Haikyuu!! To the Top Part 2 ハイキュー TO THE TOP 第2クール

2020 fall | Episodes: 12 | Score: 8.6 (514521)

Updated every Saturdays at 02:25 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Synopsis

Once called a fallen powerhouse and known as "Flightless Crows," Karasuno High School has finally taken flight at nationals. With a comprehensive performance against Tsubakihara Academy in their first match, the team is now facing its toughest opponent yet: the runners-up of the last Spring Tournament, Inarizaki High School. Furthermore, dealing with the formidable twin Miya brothers only makes things more difficult for Karasuno. As soon as the match begins, Karasuno is overwhelmed by all the noise and jeers from the supporters of Inarizaki High but rekindles its strength thanks to its own loyal fans. Karasuno also gains some momentum by utilizing an attack centered on Shouyou Hinata, but the eccentric play of Atsumu and Osamu Miya delivers an unexpected blow that leaves their opponent astounded. Things are bound to get intense as the match progresses between these two teams. Will Karasuno be able to defeat Inarizaki High and overcome the hurdles that threaten its pursuit to the top? [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Murase, Ayumu

Ishikawa, Kaito

News

Reviews

Resting_Bonfire
04/18/2022, 12:14 AM
Haikyuu!! To the Top 2nd Season If anyone has seen my other reviews, they know I like Haikyuu. This anime had everything for me to be entertaining and engaging. But this all started to crumble after the third season came out and now it's over. Watching this season was honestly a disappointment and a painful one at that. The relatively fast pacing died, the scenes just didn't have any dynamics anymore, except for the last 5 minutes. And to make it worse, the animations went down the tubes. More than half of the faces this season looked like they were drawn by an amateur who hadjust been thrown into the studio. Episode 9 in particular... uhh ohh. The actual game itself wasn't any better, it was boring and very sluggish. Even though the 2 twins as opponents weren't that bad. I thought they were very authentic siblings with very real relationships. But this was the only highlight of this season. The flow of this game was protagonists get depressed, Hinata cheers them up, they get depressed, and Hinata cheers them up. And so on and so forth. And precisely because this happened so often, Hinata's last and final motivation became meaningless in the end. Had the other moments been removed or changed, Hinata's final ball acceptance would have had a real impact. Unfortunately, this was ruined by the overdose of this approach. [Conclusion.] Haikyu is nonetheless a very interesting anime, for people who just want to watch something "likable", without any great plot or rivalry. However, I hope that the upcoming seasons will improve. [Enjoyment 4]
sentiarii
11/14/2021, 04:24 PM
Roughly three years after the last proper season of Haikyuu!!, the production staff for the series underwent major changes, such as replacing its previous director as well as animation director. The changes to its staff as well as the impact of COVID-19 have both been detrimental to the once consistent and energetic quality the series had boasted in the past. Unfortunately, Haikyuu!!: to the Top's greatest enemy is its own series' legacy. While there are glimpses of brilliance over the course of this arc, it largely lives in the shadows of preceding seasons' stellar animation, pacing, and character development. The most notable difference on thesurface is the decrease in animation quality and the roughness of To the Top's art style. While viewers could occasionally catch some awkward-looking frames in past seasons, these were few in number and would typically pass in seconds. Seasons 1 to 3 showcased brilliant creativity in its camera-work, care in its research of natural volleyball player movements, and a drive to deliver exhilarating fast-paced action. To the Top, on the other hand, is plagued with stiff animation throughout the entirety of both part 1 and part 2. From robotic serves to unimpactful receives to just a lack of animation all around, To the Top is, on average, unpleasant to look at from beginning to end. Previous seasons excelled in showcasing the impact of powerful action shots, as not only was the animation of said action smoothly animated (such as jump serves and spikes), but even the reactions by the characters who receive such attacks were impactful. Previous seasons showed characters reeling back when trying to receive high-speed attacks, yet this season's action shots feel weak and slow in comparison due to sluggish animations and cardboard reactions upon receiving hits. There are occasional moments of thrilling action scenes in To the Top, such as Hoshiumi's cheetah-like chase after the ball or during Hinata's rare clutch dig, but these beautiful moments are so infrequent and surrounded by a sea of mediocre animation quality that it leaves the viewer pining for more, only to be disappointed when met with all-too-frequent recycling of flashbacks as well as animation speeds reminiscent of a university lecture PowerPoint deck. Adjacent to the drop in animation quality is the shift in art style, which I would argue also hurts To the Top's visual aesthetic. Some may argue that art style is subjective to one's preferences, but as an artist I would highly disagree. Some art styles lend better to particular genres, and some styles also depict action better than others. Haikyuu!!, being a sports anime with a flair for drama and energy, flourished under the previous art direction that emphasized more on the use of shading, angular shapes, and a somewhat more subdued colour palette. To the Top throws away much of the shading that its predecessors had, opting for a flatter look that feels unfinished, unrefined. The lack of shadows reduces the weight of the furrow of a character's brow, minimizes dynamic angles when arms and legs are bent, and overall feels amateurish compared to prior seasons' art style. Some changes in the art style, while more faithful to the manga, are unflattering to look at. One obvious example is Kageyama's change in his skull proportions, as his hair lays much flatter to his head than in previous seasons, and anatomically is visually unappealing, if not outright incorrect. Character faces are also more round in this season, and while it's closer to the source material's look, simply make characters look more cartoony and less "gritty", for lack of a better term. The sluggishness in animation also goes hand in hand with the slow pace of To the Top. While previous seasons had their fair share of flashbacks, training arcs, and audience narration, they were used to elevate and provide a brief respite from the otherwise action-packed episodes. In contrast, To the Top's slow moments test the audience's patience, as they're often inserted during inopportune times or dragged on for far too long. Some of the most frustratingly poor pacing happens right during the match between the two schools, as episodes dwell too long on the stadium audience's reactions to some stiffly animated action shots. The teams' characters themselves also tend to have too much internal monologue, which is often narrated during uninteresting still-shots. The pacing of To the Top is incredibly disappointing, given that the series has been known for packing a punch in not only its animation fluidity but its storytelling speed as well. While previous seasons had me on the edge of my seat, as though I was watching an actual volleyball game, I found myself wishing the episode would just move on to the next action shot instead of listening to yet another internal monologue. It's unfortunate that this season's pacing feels more akin to a typical flashback-ridden sports anime than previous Haikyuu!! seasons. And maybe dwelling on the Miya twins' pasts would not have been so painful if Haikyuu!! had taken the time for the audience to develop a connection with the new characters. Perhaps the greatest contributions of old rivals Oikawa and Ushiwaka to the previous seasons were not their volleyball prowess, but rather their relationships with the dual protagonists Hinata and Kageyama. Production IG had taken the time to make sure that we understood the importance of the two main characters overcoming their rivals, with Kageyama attempting to break free of playing in Oikawa's shadow and Hinata proving to Ushiwaka that even the smallest person can make a difference in court. For the Miya twins however, who are the main rivals of this season, we only see Kageyama briefly communicating with Atsumu and being told he was too subservient to his teammates' wishes. There is no emotional connection, no serious drive for Kageyama to beat him. As a result, there's a disconnect from the audience and an overall lack of engagement compared to prior seasons. Yes, Karasuno is playing at a national level, but the emotional stakes are diminished as there's nothing to care about in the Miya twins from the main team's perspective. Other characters do get development, including Nishinoya and Tanaka, though again the development feels stretched out and takes too much time from the action. This isn't to say that character development moments should always be short, but they need to be concise. We understand that Tanaka feels frustration in his poor play and the importance of him overcoming his rut, and Nishinoya learning to move past is fears is vital for his volleyball performance, but To the Top takes too long to move on from these points, whereas previous seasons' pacing felt much snappier in contrast. Even for characters I had always felt partial to, I felt a twinge of impatience waiting for their flashbacks or ruts to end. Despite the drop in quality in this season's pacing, art, and animation, Haikyuu's sound department once again demonstrates its ability to pump up the audience during high-action moments with energetic soundtracks, while also being able to mellow out during quieter character moments. Sound effects return in full force, and perhaps unfortunately are much more powerful than their accompanying animations. Overall, however, despite its major flaws Haikyuu!! is still Haikyuu!!, and thanks to its strong source material, the audience can continue to enjoy silly banter between the overly enthusiastic high school boys and be enthralled once again by unexpected plays during matches. I sincerely hope Production IG can improve its pacing and visuals for future seasons, as the Haikyuu!! series is truly something remarkable. With its legacy of being one of the most refined sports anime adaptations to date, as well as the return to normal from COVID-19, hopefully the new staff can deliver a better season and live up to the series' past quality and enjoyment.
darty_
12/22/2020, 11:31 PM
To The Top season 1 was already pretty bad, but I held out knowing that season 2 would have more volleyball. Then To the Top season 2 came out... utterly gormless. It pains me to say, as someone who really enjoyed the whole series up until To the Top, but what little enjoyment I got was from laughing at it and laughing at how bad it was. Personally, the two main issues were the story/characters and the art. 1. Story & characters: I haven't read the manga, so I don't know how much it differs. The overarching story was pretty lackluster but nothing too offensive. Itfelt like a generic sports shounen which made me feel less invested in this season as a whole, but it did have more action/volleyball than To the top season 1. The pacing left a lot to be desired, but it was better than To the top season 1 just by virtue, again, of there being actual volleyball. Still, there was a lot of filler in every single episode. One of Haikyuu's strong suits was always having good characters, not just the Karasuno boys but opponents that were interesting. However, Karasuno just felt... flat and lacked the depth that they used to have. One case in particular––I remember Tsukki's character development vs Shiratorizawa and feeling as if I had gotten whiplash with how much he regressed in To the top season 1, and To the top season 2 didn't really do much to work with it. Their opponents (Inarizaki) were even worse: I didn’t care for the Miya twins, I didn’t care for anyone on the whole damn team except for Kita. To be honest, Kita was a very good character and I enjoyed his backstory, but it was a tall order for a newly introduced character to shoulder the burden of bad writing. The little bit of Kenma’s backstory was nice, but it felt out of place with the rest of the season (despite having a legitimate reason). A similar thing with Hinata––another bit of nice character development that couldn’t hold up the rest of the season. A little sidenote––I often play a guessing game of what happens in an episode b/c the frequency of anime tropes, and man everything was too predictable. 2. Art (mild spoilers here): I would be cleaning, running errands, etc. and then spontaneously burst out laughing because I’d remember that one screenshot of Daichi (I think… lol). I know coronavirus has not been kind to anyone, least of all anime studios, but the outsourced episodes were so awful. The Miya twins often looked like animorphs. Actually, most of the Inarizaki team would look like animorphs. All the characters were consistently drawn off-model in a way that was not flattering nor “creative”. It is definitely possible for off-model characters to still look good, but not when characters look like Brontosauri. I admit that there were a lot of little things that I really liked: the bit with Kita's eyes watching the ball, Hinata’s reception, and quite a few moments in the second-to-last episode, but similar to my critiques of the characters, there was too much bad that these little, good moments couldn’t outweigh. I dunno... it felt like they didn't put any effort (like the announcers who just held the same pose, unmoving with politely pleasant expressions on their faces as they talked). The only reason why I finished this season (To the top as a whole) was because of how much I enjoyed all the previous ones. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulders when it finally ended and I realized I didn't have to watch anymore. I think the stark contrast between all the old episodes and everything that came out this year was too much, which ended up being why it is so lowly rated for me. I probably won't watch Haikyuu anymore after this and am probably going to just read the manga from here on out. You should probably do the same.
someonenamelisha
12/20/2020, 09:17 AM
Story : outstanding!! the storyline is just AMAZING, it's very inspirational, funny, cheerfull, and emotional. boring and overused? NAH original? ABSOLUTELY YES Art : i LOVE it, i love the camera angles and the smooth animationsand learn from their mistakes, their strong friendship, how they never give up, and how they can finally achive their dreams. i love everything about haikyuu!! i dont understand why people doesn't like this anime?? haikyuu!! can be funny, cheerful, emotional, and you got this special feeling when you watch haikyuu you will be hooked, and get really attached to the characters. haikyuu is my top favorite anime, i can guarantee you will love this anime. even after rewatching it dozen times i never gets bored, it is pretty sad that the manga has reached the end... i just hope the anime and the manga got the recognition they deserve :,)
Enchanted_weeb
12/19/2020, 09:27 AM
My fav anime of all time. I'm so glad that I am alive to watch this anime I mean it's jst a masterpiece 🥺 and I'm so proud of hinata. My baby have improved so much and I can't wait to see the next season (karasuno vs nekoma). Also I hope they animate msby black jackals match too. When it comes to art I know many people have complains about it but I don't I mean art is similar to manga and that's totally fine coz old art used to be smooth and soft (kinda?) But recent art is more focused on their movements andthey look more mature now( their smirks are scary and intimidating). Also thanks to some studio who ruined 2 episodes (pfftt kageyama looked totally different) but then it came back to its old art style. I was more focused on the game to notice the art and I am so glad they didn't missed any important movements and pacing is normal it's not rushed at all which is a good thing. The reason why I love this anime is coz it inspires me to dedicate my life to something just like hinata. I want to obsess over something. I hope I find something like that too.... Overall this is the masterpiece don't miss out
RenanGRM
12/19/2020, 08:54 AM
So, this time I'm going straight to the point, as I think you can see from my profile Haikyuu is one of my favorite animes and I easily consider the best manga I've ever read, but as for Haikyuu !!: To the Top 2nd Season I have a lot to talk about so I'm going to divide this into 4 steps here. 1- General review about how much fun I had and the new characters; 2- Review about animation and the new drawing style; 3- Review on the adaptation of this manga arc for the anime; 4- I will generalize everything and give it ahigh grade because I love Haikyuu at the end of everything. 1- General fun Look, this can be a bizarre topic, especially for Haikyuu who was reputed that no episode was just "boring" or made you think "please episode, finish and give me a very good next", but unfortunately this season had about 2 episodes like that, but 2 out of 12 is not much since this season had 5 excellent episodes and another 5 good ones. The reason they are bad I’ll cover more in topic 2 and 3. As for the characters I can only say that I like almost everyone very much, I love the Miya and Kita twins the most and I absolutely love Suna and Aran, but their libero, the tall guy who curses Tanaka and Ginjima are pretty irrelevant to me. This season also featured an appearance by a couple that I love the most reacting to the games, Suguru and Mika, showing how the Nohebi's catcher can melt and not just be an asshole, being cute with his girlfriend and thrilling her with her enthusiasm for volleyball. Of course, there was also my favorite unofficial couple, Bokuto and Akaashi, having very funny reactions about the game. 2- Animation The animation has changed, I confess that I loved the drawing style, since it is too similar to Furudate's, but at the same time I didn't like it, because in the simplest moments the characters' faces were too distorted or ugly. To compensate for this, the animation made one of the best moving sequences I've ever seen, everything was very fluid and you could feel the impact of the ball and the weight of the bounces very well, but in fact there were times when the animation was so bad, generating phrases like "my god this is so ugly, but it is so good". 3- This season the adaptation to be desired, as small scenes were cut, scenes that increased the development of small characters or would only make the fandom very happy, scenes like Shimada's race to raise the bag for Yams to draw, the reaction of others Miyagi's teams and even put Tsuki's weight lines in a few seconds, taking part of his development (which I consider one of the best in anime). Cutting moments like this make readers of the manga (like me) slightly sad, because we know that those who only saw the anime will not miss scenes like these very much. 4- End Finally I can say that this season left a lot to be desired, but I really don't want them to change the drawing style, but I ask with all my heart that they improve the animation for the next season. I had a lot of fun watching this season and clearly loved a lot of it. Score: 8.5
SpikyTurtle
12/19/2020, 06:50 AM
Haikyuu!! To The Top 2nd season did not disappoint. It was real Haikyuu. And Haikyuu is absolutely incredible. The 2nd part of To The Top was basically the payoff of all the training done in the 1st part. Let me go through the players 1 by 1. Hinata made the most impressive strides. The ball boy arc was amazing, I really don't understand why so many people thought that Haikyuu got worse because there were not as many matches. Hinata learned so much about volleyball. It was so exciting and emotional witnessing Hinata receive that ball in the last match, it showed so well how muchHinata has progressed. Just compare the current Hinata to Hinata in season 1. He is so different now, the only thing that didn't change is his burning passion for volleyball. Kageyama was always amazing as a volleyball player, his skills were fantastic. However now he became a way better setter - he learned to track his teammates conditions, motivate them by forcing them to do their best (basically how he did in the very start of the show) and also was motivated not only by his rivals (Atsumu) but also by his teammates (Hinata). And let's not forget the last block, made by Hinata and Kageyama. This block really showed their growth throughout the whole show, a great callback to how they were at the end of season 1, when they lost this way. Tanaka was always one of my favourite characters because he always works so much, during matches or not. His effort finally really got recognised, I absolutely love his character, the cross and straight shots he did were so cool! Nishinoya also had great moment of overcoming his fears, let's of course not forget Kinoshita who helped him. The synergy between players in Haikyuu is wonderful. Tsukki was a great blocker as always, but he really was more motivated at this match than ever before, tried his best even when he was extremely tired. What is more, he actually recognised Hinata's new skills. Inarizaki had amazing players as well, but I just want to mention 1 moment. It is when Inarizaki's captain, Kita, had his speech about "geniuses", that the Miya twins aren't just good from the start, it's because they work and train and think about volleyball all the time. This is a really great message that applies not only to them, but to most players in Haikyuu and actually to most people irl as well. Also, Kita's speech after the match was great, made both the players and the viewers emotional. I love how every time a team loses in Haikyuu, the players are so wholesome and supportive, it really makes you feel for the team. The directing in this season was good, but definitely seemed lacking when compared the previous 3 seasons. And although this made some moments seem not as important as they really were and the pacing was off occasionally, this is really the only major drawback in this season. The animation was iffy at times, especially the outsourced parts, and the change of the art style isn't really to my liking, but overall the animation is still great. There are still moments when the animation immerses you in match and makes you FEEL the power of the jumps, spikes, serves and blocks. Let's not forget the OST - one of the best parts of Haikyuu imo. Yuki Hayashi is an absolute legend and does an incredible job each season. His tracks just elevate Haikyuu to another level, both in hype and emotional moments. The OP and ED were great. The OP was hype, but it's not one of my favourites. The ED on the other hand is amazing and I love how it shows little Hinata at the end, watching the match on the TV. Haikyuu is the only anime that manages to keep me smiling throughout the whole episode and makes me feel this hype. This adaptation could have been better, but it still was a masterpiece in my mind, since it's extremely difficult for Haikyuu not to be great.
rrakku
12/19/2020, 04:01 AM
“Everyone is probably surprised. But we weren’t.” Karasuno’s middle blocker Tsukishima Kei thought to himself, after their match against tournament second best Inarizaki. And I am here to tell you he is absolutely wrong. Perhaps if you only limit “everyone” to the audience in the anime, but I am talking about the audience *watching* the anime here. Haikyuu!!: To the Top Second Season is painfully predictable, ridiculously out of touch with reality and poorly drawn compared to previous seasons. Not that predictable is inherently bad, but it’s quite ironic since Karasuno’s loss vs Aoba Johsai back in season one was show defining and is what I believe got manyto watch later installments of Haikyuu. This season Karasuno winning seemed inevitable because of the high stakes, that means the whole game three, which spanned the entire latter half of the season, is an absolute bore to watch. Season three also had this problem, but instead of doubling down on the hype, it chose to focus on the character development, which was a much smarter move. And about that “out of touch with reality”? God forbid I wasn’t talking about how it is “unrealistic”, I am talking about how tone deaf To the Top Second Season is, let me explain. It tried to drum up tensions by making matches close and letting the audience and coaches commentate, but the fact of the matter is, I never felt the matches were close. It’s painfully obvious that Karasuno would win, and the discrepancy between my tension and the tension of people in the anime. There are several points in time where I laughed out loud because of this, and it is not a good sign when I laugh in a scene that was supposed to be nerve racking. The animation quality also plummeted due a change in staff members. Just think back to season two when you saw the scene of Kageyama’s spinning set for the first time, or the gorgeous animation of numerous serves scattered throughout. Those are breath-taking scenes of animation nowhere to be seen in To the Top. Instead it constantly reuses selected frames and abuses still shots, I have seen way too many times of the same 5 seconds of Atsumu silencing their cheering squad when serving. Animation was a crucial part of the experience of Haikyuu, and even that was compromised in this season. Granted what led me to bash Haikyuu this hard was because I loved it so much, and its lovable qualities didn’t disappear overnight. There are still a few episodes that were made really differently for some bizarre reason, and some of the newly introduced characters still get proper development. But that’s just too little of compensation to what To the Top had lost. I was worried when the first season of To the Top came with announcements of staff member changes, and it seems as though my worries were not superficial. Haikyuu is now a shadow of its former self, living off of the hype it generated with its first three seasons. As the characters are one-upping their game in the Nationals, Haikyuu!! To the Top could’ve used the increasing power level as a delivery vessel for more jaw-dropping animations. Instead, it botched this opportunity and instead gave us a mediocre adaptation that is frankly an embarrassment to previous installments.
Hail_Lelouch
12/19/2020, 03:04 AM
It was sensational and it's to no surprise. Haikyuu has been the best sports anime of this decade, maybe probably of a time. There was nothing wrong, and oooh the battle for the last set was chilling, thrilling and absolutely killing. It was just magnificent and the more you speak about it's brilliance, the more you will love everything about it. Intense battle rallies, thrilling background and an amazing character development adds cherry in the cake. The animation was as usual superb and nothing could have been asked more out of it Waiting eagerly for the next season where Karasuno will take on Nekoma in what canbe called as the 'Garbage Dumpster Match' to battle against their long time rivals... HAIKYUU!!!!!!! 5/5
zarekarma
12/18/2020, 10:10 PM
*Overall score: 8.75* No spoilers for this season up until I note, so just keep an eye out. Haikyuu has quickly risen up my rankings ever since, and to be completely honest it seems to just age better. When I first caught up with the series, which was around September, so. before season aired, I made a review on the first cour of this season. It was a passive review wherein I praised stuff but I just felt overall underwhelmed. I still think some of my complaints there are valid, although a large majority of them were remedied once I caught with the manga as well asfurthermore when I watched this season. While it did have 10/10 peaks, such as the King of the Court's return and the ball boy arc, most of the second half was unfocused, and considering it didn't even end right before the Inarizaki match began I ended up feeling like this half did not have a conclusive enough end point(For reference, the first half of the first two seasons both ended on a satisfying note, so if theoretically they were split in half I would not have found myself underwhelmed by it). Cutting in the middle of the Inarizaki match really made me a bit more hesitant on my enjoyment. Also lol aside from that one moment, the Dateko practice match was a mess. My review on the first season I plan to delete since a lot of my complaints I don't agree with anymore, and any complaints that remained I pretty much mentioned here anyway. That first half is a 7/10 for me now. So how about this season? How does it hold up? Well, considering by the time it started I was caught up with the manga, I knew what was coming, and had high expectations. My only complaint about Furudate's manga is that the big moments come out of left field without too much buildup, but that's really just because most of Haikyuu's peak moments are just better in motion, so I don't consider it a detriment and I still think the manga is a 10. Though considering that even with that, Inarizaki was filled with hyped up, amazing moments, I was naturally excited to see it elevated even further in motion. Safe to say, I was definitely satisfied. But just because I was satisfied, and still ended up loving it, doesn't mean I don't have complaints with some things. I am going to be a lot more lenient, because to be completely honest, I don't usually do things this way, but I don't dislike the show for any of the complaints I'll give because most of them are production-wise, and since it was being done during COVID, I can't help but feel like it was out fo their control. Everyone still put the most effort they could during these tough times, so while I won't hold back in saying whether this aspect of production is good or bad, I don't hold any ill will towards it. The main issue is that the art and animation has a lot of drab moments. The new character models allow the animators to create more dynamic movements and angles, and when the animation peaks, it's miles ahead of anything seasons 1-3 put out. I remember the Hoshiumi scene in the first round during the first half of the season, and it was so dynamic I couldn't wait to see more. Unfortunately, while the most important moments of the story are given the most amount of care(see episode 9, for instance. Peak after peak), a lot of the littler moments aren't given that, and since they're not the most explosive moments, they end up feeling a lot more insignificnt. ---Spoiler mark--- Take for instance, Osamu resetting the ball set to him, or Atsumu doing that one really hard set, and basically all of Aran's attacks. These are not nearly as major moments as say, Hinata's receive or Tanaka's super inner cross shot, but if the production wasn't as shaky as the previous seasons, they would've been just as memorable visually, and thus make much more of an impact, leaving to feel like these players are top tier. Scenes like Tsukki blocking the twin quick and Hinata copying Seijoh's strategy to block him aren't given the treatment they deserved. ---Spoiler mark--- In any case, I am glad they didn't fumble the production on one of the aspects I think truly makes this season still "great". The flashbacks. Haikyuu has always been better than most at utilizing flashbacks. Since the story is predominantly about Karasuno and Hinata, showing the lives of the other teams and rivals outside of their own match just feels out of focus, with the exception of Nekoma, who as a whole honestly count as a deuteragonist/antagonist type of thing to Karasuno's protagonist. Oikawa's, Ushijima's, Tendou's, and Washijo's backstories always came in at the best time in previous seasons and were always presented beautifully. This season took it above and beyond. The Miya Twins, Kinoshita, Nishinoya, and Kita, without spoiling what they were about, were utilized perfectly. They gave further development, which was very much needed for 4 of those 5 people. Kageyama's arc I think was done great, although unfortunately it feels like one of those moments that wasn't as satisfying or amazing as it should have or could have been. Shame, considering he's the deuteragonist of the series, but I still think it was done really well and had its own impact. Tanaka's arc was outstanding. It characterized him perfectly, and had strong visuals too. Actually, despite productions, I think one of my favorite things about this season is the visuals. I don't really mean the animation, but I'm talking about the visual metaphors and presentations of so many scenes. ---Spoiler Mark--- The Twin's minus tempo reverse quick attack was amazing, but nothing compares to the sheer menacing aura the anime was able to instill. Through the use of the music, as well as the sickly green aura that that is emitted by Inarizaki is amazing. The anime even added this visual effect to the cheer team of Inarizaki, perfectly showing how menacing that entire side of the court is While that "We Don't Need Memories" bit of Inarizaki will probably be one of my personal favorite moments from how cool and perfectly suited to the scene it is, I love the scene of Hinata's hunger for playing volleyball more. At that point the rotation made it so that Hinata was switched out by Nishinoya, so he wasn't on court, but considering how Tsumu and Samu were both talking about how Hinata's presence still lingered strongly in the team, I love how the side of the court Karasuno was in ended up with this bright, equally menacing orange aura to it. The anime really knew how to use these colors and applied them to the show perfectly. ---Spoiler Mark--- Speaking of which, did I mention how amazing the characters are? While production issues prevented us from really seeing visually how amazing players like the Twins, Aran, and basically most of Inarizaki are, I still think the very core of their character, and even more so in relation to their team banner, was captured perfectly. You really get a good sense of who they are individually. I also love all the little callbacks there are to the two preliminary arcs there are. It really shows just how much Karasuno has learned and gone since the first season. The final point's callback to the first Seijoh match in particular was amazing. Overall, I have to say that despite my issues with the production, I still think that the anime did a good job adapting the material. At times it even went beyond, although if we are looking at it as a whole, I still think the manga did it better. I much prefer Inarizaki's match rather than Shiratorizawa, although while the anime for the Shiraotrizawa match went above and beyond the manga, I can't say the same here, even if I still loved it. This season had pure 10/10 potential, although we've been spoiled by Haikyuu too much. This is still way better than most of the stuff coming out right now. I got a newfound appreciation for many characters. Many characters climbed up my favorites in both Haikyuu characters, and just fictional characters in general. Read the manga after this if you really wanna feel the immense skill of Inarizaki and Kageyama, as they were kind of lost in the anime, but regardless I highly recommend still checking this season out. Considering there were so much strong visuals even during the pandemic, even if there were a ton of more underwhelming moments, I can't help but thank the hard working animators and artists who worked on it for doing the best they could. Could have been a masterpiece, but outside forces prevented it. Overall, an enjoyable experience that still captures the heart, themes, message, and point of the source material. 8.75/10 Story: 9/10 Art: 7/10 Sound: 8.5/10 Character: 10/10 Enjoyment: 9/10
Blue_Maroon
12/18/2020, 02:14 PM
One of the weaker seasons of Haikyuu, which is still pretty good compared to all other anime. It delivers on everything that a fan has come to expect from Haikyuu, albeit with less consistency throughtout the season. This season focuses on the match between Karasuno and Inaruzaki for the most part (with some of Nekoma’s match sprinkled in), but it is not done as well as in season 3. The character backstories were not as intersting as they were with Shiratorizawa, with this season giving the backstories of 5 players from the opposing team. On top of that, only around 3 of them were actually memorable, sospending all of this time on a team that we all believe is going to lose is unnecessary and a waste of screentime. Another thing that was noticeably worse than the previous seasons was the art and animation quality. It was distractingly bad for most of the first half, getting somewhat better toward the end of the season. As a result from this visual drop in quality, I became less invested in the drama and humor because I was so preoccupied with how disappointing it all looked. That being said, it did improve in the later episodes where all Haikyuu fans know the big moments occur. There are some pretty good moments in this season, with Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kageyama, and especially Hinata getting some great development and payoffs. And of course, there is a big, hype rally at the end that is always at the end of the big matches. While I don’t believe it to be as good as the one in seasons 2 and 3, it still lived up to what I have come to love in the series. Overall, even though this season was not as good as I was hoping it would be, it still came through in the end and left me satisfied with what I saw. I can’t wait for the next season and I pray that it receives the animation that it deserves. It is closer to an 8 than a 6
BabyGirl06301
12/18/2020, 02:02 PM
I mean, I knew what was gonna happen, but it was funny and awesome anyway. I don't know how to review an anime when I've read the manga because Haikyuu!! is a first for me in that regard. I guess I can start by saying that the animation was mostly phenomenal, though there are some frames that come off as really weird. The score for Haikyuu!! is always gorgeous. Beyond that, I'm mostly just going to talk about this in comparison with the manga. I did this with the first half of To the Top as well, but looking at what they decided to pull from themanga is always interesting. There was a section in this season where they kind of pulled away from Karasuno to set up for what comes next, and though it happened in the manga, I believe they restructured it in the anime. I don't know that it was necessarily the best choice since it stopped the momentum dead for a couple of episodes, but at the same time, it's good that they chose to use that story point before the next plotline. As far as flashbacks and all that goes--because there's usually a flashback for at least a few characters from the new team in the manga--I think this season did a pretty decent job using them. Though, there were entire episodes dedicated to flashbacks a couple of times, and I don't think this season needed it. However, as I know what comes next, they probably had to fill the time with something so they didn't move through the plot too quickly, thus upsetting the flow of the season. The pacing--besides that short bit where the story cuts away from Karasuno--was pretty good. The events happening in the game can blend together really easily, but this season did a great job with making every episode stand out against the next so something special was happening every time. That's it. If you want to know more about what I think about Haikyuu!! in general, at this point, it's probably better to go read my manga review. I can't review the anime that well anymore because I know the story, but to sum up, this anime is bomb. Watch it.
snowingpiano
12/18/2020, 01:46 PM
Wow that was good. Haikyuu is an amazing shounen sports anime that doesn't fail to impress, especially this season. In general, all aspects of this season were really good and overall it was an amazing experience. Story: 9 Honestly this season had an amazing story line and plot. Although this story arc with Inarizaki could not have beaten the "training camp" arc in season 2, I have to say I am still impressed how the anime has weaved in character stories/an actual plot rather than just having volleyball matches. Overall the pacing was pretty slow, so if you aren't into slow paced anime then rip. Art: 7 To behonest, I don't really mind the new art style compared to season 1, 2 and 3's style, but as most people may know, this season of Haikyuu had major animation failures (if you know what I'm talking about) such as in episode 4 or something where everyone's faces looked weird when playing volleyball. Overall it didn't really affect the enjoyment of the anime but it was just kind of distracting and weird. Sound: 10 Haikyuu's soundtrack never fails to impress Character: 10 Thank you for not having literally volleyball battles the entire time. The characters (especially ones who were not previously heavily developed) got a lot of backstories and development so you felt that you were on the journey with them. Especially rather than just introducing new characters from Inarizaki, people actually got stories and helped you sympathize with them. Each character had a lot of depth. Enjoyment: 9 Overall it was just a really good anime and I hope to see even better in the future with Haikyuu!
bulkyhog
12/18/2020, 01:23 PM
Overall: 6/10 Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the most mediocre and disappointing season in a stunning anime's history; let's take a look at what happened to our beloved Haikyuu. Much of Haikyuu's success this season is riding on the glory of its past 3 seasons. While Haikyuu did have it's peak moments this year, they often didn't stand out enough to compensate for inconsistencies riddling the entire season. From pacing and animation to storyboarding, Haikyuu took a really hard hit compared to the last 3 seasons: even S4 Part 1, in retrospect, was wayyyyyy better than this one. Ultimately, you'll take this season in one of2 ways: 1. You'll love it for it's 'hype' 2. You won't love it because it didn't live up to its potential as being one of the best seasons to date. Trigger warning below if you can't handle another's opinion; who would've guessed a REVIEW is an opinion and people can have different opinions? Shocking isn't it? Story: 6/10 Storyboarding and pacing were major issues for Haikyuu this season. In the past, you could get heavily invested in each episode. I remember watching the first 3 seasons, even Part 1 of the 4th season, and not once did I ever think "Gee, nothing's really happening in this episode" or "Can we get to the good stuff already". Every moment in every episode was enjoyable and felt truly meaningful. This season? A lot of the time spent was hella residentsleeper. Sure, there were bright spots like Tanaka getting development, Hinata's receive and taking it easy, etc. But there were plenty of sleeper moments created due to weird pacing/storyboarding, as well as wonky animation (more on that later). Outside of the first 2 episodes (which were consistently bad imo), it felt like a fucking roller coaster honestly. Every other episode we'd get teased with greatness and blue balled the next episode with shit. But I think my biggest pet peeve was not having other hype moments delivered. The Miya twins copying the freak quick for the first time (at least their last one was done pretty well), Kageyama's godly 2 serves in a row, Nishinoya getting targeted by Miya, they felt rushed at times and it would seem like you weren't fully able to absorb what had happened: they didn't feel like game-defining, standout moments and more like an impressive but somewhat expected/ordinary play. Art: 4/10 Speaking of hype moments not getting delivered properly, let's talk art. Maybe I'm reminiscing over the old art style, but man those roughly sketched lines for power serves and spikes were something I could blow my load over. And that was what I expected for key moments this season. What do we get instead? Cookie-cutter figures with a bunch of random piss and shit palette oriented colors streaking by in the background as Asahi/Kageyama/Atsumu and others wind up for serves and spikes. Seriously. It doesn't deliver on the hype at all. Then there are times, especially in early episodes, where the entire Inarizaki team just looks so weird behind the net. Then there was that horrible outsourced episode. God forbid we talk about that. Also, did anyone else find the last rally/point, with the Inarizaki libero and hitter running to the ball look SO WEIRD? Guys looked like fucking titans running from AOT man. I know, I know, they're mid animation and whatnot, but that shit stood out way too much to be excusable, especially since there were other times where the animation was totally fine and quite acceptable. Ultimately, the animation was just as inconsistent as the pacing and storyboarding. However, when the animation was bad, it was really fucking bad. On the bright side, I hope most of this can be chalked up to the whole COVID situation and whatnot. Because if this shit continues in the future, Haikyuu is gonna suck a lot. Sound: 7/10 OP and ED were whatever, not really my type, but music, voice acting, and everything else was pretty good throughout the season. Not much to speak on here. Character: 8/10 I think universally everyone can agree that character development was very good this season (although that's mostly just from copying Furudate sensei's good work in the manga). From Tanaka and Nishinoya to Hinata and Kenma, we got to see real development for some of the fan favorites. Could this stuff have been fleshed out a bit better? Probably, but when you remove the poor storyboarding and animation, character development did its work carrying the enjoyment level of the season. Enjoyment: 6/10 Haikyuu's still an anime I can enjoy watching, but I definitely don't feel the same hype or appeal I had for past seasons. Especially with the super inconsistent animation. If you want a viewer to be able to watch something without getting distracted by flaws, you gotta be consistent. Shame I wasn't able to enjoy the work of art that is Haikyuu compared to past seasons but it is what it is; not the worst thing I've ever watched but it definitely didn't meet my expectations. Was my disappointment immeasurable? Maybe. But was my day ruined? I'd say no. <- Haikyuu Season 4, Part 2 in a nutshell.
MufatNuts
12/18/2020, 01:23 PM
"Give me the next one too!" TL;DR: If you felt like not watching the season because of some bad reviews or the art style or whatever, you are wrong and WATCH IT. It does not disappoint IMO. I couldn't wait for this season since the last one was more than half filled with the training arc. However, If you look at the 4th season as a 25 episode season, You'll see why I gave it a 8 overall. (idk if I'll have spoilers in this, probably not tho, but beware) P.S.: This is my first review on my newly created MAL account, but I have been using MALfor a while. I always give Haikyuu the "Haikyuu bias" as I call it. Where essentially anything that can be rated in the show is usually bumped a point or two higher simply because it is just such a great show that I LOVE! This season revolved around the Inarizaki vs Karasuno match, with a little segment for Nekoma. Coming into the season, with the couple outsourced episodes, and the clearly different art style, people felt a little off. For good reason too. But, Haikyuu delivers what Haikyuu does, and that is emotional character development with hype matches. To name a few parts that stick with the main Haikyuu philosophy, we have: Tanaka's cross shot arc Tsukishima's arc against Suna Rintaro Nishinoya and Kinoshita's arc Hinata's recieving arc (THE BEST IMO) Kageyama's messed up one-handed set thing (idk what to call it) arc This season does not deviate much from the feeling that Haikyuu usually delivers, and I don't see a way you can say otherwise. The art style may have changed (definitely for the worse 100%), but if Haikyuu started with this art and continued on, I still believe it would have been a brilliant show. Much like it is right now. I'm gonna keep the sound, character, etc. rating short. Story: 9/10: Great match, showed both sides as well, Nekoma even got in. Happy days. Art: 6/10: Haikyuu bias, probably should be 4-5 compared to previous seasons, but I DONT CARE. Sound: 9/10: The haikyuu soundtrack is great, although some people didn't like the sped up version at the end of the match, I think it was great that they didn't fully repeat the song exactly, and it also matched the message of "speed can be bad" or whatever. Character: 10/10: Just great development all around, as I mentioned with the arc stuff earlier. Enjoyment: 9/10: MAN ITS HAIKYUU, JUST SO GOOD Overall: 8/10: Compared to previous seasons, maybe just a little worse, I'd say mainly cuz of the art, outsourcing, and a little bit cuz of the random Nekoma insertion (still enjoyed the Nekoma episodes tho)
Kakashi-dono
12/18/2020, 01:01 PM
Short and sweet. Overall being a Haikyuu Stan, I give this an 8/10, mainly since the second half carried this season. Don't get me wrong, I understand that each season needs its fair share of exposition, however, the first half of this season left me feeling uneasy with the little inconsistency of the pacing. The animation and music towards the finale was nothing short of breathtaking; the contrasting themes of Karasuno and Inarizaki, the final team-play that won them the game and so on. One more thing I wanted to touch on was the Perspective: As usual, us viewers are not only drawn towards Karasuno, but also theother teams that exist. We see Inarizaki dealing with their own share of expectations forced on by others, especially by their own fanbase, which fortunately learns to understand that the "process matters more than the result". Ultimately, all this is what left me EXTREMELY satisfied concluding this season :-)
kakk
12/18/2020, 12:41 PM
This won't be a super long review as to avoid any spoilers :) Overall 9/10 I personally, am a big fan of the Haikyuu series (both anime and manga), so I went into this with high hopes, and I wasn't disappointed. Overall, the story was good and the manga was adapted pretty well, the animation was a bit off in a few episodes but that can be overlooked due to the circumstances. This season kept me on the edge of my seat even though I knew what happened. I loved seeing the different characters change due to how the match progressed, as well as seeing the waydifferent characters who had honed their skills be able to use them in a match! Story 10/10 I am a major Haikyuu!! fan, so I obviously enjoy the story, I think its an amazing story with plenty of interesting things to keep you interested as well as how 'hyped' each episode makes you, I also think this season was another good adaptation of the manga Art 8/10 In some episodes there were some art mishaps if you will, but that is understandable with the circumstances of course. Aside from the one episode and the few random times were the art looked odd, the art was good and personally I really enjoy the new art style so I think the characters looked especially cool :) Sound 8/10 I think the sound was pretty good, nothing much to say here characters 10/10 I thoroughly enjoy all the characters in the Haikyuu!! series, they all have interesting personalities and undergo different development. In this season especially, we are able to see that all the hard work different characters put in to hone their skills, such as Hinata, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Kageyama, Tsukki and a bunch more, and how that hard work paid off in the match, which I think is really rewarding!! It's also fun to watch all the characters interact with each other, such as Hinata and Tsukishima and Kageyama, or the Miya twins. So overall the characters are very enjoyable Enjoyment 10/10 I really enjoyed this season as I enjoy the whole Haikyuu series, both anime and manga, so I already knew i'd enjoy the season since I knew what would happen. This anime made me very happy, to see all my favourite haikyuu characters animated again, and watch how they interact, especially little things like Bokuto and Akaashi in the last episode at the end and so much more, making it very enjoyable to watch!
mrsbokuto
12/18/2020, 12:38 PM
Haikyuu, one of the best sports anime ever, and a personal favorite of mine, being an athlete myself. Im a swimmer, so youd think I would be able to relate to Free! more than Haikyuu. Nope. Haikyuu is every bit as relateable and motivational for me as a swimmer than free couldve been. Which is why i favor haikyuu over free. Now without further ado, lets get into my review. story: 8/10 As someone who finished the manga completely i can say, ive been enjoying the anime just as much as i did with the manga, and of course the manga had great storytelling, theyve adaptedit quite well from what ive seen, with some minor things i wouldve liked to see done better. The match was really exciting and had me on the edge of my seat all the time, even though i knew what would happen next. For every episode starting from e9, there was one moment where i felt so emotional i would cry. art: 6/10 Of course, they changed the art style earlier this year for s4 to make it look more like the manga. I like this style, and its growing on me. But it was quite hard to get used to it after watching 3 seasons with the old style. Not to mention the absolute dumpster fire that was the outsourced episode. And i usually dont use "dumpster fire"and haikyuu in the same sentence. I think it couldve been better for sure. Sound: 10/10 The OST for this show is amazing. It really brings a pumped up feel to the games, and even i listen to it before competitions to motivate myself. Not to mention the OP and ED being absolute bangers. And the ending credits of the final episode, the first season op? i was bawling. Characters: 10/10 The amount of character development this past season was amazing. I found myself relating to and loving the characters even more. With every little bit of development, the characters become more and more endearing to me. i was so proud of hinata when he made that receive in the final set. I cried. I remembered when i had my own moment in my own sport, and that brought the waterworks for sure! enjoyment: 10/10 I enjoyed this season very much, i enjoyed tuning in every week, and i enjoyed discussing the topics of each episode with others. This season, i cried more than i have during any other show or season of haikyuu. The first half of the this season however, was a little underwhelming. But things picked up in the later episodes and that was where i remembered why i love the show so much. The animation being subpar is the only thing that made this season even a little less enjoyable then the others (if youre watching the revised DVD edition, you might not see the errors). I can say now, if you love haikyuu, and youre thinking of dropping it after the first half of part 2, DONT, it gets so much better in later episodes and im sure you will enjoy it. Overall: 9/10 This season could be better, im sure of it. Its not the best season of course, the animation was very off for a few episodes, and the art has been changed drastically. But i still think its every bit as motivational, inspirational, lovable, and comedic than any other season of Haikyuu, the only thing keeping me from giving this a 10 are the animation and pacing issues. Cant wait for season 5 and the Battle of the Trash Dump!
Ethan_07
12/18/2020, 10:13 AM
“Al—right!” One word. Just one, single word. Yet, Haikyuu!! manages to encapsulate thousands of indescribable feelings, emotions into it. There’s no need to fabricate it, choosing right inspirational terms, at all. When each and every player inside Karasuno hear that shout amidst the chaos, and look up to the ceiling that is almost blinding, eyeing the floating ball—they know, they don’t need a miracle. Haikyuu!! has always been the embodiment of unyielding friendship, unbreakable team-work, positive rivalry and adrenaline gushing down the veins of the players, and the non-players. But, ‘To the Top ‘arc changed that. Maybe it’s considered boring, monotone at first, but it has captivatinglyachieved a turning point for the main characters, where they learned and discovered something more than themselves that changed their perspective forever. In regards to that, there are tons of changes and new insights, new characters to root for, but the one that amazed me is—which I’m going to strongly highlight here—Ryuunosuke Tanaka, the baldy. Depicted as the average, energetic member, he’s done more than his best; breaking out of the frame of not only his diffident but also his determination that proves he’s not just a great player, but a team player. Adding this with Hinata’s overwhelming abilities that he discovered as a water boy, and Kageyama’s willingness to wear his cape and pour his real feelings out, it’s almost a crime not to get excited over their match. The heart-thumping music that elevates the ambience of tension inside the match, the art—which to be frank here, outsourcing to save budge is understandable but is a downright terrible choice given the company that was chosen—is decent, the animation is great and fluid. You can dart your eyes around the screen and still catch a glimpse of where the ball is, where the motion starts and ends, and even feel the weight of each ball as it hits the ground. The climax itself, that last ball, that last serve, that last spike, and that last block are all on point. Enough for one to shed a bit tears at the journey they’ve come far to. Overall, ‘Haikyuu!!: To the Top’ arc ends here not with a perfect conclusion, but more to a satisfying one; it depends on which side you’re one, nevertheless. But after all is said, I dare to say that this part of the season highlights some characters and development that might seem insignificant, but it’s going to impact everything in the long run. And, it does, carve a wide smile on my face. So, cheers to Haikyuu!!. May it continues to reach to the top, and beyond; the anime, that is.
LordSozin
12/18/2020, 09:13 AM
Haikyuu: To the Top, or the 4th installment to this series, was painful to watch--especially the first four episodes. What this season suffered from what the last three seasons excelled on was the pacing. Haikyuu has always been a series that delivered its character growth, memorable moments, and most importantly, hype through its volleyball practice, games, and playoffs. This season, the series decided to change the formula by having training and character backstories that served no purpose. For the 1st half of the 2nd season of the 4th season, you were overwhelmed with boring expositions about some characters’ motivations and personalities thatfelt daunting. This season was building up these characters as if they were the key components to the overall narrative. But they weren’t. Almost none of the flashbacks had any purpose to the plot, and their mini-arcs were mostly resolved in one episode. Thus, making it feel like a bunch of unnecessary fillers. The only backstory that mattered was the Miya twins: Atsumu and Osamu Miya. However, the season fixed itself by modifying its focus, which was the match between Karasuno and Inarizaki Highschool. Once the attention was on the match, only then the story began to pick up its pace. It was like the series itself recognized it has been dragging its feet and got itself back on track. Throughout the second half, the season had episodes dedicated to characters’ mini-arcs that were set up at the beginning of this 4th season, like Tsukishima and Ruunosuke. Suffice to say, their moments were more entertaining and memorable than those in the first half of this second season. Perhaps because I was more attached to them since they’ve been established since season 1. Similar to the story pacing early on in this season, the animation wasn’t at its best. Few shots of character movements felt stale and poorly animated, actions felt wonky, and character designs were sometimes disjointed. It felt like an unfinished product. But then again, much of these are fixed later on. Haikyuu’s 4th season didn’t live up to the previous three seasons’ qualities. With its pacing issues, lack of focus on the plot, and mediocre animation, this season is easily the worst in the series. If the problems were to continue from the first half to the second half, this season certainly would’ve deserved a score of 4 or below. It’s a season that’s barely watchable and has a few good moments later on. It’s nothing revolutionary. It’s just below average. Score: 4/10

Haikyuu!! To the Top Part 2 ハイキュー TO THE TOP 第2クール

2020 fall | Episodes: 12 | Score: 8.6 (514521)

Updated every Saturdays at 02:25 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Murase, Ayumu

Ishikawa, Kaito

News

Reviews

Resting_Bonfire
04/18/2022, 12:14 AM
Haikyuu!! To the Top 2nd Season If anyone has seen my other reviews, they know I like Haikyuu. This anime had everything for me to be entertaining and engaging. But this all started to crumble after the third season came out and now it's over. Watching this season was honestly a disappointment and a painful one at that. The relatively fast pacing died, the scenes just didn't have any dynamics anymore, except for the last 5 minutes. And to make it worse, the animations went down the tubes. More than half of the faces this season looked like they were drawn by an amateur who hadjust been thrown into the studio. Episode 9 in particular... uhh ohh. The actual game itself wasn't any better, it was boring and very sluggish. Even though the 2 twins as opponents weren't that bad. I thought they were very authentic siblings with very real relationships. But this was the only highlight of this season. The flow of this game was protagonists get depressed, Hinata cheers them up, they get depressed, and Hinata cheers them up. And so on and so forth. And precisely because this happened so often, Hinata's last and final motivation became meaningless in the end. Had the other moments been removed or changed, Hinata's final ball acceptance would have had a real impact. Unfortunately, this was ruined by the overdose of this approach. [Conclusion.] Haikyu is nonetheless a very interesting anime, for people who just want to watch something "likable", without any great plot or rivalry. However, I hope that the upcoming seasons will improve. [Enjoyment 4]
sentiarii
11/14/2021, 04:24 PM
Roughly three years after the last proper season of Haikyuu!!, the production staff for the series underwent major changes, such as replacing its previous director as well as animation director. The changes to its staff as well as the impact of COVID-19 have both been detrimental to the once consistent and energetic quality the series had boasted in the past. Unfortunately, Haikyuu!!: to the Top's greatest enemy is its own series' legacy. While there are glimpses of brilliance over the course of this arc, it largely lives in the shadows of preceding seasons' stellar animation, pacing, and character development. The most notable difference on thesurface is the decrease in animation quality and the roughness of To the Top's art style. While viewers could occasionally catch some awkward-looking frames in past seasons, these were few in number and would typically pass in seconds. Seasons 1 to 3 showcased brilliant creativity in its camera-work, care in its research of natural volleyball player movements, and a drive to deliver exhilarating fast-paced action. To the Top, on the other hand, is plagued with stiff animation throughout the entirety of both part 1 and part 2. From robotic serves to unimpactful receives to just a lack of animation all around, To the Top is, on average, unpleasant to look at from beginning to end. Previous seasons excelled in showcasing the impact of powerful action shots, as not only was the animation of said action smoothly animated (such as jump serves and spikes), but even the reactions by the characters who receive such attacks were impactful. Previous seasons showed characters reeling back when trying to receive high-speed attacks, yet this season's action shots feel weak and slow in comparison due to sluggish animations and cardboard reactions upon receiving hits. There are occasional moments of thrilling action scenes in To the Top, such as Hoshiumi's cheetah-like chase after the ball or during Hinata's rare clutch dig, but these beautiful moments are so infrequent and surrounded by a sea of mediocre animation quality that it leaves the viewer pining for more, only to be disappointed when met with all-too-frequent recycling of flashbacks as well as animation speeds reminiscent of a university lecture PowerPoint deck. Adjacent to the drop in animation quality is the shift in art style, which I would argue also hurts To the Top's visual aesthetic. Some may argue that art style is subjective to one's preferences, but as an artist I would highly disagree. Some art styles lend better to particular genres, and some styles also depict action better than others. Haikyuu!!, being a sports anime with a flair for drama and energy, flourished under the previous art direction that emphasized more on the use of shading, angular shapes, and a somewhat more subdued colour palette. To the Top throws away much of the shading that its predecessors had, opting for a flatter look that feels unfinished, unrefined. The lack of shadows reduces the weight of the furrow of a character's brow, minimizes dynamic angles when arms and legs are bent, and overall feels amateurish compared to prior seasons' art style. Some changes in the art style, while more faithful to the manga, are unflattering to look at. One obvious example is Kageyama's change in his skull proportions, as his hair lays much flatter to his head than in previous seasons, and anatomically is visually unappealing, if not outright incorrect. Character faces are also more round in this season, and while it's closer to the source material's look, simply make characters look more cartoony and less "gritty", for lack of a better term. The sluggishness in animation also goes hand in hand with the slow pace of To the Top. While previous seasons had their fair share of flashbacks, training arcs, and audience narration, they were used to elevate and provide a brief respite from the otherwise action-packed episodes. In contrast, To the Top's slow moments test the audience's patience, as they're often inserted during inopportune times or dragged on for far too long. Some of the most frustratingly poor pacing happens right during the match between the two schools, as episodes dwell too long on the stadium audience's reactions to some stiffly animated action shots. The teams' characters themselves also tend to have too much internal monologue, which is often narrated during uninteresting still-shots. The pacing of To the Top is incredibly disappointing, given that the series has been known for packing a punch in not only its animation fluidity but its storytelling speed as well. While previous seasons had me on the edge of my seat, as though I was watching an actual volleyball game, I found myself wishing the episode would just move on to the next action shot instead of listening to yet another internal monologue. It's unfortunate that this season's pacing feels more akin to a typical flashback-ridden sports anime than previous Haikyuu!! seasons. And maybe dwelling on the Miya twins' pasts would not have been so painful if Haikyuu!! had taken the time for the audience to develop a connection with the new characters. Perhaps the greatest contributions of old rivals Oikawa and Ushiwaka to the previous seasons were not their volleyball prowess, but rather their relationships with the dual protagonists Hinata and Kageyama. Production IG had taken the time to make sure that we understood the importance of the two main characters overcoming their rivals, with Kageyama attempting to break free of playing in Oikawa's shadow and Hinata proving to Ushiwaka that even the smallest person can make a difference in court. For the Miya twins however, who are the main rivals of this season, we only see Kageyama briefly communicating with Atsumu and being told he was too subservient to his teammates' wishes. There is no emotional connection, no serious drive for Kageyama to beat him. As a result, there's a disconnect from the audience and an overall lack of engagement compared to prior seasons. Yes, Karasuno is playing at a national level, but the emotional stakes are diminished as there's nothing to care about in the Miya twins from the main team's perspective. Other characters do get development, including Nishinoya and Tanaka, though again the development feels stretched out and takes too much time from the action. This isn't to say that character development moments should always be short, but they need to be concise. We understand that Tanaka feels frustration in his poor play and the importance of him overcoming his rut, and Nishinoya learning to move past is fears is vital for his volleyball performance, but To the Top takes too long to move on from these points, whereas previous seasons' pacing felt much snappier in contrast. Even for characters I had always felt partial to, I felt a twinge of impatience waiting for their flashbacks or ruts to end. Despite the drop in quality in this season's pacing, art, and animation, Haikyuu's sound department once again demonstrates its ability to pump up the audience during high-action moments with energetic soundtracks, while also being able to mellow out during quieter character moments. Sound effects return in full force, and perhaps unfortunately are much more powerful than their accompanying animations. Overall, however, despite its major flaws Haikyuu!! is still Haikyuu!!, and thanks to its strong source material, the audience can continue to enjoy silly banter between the overly enthusiastic high school boys and be enthralled once again by unexpected plays during matches. I sincerely hope Production IG can improve its pacing and visuals for future seasons, as the Haikyuu!! series is truly something remarkable. With its legacy of being one of the most refined sports anime adaptations to date, as well as the return to normal from COVID-19, hopefully the new staff can deliver a better season and live up to the series' past quality and enjoyment.
darty_
12/22/2020, 11:31 PM
To The Top season 1 was already pretty bad, but I held out knowing that season 2 would have more volleyball. Then To the Top season 2 came out... utterly gormless. It pains me to say, as someone who really enjoyed the whole series up until To the Top, but what little enjoyment I got was from laughing at it and laughing at how bad it was. Personally, the two main issues were the story/characters and the art. 1. Story & characters: I haven't read the manga, so I don't know how much it differs. The overarching story was pretty lackluster but nothing too offensive. Itfelt like a generic sports shounen which made me feel less invested in this season as a whole, but it did have more action/volleyball than To the top season 1. The pacing left a lot to be desired, but it was better than To the top season 1 just by virtue, again, of there being actual volleyball. Still, there was a lot of filler in every single episode. One of Haikyuu's strong suits was always having good characters, not just the Karasuno boys but opponents that were interesting. However, Karasuno just felt... flat and lacked the depth that they used to have. One case in particular––I remember Tsukki's character development vs Shiratorizawa and feeling as if I had gotten whiplash with how much he regressed in To the top season 1, and To the top season 2 didn't really do much to work with it. Their opponents (Inarizaki) were even worse: I didn’t care for the Miya twins, I didn’t care for anyone on the whole damn team except for Kita. To be honest, Kita was a very good character and I enjoyed his backstory, but it was a tall order for a newly introduced character to shoulder the burden of bad writing. The little bit of Kenma’s backstory was nice, but it felt out of place with the rest of the season (despite having a legitimate reason). A similar thing with Hinata––another bit of nice character development that couldn’t hold up the rest of the season. A little sidenote––I often play a guessing game of what happens in an episode b/c the frequency of anime tropes, and man everything was too predictable. 2. Art (mild spoilers here): I would be cleaning, running errands, etc. and then spontaneously burst out laughing because I’d remember that one screenshot of Daichi (I think… lol). I know coronavirus has not been kind to anyone, least of all anime studios, but the outsourced episodes were so awful. The Miya twins often looked like animorphs. Actually, most of the Inarizaki team would look like animorphs. All the characters were consistently drawn off-model in a way that was not flattering nor “creative”. It is definitely possible for off-model characters to still look good, but not when characters look like Brontosauri. I admit that there were a lot of little things that I really liked: the bit with Kita's eyes watching the ball, Hinata’s reception, and quite a few moments in the second-to-last episode, but similar to my critiques of the characters, there was too much bad that these little, good moments couldn’t outweigh. I dunno... it felt like they didn't put any effort (like the announcers who just held the same pose, unmoving with politely pleasant expressions on their faces as they talked). The only reason why I finished this season (To the top as a whole) was because of how much I enjoyed all the previous ones. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulders when it finally ended and I realized I didn't have to watch anymore. I think the stark contrast between all the old episodes and everything that came out this year was too much, which ended up being why it is so lowly rated for me. I probably won't watch Haikyuu anymore after this and am probably going to just read the manga from here on out. You should probably do the same.
someonenamelisha
12/20/2020, 09:17 AM
Story : outstanding!! the storyline is just AMAZING, it's very inspirational, funny, cheerfull, and emotional. boring and overused? NAH original? ABSOLUTELY YES Art : i LOVE it, i love the camera angles and the smooth animationsand learn from their mistakes, their strong friendship, how they never give up, and how they can finally achive their dreams. i love everything about haikyuu!! i dont understand why people doesn't like this anime?? haikyuu!! can be funny, cheerful, emotional, and you got this special feeling when you watch haikyuu you will be hooked, and get really attached to the characters. haikyuu is my top favorite anime, i can guarantee you will love this anime. even after rewatching it dozen times i never gets bored, it is pretty sad that the manga has reached the end... i just hope the anime and the manga got the recognition they deserve :,)
Enchanted_weeb
12/19/2020, 09:27 AM
My fav anime of all time. I'm so glad that I am alive to watch this anime I mean it's jst a masterpiece 🥺 and I'm so proud of hinata. My baby have improved so much and I can't wait to see the next season (karasuno vs nekoma). Also I hope they animate msby black jackals match too. When it comes to art I know many people have complains about it but I don't I mean art is similar to manga and that's totally fine coz old art used to be smooth and soft (kinda?) But recent art is more focused on their movements andthey look more mature now( their smirks are scary and intimidating). Also thanks to some studio who ruined 2 episodes (pfftt kageyama looked totally different) but then it came back to its old art style. I was more focused on the game to notice the art and I am so glad they didn't missed any important movements and pacing is normal it's not rushed at all which is a good thing. The reason why I love this anime is coz it inspires me to dedicate my life to something just like hinata. I want to obsess over something. I hope I find something like that too.... Overall this is the masterpiece don't miss out
RenanGRM
12/19/2020, 08:54 AM
So, this time I'm going straight to the point, as I think you can see from my profile Haikyuu is one of my favorite animes and I easily consider the best manga I've ever read, but as for Haikyuu !!: To the Top 2nd Season I have a lot to talk about so I'm going to divide this into 4 steps here. 1- General review about how much fun I had and the new characters; 2- Review about animation and the new drawing style; 3- Review on the adaptation of this manga arc for the anime; 4- I will generalize everything and give it ahigh grade because I love Haikyuu at the end of everything. 1- General fun Look, this can be a bizarre topic, especially for Haikyuu who was reputed that no episode was just "boring" or made you think "please episode, finish and give me a very good next", but unfortunately this season had about 2 episodes like that, but 2 out of 12 is not much since this season had 5 excellent episodes and another 5 good ones. The reason they are bad I’ll cover more in topic 2 and 3. As for the characters I can only say that I like almost everyone very much, I love the Miya and Kita twins the most and I absolutely love Suna and Aran, but their libero, the tall guy who curses Tanaka and Ginjima are pretty irrelevant to me. This season also featured an appearance by a couple that I love the most reacting to the games, Suguru and Mika, showing how the Nohebi's catcher can melt and not just be an asshole, being cute with his girlfriend and thrilling her with her enthusiasm for volleyball. Of course, there was also my favorite unofficial couple, Bokuto and Akaashi, having very funny reactions about the game. 2- Animation The animation has changed, I confess that I loved the drawing style, since it is too similar to Furudate's, but at the same time I didn't like it, because in the simplest moments the characters' faces were too distorted or ugly. To compensate for this, the animation made one of the best moving sequences I've ever seen, everything was very fluid and you could feel the impact of the ball and the weight of the bounces very well, but in fact there were times when the animation was so bad, generating phrases like "my god this is so ugly, but it is so good". 3- This season the adaptation to be desired, as small scenes were cut, scenes that increased the development of small characters or would only make the fandom very happy, scenes like Shimada's race to raise the bag for Yams to draw, the reaction of others Miyagi's teams and even put Tsuki's weight lines in a few seconds, taking part of his development (which I consider one of the best in anime). Cutting moments like this make readers of the manga (like me) slightly sad, because we know that those who only saw the anime will not miss scenes like these very much. 4- End Finally I can say that this season left a lot to be desired, but I really don't want them to change the drawing style, but I ask with all my heart that they improve the animation for the next season. I had a lot of fun watching this season and clearly loved a lot of it. Score: 8.5
SpikyTurtle
12/19/2020, 06:50 AM
Haikyuu!! To The Top 2nd season did not disappoint. It was real Haikyuu. And Haikyuu is absolutely incredible. The 2nd part of To The Top was basically the payoff of all the training done in the 1st part. Let me go through the players 1 by 1. Hinata made the most impressive strides. The ball boy arc was amazing, I really don't understand why so many people thought that Haikyuu got worse because there were not as many matches. Hinata learned so much about volleyball. It was so exciting and emotional witnessing Hinata receive that ball in the last match, it showed so well how muchHinata has progressed. Just compare the current Hinata to Hinata in season 1. He is so different now, the only thing that didn't change is his burning passion for volleyball. Kageyama was always amazing as a volleyball player, his skills were fantastic. However now he became a way better setter - he learned to track his teammates conditions, motivate them by forcing them to do their best (basically how he did in the very start of the show) and also was motivated not only by his rivals (Atsumu) but also by his teammates (Hinata). And let's not forget the last block, made by Hinata and Kageyama. This block really showed their growth throughout the whole show, a great callback to how they were at the end of season 1, when they lost this way. Tanaka was always one of my favourite characters because he always works so much, during matches or not. His effort finally really got recognised, I absolutely love his character, the cross and straight shots he did were so cool! Nishinoya also had great moment of overcoming his fears, let's of course not forget Kinoshita who helped him. The synergy between players in Haikyuu is wonderful. Tsukki was a great blocker as always, but he really was more motivated at this match than ever before, tried his best even when he was extremely tired. What is more, he actually recognised Hinata's new skills. Inarizaki had amazing players as well, but I just want to mention 1 moment. It is when Inarizaki's captain, Kita, had his speech about "geniuses", that the Miya twins aren't just good from the start, it's because they work and train and think about volleyball all the time. This is a really great message that applies not only to them, but to most players in Haikyuu and actually to most people irl as well. Also, Kita's speech after the match was great, made both the players and the viewers emotional. I love how every time a team loses in Haikyuu, the players are so wholesome and supportive, it really makes you feel for the team. The directing in this season was good, but definitely seemed lacking when compared the previous 3 seasons. And although this made some moments seem not as important as they really were and the pacing was off occasionally, this is really the only major drawback in this season. The animation was iffy at times, especially the outsourced parts, and the change of the art style isn't really to my liking, but overall the animation is still great. There are still moments when the animation immerses you in match and makes you FEEL the power of the jumps, spikes, serves and blocks. Let's not forget the OST - one of the best parts of Haikyuu imo. Yuki Hayashi is an absolute legend and does an incredible job each season. His tracks just elevate Haikyuu to another level, both in hype and emotional moments. The OP and ED were great. The OP was hype, but it's not one of my favourites. The ED on the other hand is amazing and I love how it shows little Hinata at the end, watching the match on the TV. Haikyuu is the only anime that manages to keep me smiling throughout the whole episode and makes me feel this hype. This adaptation could have been better, but it still was a masterpiece in my mind, since it's extremely difficult for Haikyuu not to be great.
rrakku
12/19/2020, 04:01 AM
“Everyone is probably surprised. But we weren’t.” Karasuno’s middle blocker Tsukishima Kei thought to himself, after their match against tournament second best Inarizaki. And I am here to tell you he is absolutely wrong. Perhaps if you only limit “everyone” to the audience in the anime, but I am talking about the audience *watching* the anime here. Haikyuu!!: To the Top Second Season is painfully predictable, ridiculously out of touch with reality and poorly drawn compared to previous seasons. Not that predictable is inherently bad, but it’s quite ironic since Karasuno’s loss vs Aoba Johsai back in season one was show defining and is what I believe got manyto watch later installments of Haikyuu. This season Karasuno winning seemed inevitable because of the high stakes, that means the whole game three, which spanned the entire latter half of the season, is an absolute bore to watch. Season three also had this problem, but instead of doubling down on the hype, it chose to focus on the character development, which was a much smarter move. And about that “out of touch with reality”? God forbid I wasn’t talking about how it is “unrealistic”, I am talking about how tone deaf To the Top Second Season is, let me explain. It tried to drum up tensions by making matches close and letting the audience and coaches commentate, but the fact of the matter is, I never felt the matches were close. It’s painfully obvious that Karasuno would win, and the discrepancy between my tension and the tension of people in the anime. There are several points in time where I laughed out loud because of this, and it is not a good sign when I laugh in a scene that was supposed to be nerve racking. The animation quality also plummeted due a change in staff members. Just think back to season two when you saw the scene of Kageyama’s spinning set for the first time, or the gorgeous animation of numerous serves scattered throughout. Those are breath-taking scenes of animation nowhere to be seen in To the Top. Instead it constantly reuses selected frames and abuses still shots, I have seen way too many times of the same 5 seconds of Atsumu silencing their cheering squad when serving. Animation was a crucial part of the experience of Haikyuu, and even that was compromised in this season. Granted what led me to bash Haikyuu this hard was because I loved it so much, and its lovable qualities didn’t disappear overnight. There are still a few episodes that were made really differently for some bizarre reason, and some of the newly introduced characters still get proper development. But that’s just too little of compensation to what To the Top had lost. I was worried when the first season of To the Top came with announcements of staff member changes, and it seems as though my worries were not superficial. Haikyuu is now a shadow of its former self, living off of the hype it generated with its first three seasons. As the characters are one-upping their game in the Nationals, Haikyuu!! To the Top could’ve used the increasing power level as a delivery vessel for more jaw-dropping animations. Instead, it botched this opportunity and instead gave us a mediocre adaptation that is frankly an embarrassment to previous installments.
Hail_Lelouch
12/19/2020, 03:04 AM
It was sensational and it's to no surprise. Haikyuu has been the best sports anime of this decade, maybe probably of a time. There was nothing wrong, and oooh the battle for the last set was chilling, thrilling and absolutely killing. It was just magnificent and the more you speak about it's brilliance, the more you will love everything about it. Intense battle rallies, thrilling background and an amazing character development adds cherry in the cake. The animation was as usual superb and nothing could have been asked more out of it Waiting eagerly for the next season where Karasuno will take on Nekoma in what canbe called as the 'Garbage Dumpster Match' to battle against their long time rivals... HAIKYUU!!!!!!! 5/5
zarekarma
12/18/2020, 10:10 PM
*Overall score: 8.75* No spoilers for this season up until I note, so just keep an eye out. Haikyuu has quickly risen up my rankings ever since, and to be completely honest it seems to just age better. When I first caught up with the series, which was around September, so. before season aired, I made a review on the first cour of this season. It was a passive review wherein I praised stuff but I just felt overall underwhelmed. I still think some of my complaints there are valid, although a large majority of them were remedied once I caught with the manga as well asfurthermore when I watched this season. While it did have 10/10 peaks, such as the King of the Court's return and the ball boy arc, most of the second half was unfocused, and considering it didn't even end right before the Inarizaki match began I ended up feeling like this half did not have a conclusive enough end point(For reference, the first half of the first two seasons both ended on a satisfying note, so if theoretically they were split in half I would not have found myself underwhelmed by it). Cutting in the middle of the Inarizaki match really made me a bit more hesitant on my enjoyment. Also lol aside from that one moment, the Dateko practice match was a mess. My review on the first season I plan to delete since a lot of my complaints I don't agree with anymore, and any complaints that remained I pretty much mentioned here anyway. That first half is a 7/10 for me now. So how about this season? How does it hold up? Well, considering by the time it started I was caught up with the manga, I knew what was coming, and had high expectations. My only complaint about Furudate's manga is that the big moments come out of left field without too much buildup, but that's really just because most of Haikyuu's peak moments are just better in motion, so I don't consider it a detriment and I still think the manga is a 10. Though considering that even with that, Inarizaki was filled with hyped up, amazing moments, I was naturally excited to see it elevated even further in motion. Safe to say, I was definitely satisfied. But just because I was satisfied, and still ended up loving it, doesn't mean I don't have complaints with some things. I am going to be a lot more lenient, because to be completely honest, I don't usually do things this way, but I don't dislike the show for any of the complaints I'll give because most of them are production-wise, and since it was being done during COVID, I can't help but feel like it was out fo their control. Everyone still put the most effort they could during these tough times, so while I won't hold back in saying whether this aspect of production is good or bad, I don't hold any ill will towards it. The main issue is that the art and animation has a lot of drab moments. The new character models allow the animators to create more dynamic movements and angles, and when the animation peaks, it's miles ahead of anything seasons 1-3 put out. I remember the Hoshiumi scene in the first round during the first half of the season, and it was so dynamic I couldn't wait to see more. Unfortunately, while the most important moments of the story are given the most amount of care(see episode 9, for instance. Peak after peak), a lot of the littler moments aren't given that, and since they're not the most explosive moments, they end up feeling a lot more insignificnt. ---Spoiler mark--- Take for instance, Osamu resetting the ball set to him, or Atsumu doing that one really hard set, and basically all of Aran's attacks. These are not nearly as major moments as say, Hinata's receive or Tanaka's super inner cross shot, but if the production wasn't as shaky as the previous seasons, they would've been just as memorable visually, and thus make much more of an impact, leaving to feel like these players are top tier. Scenes like Tsukki blocking the twin quick and Hinata copying Seijoh's strategy to block him aren't given the treatment they deserved. ---Spoiler mark--- In any case, I am glad they didn't fumble the production on one of the aspects I think truly makes this season still "great". The flashbacks. Haikyuu has always been better than most at utilizing flashbacks. Since the story is predominantly about Karasuno and Hinata, showing the lives of the other teams and rivals outside of their own match just feels out of focus, with the exception of Nekoma, who as a whole honestly count as a deuteragonist/antagonist type of thing to Karasuno's protagonist. Oikawa's, Ushijima's, Tendou's, and Washijo's backstories always came in at the best time in previous seasons and were always presented beautifully. This season took it above and beyond. The Miya Twins, Kinoshita, Nishinoya, and Kita, without spoiling what they were about, were utilized perfectly. They gave further development, which was very much needed for 4 of those 5 people. Kageyama's arc I think was done great, although unfortunately it feels like one of those moments that wasn't as satisfying or amazing as it should have or could have been. Shame, considering he's the deuteragonist of the series, but I still think it was done really well and had its own impact. Tanaka's arc was outstanding. It characterized him perfectly, and had strong visuals too. Actually, despite productions, I think one of my favorite things about this season is the visuals. I don't really mean the animation, but I'm talking about the visual metaphors and presentations of so many scenes. ---Spoiler Mark--- The Twin's minus tempo reverse quick attack was amazing, but nothing compares to the sheer menacing aura the anime was able to instill. Through the use of the music, as well as the sickly green aura that that is emitted by Inarizaki is amazing. The anime even added this visual effect to the cheer team of Inarizaki, perfectly showing how menacing that entire side of the court is While that "We Don't Need Memories" bit of Inarizaki will probably be one of my personal favorite moments from how cool and perfectly suited to the scene it is, I love the scene of Hinata's hunger for playing volleyball more. At that point the rotation made it so that Hinata was switched out by Nishinoya, so he wasn't on court, but considering how Tsumu and Samu were both talking about how Hinata's presence still lingered strongly in the team, I love how the side of the court Karasuno was in ended up with this bright, equally menacing orange aura to it. The anime really knew how to use these colors and applied them to the show perfectly. ---Spoiler Mark--- Speaking of which, did I mention how amazing the characters are? While production issues prevented us from really seeing visually how amazing players like the Twins, Aran, and basically most of Inarizaki are, I still think the very core of their character, and even more so in relation to their team banner, was captured perfectly. You really get a good sense of who they are individually. I also love all the little callbacks there are to the two preliminary arcs there are. It really shows just how much Karasuno has learned and gone since the first season. The final point's callback to the first Seijoh match in particular was amazing. Overall, I have to say that despite my issues with the production, I still think that the anime did a good job adapting the material. At times it even went beyond, although if we are looking at it as a whole, I still think the manga did it better. I much prefer Inarizaki's match rather than Shiratorizawa, although while the anime for the Shiraotrizawa match went above and beyond the manga, I can't say the same here, even if I still loved it. This season had pure 10/10 potential, although we've been spoiled by Haikyuu too much. This is still way better than most of the stuff coming out right now. I got a newfound appreciation for many characters. Many characters climbed up my favorites in both Haikyuu characters, and just fictional characters in general. Read the manga after this if you really wanna feel the immense skill of Inarizaki and Kageyama, as they were kind of lost in the anime, but regardless I highly recommend still checking this season out. Considering there were so much strong visuals even during the pandemic, even if there were a ton of more underwhelming moments, I can't help but thank the hard working animators and artists who worked on it for doing the best they could. Could have been a masterpiece, but outside forces prevented it. Overall, an enjoyable experience that still captures the heart, themes, message, and point of the source material. 8.75/10 Story: 9/10 Art: 7/10 Sound: 8.5/10 Character: 10/10 Enjoyment: 9/10
Blue_Maroon
12/18/2020, 02:14 PM
One of the weaker seasons of Haikyuu, which is still pretty good compared to all other anime. It delivers on everything that a fan has come to expect from Haikyuu, albeit with less consistency throughtout the season. This season focuses on the match between Karasuno and Inaruzaki for the most part (with some of Nekoma’s match sprinkled in), but it is not done as well as in season 3. The character backstories were not as intersting as they were with Shiratorizawa, with this season giving the backstories of 5 players from the opposing team. On top of that, only around 3 of them were actually memorable, sospending all of this time on a team that we all believe is going to lose is unnecessary and a waste of screentime. Another thing that was noticeably worse than the previous seasons was the art and animation quality. It was distractingly bad for most of the first half, getting somewhat better toward the end of the season. As a result from this visual drop in quality, I became less invested in the drama and humor because I was so preoccupied with how disappointing it all looked. That being said, it did improve in the later episodes where all Haikyuu fans know the big moments occur. There are some pretty good moments in this season, with Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kageyama, and especially Hinata getting some great development and payoffs. And of course, there is a big, hype rally at the end that is always at the end of the big matches. While I don’t believe it to be as good as the one in seasons 2 and 3, it still lived up to what I have come to love in the series. Overall, even though this season was not as good as I was hoping it would be, it still came through in the end and left me satisfied with what I saw. I can’t wait for the next season and I pray that it receives the animation that it deserves. It is closer to an 8 than a 6
BabyGirl06301
12/18/2020, 02:02 PM
I mean, I knew what was gonna happen, but it was funny and awesome anyway. I don't know how to review an anime when I've read the manga because Haikyuu!! is a first for me in that regard. I guess I can start by saying that the animation was mostly phenomenal, though there are some frames that come off as really weird. The score for Haikyuu!! is always gorgeous. Beyond that, I'm mostly just going to talk about this in comparison with the manga. I did this with the first half of To the Top as well, but looking at what they decided to pull from themanga is always interesting. There was a section in this season where they kind of pulled away from Karasuno to set up for what comes next, and though it happened in the manga, I believe they restructured it in the anime. I don't know that it was necessarily the best choice since it stopped the momentum dead for a couple of episodes, but at the same time, it's good that they chose to use that story point before the next plotline. As far as flashbacks and all that goes--because there's usually a flashback for at least a few characters from the new team in the manga--I think this season did a pretty decent job using them. Though, there were entire episodes dedicated to flashbacks a couple of times, and I don't think this season needed it. However, as I know what comes next, they probably had to fill the time with something so they didn't move through the plot too quickly, thus upsetting the flow of the season. The pacing--besides that short bit where the story cuts away from Karasuno--was pretty good. The events happening in the game can blend together really easily, but this season did a great job with making every episode stand out against the next so something special was happening every time. That's it. If you want to know more about what I think about Haikyuu!! in general, at this point, it's probably better to go read my manga review. I can't review the anime that well anymore because I know the story, but to sum up, this anime is bomb. Watch it.
snowingpiano
12/18/2020, 01:46 PM
Wow that was good. Haikyuu is an amazing shounen sports anime that doesn't fail to impress, especially this season. In general, all aspects of this season were really good and overall it was an amazing experience. Story: 9 Honestly this season had an amazing story line and plot. Although this story arc with Inarizaki could not have beaten the "training camp" arc in season 2, I have to say I am still impressed how the anime has weaved in character stories/an actual plot rather than just having volleyball matches. Overall the pacing was pretty slow, so if you aren't into slow paced anime then rip. Art: 7 To behonest, I don't really mind the new art style compared to season 1, 2 and 3's style, but as most people may know, this season of Haikyuu had major animation failures (if you know what I'm talking about) such as in episode 4 or something where everyone's faces looked weird when playing volleyball. Overall it didn't really affect the enjoyment of the anime but it was just kind of distracting and weird. Sound: 10 Haikyuu's soundtrack never fails to impress Character: 10 Thank you for not having literally volleyball battles the entire time. The characters (especially ones who were not previously heavily developed) got a lot of backstories and development so you felt that you were on the journey with them. Especially rather than just introducing new characters from Inarizaki, people actually got stories and helped you sympathize with them. Each character had a lot of depth. Enjoyment: 9 Overall it was just a really good anime and I hope to see even better in the future with Haikyuu!
bulkyhog
12/18/2020, 01:23 PM
Overall: 6/10 Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the most mediocre and disappointing season in a stunning anime's history; let's take a look at what happened to our beloved Haikyuu. Much of Haikyuu's success this season is riding on the glory of its past 3 seasons. While Haikyuu did have it's peak moments this year, they often didn't stand out enough to compensate for inconsistencies riddling the entire season. From pacing and animation to storyboarding, Haikyuu took a really hard hit compared to the last 3 seasons: even S4 Part 1, in retrospect, was wayyyyyy better than this one. Ultimately, you'll take this season in one of2 ways: 1. You'll love it for it's 'hype' 2. You won't love it because it didn't live up to its potential as being one of the best seasons to date. Trigger warning below if you can't handle another's opinion; who would've guessed a REVIEW is an opinion and people can have different opinions? Shocking isn't it? Story: 6/10 Storyboarding and pacing were major issues for Haikyuu this season. In the past, you could get heavily invested in each episode. I remember watching the first 3 seasons, even Part 1 of the 4th season, and not once did I ever think "Gee, nothing's really happening in this episode" or "Can we get to the good stuff already". Every moment in every episode was enjoyable and felt truly meaningful. This season? A lot of the time spent was hella residentsleeper. Sure, there were bright spots like Tanaka getting development, Hinata's receive and taking it easy, etc. But there were plenty of sleeper moments created due to weird pacing/storyboarding, as well as wonky animation (more on that later). Outside of the first 2 episodes (which were consistently bad imo), it felt like a fucking roller coaster honestly. Every other episode we'd get teased with greatness and blue balled the next episode with shit. But I think my biggest pet peeve was not having other hype moments delivered. The Miya twins copying the freak quick for the first time (at least their last one was done pretty well), Kageyama's godly 2 serves in a row, Nishinoya getting targeted by Miya, they felt rushed at times and it would seem like you weren't fully able to absorb what had happened: they didn't feel like game-defining, standout moments and more like an impressive but somewhat expected/ordinary play. Art: 4/10 Speaking of hype moments not getting delivered properly, let's talk art. Maybe I'm reminiscing over the old art style, but man those roughly sketched lines for power serves and spikes were something I could blow my load over. And that was what I expected for key moments this season. What do we get instead? Cookie-cutter figures with a bunch of random piss and shit palette oriented colors streaking by in the background as Asahi/Kageyama/Atsumu and others wind up for serves and spikes. Seriously. It doesn't deliver on the hype at all. Then there are times, especially in early episodes, where the entire Inarizaki team just looks so weird behind the net. Then there was that horrible outsourced episode. God forbid we talk about that. Also, did anyone else find the last rally/point, with the Inarizaki libero and hitter running to the ball look SO WEIRD? Guys looked like fucking titans running from AOT man. I know, I know, they're mid animation and whatnot, but that shit stood out way too much to be excusable, especially since there were other times where the animation was totally fine and quite acceptable. Ultimately, the animation was just as inconsistent as the pacing and storyboarding. However, when the animation was bad, it was really fucking bad. On the bright side, I hope most of this can be chalked up to the whole COVID situation and whatnot. Because if this shit continues in the future, Haikyuu is gonna suck a lot. Sound: 7/10 OP and ED were whatever, not really my type, but music, voice acting, and everything else was pretty good throughout the season. Not much to speak on here. Character: 8/10 I think universally everyone can agree that character development was very good this season (although that's mostly just from copying Furudate sensei's good work in the manga). From Tanaka and Nishinoya to Hinata and Kenma, we got to see real development for some of the fan favorites. Could this stuff have been fleshed out a bit better? Probably, but when you remove the poor storyboarding and animation, character development did its work carrying the enjoyment level of the season. Enjoyment: 6/10 Haikyuu's still an anime I can enjoy watching, but I definitely don't feel the same hype or appeal I had for past seasons. Especially with the super inconsistent animation. If you want a viewer to be able to watch something without getting distracted by flaws, you gotta be consistent. Shame I wasn't able to enjoy the work of art that is Haikyuu compared to past seasons but it is what it is; not the worst thing I've ever watched but it definitely didn't meet my expectations. Was my disappointment immeasurable? Maybe. But was my day ruined? I'd say no. <- Haikyuu Season 4, Part 2 in a nutshell.
MufatNuts
12/18/2020, 01:23 PM
"Give me the next one too!" TL;DR: If you felt like not watching the season because of some bad reviews or the art style or whatever, you are wrong and WATCH IT. It does not disappoint IMO. I couldn't wait for this season since the last one was more than half filled with the training arc. However, If you look at the 4th season as a 25 episode season, You'll see why I gave it a 8 overall. (idk if I'll have spoilers in this, probably not tho, but beware) P.S.: This is my first review on my newly created MAL account, but I have been using MALfor a while. I always give Haikyuu the "Haikyuu bias" as I call it. Where essentially anything that can be rated in the show is usually bumped a point or two higher simply because it is just such a great show that I LOVE! This season revolved around the Inarizaki vs Karasuno match, with a little segment for Nekoma. Coming into the season, with the couple outsourced episodes, and the clearly different art style, people felt a little off. For good reason too. But, Haikyuu delivers what Haikyuu does, and that is emotional character development with hype matches. To name a few parts that stick with the main Haikyuu philosophy, we have: Tanaka's cross shot arc Tsukishima's arc against Suna Rintaro Nishinoya and Kinoshita's arc Hinata's recieving arc (THE BEST IMO) Kageyama's messed up one-handed set thing (idk what to call it) arc This season does not deviate much from the feeling that Haikyuu usually delivers, and I don't see a way you can say otherwise. The art style may have changed (definitely for the worse 100%), but if Haikyuu started with this art and continued on, I still believe it would have been a brilliant show. Much like it is right now. I'm gonna keep the sound, character, etc. rating short. Story: 9/10: Great match, showed both sides as well, Nekoma even got in. Happy days. Art: 6/10: Haikyuu bias, probably should be 4-5 compared to previous seasons, but I DONT CARE. Sound: 9/10: The haikyuu soundtrack is great, although some people didn't like the sped up version at the end of the match, I think it was great that they didn't fully repeat the song exactly, and it also matched the message of "speed can be bad" or whatever. Character: 10/10: Just great development all around, as I mentioned with the arc stuff earlier. Enjoyment: 9/10: MAN ITS HAIKYUU, JUST SO GOOD Overall: 8/10: Compared to previous seasons, maybe just a little worse, I'd say mainly cuz of the art, outsourcing, and a little bit cuz of the random Nekoma insertion (still enjoyed the Nekoma episodes tho)
Kakashi-dono
12/18/2020, 01:01 PM
Short and sweet. Overall being a Haikyuu Stan, I give this an 8/10, mainly since the second half carried this season. Don't get me wrong, I understand that each season needs its fair share of exposition, however, the first half of this season left me feeling uneasy with the little inconsistency of the pacing. The animation and music towards the finale was nothing short of breathtaking; the contrasting themes of Karasuno and Inarizaki, the final team-play that won them the game and so on. One more thing I wanted to touch on was the Perspective: As usual, us viewers are not only drawn towards Karasuno, but also theother teams that exist. We see Inarizaki dealing with their own share of expectations forced on by others, especially by their own fanbase, which fortunately learns to understand that the "process matters more than the result". Ultimately, all this is what left me EXTREMELY satisfied concluding this season :-)
kakk
12/18/2020, 12:41 PM
This won't be a super long review as to avoid any spoilers :) Overall 9/10 I personally, am a big fan of the Haikyuu series (both anime and manga), so I went into this with high hopes, and I wasn't disappointed. Overall, the story was good and the manga was adapted pretty well, the animation was a bit off in a few episodes but that can be overlooked due to the circumstances. This season kept me on the edge of my seat even though I knew what happened. I loved seeing the different characters change due to how the match progressed, as well as seeing the waydifferent characters who had honed their skills be able to use them in a match! Story 10/10 I am a major Haikyuu!! fan, so I obviously enjoy the story, I think its an amazing story with plenty of interesting things to keep you interested as well as how 'hyped' each episode makes you, I also think this season was another good adaptation of the manga Art 8/10 In some episodes there were some art mishaps if you will, but that is understandable with the circumstances of course. Aside from the one episode and the few random times were the art looked odd, the art was good and personally I really enjoy the new art style so I think the characters looked especially cool :) Sound 8/10 I think the sound was pretty good, nothing much to say here characters 10/10 I thoroughly enjoy all the characters in the Haikyuu!! series, they all have interesting personalities and undergo different development. In this season especially, we are able to see that all the hard work different characters put in to hone their skills, such as Hinata, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Kageyama, Tsukki and a bunch more, and how that hard work paid off in the match, which I think is really rewarding!! It's also fun to watch all the characters interact with each other, such as Hinata and Tsukishima and Kageyama, or the Miya twins. So overall the characters are very enjoyable Enjoyment 10/10 I really enjoyed this season as I enjoy the whole Haikyuu series, both anime and manga, so I already knew i'd enjoy the season since I knew what would happen. This anime made me very happy, to see all my favourite haikyuu characters animated again, and watch how they interact, especially little things like Bokuto and Akaashi in the last episode at the end and so much more, making it very enjoyable to watch!
mrsbokuto
12/18/2020, 12:38 PM
Haikyuu, one of the best sports anime ever, and a personal favorite of mine, being an athlete myself. Im a swimmer, so youd think I would be able to relate to Free! more than Haikyuu. Nope. Haikyuu is every bit as relateable and motivational for me as a swimmer than free couldve been. Which is why i favor haikyuu over free. Now without further ado, lets get into my review. story: 8/10 As someone who finished the manga completely i can say, ive been enjoying the anime just as much as i did with the manga, and of course the manga had great storytelling, theyve adaptedit quite well from what ive seen, with some minor things i wouldve liked to see done better. The match was really exciting and had me on the edge of my seat all the time, even though i knew what would happen next. For every episode starting from e9, there was one moment where i felt so emotional i would cry. art: 6/10 Of course, they changed the art style earlier this year for s4 to make it look more like the manga. I like this style, and its growing on me. But it was quite hard to get used to it after watching 3 seasons with the old style. Not to mention the absolute dumpster fire that was the outsourced episode. And i usually dont use "dumpster fire"and haikyuu in the same sentence. I think it couldve been better for sure. Sound: 10/10 The OST for this show is amazing. It really brings a pumped up feel to the games, and even i listen to it before competitions to motivate myself. Not to mention the OP and ED being absolute bangers. And the ending credits of the final episode, the first season op? i was bawling. Characters: 10/10 The amount of character development this past season was amazing. I found myself relating to and loving the characters even more. With every little bit of development, the characters become more and more endearing to me. i was so proud of hinata when he made that receive in the final set. I cried. I remembered when i had my own moment in my own sport, and that brought the waterworks for sure! enjoyment: 10/10 I enjoyed this season very much, i enjoyed tuning in every week, and i enjoyed discussing the topics of each episode with others. This season, i cried more than i have during any other show or season of haikyuu. The first half of the this season however, was a little underwhelming. But things picked up in the later episodes and that was where i remembered why i love the show so much. The animation being subpar is the only thing that made this season even a little less enjoyable then the others (if youre watching the revised DVD edition, you might not see the errors). I can say now, if you love haikyuu, and youre thinking of dropping it after the first half of part 2, DONT, it gets so much better in later episodes and im sure you will enjoy it. Overall: 9/10 This season could be better, im sure of it. Its not the best season of course, the animation was very off for a few episodes, and the art has been changed drastically. But i still think its every bit as motivational, inspirational, lovable, and comedic than any other season of Haikyuu, the only thing keeping me from giving this a 10 are the animation and pacing issues. Cant wait for season 5 and the Battle of the Trash Dump!
Ethan_07
12/18/2020, 10:13 AM
“Al—right!” One word. Just one, single word. Yet, Haikyuu!! manages to encapsulate thousands of indescribable feelings, emotions into it. There’s no need to fabricate it, choosing right inspirational terms, at all. When each and every player inside Karasuno hear that shout amidst the chaos, and look up to the ceiling that is almost blinding, eyeing the floating ball—they know, they don’t need a miracle. Haikyuu!! has always been the embodiment of unyielding friendship, unbreakable team-work, positive rivalry and adrenaline gushing down the veins of the players, and the non-players. But, ‘To the Top ‘arc changed that. Maybe it’s considered boring, monotone at first, but it has captivatinglyachieved a turning point for the main characters, where they learned and discovered something more than themselves that changed their perspective forever. In regards to that, there are tons of changes and new insights, new characters to root for, but the one that amazed me is—which I’m going to strongly highlight here—Ryuunosuke Tanaka, the baldy. Depicted as the average, energetic member, he’s done more than his best; breaking out of the frame of not only his diffident but also his determination that proves he’s not just a great player, but a team player. Adding this with Hinata’s overwhelming abilities that he discovered as a water boy, and Kageyama’s willingness to wear his cape and pour his real feelings out, it’s almost a crime not to get excited over their match. The heart-thumping music that elevates the ambience of tension inside the match, the art—which to be frank here, outsourcing to save budge is understandable but is a downright terrible choice given the company that was chosen—is decent, the animation is great and fluid. You can dart your eyes around the screen and still catch a glimpse of where the ball is, where the motion starts and ends, and even feel the weight of each ball as it hits the ground. The climax itself, that last ball, that last serve, that last spike, and that last block are all on point. Enough for one to shed a bit tears at the journey they’ve come far to. Overall, ‘Haikyuu!!: To the Top’ arc ends here not with a perfect conclusion, but more to a satisfying one; it depends on which side you’re one, nevertheless. But after all is said, I dare to say that this part of the season highlights some characters and development that might seem insignificant, but it’s going to impact everything in the long run. And, it does, carve a wide smile on my face. So, cheers to Haikyuu!!. May it continues to reach to the top, and beyond; the anime, that is.
LordSozin
12/18/2020, 09:13 AM
Haikyuu: To the Top, or the 4th installment to this series, was painful to watch--especially the first four episodes. What this season suffered from what the last three seasons excelled on was the pacing. Haikyuu has always been a series that delivered its character growth, memorable moments, and most importantly, hype through its volleyball practice, games, and playoffs. This season, the series decided to change the formula by having training and character backstories that served no purpose. For the 1st half of the 2nd season of the 4th season, you were overwhelmed with boring expositions about some characters’ motivations and personalities thatfelt daunting. This season was building up these characters as if they were the key components to the overall narrative. But they weren’t. Almost none of the flashbacks had any purpose to the plot, and their mini-arcs were mostly resolved in one episode. Thus, making it feel like a bunch of unnecessary fillers. The only backstory that mattered was the Miya twins: Atsumu and Osamu Miya. However, the season fixed itself by modifying its focus, which was the match between Karasuno and Inarizaki Highschool. Once the attention was on the match, only then the story began to pick up its pace. It was like the series itself recognized it has been dragging its feet and got itself back on track. Throughout the second half, the season had episodes dedicated to characters’ mini-arcs that were set up at the beginning of this 4th season, like Tsukishima and Ruunosuke. Suffice to say, their moments were more entertaining and memorable than those in the first half of this second season. Perhaps because I was more attached to them since they’ve been established since season 1. Similar to the story pacing early on in this season, the animation wasn’t at its best. Few shots of character movements felt stale and poorly animated, actions felt wonky, and character designs were sometimes disjointed. It felt like an unfinished product. But then again, much of these are fixed later on. Haikyuu’s 4th season didn’t live up to the previous three seasons’ qualities. With its pacing issues, lack of focus on the plot, and mediocre animation, this season is easily the worst in the series. If the problems were to continue from the first half to the second half, this season certainly would’ve deserved a score of 4 or below. It’s a season that’s barely watchable and has a few good moments later on. It’s nothing revolutionary. It’s just below average. Score: 4/10

Haikyuu!! To the Top Part 2 ハイキュー TO THE TOP 第2クール

'Haikyuu!!' Gets Two-Part Sequel Anime Movie

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Fall 2020 Simulcast List [Update 12/1]

Q4 2020 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/14]

PV Collection for Sep 21 - 27

Fall 2020 Preview

PV Collection for Aug 10 - 16

Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 2/5]

Fourth 'Haikyuu!!' Anime Season Airs in Split Cours

Haikyuu!! To the Top Part 2 ハイキュー TO THE TOP 第2クール

'Haikyuu!!' Gets Two-Part Sequel Anime Movie

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Fall 2020 Simulcast List [Update 12/1]

Q4 2020 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/14]

PV Collection for Sep 21 - 27

Fall 2020 Preview

PV Collection for Aug 10 - 16

Anime Postponements Due to COVID-19 Outbreak [Update 2/5]

Fourth 'Haikyuu!!' Anime Season Airs in Split Cours