History YMMV / Haikyuu

* LGBTFanbase: When a series is packed with as much bishounen as Haikyuu, it's bound to have hordes of gay male fans.

** The official matches of the Nationals arc begin in Chapter 233 (not counting the teams' arrival and warming up) and surpasses [[spoiler:a hundred]] chapters. [[spoiler:Even discounting a few breaks to show how Nekoma and Fukurodani are doing, the number of chapters focused on Karasuno's matches can be considered overwhelming when reading as it's released. The matches from Round 2 onwards (against Inarizaki) in particular are considered to be extremely long, with the Round 3 Nekoma match dragging on for a particularly long time due to the frequent cuts to Nekoma's side of the court, strategy, and background.]]

** The fact that Creator/SentaiFilmworks decided to initially release this series sub-only while giving a [[LightNovel/MahouSensou widely panned Madhouse-produced action anime]] an English dub did not win any favors. They eventually relented, however.

** Very split opinions were made about Furudate [[spoiler:doing a several-year TimeSkip to an adult Hinata in Brazil]] at the end of Chapter 369, right after [[spoiler:Karasuno's run at Nationals and the third years' graduation]]. Is it an interesting and bold choice that [[spoiler:avoids any repetitive storylines that would had happened if the series covered Hinata's second and/or third year]]? Or does it come at a terrible time and is a disservice to [[spoiler:the buildup made for next year's Karasuno members and rivals, as well as killing the anticipation of who won Nationals that first year (with Fukurodani and Kamomedai being in the running)]]?

** Bokuto and Hinata develop a close mentor friendship, with Bokuto boasting about Hinata being his No. 1 Disciple and Hinata clearly idolising the former. [[spoiler:After the TimeSkip, Hinata joins MSBY Black Jackals and becomes Bokuto's teammate.]]

** [[TeamMom Sugamama!]] Alternatively, Mama Suga. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Sugawara is a very good TeamMom of Karasuno, leading to a pun of his name and "sugar mama". This tropes also extends to the team captain Daichi, nicknaming him [[TeamDad “Dadchi”]], which may have been popularized by the popular Sawamura/Sugawara pairing. This even extends to other teams, i.e Yaku is the TeamMom of Nekoma, with the “father” either being Lev Haiba or the team captain Kuroo, the former seems to be more favorable due to the Yaku/Haiba fandom.[[/labelnote]]

** Kiryuu and Sakusa are hyped as the other top high school aces in Japan alongside Ushijima, with Sakusa's team Itachiyama in particular considered the biggest threats. While Kiryuu's skills are shown off and his characterisation is well done, [[spoiler:his only significant appearance is his loss against Fukurodani]], which can feel shorter than he deserves; meanwhile, Sakusa [[spoiler:is never even shown in a high school match (other than the match point against Fukurodani in the Preliminaries), leaving one to wonder if there was any point in giving any attention to the famous second-year ace. AuthorsSavingThrow has him appear on Hinata's V-League team after the TimeSkip to give him more exposure, but his lack of presence in the Nationals arc as a Top 3 Ace is still strongly felt]].

** Kanoka is the first character from a top girls' high school volleyball team introduced in the series, and there is a minor arc of her and Tanaka finding inspiration from each other (on top of the ShipTease). [[spoiler:She's never seen playing and isn't even shown again after the Inarizaki match; all is known is that her team won their Round 2 match, giving her a lack of closure and also wasting some decent opportunities of showing any Nationals girls' matches. Some criticism has been made of Kanoka existing only for Tanaka's development.]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Nationals arc (which lasted for around three years when serialised in Shonen Jump) is mostly well-received for the exhilarating matches, new teams and character development. [[spoiler:The ending to it however is thought to be rushed, with the sudden TimeSkip killing off many potential plot-points. The buildup for future matches (such as rematches with Date Tech and Kamomedai) and character development feels wasted; Hinata's second and third years of high school volleyball are not covered, meaning readers don't get to see how the current members adjust nor meet any of the new members (which was a popular topic for fan predictions); and the Nationals arc ends without even ''mentioning'' who wins it (with Fukurodani being the fandom's champion favourites).]]

** [[TeamMom Sugamama!]] Alternatively, Mama Suga. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Sugawara is a very good TeamMom of Karasuno, leading to a pun of his name and "sugar mama".[[/labelnote]]

* HarsherInHindsight: As much as Tanaka and Nishinoya going out of their way to prevent other teams from chatting up Shimizu is played for laughs, her encounter with the uncomfortably persistent Johzenji members shows that there might be some very good reasons for their overprotective side.

** [[spoiler:Hinata's Brazilian roomate Pedro mentioning that he's a fan of ''One Piece'' is chuckle worthy when one remembers that a Pedro ''does'' exist in the One Piece world.]]

* MisaimedFandom: Not unlike most ''Shonen Jump'' titles, there's a strong yaoi following for ''Haikyuu!!'' Unfortunately, once the final chapter was translated into English, some Western Kage/Hina fans got upset that the two didn't get together and even began writing threats and accusations of homophobia towards the official English translator, Adrienne Beck, despite that her translation was correct and that the original content never insinuated the two had feelings for each other beyond a FriendlyRivalry.

* {{Narm}}: The official English manga translation has Tanaka frequently say "bruh" at the end of his sentences, as a vague equivalence to his rough manner of speech in Japanese (which includes his ''kora''/"dammit" VerbalTic). This unfortunately makes it hard to take his him seriously at times (especially in the dramatic moments), with the insertion of "bruh" coming off as awkward and unrealistic (especially when said multiple times in a short span of time).

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Tsukishima's CharacterDevelopment in the Training Camp arc addresses an important issue with one's commitment to their extracurricular activities: you don't need a [[GoalInLife big dream goal]] in order to justify your hard work on a sport, or even to play that sport at all. Even if it's just a school club activity, you can [[SeriousBusiness play it seriously]] because it just feels really good to win, and to have a personal awesome moment. It doesn't need to be grander than that.
--> '''Yamaguchi''': A reason to work hard...? ''What more do you need besides pride?!''

** Calling [[{{Jerkass}} Tsukki]] or Oikawa a shit. In a similar vein, referring to Oikawa, Kuroo, Tsukishima, and sometimes even Lev as "trash" in various ways.
** [[TeamMom Sugamama!]] Alternatively, Mama Suga.
** GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU, GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU, GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU
** [[IncrediblyLamePun Solia K. Rabu]].
** Chapter 53: ''Oikawa Tooru is Not a Genius''
** Akaashi, Kuroo and Bokuto's NoblewomansLaugh (Oya oya oya? in the original Japanese, Oh ho ho ho? in the translation).

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Kiryuu and Sakusa are hyped as the other top high school aces in Japan alongside Ushijima, with Sakusa's team Itachiyama in particular considered the biggest threats. While Kiryuu's skills are shown off and his characterisation is well done, [[spoiler:his only significant appearance is his loss against Fukurodani]], which can feel shorter than he deserves; meanwhile, Sakusa [[spoiler:(and consequently Itachiyama) is never even shown in a match (other than the match point against Fukurodani in the Preliminaries), leaving one to wonder if there was any point in giving any attention to the famous second-year ace]].

** Hanamaki and Matsukawa are one of the top ten ship tags on ''Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn'' despite being only ThoseTwoGuys on the Aoba Johsai team and the more focused characters on the Aoba Johsai team being Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Kindaichi and Kyoutani. They are, however, often a backdrop to the much more popular IwaOi (Iwaizumi x Oikawa) ship.

** Hanamaki and Matsukawa are one of the top ten ship tags on AO3 despite being only ThoseTwoGuys on the Aob Johsai team and the more focused characters on the Aoba Johsai team being Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Kindaichi and Kyoutani.

* DieForOurShip: Poor, poor Yui Michimiya. Ever since her crush on Daichi was made more apparent in Chapter 150, the more militant Daichi/Sugawara fans have started bashing her relentlessly. The sad part is, before Chapter 150, she was actually a fairly well-liked character, and if not well-liked, then at least the fans mostly left her alone. But, unfortunately, that seems to be a thing of the past now. All of this becomes even more ridiculous when you realize that ''[[ShipperOnDeck Sugawara ships her and Daichi in canon.]]''. However it is worth noting that it is generally only a VocalMinority that behave this way.

** Hanamaki and Matsukawa are one of the top ten ship tags on AO3 despite being only ThoseTwoGuys on the Seijoh team and the more focused characters on the Seijoh team being Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Kindaichi and Kyoutani.

** Kageyama, at the very beginning of the series and in the events leading up to it, is often unlikeable in his approach but is shown to have a lot of justification behind it. In his middle school days, he constantly yelled at his teammates, put pressure on them to perform to his standards and refused to listen to their input. It got so bad to the point where his teammates abandoned him in the middle of a game and labeled him the "King of the Court" due to his near-tyrannical behavior. But once he gets to Karasuno, his [[CharacterDevelopment sincere desire to change]] because of that moment, combined with the panic he feels to win (especially during Karasuno's first official match against Seijoh) and his general {{Adorkable}} nature have pretty much won the hearts of the fandom.

** "You should have come to Shiratorizawa." [[labelnote:Explanation]]Ushijima thinks that Oikawa is wasting his talents at Seijou and should have gone to the strongest school to be his setter. Instead of telling him this when it would be effective, however, Ushijima decides that to ''open'' their conversation this way minutes after Aoba Johsai lost to Karasuno. It comes on pretty strong, and you get the idea that Oikawa has heard this sentiment before. [[/labelnote]]
** Farmer Ushiwaka. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Ushijima says that Shiratorizawa is fertile soil for strong players, whereas Seijou is barren land. Complete with background illustrations. Furthermore his nickname (Ushiwaka) translates to cowboy.[[/labelnote]]

* DieForOurShip: Poor, poor Yui Michimiya. Ever since her crush on Daichi was made more apparent in Chapter 150, the more militant Daichi/Sugawara fans have started bashing her relentlessly. The sad part is, before Chapter 150, she was actually a fairly well-liked character, and if not well-liked, then at least the fans mostly left her alone. But, unfortunately, that seems to be a thing of the past now. All of this becomes even more ridiculous when you realize that ''[[ShipperOnDeck Sugawara ships her and Daichi in canon.]]''

** [[EarWorm GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU, GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU, GO GO LET'S GO LET'S GO DATEKOU]]

'''Spoilers for both the anime and manga are unmarked.'''

** The official matches of the Nationals arc begin in Chapter 233 (not counting the teams' arrival and warming up) and surpasses a hundred chapters. Even discounting a few breaks to show how Nekoma and Fukurodani are doing, the number of chapters focused on Karasuno's matches can be considered overwhelming when reading as it's released. The matches from Round 2 onwards (against Inarizaki) in particular are considered to be extremely long, with the Round 3 Nekoma match dragging on for a particularly long time due to the frequent cuts to Nekoma's side of the court, strategy, and background.

* NightmareFuel:

** Hinata's smile when he's getting overly hyped up in his matches (such as the match against Nekoma) often crosses into creeper territory.

* FridgeBrilliance:
** Kuroo, captain of a team which has cats as their defined AnimalMotif and who's occasionally been drawn ''as'' a cat in extras, is often assumed to be a trickster with ulterior motivation, despite there being no reason to think so, save for the [[TheGadfly occasional provocation]] and his trademark CheshireCatGrin. Indeed he's generally quite a nice guy (not to mention a bit silly) most of the time, as lampshaded by himself. [[CatsAreMean Not too different from the bad rap cats themselves get]].
** Ushijima doesn't believe Karasuno can win – if Aoba Johsai is "infertile soil", then Karasuno to him is "concrete". But there's one major problem with that comparison: Plants that manage to grow through concrete have to be ''a lot'' tougher than plants that are grown in perfect conditions, hence Karasuno beating Aoba Johsai and then Shiratorizawa after immense growth both individually and as a team.
* HarsherInHindsight: As much as Tanaka and Noya going out of their way to prevent other teams from chatting up Kiyoko is played for laughs, Chapter 105 of the manga shows that there might [[http://mangasee.co/manga/?series=Haikyu&chapter=105&index=1&page=8 be some very good reasons]] [[http://mangasee.co/manga/?series=Haikyu&chapter=105&index=1&page=9 for their overprotectiveness.]]
* HoYay: It's kind of inevitable due to having a primarily male cast, but it's less than what one would expect.
** Hinata and Kageyama's VitriolicBestBuds friendship attracts [[BelligerentSexualTension a certain type of shipper]] like flies to honey, and it doesn't help how their relationship grows into one so deep that even other characters often mistakenly think they've known each other much longer than they actually have.
** At their introduction, Nishinoya and Asahi behave like a couple trying to make up after a big argument.
** Oikawa and Iwaizumi are ''really'' close, the two act LikeAnOldMarriedCouple, and are rarely ever seen apart.
** There's quite a bit between ChildhoodFriends Kuroo and Kenma, largely because Kuroo is the only character besides Hinata that Kenma is comfortable around.
** It’s almost inevitable to see some of this between Sugawara and Daichi, thanks to their status as TeamMom and TeamDad for Karasuno and Sugawara being Daichi’s NumberTwo.
** Furudate's habit of introducing characters in duos provides fans with a lot of [[NoLovesIntersect conveniently non-intersecting]], ready-to-ship pairs with unique dynamics. In addition to mentioned above, there is Tsukishima/Yamaguchi, Takeda/Ukai and Bokuto/Akaashi. Tanaka, being the only Karasuno regular without an "obvious" pairing [[PairTheSpares sometimes gets shipped with Ennoshita]], or Nishinoya, if the shipper is willing to break up Asahi/Nishinoya and have Asahi be the loner.
** It's also worth noting that every setter except Kageyama is commonly shipped with his captain/ace, and even Kageyama is shipped with ''his'' 'special' spiker and not just the team's ace. The spiker/setter trust goes a long way in fanfiction.

* LesYay: Yachi and Kiyoko. Yachi only agrees to becoming a manager at first because she was spacing out admiring Kiyoko's beauty and not listening to what she's saying. Kiyoko herself also becomes much more talkative when talking with Yachi than the boys.

** Takeda's cheerful "I'm good at [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything getting on my knees and begging]]" certainly counts. If you're curious, he's talking about begging for practice matches with other schools.

** The first match of the Nationals arc begins in Chapter 233 (not counting the teams' arrival and warming up) and surpasses a hundred chapters. Even discounting a few breaks to show how Nekoma and Fukurodani are doing, the number of chapters focused on Karasuno's matches can be considered overwhelming when reading as it's released. The matches from Round 2 (against Inarizaki) in particular are considered to be extremely long, with the Round 3 Nekoma match dragging on for a particularly long time due to the frequent cuts to Nekoma's side of the court, strategy, and background.

** Oikawa is either [[TheBully a childish bully]] [[NeverLiveItDown who tried to beat up Kageyama]] and [[SoreLoser has an incredibly unsportsmanlike attitude]], or he's a misunderstood kid [[HardWorkHardlyWorks who wants to see all of his hard work pay off, but never gets to]]. [[TakeAThirdOption Other people]] try to compromise by interpreting him as JerkWithAHeartOfGold, their line of reasoning being that while he isn't a perfect kid (being that he's introduced as an antagonist), his dedication to his team and his stellar work ethic compensate for his flaws, especially since most of his more unforgivable scenes took place 3 to 4 years before the beginning of the series (and they're teenagers). To say the least, it's an issue in the fandom, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and let's leave it at that]].
* BishonenJumpSyndrome: And friggin' ''how''. Although in this case the character designs are a bit more {{Moe}} than other Jump series.

** On a meta-level, fans are torn about Yumi Kuroiwa's termination from the animation staff. Was it unfair that she was fired for simply posting not-safe-for-work yaoi fanart of the characters from ''Haikyuu!!'' on her Twitter account, or was it justified since she was part of the official production and thus had the responsibility of maintaining the series' image by not posting not-safe-for-work art of minors? Was she fired because of the fanart, or because of her unprofessional behavior towards her work on ''Manga/KurokoNoBasuke''?

** The most impressive case has to be Iwaizumi Hajime, Aobajousai's ace. His canon role is basically Oikawa's friend/handler, yet he placed 9th in the second popularity poll, being the third highest-ranked non-Karasuno character (after Oikawa and Kuroo) and beating three Karasuno regulars. He's also a party member in the fantasy-themed game Haikyuu Quest and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKiF4UlNIlw one of PV narrators in Haikyuu!! 3DS game (again, determined by fan votes – Iwaizumi placed first)]].

** Ushijima doesn't believe Karasuno can win – if Aobajousai is "infertile soil", then Karasuno to him is "concrete". But there's one major problem with that comparison: Plants that manage to grow through concrete have to be ''a lot'' tougher than plants that are grown in perfect conditions, hence Karasuno beating Aobajousai and then Shiratorizawa after immense growth both individually and as a team.

** Oikawa and Iwaizumi are ''really'' close, the two act LikeAnOldMarriedCouple[=,=] and are rarely ever seen apart.

** As the series has progressed, so has the [[CrackPairing crack shipping]]. There are so many interesting, dynamic characters now that just about ''every single character'' can fall under this trope. For example, other than Hinata, Kageyama has been shipped with Sugawara, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Yachi, etc. Yachi is shipped with Kiyoko, Hinata, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Asahi, Kenma, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Lev, and so on. It's pretty much Everyone x Everyone at this point.

* LesYay: Yachi and Kiyoko. Yachi only agreed to become a manager at first because she was spacing out admiring Kiyoko's beauty and not listening to what she's saying. Kiyoko herself also became much more talkative when talking with Yachi than the boys.

** Swageyama Tobiyolo. Alternatively, Koolgeyama.[[labelnote:Explanation]]'Swageyama' was already popular, but [[http://www.mangahere.co/manga/haikyu/c106/3.html chapter 106]] cemented the meme.[[/labelnote]]
** "You should have come to Shiratorizawa." [[labelnote:Explanation]]Ushiwaka thinks that Oikawa is wasting his talents at Seijou and should have gone to the strongest school to be his setter. Instead of telling him this when it would be effective, however, Ushijima decides that to ''open'' their conversation this way minutes after Aoba Johsai lost to Karasuno. It comes on pretty strong, and you get the idea that Oikawa has heard this sentiment before. [[/labelnote]]
** Farmer Ushiwaka. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Ushiwaka says that Shiratorizawa is fertile soil for strong players, whereas Seijou is barren land. Complete with background illustrations. Furthermore his nickname (Ushiwaka) translates to cowboy.[[/labelnote]]
* {{Moe}}: Hinata, Sugawara, Yachi, and Kenma are adorable. [[LargeHam Nishinoya]] also counts, especially [[HeCleansUpNicely with his hair down]]. [[FaceOfAThug Asahi]] hasn't exactly got the look, but he sure does have the [[ShrinkingViolet personality]]. Even Kageyama is often described as "autistically moe" because of his adorkable tendencies.
* NarmCharm: Ushijima's speech about fertile and barren soil as analogy to talent sprouting, as well as Hinata's reply (that if such thing was true, he must have sprouted from concrete), has this effect on some people. It ''does'' manage to set the point across, but such an intricate and out of the blue comparison coming from the stoic and blunt Ushiwaka, with background plantations and growing tomatoes to illustrate his point, is just inherently funny. The fact that it managed to become a meme based around the character (see MemeticMutation right above) speaks for itself.

** Terushima's introduction, in which he persistently hits on an unwilling Shimizu and only gives up after getting distracted by Hinata's arrival. The manga doesn't mention this afterwards (aside from him cheerily greeting her later, in front of the whole Karasuno team this time), nor anything of the kind comes from him again, but it still leaves a sore taste in the mouths of more than a few fans to this day.

** Hinata's smile in the match against Nekoma.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Tsukishima's CharacterDevelopment in the Training Camp arc sums up to: you don't need a [[GoalInLife big dream goal]] in order to justify your hard work on a sport, or even to play that sport at all. Even if it's just a school club activity, you can [[SeriousBusiness play it seriously]] because it just feels really good to win, and to have a personal awesome moment. It doesn't need to be grander than that.

* ArcFatigue: Despite them being hyped as the strongest team in their area, the battle against Shiratorizawa is considered unnecessarily long by some. It lasts over thirty-five chapters, while an average match ends in ten chapters or fewer. The fact that most of their team consists of entirely new characters certainly doesn't help, especially when one of them is a BaseBreakingCharacter. Taken even further when you consider it happens right after the 18 chapters fight against Aoba Johsai, who are much better-liked by fans. The anime adaptation manages to avert this by condensing the match to 10 episodes, with critics praising the anime for its pacing and ability to maintain suspense all throughout.
** Don't even get started on the nationals matches. The first nationals game began in chapter 233, even after getting rid of the chapters devoted to getting there, warming up, finding lodging, etc. Haikyuu!! is now on chapter ''355''. We haven't even finished the quarterfinal game, which means that on average, each match is getting roughly 36 chapters. Even discounting a few breaks to show how Nekoma and Fukurodani are doing, that's ''much'' longer than all the other matches of the series, and the match with Nekoma drags on for a particularly long time due to the frequent cuts to Nekoma's side of the court, strategy, and background.

** The fanbase is especially divided over the Karasuno vs. Shiratorizawa match. Was [[spoiler:Karasuno's win over Shiratorizawa]] well-earned and realistic, or was it an AssPull that only happened because of PlotArmor] Was it well-paced and down to the finest detail, or was it [[ArcFatigue needlessly dragged out and slow]]? Was Tsukishima's development during the match a cathartic moment for the character, or [[SpotlightStealingSquad did he take up too much focus at the expense of other characters?]] Was Shiratorizawa's strength impactful and scary, or unrealistic and overhyped just so they could be the [[BigBad big bad]] of the preliminaries? Did the backstories for some of the Shiratorizawa players make them endearing and sympathetic, or were they just pointless {{Filler}} that added nothing to the characters? It's very tough to get any real consensus about this match among the fandom.

** Ushijima doesn't believe Karasuno can win – if Aobajousai is "infertile soil", then Karasuno to him is "concrete". But there's one major problem with that comparison: Plants that manage to grow through concrete have to be ''a lot'' tougher than plants that are grown in perfect conditions, hence [[spoiler:Karasuno beating Aobajousai and then Shiratorizawa after immense growth both individually and as a team.]]

** Kageyama is this at the very beginning of the series and in the events leading up to it. In his middle school days, he constantly yelled at his teammates, put pressure on them to perform to his standards and refused to listen to their input. It got so bad to the point where his teammates abandoned him in the middle of a game and labeled him the "King of the Court" due to his near-tyrannical behavior. But once he got to Karasuno, his [[CharacterDevelopment sincere desire to change]] because of that moment, combined with the panic he feels to win (especially during Karasuno's first official match against Seijoh) and his general {{Adorkable}} nature have pretty much won the hearts of the fandom, to the point where he's arguably become more {{Woobie}} than {{Jerkass}}.
*** This is especially due to the fact that his 'jerkassery' is later justified by his team to some extent. They won't tolerate a tyrannical and belittling attitude, but after the training camp he starts getting more demanding with his spikers, and everyone tells him that they were kind of waiting for him (with his already prickly personality) to be less desperate to please them and start really trying to push them where he ''knows'' they could go.
** Tsukishima definitely falls under this. He spends a good portion of the early parts of the series constantly razzing and belittling Hinata, taunting Kageyama by calling him "King" (a nickname he knows [[BerserkButton Kageyama hates]]), and even snarking off to his senpai. It's easy to see why people might not like him at first. But then, his backstory comes along – he UsedToBeASweetKid who idolized his older brother, only to have his faith completely shattered once he [[BrokenPedestal catches said brother in an ''enormous'' lie]]. Combine this with his CharacterDevelopment in the Shiratorizawa match, and fans have far more of a difficult time hating him than they did before. He's still an asshole 85% of the time, but an asshole you'd still want to root for, and his main target – Kageyama – gives as good as he gets.

--> '''Yamaguchi''': A reason to win...? ''What more do you need besides pride?!''

* SugarWiki/AwesomeArt: The action scenes are ''very'' well done and the character designs are well thought-out. Every character [[CastOfSnowflakes has distinct features.]]

** Tendou from Shiratorizawa. Either you think his constant bragging and shouting is obnoxious, or a saving grace for the relatively bland Shiratorizawa.
** Terushima. Ever since he made his introduction by hitting on Kiyoko and making her uncomfortable, to say that he's been a polarizing character within the fandom is an understatement -- either he's a horrible human being and a sexual deviant, or a high school boy whose actions, while dumb, are blown way out of proportion. It's pretty rare to come across a fan who ''doesn't'' have a strong opinion of him one way or another.
** Oikawa is either [[TheBully a childish bully]] [[NeverLiveItDown who tried to beat up Kageyama]] and [[SoreLoser has an incredibly unsportsmanlike attitude]], or he's a misunderstood kid [[HardWorkHardlyWorks who wants to see all of his hard work pay off, but never gets to]]. [[TakeAThirdOption Other people]] try to compromise by interpreting him as JerkWithAHeartOfGold, their line of reasoning being that while he isn't a perfect kid (being that he's introduced as an antagonist), his dedication to his team and his stellar work ethic compensate for his flaws. To say the least, it's an issue in the fandom, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and let's leave it at that]].

** The fanbase is especially divided over the Karasuno vs. Shiratorizawa match. Was [[spoiler:Karasuno's win over Shiratorizawa]] well-earned and realistic, or was it an AssPull that only happened because of PlotArmor] Was it well-paced and down to the finest detail, or was it [[ArcFatigue needlessly dragged out and slow]]? Was Tsukishima's development during the match a cathartic moment for the character, or [[SpotlightStealingSquad did he take up too much focus at the expense of other characters?]] Did the backstories for some of the Shiratorizawa players make them endearing and sympathetic, or were they just pointless {{Filler}} that added nothing to the characters? It's very tough to get any real consensus about this match among the fandom.
** On a meta-level, fans are torn about Yumi Kuroiwa's termination from the animation staff. Was it unfair that she was fired for simply posting not-safe-for-work yaoi fanart of the characters from ''Haikyu!!'' on her Twitter account, or was it justified since she was part of the official production and thus had the responsibility of maintaining the series' image? Was she fired because of the fanart, or because of her unprofessional behavior towards her work on ''Manga/KurokoNoBasuke''?

** [[TheRival Nekoma]] in general is very popular, but Kenma is probably the one who takes the cake for that team. It helps that he’s somewhat relatable to many viewers (especially Western fans), due to being introverted, socially awkward and fond of gaming.

** Ushijima doesn't believe Karasuno can win -- if Aobajousai is "infertile soil", then Karasuno to him is "concrete". But there's one major problem with that comparison: Plants that manage to grow through concrete have to be ''a lot'' tougher than plants that are grown in perfect conditions, hence [[spoiler:Karasuno beating Aobajousai and then Shiratorizawa after immense growth both individually and as a team.]]

** It's also worth noting that every setter except Kageyama is commonly shipped with his captain/ace.

** Tsukishima definitely falls under this. He spends a good portion of the early parts of the series constantly razzing and belittling Hinata, taunting Kageyama by calling him "King" (a nickname he knows [[BerserkButton Kageyama hates]]), and even snarking off to his senpai. It's easy to see why people might not like him at first. But then, his backstory comes along, how he UsedToBeASweetKid, :and idolizing his older brother, only to have his faith completely shattered once he [[BrokenPedestal catches said brother in a lie]]. Combine this with his CharacterDevelopment in the Shiratorizawa match, and fans have far more of a difficult time hating him than they did before. He's still an asshole 85% of the time, but an asshole you'd still want to root for.

** Hinata, ''good God Hinata;'' there's Hinata x Kageyama, Hinata x Tanaka, Hinata x Tsukishima, Hinata x Nishinoya, Hinata x Sugawara, Hinata x Yamaguchi, Hinata x Kenma, Hinata x Kuroo, Hinata x Lev, Hinata x Aone, Hinata x Kiyoko, Hinata x Yachi, Hinata x Oikawa and the list goes on; quite literally, Hinata gets shipped with ''everyone.''

** "You should have come to Shiratorizawa." [[labelnote:Explanation]]Ushiwaka thinks that Oikawa is wasting his talents at Seijou and should have gone to the strongest school to be his setter. [[BeamMeUpScotty While the phrase has never exactly been said,]] it gets the point across.[[/labelnote]]

** On a meta-level, fans are torn about Yumi Kuroiwa's termination from the animation staff. Was it unfair that she was fired for simply posting not-safe-for-work yaoi fanart of the characters from ''Haikyu!!'' on her Twitter account, or was it justified since she was part of the official production and thus had the responsibility of maintaining the series' image? Was she fired because of the fanart, or because of her unprofessional behavior regarding her absolute hatred for working on ''Manga/KurokoNoBasuke''?

* AccidentalInnuendo: Takeda's cheerful "I'm good at [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything getting on my knees and begging]]" certainly counts. If you're curious, he's talking about begging for practice matches with other schools.

* ArcFatigue: Despite them being hyped as the strongest team in their area, the battle against Shiratorizawa is considered this by some fans. It lasted over thirty-five chapters, while an average match ends in ten chapters or fewer. The fact that most of their team consists of entirely new characters certainly doesn't help, especially when one of them is a BaseBreakingCharacter. Taken even further when you consider it happens right after the 18 chapters fight against Aobajousai, who are much better-liked by fans.
** The anime adaptation of the match averts this; critics actually praised the anime for its pacing and ability to maintain suspense all throughout, and [[BaseBreakingCharacter Tendou]] was much more well-received there than he was in the manga. It helps that the anime managed to condense the match to ten weeks instead of almost forty.

** Terushima. Ever since he made his introduction by [[spoiler:hitting on Kiyoko and making her uncomfortable]], to say that he's been a polarizing character within the fandom is an understatement -- either he's a horrible human being and a sexual deviant, or a high school boy whose actions, while dumb, are blown way out of proportion. It's pretty rare to come across a fan who ''doesn't'' have a strong opinion of him one way or another.

** The fanbase is especially divided over the [[spoiler:Karasuno vs. Shiratorizawa match]]. Was [[spoiler:Karasuno's win over Shiratorizawa well-earned and realistic, or was it an AssPull that only happened because of PlotArmor]]? Was it well-paced and down to the finest detail, or was it [[ArcFatigue needlessly dragged out and slow]]? [[spoiler:Was Tsukishima's development during the match a cathartic moment for the character]], or [[SpotlightStealingSquad did he take up too much focus at the expense of other characters?]] Did the [[spoiler:backstories for some of the Shiratorizawa players make them endearing and sympathetic]], or were they just pointless {{Filler}} that added nothing to the characters? It's very tough to get any real consensus about this match among the fandom.

* DieForOurShip: Poor, poor Yui Michimiya. Ever since [[spoiler:she was revealed to have a crush on Daichi in Chapter 150]], the more militant Daichi/Sugawara fans have started bashing her relentlessly. The sad part is, before Chapter 150, she was actually a fairly well-liked character, and if not well-liked, then at least the fans mostly left her alone. But, unfortunately, that seems to be a thing of the past now. All of this becomes even more ridiculous when you realize that ''[[ShipperOnDeck Sugawara ships her and Daichi in canon.]]''

** Sugawara. He ranked fourth in the first popularity poll despite not playing in any matches since Kageyama became the regular setter (he only played in one match for a partial amount of time during their official match with Aobajousai). In their second official poll, he got second, just behind Hinata and beating Kageyama, who got first in the last poll.
** Yamaguchi too. Despite being Tsukishima's TagalongKid and not having a lot of action, his feature moments and boundless effort for growth seem to really make him stand out because he got seventh place in the second popularity poll, right behind Noya, Oikawa, Tsukishima, and the top 3 mentioned above.
** Akaashi is pretty popular as well. He got 14th place when Bokuto, who does a lot more during the training camp arc and is their team captain, got 18th.

** After [[spoiler:Karasuno lost to Aoba Johsai]], ''Haikyuu!!'' took a tumble in ratings and became the least popular manga in ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' for several weeks (which could have caused the series to be canceled). Yachi's introduction in the series boosted its ratings back up again.

** Kageyama is this at the very beginning of the series and in the events leading up to it. In his middle school days, he constantly yelled at his teammates, put pressure on them to perform to his standards and refused to listen to their input. It got so bad to the point where his teammates abandoned him in the middle of a game and labeled him the "King of the Court" due to his near-tyrannical behavior. But once he got to Karasuno, his [[CharacterDevelopment sincere desire to change]] because of that moment, combined with the panic he feels to win (especially during [[spoiler:Karasuno's first official match against Seijoh]]) and his general {{Adorkable}} nature have pretty much won the hearts of the fandom, to the point where he's arguably become more {{Woobie}} than {{Jerkass}}.
** Tsukishima definitely falls under this. He spends a good portion of the early parts of the series constantly razzing and belittling Hinata, taunting Kageyama by calling him "King" (a nickname he knows [[BerserkButton Kageyama hates]]), and even snarking off to his senpai. It's easy to see why people might not like him at first. But then, his backstory comes along, how he UsedToBeASweetKid, [[spoiler:and idolizing his older brother, only to have his faith completely shattered once he [[BrokenPedestal catches said brother in a lie]]]]. Combine this with [[spoiler:his CharacterDevelopment in the Shiratorizawa match]], and fans have far more of a difficult time hating him than they did before. He's still an asshole 85% of the time, but an asshole you'd still want to root for.

** [[{{Jerkass}} Tsukki]] a shit.
*** Oikawa a shit.
** Referring to Oikawa as "trash" in various ways.
*** Referring to Kuroo and Tsukishima (sometimes even Lev) as "trash" in various ways.

** Kuroo and Bokuto's NoblewomansLaugh
*** OH HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO

** Terushima's introduction, in which he [[spoiler: persistently hits on an unwilling Shimizu and only gives up after getting distracted by Hinata's arrival]]. The manga doesn't mention this afterwards (aside from him cheerily greeting her later, in front of the whole Karasuno team this time), nor anything of the kind comes from him again, but it still leaves a sore taste in the mouths of more than a few fans to this day.

** Kageyama's face after Hinata hit him in the head with a failed serve, Hinata himself says it's his scariest memory.

* SelfFanservice: In canon, Oikawa is the only guy noted to be particularly attractive. Fans tend to pretty up other characters such as Suga, Kuroo, Kenma, and ''especially'' Akaashi, who is often portrayed as stunningly handsome and the object of Oikawa's envy in fan works.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Tsukishima's CharacterDevelopment in the Training Camp arc sums up to: you don't need a [[GoalInLife big dream goal]] in order to justify your hard work on a sport, or even to play that sport at all. Even if it's just a school club activity, you can [[SeriousBusiness play it seriously]] because it just feels really good to win, and to have a personal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. It doesn't need to be grander than that.
* TearJerker:
** Asahi and Nishinoya's fight in Season 1 Episode 9. You never see them as angry as they are in that fight. The raw emotions in their voice and the heartbreaking expressions of them and their teammates watching only add to the tears.
** Whenever a team loses, especially in the episode where there's an entire montage dedicated to showing all of the different teams who have lost, and a subplot about the girls' volleyball team losing their match.
** Karasuno losing in the second to last episode of the first season. It doesn't help that the next episode shows them all quietly beginning to cry as they eat.
** On a more meta level, Kazunari Tanaka, Ukai Jr.'s seiyuu, sadly passed away during production of Season 3 of the anime. As it turned out, the final line he recorded for the show was a speech by Ukai Jr.: "Don't you dare look down! Volleyball... is a sport where you're always looking up!" To the fans who were aware of Tanaka's passing, this uplifting moment became so much more emotional and heartbreaking.

** Oikawa is either [[TheBully a childish bully]] [[NeverLiveItDown who tried to beat up Kageyama]] and [[SoreLoser has an incredibly unsportsmanlike attitude]], or he's a misunderstood kid [[HardWorkHardlyWorks who wants to see all of his hard work pay off, but never gets to]]. [[TakeAThirdOption Other people]] try to compromise by interpreting him as JerkWithAHeartOfGold, their line of reasoning being that while he isn't a perfect kid (being that he's introduced as an antagonist), his dedication to his team and his stellar work ethic compensate for his flaws. To say the least, it's an issue in the fandom, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and let's leave it at that]].

* CounterpartComparison: Despite being about volleyball, a lot of fans see many similarities to fellow ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' sports classic ''Manga/SlamDunk'', especially the way the story is laid out.

** In arguments about Oikawa, the time when he had an angry outburst fueled by jealousy and stress and nearly hit a young Kageyama will ''always'' be brought up. This isn't helped by the fact that, since Iwaizumi restrained him before it could happen and Kageyama never even noticed what was going on, the manga never goes deep into the situation itself (and likely never will, a hundred chapters later), and so it tends to lead to [[FlameBait strong discussions]] that never amount to any solution.

* AwesomeArt: The action scenes are ''very'' well done and the character designs are well thought-out. Every character [[CastOfSnowflakes has distinct features.]]

* AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2raTS6vfVs "Conductor of the Wind"]], the opening theme of the third [[LiveActionAdaptation stage play]] is an orchestral masterpiece to behold and highlights both the dramatic and excitable tension in the story, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSC3uvWWxjI especially when paired with the choreography]]. You have Aoba Johsai acting as an orchestra, while Karasuno plays a marching band. At one point in the song, Hinata makes everyone clap along!

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Tsukishima's CharacterDevelopment in the Training Camp arc sums up to: you don't need a [[GoalInLife big dream goal]] in order to justify your hard work on a sport, or even to play that sport at all. Even if it's just a school club activity, you can [[SeriousBusiness play it seriously]] because it just feels really good to win, and to have a personal MomentOfAwesome. It doesn't need to be grander than that.

** The fact that Creator/SentaiFilmworks decided to initially release this series sub-only while giving a [[LightNovel/MahouSensou widely panned Madhouse-produced action anime]] an English dub did not win any favors.