're in it for A RIDEEEEEE


I'm getting chills just looking at and remembering these panels ^^

THEMES: ★★★★★
Honestly I basically thought the themes were just gonna be “teamwork” and “friendship”… while it is all that, Furudate sensei was able to make it even deeper.

I think the one that was focused on the most was “It’s not always about winning, it’s about growth”. But there were also so many smaller things that lead up to that bigger point: (1) we get our strength from others, (2) but you also need to make yourself dependable, (3) there is always room for improvement, (4) working hard is good but overworking yourself isn’t, (5) you are built on the small things you do everyday, (6) an ace's back should be an inspiration to your teammates (hi bokuto), (7)

The way I wrote it was very straight to the point but I was amazed at how Furudate tackled the so many messages that I received from this series.



PACING: ★★★★★
THE TIMING. OF EVERYTHING. JUST MAKES SENSE.

It’s so realistic that I want to cry. (I actually already did… a lot of times.)



PAGE TURNER: ★★★★★

You should understand that I made this review weeks after I finally calmed down about this series cuz I was really going crazy about it HAHAHA if you have finished this series too or met me while I was reading this, you know what I’m talking about ;)

I'll keep this series close to my heart until the grave. You cannot convince me otherwise. show less

Welcome to the only review you will ever see in which I read about volleyball. Gah. I apologize for the above star rating, it looks like this series is super popular and I sort of understand but my natural bias against volleyball had me hating every second. Literally. 3 stars may be overly nice.

Here's what I liked: Shoyo's enthusiasm, his spirit, his optimism and his willingness to learn. I liked Tobio's unrelenting admiration for Shoyo despite how they couldn't see eye to eye. He admired him as a rival and I appreciated that.

Daichi, Tanaka and Suga were great. I enjoyed the team spirit Daichi wanted them all to have and certainly understood why Shoyo & Tobio's fighting was detrimental. Way to be firm Daichi-kun!!

But why did it have to show more be VOLLEYBALL. Ugh. I have some serious traumatic memories of this sport in HS. Bring indifferent to sports, introverted, petite and in most ways a bad choice as a team mate made volleyball misery for me.

So while I'm guessing this will hit the typical shonenjump fan's happy bubble, for me it was not something I could enjoy. show less

I vaguely understand what's happening in a volleyball game now. True testament to Furudate's talent; not only developing a massive cast of loveable characters, but teaching his readers what's going on on the court, and why the sport and the players are so badass.

Such a wholesome story. I read these in real time when they would come out and couldn't get enough. Now slowly purchasing the manga because I could re-read these several times. A go to when you just want a feel good, fun, clean story. Definitely my favorite sport manga.

A typical sports manga, friends and teammates and rivals and all that. But in this twist, we start our story in middle school and see how the experiences there shape the relationships in high school. Bitter rivals end up becoming teammates but they're too busy fighting each other to be an asset to the new team. These two hotheads need to get their act together before they're kicked off the team for good.

If you like sports manga/anime, this is a good read for you. If you don't, you can give it a chance if you want.

I am not ready for Haikyu!! to end, like I keep feeling emotions while reading these last few volumes.