5 Reasons Why I Think ‘Haikyu!!’ Is The Best Sports Anime Of All Time
Along with Slam dunk, Kuroko’s Basketball, and Hajime No Ippo, Haikyu!! is deliberately one of the most successful sports anime of all time. The popularity of Haikyu!! can be on par with famous shonen animes like Naruto and One Piece. The usual trope of a sports anime is what the author, Furudate Haruichi, did, yet, it still stands out from all the sports anime of all time. Here are five reasons why:
Full of metaphors
Haikyu’s symbolism and the smart usage of names for each team and even the characters make this anime unique from other sports anime.
Starting from the school of the main characters, Karasuno’s animal representation is crows, whereas karasu is the direct Japanese translation of the said animal. Some of the schools are also dubbed with their animal representative like Nekoma, neko for cat, Inarizaki, inari for fox, and Fukurodani, fukuro for owl.
These do not work with the teams’ names only, but also for the characters. Hinata Shoyo and Tsukishima Kei are Karasuno’s first-year middle blockers. Hi from Hinata means sun in Japanese, whereas tsuki means moon. It may seem like they are fighting over who is better at being a middle blocker, but Tsukishima explained that his role is to just prevent trouble from happening when Hinata is sent to the rear guard.
Although their names are contradicting each other and Hinata is one of the main characters, Furudate is named Kei, which means firefly in Japanese, for Tsukishima has a light on his own.
All characters have time to shine
Haikyu does not focus on Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobia alone nor on Karasuno alone. Furudate did a good job of giving even side characters their own time to shine. Shinsuke Kita, Inarizaki’s captain, is the best example of this.
Kita, despite not being on the regular line-up, still manages to keep his team together. His philosophy is also one of the best in the series. He believes that process is more important than the results. And the results are just a byproduct of your hard work.
I am built upon the small things I do everyday, and the end results are no more than just a byproduct of that.
Shinsuke Kita
Sports comedy
If you are looking for inspiring yet funny anime, Haikyu is perfect for you. Each episode of this anime is not completed if there’s no subtle yet effective humor.
There is a running gag in the series, where Hinata will always go to the bathroom before the match starts. This initially occurs in his first match in middle school against Kageyama’s team, Kitagawa Daichi.
On their first day in Karasuno High School, Hinata and Kageyama challenged each other and ended up making the vice principal’s wig fly over to Daichi, their captain, head.
Relatable scenes and characters
Haikyu is not just a simple sports anime. Even though it follows the common sports anime trope, Haikyu proves that this series is more than that.
Just like how the Little Giant inspires Hinata to play volleyball, this show has the power to inspire others to play the sport too. The plot feels like Haikyu is including its audience on every character’s journey. It seems like we are a part of everything. Especially Hinata’s character development when he learned to play volleyball properly without depending on his instincts and other people’s skills.
Hinata also overcomes his nervousness and his routine of going to the bathroom before a match after the training camp at Shiratorizawa.
The emotions behind the sport
In real life, it’ll be hard to distinguish the players’ emotions when they are playing their sport. But in Haikyu, the possibilities are endless. The anime depicts the different emotions the characters are feeling inside the court.
One of my favorite scenes is when Bokuto told Tsukishima about the moment when his love for volleyball will grow. The chilling moment when Tsukishima successfully blocked Ushijima Wakatoshi, the third most powerful spiker in Japan. Hinata also experienced this moment when he successfully received Aran Ojiro’s spike in their match against Inarizaki High.
These are just five of the reasons why Haikyu is my best anime of all time. Surely there are tons of other reasons but is best to watch it and find it out on your own. Instead of another season, Haikyu will end as a two-part movie, including the Fight of the Garbage Dump, Karasuno vs. Nekoma.
Do you have a sports anime you personally like? Share yours in the comments.
