New Season of Haikyuu!!

It’s no secret: I love Haikyuu!!

Once upon a time, I thought the idea of sports animes sounded silly. I can barely stand to watch sports in real life, so why would I watch them when animated? What I didn’t realize back then was that many of the sports animes (like Yuri on Ice!!!, Haikyuu!!, Free!, and Big Windup!) have beautiful character development. While the competitions are still important, there are bigger themes at play. There are internal struggles, rivalries, and unlikely friendships. There are pitfalls and moments of despair. None of the characters are perfect and each one has their own hopes, dreams, and fears.

I found this to be true especially in Haikyuu!!

Kageyama Tobio went from being my least favorite character in the first couple episodes, where I thought to myself “what a jerk, I don’t think I like him,” to being my absolute favorite character in the series. The more I learned about him, and the more I saw him grow and develop, the more I began to relate and root for him. He was one of the most flawed characters, and that made him feel incredibly real. Despite his athletic abilities, he’d been abandoned by his old team, had his dreams fall out from under him because he struggled to connect with people on a social level. Where I used to just see him as “some jerk,” the more I watched the more it became clear that he was trying so hard to change and to connect, and that his cold personality wasn’t the result of meanness. It was the result of fear. He was afraid to trust others because he’d been hurt before. He was afraid of being abandoned again. But with real friendship and support, he slowly opened up and learned to trust others again–and as he did, he shifted from being a one-man volleyball army to a talented player and strategist in sync with his team.

My Kageyama Tobio cosplay. He’s one of my favorite characters to cosplay, and one that I relate to in many ways. Photo by Jordan Nutter.

I’ve watched and rewatched Haikyuu!! and have recently started reading the manga as well. Many others loved it, too, and I was always excited to talk to people who adored Haikyuu!! as much as I did. But, in time, there were less and less people. Less people cosplaying from Haikyuu!! at conventions or meetups. Less people who got excited at the sight of a Molten volleyball. And the ones that did seemed less energized.

Time dragged on after the showdown with Shiratorizawa and there was no news. People drifted away, and for the first time I really began to worry: is this it? Had Haikyuu!! as an anime and pop culture phenomena reached the end of its run? The manga would continue, and for that I was grateful, but it was still hard to see it fade from the world at large.

Until recently.

It turns out Haikyuu!! is anything but done, even if the wait for more was long.

A new season of Haikyuu!! was announced at Jump Festa! There will be a kick-off event on September 22, 2019 where more information (and hopefully a release date) will be announced.

I’m happy to hear that we’ll be getting more Haikyuu!! soon, after all!

Do you watch Haikyuu!!? If so, what’s your favorite character?