Haikyuu Could End Up With Shonen Jump’s Best Ending This Year

The end of Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyuu!! is fast approaching as the climax of the final arc draws near with Shoya Hinata and Tobio Kageyama’s big rematch coming to an end. This will bring an end to the entire series as well if current reports are to be believed, and thus Haikyuu will join a few other major manga that came to an end in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine this year. Koyoharu Gotouge’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu’s The Promised Neverland, and Tadahiro Miura’s Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs all ended around this time too.

All of them also disappointed fans with their endings in some way. These three major endings have been divisive among fans for many different reasons, but they share the same root problem. There just wasn’t enough time and attention paid to the ending itself. But Haikyuu has been avoiding this issue for the last few chapters, and if it sticks the landing, Haikyuu could end up having the best Shonen Jump ending of 2020.

The biggest examples of this issue were with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and The Promised Neverland. The Promised Neverland‘s final moments feel like they come to a sudden ending that rushes to wrap up everything despite their being some lingering emotional plot threads. It’s like the final chapter of the series is cut short before an actual ending can take place. There was no catharsis.

It’s a different kind of issue with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba as while this series does have an elaborate ending, it’s focused on a time jump generations away from the characters we actually know. Sure it notes how the world and each of these characters live on in new ways (which is a neat idea), but we don’t get to see how our favorite characters grow old and find peace in a world without demons. But Haikyuu‘s timeskip has been properly devoting time to its characters’ futures as any satisfying ending should.

Thanks to Furudate’s excellent ability to suspend time in short bursts to keep us in the moment, yet still move the story forward, the finale of the series has actually been taking place over the last several chapters. We’ve been saying goodbye to the series for several months now while it’s been less than a day for these characters.

But that’s been the core emotional draw of Haikyuu overall. It’s to enjoy every single moment as time can suddenly fly by. This final timeskip did surprise by jumping several years into the future at first, but Furudate has made sure to slow down as the series really gets closer to the end. One of the biggest failings of bad endings is that they don’t feel long enough, but you can’t say that here.

We’ve had lots of time to spend with our favorites in their older years, potential plot threads have been successfully closed, and by the time the end really comes, we’ll have a final definitive answer as to whether or not Hinata can defeat Kageyama. Regardless of how it actually comes to an end, it’s already the most successful ending of the year.

What do you think? Will Haikyuu end up with the best ending of 2020? What did you think of the other major endings so far? How do you think Haruichi Furudate will bring the series to an end? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or you can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!