I talk about Haikyu!! a lot because I love it. I think Furudate does a fantastic job of giving characters room to organically grow. I know other sports anime and manga have done this. But Haikyu!! is one of the few that affects me in a profound way.

I'm consistently pensive when I finish a Haikyu!! chapter. Like, today I just sat there for a good minute and reflected on how masterfully Sakusa's character arc was handled. He feels so damn real, quirks and all. I felt like his character arc reminded me of something crucial.

And these reminders are deceptively simple. Don't take your health for granted. Acknowledge that you're afraid of things. Trust that your friends are ACTUALLY your friends. Learn from your elders AND your juniors. Pinpoint your faults and work to be better! Luck is real.

Again, these are all pretty basic tenets in stories, but Haikyu!! introduces them in a way that's refreshing. You never know which character is going to come face-to-face with a particular realization. And when they do, it's not just to power them up.

It's to lay the foundation for the organic growth that comes AFTER the realization. If a player faces their fear, there's no guarantee they will overcome whatever's in their way. It may take dozens upon dozens of chapters for them to grow in a relatively small way. And that's OK.

Haikyu!! really takes it's time. One of the things I love the most about the series is how long it takes to form the team from the beginning. Forget about facing other teams. Forget about outside rivals. The natural development of Karasuno's volleyball team as people comes FIRST.

By the time we've gotten to the big matches, Karasuno feels like a team that's more than the players' quirks. They feel like real people with very human desires, worries, and hurdles. And the dedication to the realistic volleyball mechanics works to highlight that realism.

Haikyu!! is great. I'm not gonna go around telling you to watch or read it if you don't want to. I'm not gonna get on you if it isn't for you. I'm just gonna talk about it because I think it's damn good. And now I'm gonna go watch some Haikyu!! because why not?