Anime Anime Global

Aug. 19 is “Haikyuu's Day”.

It was set in 2015 based on the wordplay “8 (Ha), 1(I), 9(Kyuu)”. This is an official commemoration day that was registered in Japan Anniversary Association by the production committee to hype up the second season of the TV anime “Haikyuu!! Second Season”.

“Haikyuu” is based on the volleyball manga that is serialized on “Weekly Shounen Jump” from 2012 until 2020. The TV anime has been broadcast from 2014, and the 2nd cour (episodes 13-24) of the fourth season “Haikyuu!! TO THE TOP” will be broadcast from Oct. 2020.
Various fierce matches were depicted in the anime, and which among those have captured fans' hearts?

Thus, Anime! Anime! had conducted the reader survey title “What is the best match that you can think of from the anime 'Haikyuu!!'”. Only matches that had were shown in the TV broadcast and OVA are applicable. A total of 70 responses were received during the survey period of Aug. 4 until Aug. 11.
The gender ratio is about 15% are from males and about 85% are from females, where female is the majority. The age distribution is about 60% from below aged 19 and about 30% from their '20s, and the responses mostly comprised of youngsters.

■On the top is Karasuno High School VS Aoba Johsai High School, where a famous line has appear as well
1st place
First place goes to Karasuno High School VS Aoba Johsai High School with a supporting rate of about 35%.

Among the various fierce matches between Karasuno High School, where the protagonist Hinata Shouyou, and Kageyama Tobio are affiliated, and Aoba Johsai High School, where Oikawa Toru is the captain, the match that gathered the most responses is the preliminary for the Spring High Tournament.
The comments from the readers said “This is the last match of the two best rival teams as it also the last match before the third year retired!”, and “It because the fierce battle spirit before the final match of the tournament is drawn out nicely” and it seems that the fated rivalry between the two schools is the popularity point.
Various comments were also received regarding the highly evaluated episode 24 of the second season, titled “The Absolute Limit Switch”, “I got excited by the long toss scene of Oikawa Toru from outside the court”, and “I will never forget the Oikawa-san's famous line 'Talent is meant to be bloom, senses are needed to be trained!!'”.

2nd Place
The second place goes to Karasuno High School VS Shiratorizawa Academy with a supporting rate of about 30%.

The final match of the Spring High Tournament, which is Karasuno High School VS Shiratorizawa Academy, is depicted throughout the third season of the TV Anime. The most highly evaluated episode is episode 4, “The Halo Around the Moon”, which depicted the offense and defense of the second game set. It also depicted the offensive-defensive of Karasuno High School's blocker, Tsukishima Kei, and Shiratorizawa Academy's captain, Ushijima Wakatoshi, and the emotional comments from the readers said, “I was deeply moved the moment when Tsuki's jump after all the thinking!”, and “I was excited at how the serious switch of the usual blunt Tsuki is turned on.”

In episode 8 “An Annoying Guy”, there was even a comment regarding a certain opinion, “When Karasuno is facing a pinch, the speech of their coach Ukai shouted 'Don't look down! Volleyball! It is a sport that you must always look up', was passionate and cool”. This shows that the matches have various famous scenes other than the achievement of the athletes.

3rd place
The third place goes to Karasuno High School VS Nekoma High School with the supporting rate of about 10%.

The match between Karasuno and Nekoma is also known as the “Battle in the Dumpsite”, as the school name contains the word “crow” and “cat”. In the anime, there was a pratice match between the two school toward the interhigh school preliminary and episode 12 of the first season “The Cat and Crow Reunion” is quite famous. Comments received are “It because it was the 'Battle in the Dumpsite' despite being a practice match”, and “I like the rivalry between Karasuno and Nekoma that transcend few generations”.

The fourth place is Nekoma High School VS Fukurodani Academy, while the fifth place is Nekoma High School VS Itachiyama Academy. As the OVA “Land vs. Sky” has gotten an anime adaptation, there was a lot of fans of the school other than Karasuno High School, and one of the comments said, “It because this is a match that doesn't involve the protagonist's school, I had fallen for their coolness as if the students are the protagonist”.

What kind of matches will await us on the latest sequel “Haikyuu!! TO THE TOP” 2nd Cour? Do check it out during the broadcast in Oct.

■Top 10 Ranking
What is the best match that you can think of from the anime “Haikyuu!!”
1st Karasuno High School VS Aoba Johsai High School
2nd Karasuno High School VS Shiratorizawa Academy
3rd Karasuno High School VS Nekoma High School
4th Nekoma High School VS Fukurodani Academy
5th Nekoma High School VS Itachiyama Academy

(Survey Period: Aug. 4 until Aug. 11, 2020)