Haikyuu!! watch order: How (and where) to watch the iconic sports anime in release and chronological order
High school volleyball has never been more intense.
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You don’t need to play sports to love a good sports anime. Shows like Haikyuu!! are less about the physical activities and more focused on the relationships that form between teammates and rivals. A big part of the appeal of these shows is how everyone in the setting treats the sport like the most important thing in the world. Even niche events like high school volleyball tournaments are given high profiles and higher stakes.
If you’re looking to dip your toe into one of the many sports anime out there, Haikyuu!! is one of the best introductions to the genre you could ask for. The animation is stellar, the characters are intensely likable, and the action strikes the perfect balance between over-the-top and grounded. With four seasons, multiple OVAs, and films in the series, it can be tough to know how to tackle this series. If you’re feeling lost, here is how to watch Haikyuu!! in chronological and release order.
How to watch Haikyuu!! in chronological order
One of the most confusing aspects of Haikyuu!! is the existence of the films, which largely consist of recaps of the previous season with one or two scenes of fresh material. While they’re all interesting to watch, you shouldn’t feel obligated to watch them if you’ve already seen the preceding season.
Helpfully, most of Haikyuu!! is presented in chronological order, with a few of the OVAs being released out of order or alongside each other. These OVAs consist of both original material to the anime that bridges the gap between seasons and manga scenes that didn’t get adapted during one of the seasons.
- Haikyuu!! Season 1 Episodes 1-15
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Ending and Beginning – Note that this film largely serves as a recap of the first half of season one.
- Haikyuu!! Season 1 Episodes 16-25
- Haiyuu!! the Movie: Winners and Losers – Note that this film largely serves as a recap of the second half of season one.
- Haikyuu!!: Arrival of Lev OVA
- Haikyuu!! Season 2
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Talent and Sense – This film serves as a recap of the second half of season two.
- Haikyuu!!: Failing Grades OVA
- Haikyuu!! Season 3
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Battle of Concepts – This film serves as a recap of season three with one extra scene added.
- Haikyuu!!: Betting on the Spring High Volleyball OVA
- Haikyuu!!: Land vs. Sky OVA
- Haikyuu!!: The Path of the Ball OVA
- Haikyuu!! To the Top – Note that this season was broken up into two cours, both of which aired in 2020.
How to watch Haikyuu!! in release order
It is generally easier to watch Haikyuu!! in release order, though there are a few of the OVAs that were released in the middle of a season to watch out for. Here is every season and film of Haikyuu!! in the order it was released.
- Haikyuu!! Season 1
- Haikyuu!!: Arrival of Lev OVA
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Ending and Beginning – Note that this film largely serves as a recap of the second half of season one.
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Winners and Losers – This film serves as a recap of the second half of season two.
- Haikyuu!! Season 2
- Haikyuu!!: Failing Grades OVA
- Haikyuu!! Season 3
- Haikyuu!! Betting on the Spring High Volleyball OVA
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Genius and Sense – This film serves as a recap of the second half of season two.
- Haikyuu!! the Movie: Battle of Concepts – This film serves as a recap of season three with one extra scene added.
- Haikyuu!! To the Top Episodes 1 and 2
- Haikyuu!! Land vs. Sky OVA
- Haikyuu!! The Path of the Ball OVA
- Haikyuu!! To the Top Episodes 3-25
Where to watch Haikyuu!!
As is quickly becoming the case with most anime, the best place to watch every episode of Haikyuu!! is Crunchyroll as it has streaming rights to every episode, OVA, and film that has been released to date. Where you live will determine which dubs you can watch on the anime giant’s website, but it is the one place you can catch every spike, set, and serve the series has to offer.
Those without a Crunchyroll subscription aren’t completely out of luck, however. The first two seasons of Haikyuu!! can be seen on Netflix or Hulu, while the third season can be seen on HiDive. Again, what is available on which platform will depend on where you’re watching it from. Anime licensing agreements are notoriously fickle like that.
What’s next for Haikyuu!!
Keen fans will note that there is still plenty of material in the manga that is ready to be adapted into the anime. It has been a few years since the fourth season finished airing, but there are signs that we’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see the finale of Hinata’s journey to greatness. In August 2022, the official Haikyuu!! Twitter account announced that the series would continue with a pair of films.
The first of these films is titled Haikyuu!! The Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump and released on February 16, 2024. The second movie, which is currently untitled, hasn’t had an official release date announced. Fans have expressed some concern that the two movies won’t be enough to adapt the more than 100 chapters of the manga that remain, but we’ll all have to wait until the movies are released to see.
How realistic is the volleyball in Haikyuu!!
Realism and anime don’t often go together, but in a show like Haikyuu!!, which is based heavily on a real-world sport, people are bound to critique how well it portrays that sport. Well, we’ve got good news for everyone who likes to analyze their anime that deeply; Haikyuu!! does a pretty good job of showing volleyball in a realistic way.
Kim Yeon-Kyoung, the former captain of the South Korean National Women’s Volleyball team, took a look at the action in Haikyuu!! and came away pleasantly surprised by what she saw. In a YouTube video, she watched the final rally against Aoba Johsai in season two of the anime. While some of the movements were clearly exaggerated for dramatic effect, she found it a surprisingly accurate portrayal of elite-level volleyball and noted that the mangaka had “a high level of volleyball knowledge.”
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