Once again, the Japanese teach us, “anything you can do, we can do wackier.” Today, it is volleyball. Are the Japanese men and women the best volleyball players in the world? There is little evidence that suggests such. Are the Japanese the best in the world at animating volleyball? Take the “over” on that one while screening the intense and one-dimensional feature-length volleyball match between Nekoma High (the Nittany Necromancers) and Karasuno High (the Fightin’ Karaokes).
This is the entire movie. I’m not kidding. It’s just one volleyball match. An unfortunately named volleyball match at that: Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, nee Haikyu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump. FWIW, an actual garbage dump is never shown in the film, which to my thinking is false advertising. Heckuva a “bait-n-switch,” Japan. Consistent FrogBlog readers might remember The First Slam Dunk, an animated Japanese film about one (1) basketball game. Haikyu is very much in the same vein, only shallower. The First Slam Dunk gave us backstory for the entire starting five punctuating every moment of gameplay with the memory that made it possible. Haikyu is only fully interested in about 1.5 characters. Our hero is the taciturn and mysterious Kenma Kozume (voice of Yûki Kaji) and his “foil” -for lack of a better word- is Karasuno’s best athlete, an orange haired jackrabbit named Shôyô Hinata (Ayumu Murase).
The broody Kenma appears constantly as if he’s the bassist in a punk band. The yellow dye-job on his hair is clearly about two months overgrown and he hasn’t cut it in that time. We get the feeling that getting a haircut is beneath him. Whereas everybody in the arena chants, stamps, yells, gestures, and revels in the excitement of every ball tap, Kenma just sort of slumps passively. He is a strategist, an intellectual, not the best athlete by a long shot, but revered for his gamesmanship, his high Haikyu, if you will. 
If Nekoma is to have a chance at beating the powerful Karasanu, it will be due to Kenma’s stratagems.
The match is a grueling three-setter. I’m not sure how anybody gets “decisive” out of this one. It is like a marathoner winning at the tape and then declaring it was in the bag. Animated volleyball is not actually much different from real volleyball. It is loud and violent and every point is overly celebrated. Do we care who is playing? We sure as Hell would if we saw the TV show that set-up the film. As for the film itself … ? Less. I mean, if you watch 85 minutes of animated humans doin’ stuff, odds are you’ll have your favs, but the match is what matters here, not the background as in The First Slam Dunk.
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is well animated; I’ll give it that much. And the film was good enough to make me care who won the match while I was watching it, but not at all once the film had finished. It felt like an important extended episode of the TV show and little more. So, if you are into Haikyu!!, go and have the time of your life; say “hi” to Wilson for me. The rest of you? If the animation appeals, go find a copy of The First Slam Dunk, a better and very similar film.
There was once a broody ten named Kenma
Who played volleyball in a state of zen-ma
The big match arrived
And our hero derived
Indifference again and again-ma
Rated PG-13, 85 Minutes
Director: Susumu Mitsunaka
Writer: Haruichi Furudate, Susumu Mitsunaka
Genre: GO TEAM! BEAT STATE!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of the TV show
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who get lost easily
