OXFORD UNIVERSITY ANIME SOCIETY
Haikyū!! Animation Change
Sekani Adebimpe
9/4/24
Trigger warnings: none applicable
Editor's note: minor spoilers for Haikyū!!
There was a time when the Pokémon anime used to the best thing ever.
I remember those days of sweet nostalgia when I tuned in on Saturday mornings to watch Ash and his friends undergo a quest to catch them all. Each successive season brought with it a fresh cast of characters and exhilarating battles, as the quality of the animation improved with each and every episode. The true potential of the series peaked with Pokémon XYZ, with its dynamic battle arenas, insane art quality, and epic fights that had Ash-Greninja losing to a Mega Charizard X in the Kalos League despite a clear type advantage. Those were the good times…
But dark days soon fell upon the Pokémon anime that ruined it forever.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you this abomination known as the Pokémon Sun & Moon anime. I mean, look at this trash! All the characters have way less detail! Look at all these terrible drawn in-between frames that look super bad when I pause my video! And you’re not gonna believe this: they made Ash, a ten-year old, mind you, look like an actual ten-year-old! I—I—I CAN’T TAKE THIS BLASPHEMY ANYMORE I’M GOING BACK TO THE WAY THINGS WERE…
This is likely how someone invested in the Pokémon anime would have felt after realizing that Sun & Moon would exhibit an artistic departure from the original. And despite this interlude from PokemonChad69, there are people who are going to have preferences between the original art direction and new art direction of the Pokémon anime for various reasons. Regardless, I believe that it can be agreed upon that each carries specific benefits and drawbacks that facilitate the work that animators do on the show.
I bring this up because the latest season of HaikyÅ«!! has undergone an identical shift. Gone is the rougher, mature character design in favor of a brighter one that is more faithful to the manga’s artwork. Comparing Hinata from before and after this shift exemplifies these changes, as his new look features a more petite face and simpler hair texture to reflect the changes of HaikyÅ«!! mangaka Haruichi Furudate’s artwork since the series began.
As expected, there was hesitation from anime fans in particular about this change, and it isn’t difficult to blame them. Not only have we been accustomed to three seasons of this:
The closest thing we get resembling those shots are these:
The key contrast here is that the first three seasons of Haikyū!! appear more cinematic, with a particular emphasis on intense line art and the fantastic cinematography that makes those Oikawa serves and Ushijima spikes visually more epic.
As with any anime that experiences such changes, there are clear reasonings behind them. And change can be for the better and the worse. There are two questions that I’d like to tackle. Firstly, why does HaikyÅ«!! To The Top look different from past seasons—and secondly, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the new look?
Let’s start with the first discussion, the sentiments of which I can explain in one sentence: LOOK AT ALL OF THESE WEIRDLY DRAWN FRAMES, THEY MUST HAVE LOST THEIR B-B-B-BUDGET!!!!!
(No… no, calm down, PokemonChad69… just go sit in the corner.)
In reality, the new approach to Haikyū!! can be attributed to staff changes, and a shift in philosophy on the part of Production I.G.
Production I.G. can be considered the ‘king’ of sports anime. From Kuroko no Basket to Welcome to the Ballroom to Run with the Wind, I.G. has developed a reputation for adapting interesting sports stories with painstaking quality and undeterred ambition. For the longest time, we became accustomed to two-cour runs of these series with an unwavering commitment when it comes to emulating the featured sports with a striking blend of realism and expressionism. The fluid and consistent movement of the legs across the ground, the steady gaze looking ahead on the road—nothing I’ve seen compares to the running animation in Run with the Wind. As someone who ran cross country in high school, I could immediately tell that the team studied the anatomy and movement of runners because its translation to animation was impeccable.
Enthusiasts of basketball, volleyball, and ballroom dancing can attest to that beautiful feeling of seeing a sport you understand depicted with such care. But, of course, this can come at a cost. Producing quality animation is expensive: sometimes due to finances, but most likely because of time. Welcome to the Ballroom went through some production troubles that could be attributed to this high quality benchmark. There’s a simple explanation: refined detail makes animation harder, because it requires its animators to account for more. Yet Production I.G. has strived to have their cake and eat it, too. They have found great success—but, in an industry synonymous with tight production schedules, overwork, and low wages, change is necessary at even the most talented animation studios. With HaikyÅ«!! To The Top, it is quite likely that the simplification of the character designs was not only done to look closer to the newer manga chapters, but to reduce the burden on the animators and expedite production in the long term, especially if the show is scheduled to be adapted to the very end.
This ties into the recognition of staff changes, because it is easy to make the assumption the character designers of HaikyÅ«!! has changed. They haven’t. Takahiro Kishida reprises the role, which demonstrates that the shift to a more faithful art style was an intentional one rather than a necessity. Art Director Ichirou Tatsuta still contributes to the general aesthetic of the series.
Nonetheless, apart from character designers, HaikyÅ«!! To The Top has undergone a few key staff changes that have proved to have a resounding impact. For one, the director is different. Susumu Mitsunaka does not reprise the role he had occupied three seasons: perhaps because he went on to direct the Layton’s Mystery Journey anime for fifty episodes, which intersected with the beginning of production for HaikyÅ«!! To The Top, which likely made him too busy to return to what was—unarguably—his magnum opus. Mitsunaka’s directorial effort shaped the narrative and visual identity of the series, aligned with the talent of Production I.G. to deliver upon that vision with his team. Our new director is Masako Soto, a Production I.G. familiar with prior experience on HaikyÅ«!!. In fact, she was the episode director and storyboard artist for Tsukishima’s legendary episode in Season 3. Soto is undeniably qualified. Not to mention, she was in charge of key animation for several films at Studio Ghibli… like WHATTTTTTT?!?!?!
We must consider how this was Masako Soto’s second directorial debut, which explains the possibility of a few growing pains that were evident in the first half of HaikyÅ«!! To The Top as the narrative tried to reestablish itself. By the time the series jumped into its second cour, the fruits of Soto’s direction came to the forefront as she oversaw one of HaikyÅ«!!’s biggest matches.
However, an obvious point of contrast with previous seasons is apparent when we consider the Chief Animation Director role. Chiba Takahiro had blown it out of the park through the first three seasons of HaikyÅ«!!, setting high expectations for the team with each consecutive season and exceeding them. Some of his animation work falls nothing short of iconic for HaikyÅ«!! fans across the world. Another notable contributor was action animation director Yasuyuki Kai, whose terrifyingly intense shots pushed the boundaries of the animation and compelled me to put episodes on repeat just to watch his scenes time and time again. Neither of these artists kept their positions for HaikyÅ«!! To The Top. The responsibility of chief animation director fell to YÅ« Kobayashi. Just like Sato, they’ve been involved with HaikyÅ«!! for some time, and this new position is a huge step-up from their original one. Kobayashi has also delivered this one cut that looks AMAZING—CUZ LOOK AT THAT FOOD—
To clarify, Chiba Takahiro and Yasuyuki Kai still contribute their talents to HaikyÅ«!! To The Top. The former did key animation for the opening PHOENIX from J-rock band Burnout Syndromes, and the latter gave our resident ‘HEY HEY HEY!’ boy the justice he deserved with a fantastic line shot in the Land vs. Air OVA. It might not be reminiscent of Kai’s regular style, but the animation is unquestionably impressive.
There are many advantages and disadvantages involved in this new style of animation. At the end of the day, the cons can be attributed to the details. Comparing these photos reveals the key differences: less hatch shading. simpler body proportions, and most importantly… smaller giraffe necks :).
Even though Haikyū!! did undergo some artistic updates in line with the manga, anime-only viewers became so accustomed to three seasons of a specific quality benchmark that it was a harsh transition to witness a significant departure from the seasons prior. The original has a more refined look, which was a huge source of its appeal. Choosing to make this shift a little over halfway through the series also means the series will look inconsistent for viewers getting into Haikyū!! Ultimately it will come down to personal preference, but it is clear that the reduced detail from frame-to-frame will be missed.
Fortunately, the newer art style is defined by the flexibility it provides the artists when it comes to delivering spectacular animation. It is noticeable, for one, that more motion is present. Two of my favorite cuts in the entire series would be Hoshiumi’s monstruous display of volleyball power at Nationals, and Nekoma’s match against Kiyokawa.
The action is much faster, frantic, and fun, infusing these scenes with their own personalities that serve to underscore Hoshiumi’s unrivaled skill and Nekoma’s tenacity respectively. Don’t even get me started on the kinetic BAM! Jump, or the way that the ball occasionally contracts into the ground before bouncing away. You could loop these again and again, and I’d never get tired of it.
The newest season might lack the cinematic flair of the past three seasons, but its animation craft is still undeniable and manages to capture the essence of what makes HaikyÅ«!! the premier sports story of its time. And with the upcoming movies aimed at giving it HaikyÅ«!! a long overdue resolution on the big screen—over three years since the last episode—the movie’s production team has a golden opportunity to fly higher than it ever has, pushing the series achieve new visual heights.