Haikyu: The Manga review

Haikyuu: The Manga 

As far as sports mangas go, Haikyuu!! is defintely my favorite. Some manga's come close, like Blue Lock, but Haikyuu!! is for sure the best. It starts off with the journey of an eager but short  player, Shoyo Hinata, who gets destroyed in his first and final match of middle school against a rival prodigy, Tobio Kageyama. Hinata trains and trains and trains, until he joins Karasuno High School, the same school his idol "The Little Giant" went to. From there on, Hinata has a long and difficult journey ahead of him until he becomes a pro-athlete. He makes unlikely friends, wins tournements, loses a whole bunch of tournements, but in the end, it was all worth it. Every single match, every failure, every win, and every step of the way.

Story: 

Haikyuu!!  is about as realistic as sports mangas get. Instead of superhuman moves and plays, (yes, i'm remembering 'Prince of Tennis' here) every single play is PERFECT. Now, whenever in most manga's, when players lose tournaments, they find a super magical miracle to help them get back in, but not in Haikyuu!! . If they lose (which they do ALOT), they lose. That's about as simple as it gets. But when they lose, they learn from their mistakes, and come back much better. No matter how many hardships they go through, they come back stronger. And of course, there's peak humor and comedy as well, how could I forget? Haikyuu!!  exposes the harsh reality, but in an exciting and binge-worthy way, making you re-read every single book over and over, because you just can't get enough of                                                                   it. 5/5.

Art: 

Haikyuu!!''s art style is simply one of the most wonderful styles ever. It's basically eye-candy, and the artist, Haruichi Furadate, is very talented. He captures the excitement and the rush of energy and the emotions his characters feel effortlessly. However, one common criticism is how his art style changed significantly over the series, becoming more stylized and angular, and some readers were taken aback by this. If I'm being honest, I loved both art styles, and the change really adds to the charm. 5/5.

Characters: 

I loved following along the character's journeys, and seeing how much they grew throughout the series. One notable thing is how the 'side characters' had their own complex backstories, instead of being unnoticed NPC's. Another thing is how Shoyo Hinata, went from an 'underdog' without any plot armor to a world-wide recognized athlete through his hardwork and pain. Tobio Kageyama, on the other hand, went from a selfish 'king' to a dependable and trusted teammate. Haikyuu!! also distinguishes the talented from the hard-workers, making readers relate to them more, and showing us what EVERY character went through. 5/5.

Common Critisms:

These aren't coming from me, of course, but alot of readers didn't really like the time-skip ending, where characters went on to their lives, pursuing different careers, though a couple characters remained volleyball players. However, I loved the ending, because I got to see how everyone settled down. Another potential dislike is how readers didn't like the art style change, but I'd say it was a pleasant surprise. Finally, some readers couldn't really follow along with the intense plays, and I while I agree that the anime captures some of the intense matches better, the manga does well at capturing the emotions as well. 

Final Rating?

10/10. This is one of the few manga's I'd say this for, maybe even the only one. Haikyuu!  is beautifully written, with no plot holes and diverse characters. If you're looking for a good shonen sports manga, then Haikyuu!!  is perfect for you. I have nothing else to say, because Haikyuu!! is simply AMAZING.

-bea