HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle Review

Directed By: Susumu Mitsunaka
Written By: Susumu Mitsunaka; Based on the manga series by Haruichi Furudate
Runtime: 85 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for language

Featuring the English Voice Talents of:

Bryson Baugus – Shoyo Hinata
Clint Bickham – Kenma Kozume
Ty Mahany – Tetsuro Kuroo
Adam Noble – Chikara Ennoshita
Andrew Love – Taketora Yamamoto
Brittney Karbowski – Hitoka Yachi
Cameron Bautsch – Taadashi Yamaguchi
Clifford Chapin – Tamahiko Teshiro
David Wald – Keishin Ukai
Gareth West – Ittetsu Takeda
Greg Ayes – Yu Nishinoya
Greg Cote – Ryunosuke Tanaka
James Belcher – Ikkei Ukai
Jason Duga – Morisuke Yaku
Jay Hickman – Manabu Naoi
Jeran Ugokwe – Shohei Fukunaga

The adventures of Karasuno High’s volleyball club continue in HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle. Karasuno made it to the Tokyo Nationals, and now the team is ready to face off against their formidable rivals of Nekoma. For the uninitiated in this slice-of-life sports anime, the word “haikyu” is the Japanese word for volleyball. As for eponymous Dumpster Battle, that refers to the team names. “Kara-su” from “Karasuno” means “crow,” while “neko” from “Nekoma” means “cat.” The Dumpster Battle refers to the proverbial Cats vs. Crows fighting it out over territory and resources in a dumpster-filled alley, hence The Dumpster Battle.

The good news for longtime fans of the sports anime is that The Dumpster Battle continues where Season 4 of the anime series ended over three years ago, as Shoyo Hinata (Baugus) and the Karasuno High volleyball club reaches the third round of the Tokyo Nationals tournament. Their opponents are another underdog team from Nekoma High. The stakes of the match are higher than ever, and both teams are ready to put everything on the line to advance.

In contrast to many Weekly Shonen Jump manga series adapted into episodic anime, The Dumpster Battle isn’t non-canonical filler or a compilation film. The film unfolds as a direct continuation of the show’s fourth season, picking up right after the end of the last episode. The Dumpster Battle constitutes the first half of a two-part film series that will conclude the anime storyline, adapted directly from Haruichi Furudate’s original manga series. The story is not a throwaway sidequest for the main characters, and fans will experience the next chapter of the saga of Shoyo Hinata and his team.

The Dumpster Battle works because the plot doesn’t waste time on exposition. After some brief setup and establishing beats, writer and director Susumu Mitsunaka dives right into the action with the Karasuno and Nekoma teams facing off in the volleyball match of their lives. Both teams prove especially even-matched, and the Nekoma players push Karasuno to the absolute limit, thanks to the excellent strategy put together by the team’s center, Kenma Kozume (Bickham). Kenma, with his keen mind, put together an exceptional defensive strategy to outmatch Karasuno and cage Shoyo, nicknamed “The Tiny Giant” on the court.

Running at a brisk, lean 85 minutes, The Dumpster Battle keeps most of the action on the court, athough some brief flashbacks flesh out the backstories of the rival Nekoma players, mainly Kenma’s. Kenma’s scene depicts the youth as a low-energy, Type-B personality. He’s an introverted type who prefers to play video games rather than sports. However, thanks to his longtime friendship with team captain Tetsuro Kuroo (Mahany), Kenma discovers volleyball and eventually realizes that he’s very good at it.

Much of The Dumpster Battle depicts the volleyball match through Kenma’s perspective. While Shoyo generally acts as the lead protagonist for the series, he takes a bit of a backseat for The Dumpster Battle as Kenma tries to piece together his ultimate winning strategy to cage the Tiny Giant. The Dumpster Battle executes Kenma’s scenes so well that the plot provokes an emotional desire to see the other underdog team at Nekoma High pull out the victory over Karasuno.

The Dumpster Battle doesn’t try to depict the Nekoma team as the bad guy team or bullies as most sports dramas tend to do. They are another group of young ragtag underdogs, much like Karasuno. The antagonists aren’t bad guys or meat-headed jocks who pick on their opponents. Haruichi Furudate’s story is about the pride and passion of competition, and it portrays kids who love playing volleyball and find camaraderie and strength through the sport. Kenma becomes such a strong presence throughout the narrative of The Dumpster Battle that he transforms from a central antagonist to a compelling protagonist, despite seeking to defeat the rival team. The film’s most inspiring moment occurs when Kenma, a low-energy introvert, realizes his love for volleyball.

Few sports movies or stories offer that much texture and characterization for the rival team, which usually functions as a throwaway presence for the audience to root against. The Dumpster Battle flips the dynamic often found in most Western sports stories and dramas. There is beauty to the Karasuno and Nekoma rivalry because both teams are underdogs in the tournament. Neither team is the favorite to win the championship but the teams do share a palpable drive.

The Dumpster Battle keeps that light sense of comedic humor, consistent with the series, throughout the battle. The humor and the friendly banter between both teams nicely break up the intense action. Even sports people who aren’t too familiar with volleyball will generally be able to follow the action, or at least enjoy the charming cast of scrappy players. Each team features an amusing variety of colorful, likable goofballs. Even the ones who are rough around the edges have hearts of gold. There are no bad guys here, only kids who want to compete and win.

Susumu Mitsunaka and anime studio Production I.G deliver impressive work with the volleyball match sequences. An exceptional sequence unfolds through one player’s direct point-of-view during a specific serve, unfolding all in one animated take. That is the biggest reason to see a film like The Dumpster Battle in theaters, as it showcases the artistry of the animators bringing Furudate’s series to vivid life. The Dumpster Battle takes full advantage of the theatrical format and resources. The game sequences are so well-animated that even a novice volleyball viewer will be drawn into the action.

The movie focuses on only one game, and when it finally ends, the viewer is left wanting to see the next tournament matchup immediately, and that’s the main drawback of The Dumpster Battle. The movie exists as the first part of a two-part duology. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle showcases only the start of the final matches of the national championship tournament. The rest of the story in the Tokyo Nationals tournament won’t conclude until later until part two.

As a continuation of a long-running anime series, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle doesn’t spend significant time recapping the show to make sure everyone is following along. There is no handholding here. New viewers might find themselves lost if they haven’t watched the series. The film mainly caters to the dedicated fans of the series and manga. That’s not necessarily a huge flaw, but interested moviegoers might want to consider watching some of the series on Crunchyroll to get a feel for the characters and overall storyline.

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle opens in theaters on May 31. Showtimes and ticket information are available at the movie’s website.

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

Animated volleyball action has never been more compelling and intense than in Haikyu!! The Last Dumpster Battle. Susumu Mitsunaka and the animators at Production I.G create a compelling underdog versus underdog story as Karasuno High faces off against their training partners-turned-rivals at Nekoma High School. Kenma Kozume becomes a compelling protagonist, flipping the script on the clichés of most mainstream sports dramas. The film will have the audience rooting for the rivals just as much as the lead characters in Karasuno. With a lean runtime of 85 minutes, The Dumpster Battle gets right into the action on the court without wasting a second.