Haikyuu is a shonen manga about a short high school boy, named Hinata, who is incredibly passionate about volleyball. In middle school, he sees a player called the "Little Giant" playing in the Japan Youth National Tournament on TV. The player is short like him, and his performance is so striking that Hinata decides that he wants to play volleyball and get to his level. Hinata is unable to play on a real volleyball team until high school because his middle school does not have one. Hinata decides to attend the Little Giant's alma mater Karasuno High, and his journey to the top of the sport begins. This manga is high octane. The artwork accentuates the force and ludicrous speed at which the players are moving without fully moving into the realm of fantasy. The characters are also quite well written, and the story tracks their development as players and people in unison. Through the elaborate matches and conflicts in the story, the reader watches the team grow into something great.
Because I read this work in English, I did not get to see much in terms of language exposure, but there is a lot of Japanese youth culture and school life captured in this manga. The importance of clubs in Japanese school life is heavily emphasized, and some of the academic processes of Japanese high schools are delved into as well (entrance exams, career forms, exam structures, common classes, etc.)
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