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Haikyu! Jump Special Anime Festa Anime Gets DVD Release
posted on by Sarah Nelkin
This year's 52nd issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is announcing on Monday that the special episode of Haikyu!! shown at the Jump Anime Festa event earlier this month is scheduled to be released on DVD in Japan in a limited edition bundle with the 15th compiled volume of Haruichi Furudate original Haikyu!! manga. The bundle will ship on March 4, and will retail for the price of 2,980 yen (about US$25).
The story of the original episode was written by original creator Furudate, and revolves around Lev Haiba (voiced by Mark Ishii) and Kenma Kozume (Yūki Kaji). In the episode, Lev is determined to become the ace of the team, but can barely hit the ball. The team's coach orders Kenma to help out Lev with his practice, much to the former's annoyance. However, as they continue to work together, Kenma realizes that Lev's height might actually be able to help in games if his skills are honed in the right way. The episode also features Hinata, Kageyama, and the rest of the group attempting to play a difficult video game.
Production I.G's anime adaptation of Haruichi Furudate's volleyball manga premiered in April. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for North American digital and home video release and Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired. The series' final episode aired on September 21 with the show's 25th episode.
The story follows Shōyō Hinata (voiced by Ayumu Murase), who began playing volleyball after seeing the "small giants" who played the sport when he was in elementary school. He suffers a crushing defeat in his first and last tournament in middle school at the hands of his rival Tobio Kageyama (Kaito Ishikawa). So, Hinata joins Karasuno High School's volleyball team, vowing revenge against Kageyama.
However, Kageyama is also on Karasuno's team. The former rivals form a legendary combo with Hinata's mobility and Kageyama's precision ball-handling. Together, they take on the local tournaments and vow to meet Kurasuno's fated rival school in the nationals.
A Nintendo 3DS game adaptation is shipped on September 25 in Japan.
