Haikjú!! - To The Top

I have probably already written this twice before, and I am going to repeat it. It is hard to follow up the previous season, which was the ultimate pinnacle (for now), with the atmosphere, well-established relationships  and hours of training came to full fruition. I did not enjoy the first few episodes of this season very much, and what is more, I was even a bit irritated that the anime’s creators brought up an issue that's been dealt with so many times - Hinata's height. It was as if the grand finále of the qualifier never happened and we were back at the beginning when the main male protagonist needed to address his biggest problem (which he has already dealt with at least once before) and find his place (again). I was not impressed by the individual training camps either, I thought it was nice that they introduced us to some other excellent players even though that did not seem enough to build the same atmosphere as they did with the Shiratorizawa Academy... Gradually, though, it started to interest me again. Hinata's improvement, as he managed to keep his head down and his eyes open, actually started to be quite charming. The atmosphere also gradually builds up around each opponent (at least in the thirteenth episode the tension is used to great effect) and still Haikyuu!! manages to keep the right balance between the sport itself and a shitload of (encouraging) motivational scenes, and these things succeed to keep the audience excited for the big matches and the pretty ordinary stuff that shows us that volleyball is actually played by pretty normal people. At this time, I think that Haikyuu!! is still the best sports anime series, even though this was definitely the weakest season so far. However, I am looking forward to future seasons in the hope that, because it seems obvious, the next part could be as great as it was before... Halfway through season four I am rating it as 8/10, and looking forward to the summer... EDIT 09.01.2020, Part 2 - Well, what a disappointment, there was no suspense, no drive, except at the very end, when I was reminded of what used to be good about Haikyuu!!. In other words, there were ten very boring episodes where I more or less could not have cared less about the action on the court. This was especially true when there was that whole stupid episode with Nekoma which was just shoved in. This irritated me because it ruined the already lackluster pace with another (and for me not very pleasant) cold shower. The atmosphere the anime’s creators managed to build up in the previous series gave me chills watching every second of it, but in the second half of season four they probably only managed to do so in the last few episodes when it regained some feeling and tension and everything worked the way I think it should. However, it was too damn late!! I cannot say anything good this time, because I did not particularly enjoy the episodes up to the finále. This was not very good. I could award the second half of season four 5/10 at most, and on the whole, I am awarding it 6.5/10 which is a damn feeble four stars and a disappointment, and I am dreading the next season in case they repeat the same mistakes… (04.04.2020) (vähemmän) (lisää)

Commentary on Part 1: You just have to accept that things will most likely slow down and calm down after an awesome treatment like we got in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. Except that I hadn’t imagined it that way. The first half of the series is safely the worst thus far of an otherwise excellent anime. Kageyama's training camp has a little something going for it (which is pretty much because of Kageyama himself), and I didn't need the gift of prophecy to figure out that all those national team candidates will one day be on the other side of the net as Karasuno makes his way deeper into the tournament. Let's remember what makes Haikyu!! so great: In its best parts it serves up suspense, action, and even here and there a funny moment. It's as if there was no trace of these attributes in the parallel Hinata storyline; he himself doesn't undergo any more complex development himself, time simply stops completely for a few episodes except for suffering Hinata's obnoxiousness. In the second half, thank goodness we get back into game rhythm! I'll make a fist now and then, give a chuckle now and then, and that's what I want from Haikyuu!!!. Graphically, I found the previous series cleaner and more playful, here I can feel slightly sloppy sequences, but nothing that spoils an otherwise good impression. We've got the weakest season behind us, but the next one promises to make up for it properly. 4 stars / Commentary on Part 2: I'm getting more and more uncertain feelings from this, and I feel like I've reached the stage where Haikyuu!!! can't bring me anything new. This doesn't necessarily mean anything negative, but the enthusiasm with which I devoured more and more episodes of the previous season is outta there. Not only do I expect that the boys from Karasuno are simply good and if by chance they don't win, they'll at least play an even game. The problem is that one of the main assets of the series has turned into a liability. As Haikyuu!!! has managed to portray even the opposing players sensitively and commendably, and has given almost every single one of them at least a hint of a unique soul, we've accumulated too many of these characters on the set in the meantime, and I'm losing my natural interest in following the history of the 3rd alternate opponent in the second round. Unfortunately, the anime stubbornly clings doggedly to fully introducing all of the characters, and unfortunately does so sadistically right in the middle of a game. The viewer all horny for volleyball action must painfully delay his "climax" until it starts getting downright annoying, plus there are more than a few scenes that are more than a little static. Towards the end, following the established templates, we get things up and running again, the tension of the game could literally be cut with a knife, except that due to the disjointed beginning I am a bit more distant towards Kageyama & Co., because we are still too much devoted to the feelings of our opponents and thus I cannot enjoy the game woes and delights of our heartthrob champions fully. Even animation-wise, it's not quite right: the body proportions cease to be proportional and instead become slightly flatter, and for the sake of the series I won't comment on the ultimate graphical fiasco of Episode 2. Overall, I can't shake off much of the bland aftertaste and unfulfilled satisfaction that, by this point, this brand has rather guaranteed. We'll see if it gets better. A weak 4 stars (10.04.2020) (vähemmän) (lisää)