The Haikyu!! film yields four years of built-up fan hype

It’s been four years since the last season of Haikyu!! – a certified drought for fans of the sports anime and manga series, which follows an underdog high school volleyball team. Granted, long periods between seasons are nothing new Haikyu!! fans; there was a similar four-year gap between Season 3 and Season 4. But the wait only fuels the fervor. The new movie Haikyu!! The dumpster battle – opening in theaters ahead of a Crunchyroll streaming release – actually starts at the end of season 4 and returns Haikyu!! what he is best at. Director Susumu Mitsunaka, who worked on the show’s early seasons, returns for this film, which is essentially just a direct sequel to Season 4 – and the start of the manga’s final arc.

That makes it a fan-only proposition: if you’re already invested in the franchise’s volleyball teams and characters, this movie is a success. And boy, does it capture the show’s epic highlights. It will probably completely reignite the fandom.

When we last left the Karasuno boys volleyball team, they were about to take on their old rival, Nekoma High. But even though the two schools have historical heritage, it all comes from a friendly place. Episodes in the first season showed exhibition matches between the two teams, with a shared training camp in season 2. The show has fleshed out the Nekoma athletes and their relationships, both with each other and with members of the Karasuno team. At this point, the Nekoma team members are pretty much the same Haikyu!!‘s secondary characters, because we know so much about them. That makes the film’s pivot to their side of the net make perfect sense.

Most of the film revolves around the Nekoma team, especially their setter, Kenma Kozume. The film still spends time with the Karasuno team as they discuss strategy, giving each of the main characters a chance to shine. But the story is largely rooted in Kenma’s point of view, delving into his relationship with the sport, his teammates and his rivals.

One of the first things that protagonist Hinata Shoyo learns about Kenma during their first meeting in Season 1 is that even though he’s a really talented setter, he’s not actually that into volleyball. He plays because his best friend, Kuroo, is the team captain, and because Kenma enjoys analyzing his opponents and determining the best strategy to win. But he’s not particularly athletic, and he prefers playing video games to volleyball. After the first practice match between Karasuno and Nekoma, Hinata tells Kenma that one day they will play a match against each other that will make Kenma admit volleyball. is pleasure.

Image: Toho Animation/Crunchyroll

The film integrates this scene, as well as other flashbacks to the show, in case you need help remembering details about moments that first aired years ago. But these flashbacks aren’t really helpful if you don’t already know and invest in these characters. The dumpster battle is really a continuation of season 4, not a separate movie in its own pocket dimension, à la Spy x Family code: White or any of the Hunter x Hunter films.

It’s a culmination of Nekoma’s arc on the show – and Kenma’s. The Karasuno team is still the focus, and the movie is still about how far they’ve come since season 1. But it’s seen through Kenma’s eyes as he strategizes how his team can win. Karasuno has evolved tremendously as a team since Nekoma first faced them, and now they present Kenma with a tantalizing challenge, the first time he has found opponents fully worthy of his talents throughout his entire volleyball career. Faithful to Haikyu!! Fashion, the current match is interspersed with flashbacks from Kenma’s life, especially when it comes to his relationship with volleyball, expanding on his motivations and making his current arc resonate even more.

Image: Toho Animation/Crunchyroll

Haikyu!! has always excelled at showcasing each player and team’s individual relationship with the sport, emphasizing that both teams deserve to win. There’s never an outright opponent, even as Karasuno, the audience’s POV team, faces increasingly talented competitors. They are all athletes bound by the love of their sport.

Towards the end of The dumpster battleit is difficult not to cheer on Kenma, and also for the Nekoma team, even though the end of the match seems like a foregone conclusion. (Karasuno has the plot armor of the main character.) We learned so much about Nekoma from the show, and the film combines all that previous investment with the current match and with Kenma’s flashbacks to his relationship with volleyball. It’s an emotional journey across the board. (Um, court?) The way Kenma’s passion for the sport develops, and the way the team members’ relationships with each other and with Karasuno manifest, is its own kind of victory. Perhaps it is an even more satisfying type.

Haikyu!! The dumpster battle will be released in theaters on May 31.