Haikyuu!! - ハイキュー!!
Summary
Junior high school student Shōyō Hinata gains a sudden love of volleyball after seeing a national championship match on TV. Although short in height, he becomes determined to follow in the footsteps of a star player, nicknamed the “Little Giant”, after seeing his plays. However, his dreams are destroyed in his first official match, where his team suffers a crushing defeat against the Junior championship favourite team, which includes the so-called “King of the Court” Tobio Kageyama. Hinata vows to follow in the footsteps of the “Little Giant” and enter Karasuno High School to defeat Kageyama, only for the two to wind up as unlikely team mates. By combining the genius-like qualities of Kageyama with Hinata’s sheer athleticism, the duo create a brand-new volleyball tactic. Their new combo allows them to get over their differences and creates a strange alliance between the two filled with fun and laughter for them and their teammates. Thus begins the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team’s journey to the top. (Wikipedia)
Availability
Note: It seems like volumes 1 and 2 are currently free to read on Ebook Japan (limited time offer)
Personal Opinion
I love the anime and can only assume the manga is as good. I wasn’t really into sports or volley so I think this is the kind of manga that can appeal to anyone. From what I’ve read it seems fairly simple and we also have the familiar high school setting. Most volley specific terms come from English so there is no need to learn a bunch of difficult useless vocab. Finally, I think it might be nice to read a manga that has an actual plot as opposed to all the slice of life we have been reading, and this seems like a popular and accessible choice.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Seems easy enough, uses kanji with furigana and doesn’t change setting much
- Has an actual plot
Cons
- Some might not find subject appealing
- Text density seems to vary a lot (see additional pages)
Pictures
First Three Pages of Chapter One
Additional Pages
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- No effort at all
- Minimal effort
- Just right
- Challenging
- Impossible, even with everyone’s help
- I don’t know (please click this if you’re not voting seriously)