Haikyu!! Second Season

Episode 25

You have to hand it to Haikyu!! – even in a final episode whose only ostensible purpose is to rev us up for the third season (and the game with Shiratorizawa), it still manages to be interesting, exciting, and work in some character development. That last honor belongs more to Yachi this time, which is a nice break from the boys, and while it isn't much, that couple of moments at the end where she realizes how much purpose being part of the team has given her rounds out a character who came in feeling like a perpetual “Townsperson B” (in her words). Now she feels like she belongs somewhere. She may still just be the assistant manager, but as Hinata says, she's the best Townsperson B ever. Kageyama remarks that it doesn't seem like much of a compliment, but from where Yachi is standing, it's an indication that she's started to climb out of her rut. It also doesn't hurt that it's a compliment from the guy who scored the winning point in a major tournament either; in terms of high school social structure, that's pretty major.

Once again, the show excels in depicting the aftermath of an emotional game, both by showing the overwhelming exhaustion that the winning team succumbs to and the letdown experienced by the losing team, in this case Aoba Johsai. Their reactions run from depression to anger, and their tears certainly seem to be a bit of both. Oikawa in particular is full of angry self-recriminations, although he tries to put on a brave face for his team. His body language when he and Daichi are fulfilling their post-game captain's duties, however, makes it clear that he's seriously unhappy – I don't think we've ever seen him move so stiffly before. Into this morass of seething emotions steps next season's antagonist, Shiratorizawa's Ushiwaka. Rather than offer condolences on Aoba Johsai's loss, he decides instead to tell Oikawa that he's been playing with a worthless team and he should have expected to lose. In terms of jerk moves, this is definitely a big one, and between this and his previous comments to Karasuno about nothing good growing from concrete or poor soil, he's high on the list of “people I would bite if I were rabid.” Presumably, this is setting us up to be really invested in season three's opening match, and I must say that it's working. What Ushiwaka doesn't understand is a plant that grows from concrete is often stronger than one that never had to work for its very survival – a plant that, as Anne Lindbergh puts it, “the bowels of the city [have] failed to digest.”

Despite very little actually happening, there's a sense of this episode just flying past. Riding on their victory and cheered on by the fact that most of their classmates waited for their return to school to congratulate them, the Karasuno boys don't really have time to breathe before the Big Game is upon them. That seems to be just fine with them, which makes sense – if all they have time to do is go home and sleep before they have to jump right back into the game, there's no time to get nervous about what most people (including the news anchors) seem to feel is a very uneven match. Shiratorizawa has multiple star players, and Karasuno is still largely seen as the Little Engine That Could of the high school volleyball scene, so there's certainly plenty to be worried about. But Karasuno's strength is in not doubting themselves, as Hinata points out, and just because no one expects them to win, that doesn't mean that they won't. Oikawa warns Ushiwaka that when they band together, a large group of crows can even take down a great white eagle. Ushiwaka doesn't seem at all impressed or concerned, but perhaps there's something he ought to remember when season three rolls around: a group of crows is called “a murder.”

Rating: A-

Haikyu!! Second Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.