Haikyuu!! Fans Agree This Was By Far The Best Season Of The Show
The volleyball-focused anime series "Haikyuu!!" hasn't been renewed for a fifth series — just a final set of two films, "Haikyuu!! FINAL." This has some fans worried that the story of the Karasuno High School team won't end properly — with multiple episode-long games that feature detailed looks at various plays and exploring how the various personalities on the team react.
It's a formula that has inspired much love among fans, who consider "Haikyuu!!" one of the best animes of all time. A Buzzfeed writer even said about the series, "Nothing has made me smile as hard, laugh as loud, become as emotionally invested or made me feel more at peace than when I was watching this beautiful ensemble of characters and their redemption story."
Whatever the fate of the show, however, there are still 85 episodes out there that are totally rewatchable, and a bevy of fans willing to endlessly debate all the show's good and bad points. Their strong opinions cover everything from favorite characters, plays, and coaches to favorite mascots. So according to these viewers, which is the best season of "Haikyuu!!" anyway?
Season 2 is the clear winner
In an unscientific poll taken of Reddit users visiting r/haikyuu, fans have a pretty clear favorite season. Out of 798 votes cast, the second season received 368 votes, which is 46% of the vote. Fans who voted for the season noted that they enjoyed two of the season's main elements: Karasuno's visit to a training camp that not only reunited them with their counterparts from Nekoma High but also introduced them to top players from all over Japan, and the intense battle against Aoba Johsai in the Interhigh Preliminaries.
"Season 2 was the perfect blend of rebirth and growth (this is my favorite as the team really grew together in this one)," user r/OmegaEpsilon25 said. "Beautiful conflicts with each of the players having their own relatable struggles." This user mentioned a moment in Season 2 Episode 24 that some consider to be the best moment in the entire anime. It's a less-than-3-minute segment that somehow manages to encapsulate almost every main character's quirks and strengths and the way they've grown both individually and as a team during the course of the previous season, while showcasing some intense volleyball and a memorable quote as well.
Another Reddit user, u/crabapocalypse said, "Season 2 is kinda untouchable for me. It's pretty much perfect, imo." Based on the praises of many others who commented, this person is not alone.
Haikyuu!! fans seem to love all the seasons, though
The fans who voted in this Reddit poll gave the runner-up position to the third season; it received 261 votes — or about 32% of the vote. This season focused solely on one game between Karasuno High and Shiratorizawa Academy and was just 10 episodes long. u/MaboTofuSauce said in the thread, "Season 3 is basically a perfect match with so much going on strategically it's insane, and Tsuki's block is one of the best moments in the series. Also I love the end of the match and Washijo's character and Ushijima god that match is so good."
The user is talking about Shiratorizawa's coach, Washijo (Ryusei Nakao), and Ushijima (Ryota Takeuchi), the team's captain and ace. But the development of Tsukishima (Koki Uchiyama) is definitely a high point of the season; he starts off dour yet smug, but his emotional growth culminates in one amazing block that transforms him into a lover of the game at last. As Richboss, a YouTube commenter on Crunchyroll's video of the segment notes, "The fact that Tsuki started off as the character that annoyed me the most and ended up being one of my favorites speaks volumes about how good Haikyuu's characterization is."
Still, one common refrain within the comments was that fans didn't want to choose the best season at all. "How dare you make me choose one," posted u/NightsSongs, while u/Misaki_21 said, "Bold of you to assume that the fans only have 'one' favorite season."