First of all, it is a sport manga... So, who are searching for something extraordinary, deep complex story or plottwists at every corner... Search further, this is not what you want. But if you here for a good sport title, then hear me out.
Note:
Volleyball has a best-of-3 or best-of-5 matches. One "round" is called "Set", and it ends when one team reaches 25 points with a 2 point lead. I'm just saying this, because this will be important for this review.
Story 7/10
Of course a sport manga will never has a wide/complex story like an adventure or thriller, but even sport titles can have a nice varied story. This one is not one of these... I know, I know, hold your burning pitchforks and listen! In my opinion many sport titles fail in diversity. It mostly has the same scheme from match to match and after some games you can predict (almost) the rest of the story or at least the matches. For this, Kuroko's Basketball is the perfect example. Almost every game is: Good start -> struggling -> comeback -> they win. Haikyuu has here a similar scheme: They win the 1. Set, lose the 2nd, win the 3rd. (sometimes there are best-of-5 matches, and as you may think, they also end in the 5th set...) So yeah, after a little while you can easily predict how a match will go. This scheme is so stiff, that even one of the characters mention it, that they always win the 1st set. However, at the end this scheme gets break and turn the final unpredictable.
But let us look outside of the matches. Like every sport manga, of course it has a knock-out tournament in a high school setting, which is of course the last / the most important of our characters lifetime... I don't know why is it always like that, but it really bothers me... These borders in which you push your story destroy a lot of tension. You know, they won't lose, because then the story would end or they have to change/switch the characters... Why they don't use a tournament where they have to play against everyone at least once and gather points? Of course, you would say: "But than you don't have this tension that they may lose and got knocked-out of the tournament!" You are maybe right, however, fighting for points could also be extremly tensionous (saying this as a football/soccer-fan). I mean, if your team needs to win the next 3 games, or they lose than this can be also exciting as in a knock-out stage (see for example 'Hinomaru Sumo'). Even more, you don't have to push hundreds of practice games, which are mostly boring or too long... So yes, Haikyuu suffers also from this (excluding the final), while other titles like 'Ace of the Diamond' have the guts to change/switch, or like 'Hinomaru Sumo' where a tournament doesn't need be automatically knock-out type and it doesn't have to be a high school setting. However, at the finel the sides change ang get refreshed.
What I also miss in almost every sport-manga is: "A life outside of the sport". Of course, a sport focus is important, show us as much as you can. But, if there isn't an on going match (be that a tournament or practice) there is nothing... So you have to choose, to put as much practice games / training as possible or stretch the matches as long as you can. Haikyuu doesn't have too much practice games / training, however the mangaka is a master in stretching! As I mentioned it at the beginning in the note, in volleyball you have to lead with at least 2 points and gathering 25 + it is a best-of-3... Other sports like football/soccer or basketball have a time limit. You can stretch it, but if it is too long it lose its credibility. In volleyball you can make an intense game with an endscore of 37 to 35 just in the 1st set and then repeat it at lest twice more... In addition, as I wrote, you already know the scheme. You know they will win (they have to), but you still have to read 10-20 maybe 40 more chapters to reach finally the next match. But that's a casual mistake in sport mangas, Ace of the Diamond is even worse in this category. However, Hinomaru Sumo shows us, what I'm missing. You get intense, passionate and exciting fights, but after and before these you get background stories or a bit lighty romance or slice of life comedy. These are important, because this shows us that they are ordinary guys like us. Falling in love, suffering of a family member's death, injuries etc. So for me, it's a bit too much, that they focus so extremely on the sport/training that they forget that our characters are teens with a family and crushes. Don't misunderstand me, Haikyuu doesn't fail completely. We learn a bit about our characters, especially in the last 80-100 chapters, but I wanted more. The style/story of the final arc should be at least another 200 chapters (not just around 30), while the "first" 370 chapters could be shorter, and it would be the best sport manga ever! But it didn't come so...
Don't worry, the next categories are short ones!
Art 10/10
The most important at a very good sport title is, the art! Because, the story is mostly the same and simple. They play and they have to win. So you can't suprise your audience with unexpected charakters or plottwists. However, you can amaze them, with a fantastic Art... And oh boy... Furudate's artstyle is a perfect match! It's so amazing, detailrich and dynamic, you will FEEL the game!
Characters 6/10
The characters are good. Yeah, that's all... I mean, you have 2 rivals in the same team (just like in Ace of the Diamond, which is in my opinion even better, because they fighting for the same position) which have a good electrifying chemistry. However, the rest of them are mostly just for some jokes or nice for the background, even if they have sometimes their moments. The rivals get their bear minimum of background story and a bit more important ones get even more, however, they are mostly generic standard sport characters. Maybe for someone who never read a sport manga it's suprising, but for someone who read 5-10, you will know what awaits you. At the final it gets way more special, also a thing what I missed before.
Enjoyment 9/10
But, if this work is so full of cliches, except for the art and the last arc, why is it so popular? That, my friend, is a simple one: Furudate is an extraordinary story teller! Even if I said that a big percent of the story is standard, I give a relatively high score. That's because you know they will win, you know the scheme, you may have mostly standard sport characters, but you still extremely connected. You fall completely into the match, you feel the pressure to win, you live their will to win! So yes, I tell you, you will enjoy it! (and if you don't have to wait 1-2 weeks for a chapter, and read it completely through, even the stretched matches won't disturbe you that much.)
Overall 8/10
For my taste, I need more than just a 100% sport story, especially if it just follow the same concept than other works. A good counterpart is "1/11", however that one is too much focused on outside the sport / the effect of the sport, or "Hinomaru Sumo" which could be longer / wider in the story. "Ace of the Diamond" is a good alternative, which take more risks, but it's even slower than Haikyuu (and at the time of writing, it's still ongoing). This manga also remains on earth (even if it jumps high) and is more sportrealistic, while "Kuroko's Basketball" is too extreme, where you drift a bit to superpowers. On the other hand, the Art is fantastic and I really enjoyed it, and the final was suprising, special and amazing!
So altogether, this manga is mostly a 7, sometimes a 6, but with that final arc, which was a 10/10, it wins the matchball for a 8/10. And is it the best sport manga of the world? No. There are certain points, where other titles are better (even if they are in total not better) and it is still a question of taste. But is it one of the best? Definitely, yes! And if more arcs would be like the final, I think it could be the best.
