Some good and bad news for ardent fans of popular volleyball series Haikyuu! First, the good news: the second half of Haikyuu to the Top!—the official name of the fourth season—is now set for an October 2020 release! It will be remembered that episodes 14-25 were supposed to premiere this July, but was delayed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
And now on to the bad news: a date has now been set for the end of the beloved series. The manga is set to release its final chapter on the 34th issue of Weekly Shueisha Magazine, which is set to ship out on July 20. The final chapter was described as “extra long”, with 28 pages as well as a full-color opening page.
The manga entered its final arc last October. The series’ official Twitter account posted this announcement along with an expression of gratitude to its fans. The tweet, which you can read here, reads in part, “Thank you everyone for your support until the end!”
Haikyuu!! is a manga series written by Haruichi Furudate. Since its release in 2012, it has been serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump, with tankobon releases done by Shueisha already numbering to 39 (with the 40th set to be released this November). Haikyuu!! already has over 34 million copies in print. Production I.G. adapted the manga into an anime series in 2014, with the second season airing the year after and a third season airing in 2016. Season 4’s episodes 1-13 aired last January.
The manga’s story centers around Shoyo Hinata, who dreams of becoming a star volleyball player despite his height. However, he suffers a crushing defeat in his first and last tournament in middle school at the hands of Tobio Kageyama, dubbed as “King of the Court”. After graduating, he vows to seek revenge on Kageyama and enters Karasuno High School—only for them to wind up as teammates in the school’s volleyball team. Thus the two form a legendary combo by combining Hinata’s athleticism and Kageyama’s genius and together, they vow to take Karasuno to the nationals.