Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is for fans

Title: Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle
Release Date: May 16, 2024
Duration: 1 hour 25 minutes
Director: Susumu Mitsunaka
Starring: Ayumu Murase, Kaito Ishikawa, Yûki Kaji
Genre: Animation, sports
Rating: PG
Score: ✓✓✓

The long-awaited anime adaptation of the battle between Karasuno High School and Nekoma High School is finally here, but instead of getting a 24-episode season on TV, it’s hitting the silver screen.

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle follows the events of the Haikyu!! Anime’s fourth season, following Karasuno High School’s boys volleyball team as they compete in the Spring Nationals.

A former powerhouse in the high school volleyball scene, this is Karasuno’s first time qualifying for the Nationals in five years. But with a fresh line-up of talented players, the team has returned to face off against destined rival Nekoma High School in what’s been dubbed “The Dumpster Battle”.

Hits

The voice acting in the film was phenomenal, with the voices behind each of the characters in the TV series returning for the film.

Each passionate cry following a scored point and every grunt of despair that followed a conceded rally exuded the heightened emotion and tension that the characters were experiencing during the match.

Even the characters that were commentating on the state of the game along the sidelines had their moments, with the voice acting enhancing comedic moments and giving added gravity to the dramatic scenes.

The cinematography in Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle seemed to make a clear statement: This isn’t just a mash-up of scenes from an anime that aired on TV, but it’s a movie made for a cinematic experience.

Director Susumu Mitsunaka deserves credit for his creative depiction of how physically demanding and intense a volleyball match can be. One moment that stood out was when almost all sound was muted except a player’s heavy breathing, with the scene taking the perspective of the player in question, darting back and forth to follow the movement of the ball during a particularly fierce rally.

One of the benefits of gunning for a theatrical release over airing a full season on TV is that anime studios can dedicate more time and resources into ensuring that the animation is top-notch – and it clearly shows in Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle.

The animators behind the movie did an incredible job portraying the fast-paced nature of a volleyball game, with each movement a player makes feeling fluid and natural. It almost feels like you’re watching a real volleyball game, unlike in some other sports anime in which players are portrayed as almost (if not entirely) superhuman.

Misses

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle drops viewers straight into the beginning of the match between Karasuno and Nekoma, barely sparing any time to establish the context behind the two teams’ rivalry or any of the moments that the players went through to get to this moment.

Compared to the anime series, where a single volleyball match can span several episodes with ample time given to establish the stakes and the players that the protagonists are up against, the movie’s pace can feel a bit rushed.

It doesn’t help that the movie is barely an hour and a half long.

Fans of the anime series will definitely enjoy a watch, but they may also be dissatisfied with the movie acting as a replacement for the anime’s fifth season – especially considering that it’s unlikely that the next movie will be released within the next year.

Newcomers to the Haikyu club may lose the plot a bit and find themselves asking their seatmates questions like, “Who’s that? How do they know each other? What’s his deal?” whenever new faces come on screen.

Is it worth a watch?

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle will make for an entertaining viewing experience for long-time followers of the anime. With the lack of a TV adaptation, fans who want to keep up with the story will have to catch this film in cinemas or wait a few more months to see it come out on streaming services.

But if the names Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobio mean nothing to you, you probably can give this a miss.