And thus the season comes to an end with the aftermath of the intense Inarizaki match. Man, that last part of the match was hype as heck and this episode provided a well needed cool down episode to just let the poor boys rest after an intense battle. Everyone was absolutely shocked from this outcome since Inarizaki was the favorite to win Nationals and was probably the biggest upset Karasuno has made so far. Especially since the ones who consistently took 2nd in Nationals lost in their first match. Which actually made me take a step back and go: Oh snap… they didn’t play on the first day… Now that really is an upset.
I think was the first time I REALLY felt bad for the opposing team and I’m glad I didn’t have to witness them crying because if I saw Kita cry again, I probably would have broke. But man, hearing him talk about how proud he was of his team was so touching. Especially when the twins wanted him to keep on telling others how amazing his team is and also wanting to be the juniors that Kita can brag to his grandkids about. UGH. MY HEART. I’ve really come out of this match really liking the twins and Kita. I may not have known you for that long, but I’m going to miss you, Kita. You were a great captain… It totally sounds like he died from how I phrased that lol.
And while I’ve been ragging on the Inarizaki cheer team this entire time, I do have to give them props for praising a good match, win or lose.
I honestly laughed pretty hard when the Johzenji coach immediately called called the Shiratorizawa coach as if impulsively wanting to brag about how far Hinata has come since the training camp. He’s definitely one of my favorite coaches since he just acts like such a proud uncle towards Hinata, it’s great. And I think it was good for the Shiratorizawa coach to be able to witness Hinata’s growth. Not only to show him that Hinata did in fact have worth without Kageyama, but also show him that his abandoned hope for a short player can play against tall and powerful players on an even playing field could be placed in Hinata.
Another character to acknowledge Hinata’s strength as a player was Atsumu. The fact that he told Hinata he’d be the one setting to him one day means A LOT. Atsumu has always prided himself in setting to good players and if they can’t, then they just suck. He’s basically announced that Hinata is worthy to be his teammate someday and he hopes to utilize him in a match. I’m sure they would make a deadly combo if given the chance. Not to mention Atsumu would probably have a blast setting to someone like Hianta.
But man, these boys played their absolute hardest out there, they all deserve a freaking nap. Even Tsukishima was on the verge of passing out. Despite that though, Hinata was the only one wide awake because he had the moment where he’d forever be hooked on volleyball. Especially powerful coming from Tsukishima since he recognized it and went through similar feelings himself. And it’s an interesting thought because we all thought that Hinata was already hooked on volleyball. But looking back, he really didn’t have a pivotal moment until now. Sure he’s made some pretty amazing plays before this match, but they were all plays that required someone else to help him. This was the first time that he accomplished something all on his own with his own power and ability. Now, he’s REALLY hooked onto volleyball and there was no way to deter him at that point.
With the victory against Inarizaki, the Battle of the Garbage Dump has officially been put into reality. However, the feelings going into this match seem… different from usual. And while I am all for Karasuno beating Nekoma, they’re gonna make it really hard on us because I can kind of see where this is going. Whenever Karasuno has been put up against high tier teams, they have always been the underdogs in those matches. However, with how their building up the match between Nekoma and Karasuno, Nekoma is being depicted as the underdogs. However, if we look back at the record of wins and losses between the two current teams in practice matches, Nekoma hasn’t ever lost. They are by no means weak. Which makes me believe that this will be Karasuno’s first win against Nekoma since it makes the most sense story-wise. Especially with Hinata claiming in the first season that he will make Kenma actually care about losing and volleyball.
Also oh my gosh at that jab towards Daisho with the “Story about a snake being jealous of a cat.” I couldn’t help but snort at that. Since it really could have just as easily been Nohebi vs Karasuno if they had beaten Nekoma back in the prelims.
They be hyping up the Karasuno vs Nekoma match a lot with that last scene of their respective cheer squads bumping into each other, the cat watching them and that little montage of when Hinata and Kenma met each other for the first time. And how hard both teams trained and played to get where they are now. Also how cruel was it to show the respective third years on each team knowing full well, this is the last match for one of the group of third years.
This match has a similar feeling to the Kuroko vs Kise match in Kuroko no Basket as the main team were viewed as the overdogs while everyone started cheering for the perceived underdogs in that match. So I have a feeling this match is going to be ROUGH. Because not only have we been rooting for Karasuno all this time, but we also developed a soft spot for Nekoma as well. Both teams are going to give their absolute best, hopefully showing the audience that Nekoma is on par if not better than Karasuno since the audience doesn’t know that Nekoma has never lost to Karasuno before. So I’m sure the Battle of the Garbage Dump is going to be a very mesmerizing match with A LOT of emotions riding on it. But man, it was really cute to see Kenma actually excited going into a match, even giving a rare, genuine smile to Hinata before their team goes up against theirs.
Though I had to chuckle at the fact that Tora and Kuroo didn’t answer when Kenma asked if they would have been able to beat Inarizaki and Shiratorizawa. But boy, I would have loved to see those “what if” matches. They definitely would have been really interesting.
Final Impressions:
This season has honestly been amazing barring episode 2. I’m always so amazed by Haikyuu and how they make every match so unique. Different character develop in different ways, making each match mean something different for each individual. I loved watching different character grow and develop and the fact that their character arcs don’t necessarily end just feels so refreshing and all of them are capable of further growth. And that’s the beauty of it. Haikyuu feels so grounded with very fleshed out characters.
I think the two characters that grew on me most this season were Hinata and Tsukishima. Both showed exponential growth this season and they could almost be considered completely different characters compared to how they were back in season 1. Both character and skill-wise, Hinata has come A LONG way, where he doesn’t have to depend solely on Kageyama to be useful. He is an independent player that needs no one to make him important. Tsukishima, while still a butt, has become such a team player and now pushes himself to the very limit in games. He’s honestly grown a lot on me this season and I always laugh at his antics. His snark knows no bounds and it’s great.
I’ve also come to really like new characters such as Atsumu and Kita. I was kind of hesitant about Atsumu at first since he seemed like a pompous jerk. But the more I got to know him, the more he turned out to be this loser volleyball nerd who puts his all into it. And his bond with his brother is freaking hilarious. He was really entertaining with how energetic he got during the match and just watching him make amazing sets were always fun. And then there’s Kita… who has just made it onto my husbando list. I didn’t expect to like him as much as I do. Though thinking about it, he’s kind of a combination between Daichi and Ushijima in terms of personality, which probably is the reason why I love him so much.
The animation is… okay. Not to say the animation is bad besides episode 2, I’m just still grieving over the loss of the initial animation-style. Cinematography is still on point and never fails to impress when it really counts.
Not much else to say about this series other than it’s just such a great anime. I’ve enjoyed watching it week to week and getting my weekly dosage of hype. At this point, I have to admit that Haikyuu probably is one of the, if not the best sports anime out there. The way that they build everything and develop the character is just so high tier. Lessons learned from previous seasons come back to help in the present and it’s just chefs kiss. We’ve come so far watching these characters so it feels like we’ve accompanied them all this time and it’s satisfying seeing them finally at nationals. I can’t wait to see the match between Nekoma, but I feel like we’re going to have to wait a while since Haikyuu hasn’t had a consistent update schedule. Unless Production IG wants to surprise us. Though considering the manga is done, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next season comes soon-ish. But we’ll see. I’m giving this awesome season a solid 9/10.
Until next time, Haikyuu!
