Haikyuu!! is a Japanese sports shonen anime adaptation of writer and illustrator Haruichi Furudate’s manga of the same moniker. Much of his work was inspired by his junior high and high school days when he was a volleyball player himself. He still loves and admires the sport which gave birth to Haikyuu!! The idea of Karasuno High school is also a real-life personal inspiration, the school Furudate graduated from- is Karumai Highschool in Iwate Prefecture.
Initially released as a one-shot in Shueisha’s seasonal Jump NEXT! On January 8, 2011, the manga was originally published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine on February 20, 2012. After 402 chapters serialized in 45 tankobon volumes, the manga came to an end on July 20, 2020. The anime television series adapted by Studio I.G was aired from April 2014 to September 2014. The second season was aired from October 2015 to March 2016 and the third season aired from October 2016 to December 2016. Season 4 of the anime series was a two-hour season. Part 1 of the fourth season aired from January 2020 to April 2020 and Part 2 aired from October to December 2020.
Haikyuu is a sports manga adapted anime series about a junior high schooler named Shoyo Hinata. Hinata was inspired by a volleyball match of Karasuno Highschool playing in the Nationals. Being under average in height, Hinata idolized the ace of the Karasuno volleyball team, the “Little Giant” and was motivated to be the best player on the court. Hinata was motivated but inexperienced in volleyball.
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Luckily, the boy is athletic and, even after being short, he manages to get impressive vertical jumps. After enrolling himself in volleyball in his school, he finds out that he was the only member of the club. By the end of his junior high, Hinata managed to form a decent volleyball team to play against other schools but they were utterly defeated.
Hinata met Kageyama for the first time in that tournament and swore rivalry but ironically, after studying and getting enrolled in Karasuno, Hinata finds out that Kageyama enrolled himself in the same high school as well. Now, Hinata and Kageyama have a friendly-rival relationship where both push each other to surpass their limits and reach great heights.
Quick Links
- 1 Where does Haikyuu Season 4 end?
- 2 Haikyuu Season 5 Release Date
- 3 Haikyuu Season 5 Trailer
- 4 What will be Haikyuu Season 5 plot?
- 5 Where can I watch Haikyuu English Dub?
- 6 Who will be part of Haikyuu!! Season 5 characters?
- 7 Who will be retained in Haikyuu season 5 characters for the English dub?
- 8 What Can Fans Expect From Season 5?
- 9 Why Is Haikyuu So Popular?
- 10 Is Haikyuu the best spoken in the truest sense of the word?
- 11 FAQ’s
- 12 Conclusion
Where does Haikyuu Season 4 end?
With a complete season dedicated to a single match, Haikyuu!! has done justice to the fans in its latest and fourth season i.e Haikyuu!! To The Top. Karasuno High’s volleyball team’s journey continues in this two-cour season. The first part aired from January 2020 to April 2020 and the second part which was scheduled for July 2020 was aired from October 2020 to December 2020.
Excluding the OVAs that are prequels to Part 1, the story continues from season 3. In the events of preparation for the Spring Nationals, Kageyama is invited to All-Japan Youth Training Camp but Hinata, who was not invited, manages to sneak into Tsukushima’s first-year-only training camp. Hinata ends up sticking to the training camp after agreeing to be a ball boy. At first, he is criticized and scolded for not doing his job properly but later after hearing coach Ukai’s advice, Hinata realizes the task of a ball boy and takes his job seriously.
While the boys train with another team, Hinata carefully observes their moves and tries to imply it in his job as means of practice. After returning from their training, Hinata surprises everyone by receiving Kageyama’s powerful serve while the others have learned new tricks. Karasuno also plays a practice match against Date Tech which ends with 4 wins and 4 losses.
After a little bit of trouble with Kageyama’s performance and him snapping out of it, Karasuno manages to win their first match in the Nationals. Before their official match with their next opponent and runner-up of the Inter-high Tournament, Inarizaki High, Karasuno prepares for the second match.
Karasuno soon learns that their next match is going to be tough and Atsumu Miya of Inarizaki has a twin brother. Karasuno somehow manages to pocket in the first round. Simultaneously, Nekoma High is up against Hayakawa Technical Highschool. Nekoma High win their second match and proceed to the third round. On the other hand, Karasuno perform poorly in their second set after Nishinoya was targeted by the Miya brothers.
Karasuno regained momentum and is put to test after Inarizaki captain Shinsuke Kita enters the court. The boys put up a tough fight but after 30 points, as the match’s end draws closure it is evident that the final play match is between Hinata and Kageyama versus the Miya brothers. Karasuno celebrates the evening with their hard-fought, fresh victory and awaits their match against Nekoma- The Dumpster Battle.
Project #3: A new Radio Web-Drama written by Haruichi Furudate!
A short drama that captures the daily lives of the “Haikyu!!” characters! Scheduled to broadcast in 2022!
(Via: “Karasuno High School Broadcasting Club” Web-Radio) pic.twitter.com/YbMKKeEJ8U
— HAIKYU!! (@Haikyu_EN) December 18, 2021
Haikyuu Season 5 Release Date
There has been no official confirmation regarding Haikyuu!! Season 5 release date as of June 2022. After the delayed rescheduling of Season 4 Part 2, season 5 production has been relatively affected. The initial plan of releasing Season 5 between Fall 2021 and Summer 2022 can be speculated with a delay of two to three anime seasons.
Haikyuu Season 5 Trailer
With a brief delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, fans had been eagerly waiting for the season 4 finale. Concluding the second round of the Spring Nationals Tournament with season part 2, the match was by far the toughest game Karasuno has faced in the past. This means that the boys are yet to taste the final victory and fans have been eagerly waiting to see him in action in the next match. Unfortunately, due to the delay, the production is still ongoing and there has been no trailer as of Spring 2022.
What will be Haikyuu Season 5 plot?
Where an anime season’s release date has not been confirmed officially; consideration is the bare minimum for the plot of Haikyuu Season 5. Within the scopes of speculation, it can be estimated that the supposed 25 episodes season will manage to cover most of the nation’s matches of Karasuno if they decide to omit the matches of other teams that won’t be up against Karasuno in the future. One thing is for sure, Karasuno High versus Nekoma High is going to be the toughest and most awaited match for the boys whereas fans are eagerly waiting for anything relatively close to official news regarding Haikyuu’s Season 5’s release date.
Where can I watch Haikyuu English Dub?
For a while, Netflix had been planning of departing season 1 and season 2 of Haikyuu. Having a record of releasing seasons after all the episodes are aired, Netflix had not updated season 4 for some time. As of June 2022, Netflix no longer streams Haikyuu Season 1, though seasons 2, 3, and 4 are all available on the platform in sub as well as dub. Amazon Prime Video is streaming all episodes of the first and second seasons of the anime series. Presently, Crunchyroll is the most recommended platform to watch the anime series as it is streaming all seasons of Haikyuu as well as all the movies and OVAs/ OADs. HIDIVE has season 3 on their platform with an English dub. There are other websites like 9anime that are streaming all the seasons and movies of Haikyuu in both, English sub and dub.
Who will be part of Haikyuu!! Season 5 characters?
- Ayumu Murase as Hinata,
- Nobuhiko Okamoto as Yu Nishinoya,
- Satoshi Hino as team captain Daichi Sawamura,
- Yu Hayashi as Ryunosuke Tanaka,
- Miyu Irino as Koshi Sugawara,
- Sôma Saitô as Tadashi Yamaguchi,
- Hiroshi Kamiya as adviser Ittetsu Takeda,
- Yoshimasa Hosoya as Asahi Azumane,
- Koki Uchiyama as Kei Tsukishima,
- Kaito Ishikawa as Kageyama
Who will be retained in Haikyuu season 5 characters for the English dub?
- Leraldo Anzaldua as Tsukishima,
- Orlanders Jones as Azumane,
- Bryson Bauga as Hinata,
- Scott Gibbs as Kageyama,
- Justin Duran as Sawamura,
- Adam Gibbs as Sugawara,
- Greg Ayres as Nishinoya,
- Cameron Bautsch as Yamaguchi,
- Gareth West as Takeda,
- Greg Cote as Tanaka
What Can Fans Expect From Season 5?
First and foremost, speculation suggests that the next season of Haikyuu won’t be coming out anytime soon considering the pandemic delay that Production I.G. had to face in Season 4 Part 2. There has been no official confirmation even after Spring 2022 comes to an end. As for the plot, our protagonist Hinata Shoyo will be continuing his high school journey to the top of the game. Karasuno will be definitely against their impending match against Nekoma High and more over the cliffhanger of the Tournament is taking a toll on fans’ patience if not less. This is just spicing up the build-up for the next season of Haikyuu!! and should expect some action.
A huge thank you to the entire Haikyu!! Anime team for their continued hard work this past year!
Looking forward to the continuation!#ハイキュー #hq_anime pic.twitter.com/KU411mpHQ7
— HAIKYU!! (@Haikyu_EN) December 18, 2020
Why Is Haikyuu So Popular?
There has been no well-established or huge fan base for sports like any other shonen sub-genre. In this field, Haikyuu has managed to earn popularity and love from fans all across the world. Haikyuu is not only about sports, more specifically volleyball. As means of entertainment, it has elements like super cool moves and actions to make the sport look more compelling. Beyond that, one of the major reasons behind the anime series being so popular is its wholesomeness.
Taking advantage of the sport itself, the plot manages to focus more on teamwork and unity. The feeling of even the best of players needs to back up by their teammate’s bridges this work of fiction with reality. The series also exhibits morales. Our main character, Hinata is not a privileged student who was born to be the volleyball king and neither does the show prove that he can be one without his friends. Like any other character, Hinata also needs to start from the ground level and has to work his way up to the top to achieve his goals. Watching the series makes the audience feel the emotions and struggle that the “boy” goes through firsthand.
Reminder that Kageyama Tobio is the hottest Haikyu character. pic.twitter.com/x98lgoMBSE
— annieyama 🫐 (@annieloveskags) May 18, 2022
Is Haikyuu the best spoken in the truest sense of the word?
Many anime watchers who have not watched Haikyuu!! think that the show is just hyped and overrated by the fandom. Many have also made it clear that the show is lame and that they were bored while watching the so-called repetitive matches throughout the anime. Honestly, it all comes down to personal choice and taste. But to truly evaluate a general opinion different aspects of the anime need to be considered.
Firstly, the animation. There is no doubt that the animation is top-notch and deserves appreciation. To put it in layman’s terms, sports sub-genre anime is meant to have appealing and fluid animations to keep the audience more focused on the story. As for the repetitive matches, there are always new and unique characters that are introduced throughout the show. The pace is something that can be considered slow.
Most audiences watch anime because of the fantasy-based plot. Being close to real-life depiction, Haikyuu!! does not provide the essentials that such viewers would like to see or expect from such animes. This might be the reason for the overrated acclamation riot among the audience. Overall, Haikyuu is undoubtedly the best sports anime but not as much as true and loyal fans claim it to be while comparing it to other good animes.
FAQ’s
There has been no official confirmation regarding Haikyuu !! Season 5’s production. Words of employees and members involved in the production are taken in good faith regarding the next season. Such subtle yet reliable information makes one wonder on which platforms will the series will be available. Netflix has made streaming anime series much safer and easier, one of them being Haikyuu.
Unfortunately, the anime series is not available in the United States. As for the other nations where previous seasons of the series are available, it is highly likely for Haikyuu Season 5 to stream on Netflix but not before all the episodes are aired. If the popularity and viewers increase, there is a slight possibility of the episodes being updated according to the schedule.
Yes, Haikyuu!! Season 1 and Season 2 are both available on Amazon Prime in English Dub.
No official news regarding the number of episodes in Season 5 has been released yet. Estimates and speculations suggest that if season 5 is going to focus particularly on Karasuno and Nekoma High similar to Season 3’s Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa then a total of 9 episodes will be required to showcase the match.
Making the numbers of episodes differ from the usual 12 or 24 formats, it is highly unlikely to expect only the second match to be adapted in Season 5. The manga is ahead and there is an ample amount of content that is required to be adapted. Throwing in a few fillers like the match between Mujinazaka and Fukurodani is going, to sum up, the count to 11/12 episodes which is a much more favorable possibility.
If Haikyuu keeps up its rank in the popularity poll then there is little to no chance for the fifth season to be the last. As for the plot, Karasuno and Hinata’s journey would not be ending anytime soon. Karasuno has yet to play another match in the Spring Tournament and it would be best experienced in a motion format.
Conclusion
Haikyuu is one of the best sports anime in anime history. Unlike other sports anime that have ultra-fictitious and overly superpowered moves, players pulling off things that are inhumanly possible and exaggerating every other aspect of the plot, Haikyu!! depicts a very realistic and moralized version of actual the sport. Wrapped around in a beautiful storyline, the anime exhibits a sense of struggle and dedication.
A powerful sense of motivation driving the players to surpass their mental restrictions and pushing their bodies to their very limits is what Haikyuu!!’s about. It does not end there. The uniqueness of the plot is in character development. The anime does not focus on the main character only. It shows how other members of the team also have to struggle to achieve their goals. It goes to show the importance and necessity of teamwork and sportsmanship in a sport.