HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP

Haikyu!! To the Top is the fourth season of the popular volleyball anime made by Production I.G. It is based on the manga by Haruichi Furudate. This first part of the season has 13 episodes, numbered 61 to 73 in the full series. It aired in Japan from January 11 to April 4, 2020. Masako Sato took over as director for this season.

The story picks up right after the big win in the third season. Karasuno High School beat the strong team from Shiratorizawa Academy, and now the boys are going to the national tournament. For a team that people once called "the flightless crows," this is a huge step. But a place at nationals is only a ticket in the door. The best teams in Japan are waiting, and Karasuno knows it still has a lot of work to do.

Before the big tournament, the players split up for a while. Tobio Kageyama, the team's gifted setter, gets an invitation to a national camp for the best young players in the whole country. Kei Tsukishima, the tall and sharp-tongued blocker, is asked to join a special camp in Miyagi for the top first-year players in the area. Shoyo Hinata gets no invitation at all. He is short, fast, and full of energy, and he hates the feeling of being left behind by his friends.

So Hinata does something bold. He goes to the Miyagi camp anyway, even though nobody asked him to come. He cannot play in the practice games, so he ends up working as a ball boy. At first this feels like a punishment. But by watching the game from the side, picking up balls, and studying how the other players move, Hinata starts to see volleyball in a new way. He learns that there is much more to the sport than jumping high and hitting hard. Things like receiving, reading the other team, and simple basics matter too.

Meanwhile, Kageyama meets some of the strongest players of his age at the national camp. Being around them makes him think about his own style and about what kind of setter he wants to be. When the team comes back together, each player has grown a little, and the whole club works hard to fix its weak points before the tournament. The season ends as the national stage finally opens, and Karasuno steps onto the big court for its first match.

This season is quieter than the last one in some ways. It spends a lot of time on training, practice, and small personal changes instead of one long match. But many fans enjoy it for exactly that reason. It shows that growth is often slow and comes from hard, boring work. It also gives more screen time to side characters, coaches, and players from other schools. The famous Haikyu!! mix of comedy, friendship, and tense sports drama is still here, along with the bright, fast animation of Production I.G.

Haikyu!! as a whole has become one of the best-known sports anime of its time. The manga won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2016 and has sold tens of millions of copies. The anime was named one of the best shows of the 2010s by sites like Polygon, Crunchyroll, and IGN. To the Top is an important bridge in the story. It takes Karasuno from a local surprise to a team ready to face the whole country. The story continues directly in To the Top Part 2.