Haikyuu!!



Shouyou Hinata is a young boy very determined to become a great volleyball player, like his unnamed idol "The Little Giant". Despite suffering with lack of support (the male voleyball club of his school is practically a fan club instead of a sports one), he manages to get other five students to create a team along him to compete in a volleyball tournament. They are utterly defeated in the first round, but Hinata's abilities impress his opponents and especially annoy Tobio Kageyama, the setter of the other team, regarded as a genius of volleyball even at such an early age. Not that Tobio's realism, to not say cynicism, doesn't annoys Hinata as well. To the surprise of both, they end up on the same high school on the next year and must work together if they want to achieve greater success in their careers.

Haikyuu!! is an ongoing Shonen Sports manga written and illustrated by Furudate Haruichi (Japanese order). Individual chapters have been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump since February 2012, with the first tankobon volume -- titled Hinata and Kageyama -- being released in June the same year. It has been licensed in North America by Viz Media.

An anime adaptation by Production I.G aired from April 2014 to September 2014, which has been licensed for digital and home release in North America by Sentai Filmworks. The first season comprised 25 episodes (and one OVA!). A second season of the anime aired from October 2015 to March 2016 and had the same format. The third season, however, was only 10 episodes and lacked an attendant OVA. It aired from October 2016 to December 2016.


 * The Ace: Tobio is very good at what he does.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: The match between the team from Shouyou's school and the team from Tobio's school ends on a 3-0 result where Shouyou's team don't even makes half of the points of their opponents in the third set, and that's what we only see.
 * Determinator: Shouyou don't understands the meaning of the word "improbable". He trains volleyball in a place where's there's no volleyball training for boys, and his determination to win isn't extinguished when the opponent's team have over 10 points of advantage over his team and a set point.
 * Foil: Tobio and Hinata are both good at volleyball, but while Shouyou have determination fuelling his abilities and is a nice boy, Tobio has natural talent and a mean streak.
 * Jerkass: Tobio is very, very harsh towards everyone we see him interact with at first. Even though he shows a shade of niceness towards Shouyou at first, he seems more interested in attacking his team-mates for their pride than anything else.
 * Pilot: Haikyuu!! was initially published as a one-shot in Shueisha's seasonal Jump NEXT! magazine prior to serialization. A few details are consistent with the later series, but others are cases of non-canonical Early Installment Weirdness. Example: Tsukishima is 4 cm. shorter than his 188 cm. canon self and a second year. Hinata is not a starter. Most of the Karasuno volleyball team doesn't even appear in the one-shot.
 * Underdogs Never Lose: Like many other japanese sports' genre media, averted. Shouyou's improvised team is massacred by the more experienced team they to have to face at the first round.