Which is really weird, since the last few episodes of the show aired on cable in June 2019, I’m assuming the dub. What network on US TV airs the show btw? Adult Swim?
Yeah, I think that’s right. Viz Media has really dragged their feet on the home video releases, though.
I’m 18 episodes into the Volleyball anime. God, anime is the perfect medium for sports stories isn’t it? I remember watching an anime football (soccer) movie when I was a kid, in the 80s, and being spell bound by it. It wasn’t as exciting as real football (soccer), but it was definitely more exciting than most sports movies.
Similarly with this volleyball one, it’s not as exciting as watching a real Volleyball match, which I used to do a lot in high school (or Olympics coverage), but it is really well done, and I love how they space out the progress of each character as they get better over time.
I also love that there’s no distractions away from volleyball in this anime. No girlfriends or personal drama, not even any emphasis on these student’s personal home lives. Do they all live with their parents? I have no idea, and it’s not important. What’s important is the volleyball, so that’s all they show. I like it! Not enough to learn it’s name, but I like it a lot. Hiyaku, or something like that.
I watched BNA and I found it a little meh. I loved the design and aesthetics, but the plot so far has been subpar and the animation, for a trigger effort, was really bad, despite the fun design. Overall an okish show for me, something I will watch the second season when I have nothing more to see.
BUT, Netflix recommended me Beastars. My god, this is amazing. I’m three chapters in and LOVING it. It helps that the technical execution is top notch, truly breathtaking. Amazing use of 3D for all the characters that is really hard to spot.
Loved it so much that I went looking for a breakdown on the animation of this beast. This is a good watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ef-44vOqc
I had a tough time getting through the first episode of Beastars last month. All these talking animals just weird me out. I’ll need time to adjust to it.
I never thought I’d like a sports anime, but both Haiyakuu and Ping pong the animation are very high up on my list of favorite anime. They are very different, but both are wonderful.
One thing I really like about Haiyakuu is that they don’t just follow the main characters, but touch on many other transient characters, some of which only appear in one episode. In particular, the episode that follows all the kids who lost in the first round of the competition, and how they deal with losing really touched me.
Yeah, I just watched that episode last night. It was very nicely done. Especially since the episode leading up to it had been setting up the big tournament and how hard it would be, so it was interesting switching perspectives and contemplating how the losing side feels.
I have a friend who is like this. All I can say is try to get over it. Show’s amazing.
Another thing that’s really interesting in that anime is how being selfish is so defeating. Being part of the team, learning that helping others is the way to succeed says a lot about the differences in Japanese and American cultures, where in America it feels like the storyline would be 'I"m fucking amazing, but my team is holding me back".
Watching all the characters both work hard AND hold each other up is very touching. The whole show is full of so many “feels good” moments, for so many different characters (especially minor ones) to have their own little triumphs in different ways.
Man, you guys are talking about a lot of good anime right now. If you like sports anime and Haikyu, I would recommend everyone find and watch Hajime no Ippo. Hands down one of my favorite anime of all time.
Lamalo
5255
Heh, I’m still reading the manga of Hajime no Ippo.
Another sports anime I loved was Hikaru no Go. Go is sports, right? I’ve never done any so I’m not sure.
Love Hajime no Ippo. My absolute favorite shounen manga. I didn’t care at all about boxing before I read it, just started reading it on a whim and was reading 2+ volumes a day before I knew it. The anime was a great adaptation, just avoid the dub.
msarANG
5257
I Love Hakime no Ippo. I used to read Shijō Saikyō no Deshi Kenichi when I was young.
geewhiz
5258
Crunchyroll has updated its Roku app. It looks more like Netfilx, Amazon, and Hulu but does not work well at this point in time. It is extremely unresponsive with the back button often not working at all and takes a long time to react to any type of input. It also has forced me to login again though it is doing a bit better than it was last week on the old app. One thing I hate about the new app is if you try to forward through the introduction it no longer shows the footage so you have to guess when you have gone far enough - I hate that.
So, the volleyball anime. As I was approaching the end on Hulu, I figured that the logical showdown was against the same team that they fought at the end of season 1. So that is indeed what happened. What I wasn’t expecting was… that they won. What a weird way to end the series. To just leave it hanging there, with a win, ready to face a team they’ve never actually shown us playing in this anime.
Of course, at that point, I looked up the wiki and discovered that the end on Hulu is not the end of the anime. It went on to have a season 3 in 2016. And then it started again and is currently airing a season 4 in 2020. What?!? @TurinTur, is all the list of your top anime just a list of ongoing anime that never actually ended?
Anyway, the season 3 dub just got done airing on HiDive early in 2020, so I’m not sure when it’s coming elsewhere. I used to be able to subscribe to that all-inclusive anime service that had HiDive, Crunchyroll, Shudder and a bunch of other stuff, but I’m not sure if that’s still around.
geewhiz
5260
It has consistently been on Crunchyroll with each new season as I recall. I think I saw it on Netflix too but cannot go check atm as wife and daughter are on it.
I think they can only create them as fast as the manga is written?
Yeah, I just looked it up. Hi Dive is $5 a month, and has the Season 3 dub. It would be too weird to switch to a the subtitle version now, so I’m not interested in that. And VRV is still around, and has Hi Dive and Crunchyroll for $10 a month. Looks like Crunchyroll only has the Subtitle version, so not interested in them as far as Haikyu is concerned. But they might have other stuff I am interested in? Looks like they tend to have only subtitled stuff as far as I can tell, which is hard to watch while playing with a toddler.
geewhiz
5262
Crunchyroll probably appeals to the more die hard anime fan who tend to like sub over dub. But they do carry dub versions on a lot of their anime (I suppose if it is available it is included).
One anime you might want to check out is Silver Spoons. It is about a city kid who chooses to go to a farming high school and is quite refreshing. It does have real life farming/husbandry so I would hesitate to watch it with a very young kid. It is my favorite anime.
Thanks for the recommendation on Silver Spoons. I’d seen in recommended on Kotaku years ago and watched the first two episodes on Hulu at the time, but I wasn’t able to see all the subtitles, so I didn’t really understand the characters or what was going on. I should give it a try sometime when I can actually see the subtitles.
I got VRV and started Season 3 on Hi Dive (Dubbed). Now, the voice actors from the first two seasons are all back at their best (yay!), but weirdly, Hi Dive doesn’t have english subtitles or closed captioning for the english version. The Japanese texts on the screen are translated to English, but nothing that people actually say. It seems like a strange oversight.
