With Haikyuu: To The Top currently airing I have finally decided to review this series, my Hannibal reviews have been doing well so I am jumping into anime. I chose Haikyuu because I absolutely adore the series and there is so much content available with 4 seasons, multiple OVA’s, and movies.
This is one of my favourite episodes in the series, not only because it introduces us to some of the characters we are going to love but because it shows Hinata’s dedication to volleyball and what he is willing to do to stand on the court. The episode opens with Hinata stood in his Karasuno uniform with his teammates by his sides, we then jump back to when he is in junior high school and witness the Little Giant play in the Spring Tournament for Karasuno and there he falls in love with volleyball and wants to play at Karasuno.
We jump forward again by 3 years as we witness the rag tag team enter their first tournament. The entire match is cut with flashbacks of Hinata learning that his junior high school; Yukigaoka has no boys’ volleyball team and he is the only member as he trains himself and desperately tries to get the help of his friends, Izumin and Koji but to no avail. However, we see Izumin and Koji moved by Hinata’s determination and they eventually help him joining his team for the tournament along with three first year student giving them just enough members to enter the tournament, however, they are up again the team that has been picked for Nationals; Kitagawa Daiichi and their infamous “King of the Court”, Kageyama Tobio.
Kageyama and Hinata have a conversation before the match where both declare that they both going to win but it is clear to see that Kitagawa Daiichi has both the players and the skills to absolutely crush Hinata’s team but something about Hinata rubs Kageyama the wrong way. The match passes quickly lasting only 31 minutes but there are quite a few notable moments in this match. We learn that Izumin plays basketball and Koji plays soccer which is easy to see in his slide to get the ball as you would in soccer. Hinata also pulls out his outstanding jump for his tiny height which shocks the other team but their height gives them the advantage in blocking. Yukigaoka loses the first set and manages to claw 7 points in the second set but it’s match point to Kitagawa Daiichi. A rogue toss from Izumin gives Hinata the change to pull out his athletic skills and he races across the court for the ball buy while the spike is amazing and really frustrates Kageyama, it is out and Kitagawa Daiichi take the match.
We see Kageyama oppressive personality all through the match as he urges his team to move faster and faster which brings the mood of the team down and members like Kindaichi and Kunimi have no motivation to actually play the way Kageyama is. When it comes down to that final point Kageyama’s frustration is at an all time high as he was positive that he has the toss marked but Hinata being the faster of the two manages to make the shot even though it accounted to nothing. As both teams line up at the end of the match, Kageyama very rudely asks Hinata what he has been doing for the past three years upsetting the other boys as they know how hard Hinata has worked to get to this moment, even if they lost. Kageyama and Hinata speak again after the match where Hinata swears he will defeat Kageyama and Kageyama tells him, Hinata can only defeat him if he becomes strong. The training scenes at the end where Hinata trains with the girls team and trains alone, trying to build up the skills he needs was awe inspiring. He finishes Junior High and he, Koji, and Izumin go separate ways as he prepares to start at Karasuno High School but his hopes are crushed as Kageyama is also at this school and on the same volleyball team.
There were a few hints in this episode as Daichi, Sugawara and Tanaka watch the match between Yukigaoka and Kitagawa Daiichi, here Daichi says that Kageyama is going to be a problem and a threat when he gets to High School but it is Tanaka who says his money is on Hinata, and he is proven right when they both start at Karasuno. A few other notable things about this episode would be the opening song which is “Imagination” by SPYAIR and is one of my favourite OP’s, I don’t really care for the ending song but it is good. I also have to point out the animation and art style of this anime are divine, the squeaking of shoes on the court, the heavy lines to imply extremely fast movement and the fluid way in which everyone moves on the court is just brilliant and only gets better as the series progresses.
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