Haikyu!! Second Season

Episode 24

For a minute there, as the episode raced toward its conclusion, I was afraid that Haikyuu!! would draw this game out until next week's finale. Luckily it did not – we have our winner, and the final episode of the season will presumably prepare us for the recently announced season three. It's an incredibly tense game though, right up until the last second before the ending credits, and it really pulls out all the stops to get this moment right.

After two seasons of twenty-five episodes each, you might not think that Haikyuu!! had any tricks left to play in terms of players and combinations, but in keeping with the show's devotion to showing all of the teammates as individuals, that's simply not the case. As Karasuno evens the score more and more, we can see Aoba Johsai getting increasingly nervous, although they never really lose their focus. Oikawa is the one to watch here, as the tension of the game leads him to think about his middle school rivalry with Kageyama and how this particular match brings out his desire to be the absolute best. His nerves eventually give way to panic, and a panicking Oikawa, apart from being something we've never seen before, is a scary thing. While “normal human proportions” aren't really a facet of anime art, especially for the faces in this particular show, Oikawa's face begins to take on a crazed look, with his eyes getting wider and his mouth ever-so-slightly open in a way we don't usually see. There's a palpable sense that he's stretching his muscles to their absolute limit, trying to reach his legs and fingers farther than ever before. You can practically feel your own muscles tense up as he grows desperate, and towards the end of the episode, I have to wonder if he's desperate to beat Karasuno as a team or Tobio Kageyama as a person.

As for the rest of the teams, while our usual stand-outs are definitely bringing their A-game (Hinata and Kageyama in particular), others also get a chance to shine, with Yamaguchi coming back out as a pinch server and Sugawara stepping in at the last minute to shake things up. He's been the easiest to feel bad for since Kageyama and Hinata showed up, one of the few remaining third-years on the team who had to take a backseat because of the talented freshmen. In this episode, however, he really gets his chance to shine, and boy does he take it. Just the fact that he's on the court makes a difference, but from a storytelling perspective, he gets to be a part of Karasuno's return to glory by being one of the players who helps when it's down to the wire. He goes from being “poor Sugawara the left out senior” to “Sugawara the secret weapon,” and that makes up for a lot of that time he had to spend off the court.

There may never have been any real doubt as to the outcome of this game – after all, if it had gone the opposite way, there wouldn't be much point to this season existing and spending so much time on Karasuno learning to be a better team. But despite this relatively certain knowledge, Haikyuu!! still managed to make this a tense edge-of-your-seat ride, showing how much the characters themselves have grown along with their volleyball skills. Small tricks within this episode, like spending minutes showing us the spectators instead of the players or keeping the camera far enough back that we can't really see what's happening on the court helps to keep us nervous while also freeing up resources for when it matters most – the end of the episode with its series of breathtaking quick plays. While the music doesn't make much of an impression (which actually may be a good thing, helping to keep us focused on the action), there is a really nice use of silence throughout, particularly at the very end.

The quiet aftermath comes next week, and while it may feel a little bit like a come-down after weeks of tense gameplay, it should also be a relief. We'll know the next team Karasuno has to play, we can see them rehash what went right and what didn't, and, more importantly, we may see more of what's really bothering Oikawa, because it sure looks like more than just the surface issue. Even better, we can do all of this in the calm assurance that season three will be coming, so the one sports team I've ever cared about in my life (figures it's fictional) won't be leaving us for very long.

Rating: A

Haikyu!! Second Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.