Haikyuu season 3 thoughts (Spoilers in thread):

Overall I thought this was a fantastic special season of television. With only 10 episodes this was obviously purposefully intended to be a special vs. Shiratorizawa season (Probably so the pacing for season 4 lined up better).

If I was watching this live I would have probably been a bit let down, but watching it immediately after s2 helps sits pacing a ton.

I think that this season is the peak of the show so far for me. For the last 4-5 episodes of the season I was yelling along with the crowds!

This season was 100% the season of the side characters, so many of the supporting cast had amazing steps in their journeys during this season and all got their time in the sunlight.

I do feel like our main duo hinata and kageyama were less of a focus this season but they do get some nice moments with Shiratorizawas ace near the beginning and end of the season.

Shiratorizawa was a good antagonist for karasuno. Because most of the teams in the series feel like rivals and not pure antagonists, having a team like this that you are fully rooting against makes it feel a lot like a final battle.

The only other true antagonist id put in the series was AobaJohsai with Okaiwa, and with them even slightly transitioning into a rival role during s2. With Shiratorizawa the team is just full of characters you want to see go down-

And that works really well as a special season like this. From the opening, to the formatting, to the buildup, this really felt like the final boss.

But entering the nationals in s4 im interested to see how the show will handle raising the tension after that truly epic battle.

The show did something amazing by introducing us to the teams we will be fighting in nationals during the s2 training arc so we'll be able to have low tension rival matches before the face-off with Nekoma.

Anyway TL;DR

Amazing season. More hinata and kageyama romance please.

Also as I digest this season over the next few days i'll probably be adding to this thread and I will be doing the same with other shows in the future!