One of my favorite tracks from Hayashi Yuki. His music tends to run into the problem of sounding same-y. He's not an awful composer, considering how he can make memorable tracks. One of his best tracks is "You Can Become A Hero" from Boku no Hero Academia anime OST.
I won't go on with my love for Haikyuu! or digress into rants that had nothing to do with the series.
Let's skip right to it.
To boil down: Great match with great storytelling as expected but the worst season yet. The best season of the anime series would be S2. It focused only on one match that felt like real-time with uninterrupted editing. Not boring and sometimes would dramatically take away
There were changes from the manga like expanded reactions (love, love the Shiratorizawa's cheer squad's reaction to Karasuno's unpredictability like Tsukki's blocks and Hinata's jaw-dropping receives and plays (I cackled at their reaction when Hinata stopped their ace's spike like it was nothing, silenced into shock is what you deserve for thinking Karasuno was like other teams Shiratorizawa defeated in the past including Aoba Jousai); unlike their team like Ushiwaka who clearly saw them as worthy opponents as the game continued, they underestimated the opposing team to the point that the news show that reported the winnings name-dropped their opponent and that's it; I find it delicious, okay, for those underestimating the underdog that they were shut up in the face of tenacity and undoubted power. I always loved it when people underestimate the other to the point they are in awe, even when the underdog lost) and change of setting and words of Ushiwaka's challenge to the Oddball Duo. I want to get that out of the way.
Aside from civilian reactions, I also loved how the cheer squadrons exemplified the teams. Shiratorizawa was imposing, confident and achieved. Karasuno was mismatched, unpredictable, and resolute who can literally blow the former out the water.
This is one of the best matches Furudate ever made ever. I love the match you must know, not just for nearly a lot of the main regulars to show off. Hinata showing off his athleticism and unpredictability and believe me, I love unpredictability. Not just in stories but also in pairings. Tsukki showing off his intelligence and what he learned from Kuroo and Bukuto. The Karasuno team showing their audacity in the face of people who believe they would lose immediately (Shiratorizawa cheer squad, the audience who believed Shiratorizawa's easy win) or try to break them (Tendou, Goshiki, Shirabu, Semi). I find satisfaction not in beating them when they're down but that they can fight till the very end and utter refusal to break. That is why I always love the matches in Haikyuu! They're fun whereas Daiya no Ace only has fun matches whenever Furuya was not playing; his pitching is dull and boring and doesn't pump me up to cheer the team on until Sawamura or Nori or Tanba stepped up to the plate.
This is where Tsukishima's character development shone through, helping his teammates and taking part in the game. I wouldn't say that it's full-circle. We still got more growth to go from all of them. Do you really think character development will end just like that? All of Karasuno still have much to learn about their volleyball and about themselves, their next part in life, college or elsewhere they choose.
Considering what happened after the match and you saw the cliffhanger that Kageyama was selected to go to the All-Japan Training Camp, you know that Karasuno still has much to learn, even prodigies like Kageyama.
Now, I do not know how long Haikyuu will run. We are at the Tokyo Nationals arc right now. There might be a longevity run because I can see Haikyuu being one of the mainstays for a really long time; consistently bestselling and ratings will tell you that unlike Daiya no Ace going down as of late but slowly rising but not quite at Haikyuu level. We could witness Karasuno regain their status as a renewed volleyball team in the three years Hinata went there and Hinata passing the torch while he went to college. We could witness "And the Adventure Continues" with the series ending in Hinata's first year. However, considering the characters introduced in Tokyo Nationals Arc, there may be a possibility that Haikyuu will continue long after the graduation of the third-years of all the schools and we will witness the schools going head-on with the new Karasuno. Daiya no Ace featured new first years in Act II so it's not a bad notion that it would continue for a long time.
Besides, we still need to have that rematch with Dateko and many other schools. It was likely we will go to second-year though. Despite knowing that Aoba Jousai will win that match, I still want to have that rematch since we got that spoken promise from Aone to Hinata. Ushiwaka will have to wait until either Hinata or Kageyama gets into an official university team or scouted so maybe we might see a rematch with Ushiwaka again. Might being the keyword here because we don't know if which direction Ushiwaka will take after high school. College? Scouted?
Besides, it would make sense for Karasuno to beat the top aces of the country. They beat the number 3 so two more to go. We might meet them in the Tokyo Nationals arc which no doubt will introduce them. If Karasuno beat Nekoma in the third round, I believe? We got names of the top-tier aces...or at least their last names. We have to meet them as well as tying up loose ends with meeting the Little Giant.
I really want to see Little Giant; I am sure Takeda was not the Little Giant because he's far too old, stated to be 3 years older than Keishin Ukai so not him. I don't recall any of the veterans reacting to Takeda in any surprised fashion because the vets and especially Tsukishima would at least react in some way to see the Little Giant again. I don't think Furudate-sensei wanted the Little Giant to be in the midst of Hinata the whole time unlike how in My Hero Academia where the traitor must be in class 1-A. It is not necessary when there was no firm hinting. Being the Little Giant, I think he is playing for a uni's volleyball team by now. Since we got hints that he should be roughly the same age as Saeko and Akiteru, then he must be the age of a college student. He is definitely not close to his thirties like Takeda is. So yeah that's my two cents in the Takeda=Little Giant theory. Unlike the Kaminari traitor theory which at least some kind of evidence, no matter how dubious, has some substance, the Takeda theory doesn't hold much water...or any water at all. I believe the Little Giant will come and we will learn his name. Hinata will meet him and tie up all the loose ends if it comes to that. Furudate-sensei is good when it comes to tying up loose ends. Just look at Oikawa and Kageyama, Kageyama and Kindaichi and Kumini for example.
...This is just quick trivia: I learn my sports from sports anime. I don't know how to feel about it; that I got into sports because of over-the-top superhuman athleticism or because I understand it more if people just sat me down and talk about it in a dramatic storytelling fashion. I feel awful since I couldn't get into my brother's sports teams whenever he's playing but I can get into sports anime whenever Karasuno, Sohoku, etc showed tenacity. There is a herd of road cyclists some miles I see sometimes so I was able to identify. Hell, there was even a race one time where my dad was forced to take another direction.
