Pages

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Manga Review: Haikyu!!, Volume 24, by Haruichi Furudate


Rating (Out of 5): ~4
Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)
Release Date: June 2018
Volumes: 33+
Spoilers?: Yes.
Volume: 1. 23. 25.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Shoyo Hinata is out to prove that in volleyball you don't need to be tall to fly!

Ever since he saw the legendary player known as “the Little Giant” compete at the national volleyball finals, Shoyo Hinata has been aiming to be the best volleyball player ever! Who says you need to be tall to play volleyball when you can jump higher than anyone else?

Karasuno has qualified for the Spring Tournament! The team buckles down to practice harder than ever, but Takeda immediately rushes in to announce that Kageyama is invited to participate in the All-Japan Under 19 Youth Training Camp, while Tsukishima is invited to the Miyagi Prefecture Rookie Camp! Overflowing with jealousy and inspired by an offhanded comment made by Yamaguchi, Hinata takes it upon himself to get in on the action and crash the rookie training camp!

Review:

Over the summer, most of the team is training together. Except, Kageyama gets invited to a very high-class training camp, in which each person is hand selected. And Tsukishima gets invited to a rookie training camp, though he's less impressed and enthused by it. All of this means that Shoyo was not invited to a training camp, and he's not okay with that. He knows that they're learning important things from different players and coaches, they're upping their skills, and he's being left behind. He can't stand it—so he decides to crash Tsukishima's camp, because there's less risk involved in that one.
This is a hilarious decision on Shoyo's part—he's not supposed to be there, and all of them know it. There are definite consequences involved, and he faces them, but he's also given the option to watch and be the ball boy—not play volleyball with them. Shoyo feels left out, but he's also getting a different view of the sport now, watching everyone and how they're playing. It's a bit humbling for him, but it's also helpful.
And then there's Kageyama's training camp, which we get to see a little bit of. It's helping him out, of course, but we also get to see another short volleyball player rivaling Shoyo. These are all players in a bigger league, which sadly Shoyo is missing out on.
It looks like there's more practice and joint trainings coming up. I love seeing the huge groups of characters, how they interact and play together and learn from each other.

No comments:

Post a Comment