Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

HomeEntertainment‘Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle’ Review: Drama on the Court

‘Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle’ Review: Drama on the Court

For someone unfamiliar with “Haikyu!!,” the anime adaptation of a slice-of-life manga about a high school volleyball team, the premise may seem a bit niche. And yet the series, which continues in the form of the film “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,” has always excelled at making its wholesome sports drama accessible to every kind of audience — especially those who may not know anything about volleyball.

The series focuses on Shoyo Hinata, a short teenager who dreams of becoming a volleyball champion like his idol, a small-statured ace called the Little Giant. He enrolls at the Little Giant’s former high school, Karasuno, and joins the volleyball team with his middle school nemesis, Tobio Kageyama. The two boys form a superhuman pair that helps revitalize the team and offers Karasuno the opportunity to return to its former glory.

Directed by Susumu Mitsunaka, “The Dumpster Battle,” which feels like more of an extended episode than a stand-alone film, picks up during Karasuno’s heated competition at the spring nationals. They are set to go against Nekoma, another team with which they’ve been caught for years in a friendly rivalry. The match takes up the entire movie, with flashbacks and series callbacks fully contextualizing the relationships and stakes at work in the game.

As in every match in the series, the Dumpster Battle uses imaginative visual metaphors to depict each team’s offensive and defensive strategies and overall playing philosophies. Karasuno is the crow, with Hinata’s awe-inspiring leaps above the court represented by a crow making an airborne attack. Nekoma is the cat, grounded with solid defense, stalking and manipulating its prey until it can find the right moment to clip the crow’s feathers. And both of these underdog squads want to earn respect and fight their way out of the dumpster.

Leading Nekoma is Kenma Kozume, an apathetic teen with no stamina and little athletic prowess who would rather play video games than volleyball. But Kenma, whom Hinata befriended at a training camp earlier in the series, is also Nekoma’s mastermind, meticulously planning their attacks while his teammates make up for the athleticism he lacks.

In terms of the gameplay itself, while riveting and meticulously depicted, the Dumpster Battle pales in comparison to some of the more explosive multi-episode matches captured in the series. But this battle does contain more heart — no easy feat in a show that consistently builds empathy for all of its characters, even the most abominable competitors, via arcs that relate how far passion and teamwork can take athletes striving toward victory. Under Kenma’s leadership, Nekoma threatens to crush Karasuno, and particularly Hinata, who is targeted by Nekoma’s offense; and yet Hinata and his team also eventually lead Kenma to a revelation about his relationship to the sport and his reasons for playing.

Though “The Dumpster Battle” is squarely aimed toward fans of the series, it has charms that may lead new viewers to the anime (streaming on Crunchyroll and Netflix) to follow the story from the beginning. Because even if crows and cats battling in a dumpster doesn’t appeal to you, there’s still the promise of watching good athletes play a good game — and that’s worth a seat in the bleachers.

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle
Rated PG-13 for heated midmatch exchanges. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 25 minutes. In theaters.

Content Source: www.nytimes.com

Related News

Latest News