Parents' Guide to Haikyu!!

TV Crunchyroll Anime 2014
Haikyu!! TV show poster

Common Sense Media Review

By Jeremy Looney , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Action-packed volleyball anime serves up positive lessons.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 8+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 9+

Based on 18 kid reviews

Kids say the show is inspiring and highlights important themes like teamwork, perseverance, and personal growth, making it appealing even for those who are not fans of sports. While the content is generally appropriate for ages 9 and up, there are occasional mild swearing and brief moments that may require parental guidance.

  • inspiring themes
  • suitable for ages 9+
  • mild language
  • strong character development
  • teamwork focus
Summarized with AI

What's the Story?

HAIKYU!! is a volleyball themed anime series about Shoyo Hinata (voiced by Bryson Baugus) a kid who loves volleyball. Hinata is starting at Karasuno High School and joins their team. As fate would have it, his middle school volleyball rival, Tobio Kageyama (Scott Gibbs) also joins. Together they will have to overcome their rivalry and learn to work together if they want to have any hope of winning at Nationals.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 6 ):
Kids say ( 18 ):

This sporty anime features great animation, likeable characters and intense volleyball matches that deliver a lively and fun viewing experience. Haikyu!! is a standard sports shonen (a type of anime made for younger kids) that follows a lot of familiar patterns found in other sports anime. But even though it's nothing new, it's got great art and animation, characterizations, and story. One especially notable element is how the series depicts hard work and dealing with losing. Many sports anime depict characters pushing their bodies well past healthy levels to gain victory. Here, characters learn to listen to their bodies and recognize defeat not as a sign of weakness, but an opportunity to learn. There;s a good balance of showing the value of hard work and winning while also reminding viewers that you can't win them all, but you can always continue to grow.

The only challenge that everything in Haikyu!! is heavily centered around the sport of volleyball. It's all volleyball, all the time. But anyone familiar with sports and playing on a team should be able to relate, and the series serves up a great time for teen viewers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the importance of good teamwork and sportsmanship. Who displays qualities of sportsmanship in this series? In your life?

  • Families can also talk about how to successfully grow from failures. How can you learn to embrace it and use it as an experience for growth?

  • How does the anime version of Haikyu!! differ from the manga version? Does the anime version better capture the sport of volleyball? Why or why not?

TV Details

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Haikyu!! TV show poster

What to Watch Next

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