01 June,2024 04:01 PM IST | Mumbai | Johnson Thomas
A still from Haikyuu - The Dumpster Battle
This film is about a volleyball game that runs through the entire runtime of the film. As opposed to other recent anime films, this one though does not have much of a story and the drama doesn't swell into fevered action or excitement.
This film, is part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the Weekly Shonen Jump manga series from Haruichi Furudate - which it is based on. This series is a popular sports anime about a high school volleyball team. It's been said that 33 chapters of manga have been adapted into this movie. So, much of the intimate detailing is lost in the macro battle that ensues on film. "The Dumpster Battle" doesn't have backstory. So if you are not clued in on the anime series, this would seem like just another volleyball game.
Haikyuu makes do with emotional moments, and adrenaline generating action sequences. The movie revolves around the highly-anticipated Battle at the Garbage Dump, a match between rivals Karasuno and Nekoma High School.
Shoyo Hinata, the newest member of the volleyball team at Karasuno High School, is excited to be on the team that his athletic idol, "Little Giant," was once part of. But the excitement doesn't last long - once he learns that one of his teammates will be Tobio Kageyama, his bitter rival from middle school. Tobio's team had in-fact beaten Shoyo's, last year. Now, since they are on the same team they are forced to collaborate with each other, to make their team a winner.
The animation continues to be exacting. The premise here follows a set-up that has already been shown before ( but not in India) so there is no link here from which one could connect the dots to understand the context. So for the fresh Indian viewer this film may not generate as much excitement or enthusiasm. Since the entire runtime encapsulates a game - all we get is just that. We don't get any personal insight into the characters or their inter-connected relationships. Everything we see here is related to the game. We get to hear the players' thoughts as they prepare to serve or spike balls. After a point it all gets rather boring. The game itself is not without thrills though but getting invested in it emotionally, is undoubtedly a tough ask.
