50 Fun Facts About Haikyuu

Who wrote and illustrated Haikyu!!?

He was born in Karumai, Iwate, in 1983 and played volleyball in middle and high school.

In which magazine was Haikyu!! serialized from 2012 to 2020?

Two one-shots in 2011 preceded the full run, which was collected in 45 volumes.

How many tankōbon volumes make up the complete manga?

They were released between June 2012 and November 2020.

Where was the series' creator born?

He grew up in Karumai and played in volleyball clubs in middle and high school.

What inspires the young Hinata to take up volleyball?

The Little Giant was a short but talented wing spiker, and Hinata is short himself.

What nickname does Tobio Kageyama carry from junior high?

It refers both to his skill as a setter and to his brutal, domineering play style.

What do rival teams call the fallen Karasuno?

They are also known as the 'Fallen Champs' after their glory days with the Little Giant.

In which prefecture is Karasuno High School located?

That places it in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan.

What position does Hinata play for Karasuno despite his height?

His speed and jump make him a decoy that misleads opposing blockers.

Which junior high did Kageyama attend before Karasuno?

Kunimi and Kindaichi were his teammates there and later followed Oikawa to Aoba Johsai.

Who is Karasuno's captain?

He, Sugawara and Asahi joined the club together as first-years.

What is Kōshi Sugawara's role on the team?

He graciously cedes the starting setter role to first-year Kageyama.

What position does Yū Nishinoya play?

He is the shortest player on the team and its 'Guardian Deity'.

Who is Karasuno's tallest player?

He is a first-year middle blocker with a taste for sarcasm — and dinosaurs.

What serving technique does Yamaguchi adopt to earn court time as a pinch server?

He is the only first-year not in the starting lineup and learns it from a former Karasuno player.

Who is Karasuno's head manager?

First-year Yachi becomes the anxious assistant manager.

What subject does faculty adviser Ittetsu Takeda teach?

He pestered alumnus Keishin Ukai for weeks until he agreed to coach.

What relation is coach Keishin Ukai to Karasuno's previous coach?

He only agreed to coach after seeing Hinata and Kageyama's quick attack in a practice match.

In which Tokyo ward is Nekoma High located?

Their long-standing rivalry with Karasuno is the 'Battle at the Garbage Dump' — cats versus crows.

Which Nekoma player is called the 'brain' of the team?

He is Nekoma's setter and Kuroo's childhood friend.

Who captains Aoba Johsai?

A setter who draws out each player's potential; he treats Kageyama as a rival and overworks himself.

What is Shiratorizawa's ace Wakatoshi Ushijima nicknamed?

He is one of Japan's top three high-school aces and the only Tōhoku player picked for the under-19 team.

Which school does Kōtarō Bokuto, one of Japan's top five aces, captain?

He calls Hinata his 'star pupil' after the Tokyo training camp.

Which brothers, Atsumu and Osamu, star for Inarizaki?

Atsumu is the setter; Osamu is the younger by minutes.

Which school does the short but explosive Kōrai Hoshiumi play for?

He is a second-year and Hinata's mirror image among small players.

After the time skip, which national team does Aoba Johsai's former captain play for against Japan?

He plays for CA San Juan and gained Argentine citizenship.

Which pro club does Hinata join in 2018 after the time skip?

Kageyama, by contrast, joins the Schweiden Adlers.

Which team does Kageyama play for post-timeskip?

Ushijima and Hoshiumi are his Adlers teammates.

In which country does Hinata later play, for Asas São Paulo?

He first spent time there playing beach volleyball.

What is Kenma's job after the time skip?

His firm, Bouncing Ball corp., sponsors Hinata.

Where does Kuroo work after the time skip?

He is in the sports promotion division.

What is Akaashi's post-timeskip job?

Fukurodani's calm setter ends up in publishing.

Which studio produces the Haikyu!! anime?

The first season aired on MBS in 2014.

How many episodes did the first anime season have?

Season four was also 25 episodes, split into two cours in 2020.

Which prize did Haikyu!! win in 2016?

It took the shōnen category at the 61st edition.

What was the subtitle of the first Final film, released in February 2024?

It adapts the Karasuno-Nekoma showdown; the second part is due in 2027.

What subtitle was announced for the second and final Haikyu!! Final film?

Announced with a 2027 release target, it follows The Dumpster Battle and closes out the series.

Roughly how many copies did the manga have in circulation by December 2025?

That places it among the best-selling manga series of all time.

Which part of the anime was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic?

It was pushed from July to October 2020.

Which company licenses the Haikyu!! manga in North America?

Sentai Filmworks and later Crunchyroll handled the anime.

What do the kanji behind the series title, 排球, mean?

The series began life as a one-shot in the seasonal Jump Next! in January 2011, a year before its weekly serialization.

What subtitle did the fourth anime season carry?

It was announced at Jump Festa '19 and premiered on January 11, 2020, on the Super Animeism block.

Which title did the anime win in Funimation's fan-voted poll covering the 2010s?

Polygon, Crunchyroll and IGN all listed it among the best anime of the 2010s as well.

How many episodes did the third anime season, subtitled Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa, run for?

It aired from October 8 to December 10, 2016, with 'Hikariare' by Burnout Syndromes as its opening.

What award did Shoyo Hinata win at the 5th Crunchyroll Anime Awards?

He was nominated for Best Protagonist at the same ceremony, while 'Phoenix' was up for Best Opening Sequence.

Which band performed 'Imagination', the first opening theme of the anime?

The same band returned for the second season's 'I'm a Believer' and the fourth season's ending 'One Day'.

In May 2020, which manga kept Haikyu!! off the top of Oricon's weekly sales chart?

Haikyu!! still sold 473,858 copies that week and finished 2020 as Japan's fourth best-selling manga series.

What is the name of the series' mascot, a parody of Hinata that got its own spin-off in 2026?

The spin-off launched in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump, following the earlier gag spin-off Haikyubu!! on Shonen Jump+.

Who composed the anime's soundtrack, praised for turning rallies into 'an operatic duel of fates'?

Slash Film's Rafael Motamayor credited the score alongside Production I.G's fluid animation for elevating the matches.

What is the series of Haikyu!! stage plays, running since 2015, called?

Directed by Worry Kinoshita, the productions starred Kenta Suga as Hinata.