Teen Book Review: Vera from our Greenwich Library Advisory Club shares the backstory to one of the most popular manga series around.
Haikyu! is a popular manga series available at the Library about one boy’s quest to play volleyball. Ever since Shoyo Hinata watched the “Little Giant” from Karasuno High School play volleyball in the Nationals, he became inspired to learn how to play the sport, despite not being very tall. Though there was originally no boys’ volleyball team at his middle school, he eventually recruited enough people and played a real game. In his first match, his team lost to Kitagawa First. There, he met Tobio Kageyama, who was known as “The King of the Court,” and planned to defeat him in high school. However, they ended up going to the same school- Karasuno High School- and became teammates!
The author of Haikyu! is Haruichi Furudate, a manga artist best known for creating the series. He was born in Karumai in the Iwate Prefecture in 1983 and moved to the Miyagi Prefecture (where Karasuno High School is located) after graduating from high school. When he was 25, Furudate began his manga career with his shounen one-shot Ousama Kid (King Kid), which won an Honorable Mention for the 14th Jump Treasure Newcomer Manga Prize. His first series was horror-themed and was called Kiben Gakuha, Yotsuya Sensei no Kaidan (Philosophy School, Yotsuya Sensei’s Ghost Stories). This was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2010. Then, Haikyu! was serialized in 2012 in the Weekly Shonen Jump. There are 45 books in the Haikyu! series in total and the last one was released on November 4th, 2020.
Haikyu! was turned into an anime in 2014 (the first episode aired in April 2014). This anime includes many reputable and well-known voice actors, such as Miyu Irino ( “Koshi Sugawara” in Haikyu!, “Haku” in Spirited Away), Daisuke Namikawa (voice actor, “Tooru Oikawa” in Haikyu!, “Hisoka Morow” in Hunter x Hunter), Mamoru Miyano (voice actor, “Atsumu Miya” in Haikyu!, “Light Yagami” in Death Note, and “Tamaki Suou” in Ouran High School Host Club), and many more. The show won “Best Boy” for Shoyo Hinata and was nominated for “Best Protagonist” for Shoyo Hinata and “Best Opening” for the theme song Phoenix by the band Burnout Syndromes for the Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2021. Haikyu! was additionally nominated for “Best Anime Series” at the IGN Awards in 2016.
Greenwich Library is a place for teens in grades 6-12 to find and read books that reflect themselves and their experiences, get college or job ready, tinker with emerging technologies, and ace their next test. Plus, monthly programs and workshops allow teens to develop their skill sets, dive into new hobbies, and make friends with others in the community. Learn more about offerings for Teens at greenwichlibrary.org/teens.
Get the latest about the Library’s Teens’ events and offerings sent to your email: greenwichlibrary.org/enews.
Questions? Contact:
Amy, Teen Librarian
(203) 625-6549
alaughlin@greenwichlibrary.org