#a mangaka does all of these things on a much shorter time limit

[tigirl-and-co]

As somebody who loves anime dearly, this is true to the extreme but it's not just for anime. This happens with manga too.

It's so incredibly distressing knowing that your favourite mangaka are working themselves to death. The two big examples I can think of are Tezuka and Toriyama, both of whom died incredibly young from issues either created by or exacerbated by stress.

Part of the problem is culture. Much like in America, not giving your job your all is seen as disgraceful to you and, for those in the entertainment industry, disrespectful to your fans.

Animators in Japan are often paid by frame, for dollars a frame IF THAT. But the people doing it consider it an honor. And in some ways it is! It's wonderful to touch people's lives and hearts! But it's not worth your personal well-being.

I've heard whispers on the wind that things may be slowly turning around, starting with mangaka having more control over animated adaptations than they used to, and animators getting more attention. But I'm hoping it doesn't stop there. I want the people who make the things I love to live long and prosperous lives, but they cannot do that under the current system.

People talk so much about how cool anime is in comparison to western animation but if you look under the hood a bit you’ll find that it looks so cool and is made in such large volumes because it’s an industry of hundreds of full time animators that are paid so little that they can’t afford to feed themselves

[shiratorizawaheadcanons-blog]

Sen? Study topic! Why is Haikyuu so good in comparison to other sports anime?

Sports anime are big. In 2016, according to thefandometrics,Haikyuu was the most popular anime of the year and earned a respectable 5thplace for most manga sold in 2016 with over 6 million copies sold in Japanalone. Sports anime do not target a niche audience; you do not have to be anexpert at volleyball to enjoy this series. In an interview with Furudate, themangaka stated that he “wanted to bring to life the volleyball that was in myhead in the past.” This is a sport that is cherished by its creator and it iseasy to feel the amount of love and dedication that Furudate has put into thisseries but how exactly has it come so far? In comparison to other series, it isby far one of the most accessible series out there.

Haikyuu’s narrative is based around relatively normalhighschoolers. Although Hinata has a “freak quick”, it’s not anything specialwhen you have 17 year old Paola Egonu who recently broke the fastest serveworld record at 101kph; true a serve and spike are different, but this is onlyused as a small comparison to show that Hinata is not the most special personin the world. In addition to this, it opposes the completely terrifyingabilities that characters of Kuroko no Baske have with players who can shootfrom anywhere on the court. In comparison, all the team’s average heights arealso shorter than that of Japan’s real U19 team; Ushijima sets an imposingfigure against Hinata but he’s only a centimetre taller than Japan’s U19 teamaverage height.  Physically, there’s noimpossibility within Haikyuu… save for that one moment where Tanaka andNishinoya stopped in mid-air for comedic effect. The realism within Haikyuumeans that it is relatively easy for someone to relate to and with enoughpractice, one can eventually even surpass these characters in skill.

This sets it apart from the start of Kuroko no Basuke. Thecharacters of KnB are introduced as the best so in the eyes of the protagonistteam, their opponents become simply obstacles to overcome in comparison toHaikyuu’s characters. Hinata’s loss at the start of the series give reason anddrive from the very beginning which is not only to beat a team but to becomestronger, giving a whole montage where Hinata is shown running and trainingwith other characters. A lot of this first growth is skipped over in KnB whenSeirin first goes to their training and all that’s really focused on is them;there is no team for them to train with and they only have themselves toimprove upon; the part that I remember most from this was just Riko messing upcooking, while in Haikyuu, we see Karasuno fail time and time again against theTokyo Teams. This gives them the drive to fight because each “cog” – as Takedadescribes – is given the time to fit into place, whereas the first season ofKnB rushes over this development. The characters are already the best, withunrealistic abilities of perfect mimicry and an impossibly accurate shot, theseopponents seem flawless so Seirin’s victory seems almost inconceivable. Thegradual progression of a character makes victory seem plausible but without thebreathing time to expand upon development, a sudden victory from just jumpingreally high does not make the story flow well. However, realism should be ignoredto an extent with the presentation of superpower like effects.

Another factor that plays into why Haikyuu is a great seriesis that there is proper explanation behind it. A common thing that artists aretold to do in their work is to “show, not tell”, yet Haikyuu has a balancebetween this that does not seem forced at all. Starting from the bare bones of Yukigaoka,Hinata has to explain to his own teammates what setting and all of this is. It’sunderstandable, since these characters do not know how to deal with it.Learning is important for everyone, even with Shiratorizawa; Ushijima claimsthat he hasn’t even seen a libero set up a toss, and rightfully so, this isn’tseen much in high school volleyball at all. The coach and spectators are notjust informing players and people like Yachi and Saeko, but they inform theaudience following the story as well. In comparison to Yuri on Ice, my personalopinion is that Haikyuu is significantly better in involving the audience withthe sport that it showcases. YOI had very limited time to do things in, withonly twelve episodes to fit in a story over a year, yet Haikyuu’s Season 3 wasallowed the time to explain guess blocking etc. within those ten episodes. Nobodywithout prior ice skating knowledge would have ever known about the GOE andbase value scoring system at all, yet Haikyuu’s main aim is to showcasevolleyball rather than a couple. In this respect, Haikyuu is amazing at showingwhat true volleyball is, while YOI does not do the justice of explaining thecomplexity of ice skating.

A plethora of characters is also important to Haikyuu’sstory. While you have Nekoma as Karasuno’s ultimate rival, Seijou andShiratorizawa stand as more immediate threats. It is Karasuno’s story, not justHinata’s alone. Every single person on the team gets to develop in some way;not all of them have been explored yet but just Ennoshita’s words that he “won’tbe a bench warmer forever” lets you know that every single person on this teamis just as valuable as everyone else. Oikawa was ranked 5th in thelast popularity poll, despite not being part of Karasuno. It’s not just asimple fact of him being a good looking character, but he’s one that is wellfleshed out. The ‘whole’ fandom sees some sort of tragedy in Oikawa andIwaizumi going to different universities and pities the fact that he injuredhimself. These details could have been skipped over, yet he’s given his smalltime in the spotlight. Minor characters like Towada from Ougiminami are given astory, despite essentially being the obstacle in Karasuno’s way, showing theirdrive building up. However, Karasuno sees all of their players as respectable;Hinata cheers up Hyakuzawa and tells him that being tall is the “awesomesttalent” and still thinks that Ushijima is “so friggin’ cool” despite how heimagined that Ushijima said he has no right to live. Haikyuu’s story is soinnocent in comparison to attitudes like Aomine’s “the only person that canbeat me is me”; even Ushijima didn’t think he would lose but is still so calmand accepting of it. Each and every character is so important to the story andHaikyuu makes sure to acknowledge each character respectfully.

The whole atmosphere around Haikyuu is generally veryuplifting; even the court is brighter than that of Kuroko no Basuke’s. KnB’scourt seems dimly lit, with the audience merely a mass of shadows whereasHaikyuu constantly brings the audience into the action, recording the reactionsof the side characters in awe of what’s happening down below. In addition tothis, Haikyuu’s music makes you feel chills and goosebumps from a livelyorchestra in comparison to KnB’s heavy electronic sound that exudes pressurerather than excitement. Yuri on Ice cannot be brought into comparison due tothe fact that the action is choreographed towards the music unlike music thatis added in on top. Each of these series have different aims entirely. Yuri onIce showcases romance. Haikyuu and Kuroko no Basuke want you to be interestedin the sport but through different ways, amazement in comparison to it beingcool. Haikyuu gives you moments to laugh with slapstick and observationalcomedy but there isn’t the time to do this on the court of Kuroko no Basuke,giving it a more serious and heavy tone. As a result, Haikyuu is madeaccessible for more people as it is an anime that makes you feel good watching,rather than being pressured like on the court of KnB.

In conclusion, Haikyuu is well deserving of its title as themost popular sports anime of last year. The narrative is easily relatable to itsaudience and is relatively grounded and realistic. All characters are giventheir own development and the ins and outs of volleyball are explained wellwithout being forceful. In comparison to its other sports anime competitors,Haikyuu is considerably better in terms of characterisation and relativity tothe audience.