Haikyuu!!

About

Haikyuu!! is a sports shonen manga written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate and published by Viz media in Weekly Shonen Jump. It has been adapted into an anime series which is produced by Production I.G. The ongoing manga series has so far amassed 45 volumes since its initial release in 2012, while the anime is in the second arc of its fourth season as of October 2020. The series follows Hinata Shoyo, a small but enthusiastic high schooler who dreams of succeeding at volleyball despite his short stature. Hinata and his teammates at Karasuno High School work to improve over the course of the series, reaching higher goals in high school volleyball as the series progresses.

History

The manga was originally published in Jump! Next as a one-shot before the series was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.^[1] The first chapter released on February 20th, 2012. The series is published under license in North America by Viz Media, with an animated adaptation by Production I.G. in April 2014, who have since produced the second third, third, and fourth seasons of the series (trailers shown below).

Reception

The initial response to the series has mostly been positive, with the anime scoring 8.68 on MyAnimeList^[2] and 8.6 on IMDb^[3]. The manga has also performed well, in 2014 ranking in the top 5 manga and light novel series based on sales.^[4] Its popularity has led to it being adapted to radio and the stage (stage version shown below).

Online Presence

The series has spawned multiple fan sites, including a subreddit^[5] which has gained over 126,000 followers since its creation in September of 2013, and a dedicated Wiki page.^[6] The series also has a presence on Tumblr^[7], with fans generating gifs and fan art of the show.

On YouTube, the series has been tied to actual volleyball highlights on the Power Volleyball channel, suggesting that its popularity has gotten people interested in volleyball (examples shown below).

Others have made jokes and skits about how they had no prior interest in volleyball before watching the show, but Haikyuu! made them interested and in some cases very knowledgeable about the sport. On December 27th, 2016, ProZD made a video parodying the enthusiasm one had for the sport after watching the show, gaining over 3 million views (shown below).

Search Interest

External References