Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle review – Sports anime creates an instant classic

As a sports movie, Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle is captivating — but as a coming-of-age parable about teens who’ve been irrevocably shaped by volleyball, the film is outstanding.

After four seasons, Haikyuu!! has brought Karasuno and Nekoma together, two rival teams who’ve been waiting for the chance to compete against each other in the whole sports anime. On one side of the net, Karasuno, known as the crows, and on the other, Nekoma, who’re known as the wildcats.

Their match is dubbed ‘The Dumpster Battle’, and it allows series protagonist Shoyo Hinata to finally test his skills opposite Kenam Kozume, another prodigy he’d met years prior.

Although the anime movie serves as the first of a two-part finale to the animated adaptation, the base elements are easily picked up. It’s two teams, at the peak of their talents, going at it for a national prize before graduation separates the players.

The Crows versus the Wildcats

The Dumpster Battle is entirely framed around the game, opening with the athletes entering the arena. A flashback shows us Shoyo and Kenam’s first meeting, and how it teased what’s happening now. Some fans and well-wishers sit in the stands and watch around Japan, cheering on and commentating.

The movie lasts the length of the game, making the volleyball match the film and the film the volleyball match, with everything stemming from the play-by-play and circumstances leading each player to the court. Shoyo and Kenam’s psychological warfare broils at the core; two clever, intuitive players who eagerly outwit each other.

The picture embraces the inherent cinema of a high-stakes game to an enthralling degree, zooming in and out of people’s heads and around the varying positions. Big offense leads to counters and wild maneuvers, flowing to a montage of any given player’s arc from the first day of practice to now. Some have a chip on their shoulder about some aspect of their first experience, some got into it because of their friends; now they’re all unified by a desire to win, whatever the cost.

Much more than mere life and death

Like the best sports movies, such as Tin Cup or Remember the Titans, you don’t need to understand the sport going in, because the cinematography and storytelling teach you. Director and screenwriter Susumu Mitsunaka gives ample context for each sequence, without losing focus on this being the product of years of build-up.

Shoto is an offensive player, who capitalizes on setups from his teammates to score points by slamming the ball past the other team’s defense. Kenma, then, is a strategist who sets up attacks, making the exact kind of opposition that can get under Shoto’s skin. Kenma is extremely perceptive, cultivating plays that zero in on the weak points of Shoto’s side.

The mental pressure manifests as elaborate fantasies involving cats and crows, where the characters sometimes transform into ferocious versions of the animals, making the person and their team’s moniker inter-changeable. These scenes communicate the weight and gravitas of the match in a way that’s hard to resist, compelling you to sit forward as if you’re a season ticket holder.

Haikyuu!! director goes for a spike

©2024”HAIKYU!!”Project ©H.Furudate / Shueisha

Susumu, who previously directed over 60 episodes of the anime from the manga by Haruichi Furudate, deftly keeps all emphasis on the match at hand and nothing else. All either team cares about is winning, and in those moments where it seems like the defense is insurmountable or the next point is crucial, it’s all or nothing. Everything will be left on the court.

Even though Shoto has been our protagonist, Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle seems to spend just as much time with Kenma and the Wildcats. The movie avoids the pitfall of making the opposition rich or academic or some cartoonish nemesis — these are just another group of kids who want to hoist a cup together, with friendships and lives and stories of their own.

The backstories give an air of Richard Linklater or the Brat Pack. These people learned about life together, taught each other how to be better, and hoisted each other up. They’re all interwoven together in a way that’ll linger in the bedrock of their collective nostalgia through adulthood.

HAikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle lands a kill

Whether or not these are the best days of their lives will be decided in years to come. For right now, it’s everything they hoped and dreamed of. Solid competition and the understanding that they’re all going to sweat this out to the end. A monumental encounter when all they really had to worry about was how good they could spike the ball.

But there’s a time for poetry and there’s a time to play ball, and Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle knows when to keep the eyes on the prize. It’s an immediate, thrilling sports film that transcends both volleyball and the franchise to be something that’s invigorating for anyone watching.

Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle – 5/5

The Haikyuu!! movie turns the sweaty, kinetic flow of competitive volleyball into an exciting feature that is the sum of its parts. Though knowing the anime show will help, the emphasis on the titular match makes it a worthwhile film for anyone who appreciates solid sportsmanship or wants a great animated movie.

Don’t forget, you also have four seasons of the anime to watch before the sequel arrives as well. Hiaikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle is in cinemas Friday, May 31, 2024. Check out our guide on how to watch the new Haikyuu!! movie and the ending explainer.