Haikyuu!! might be officially coming to an end with the next chapter of the manga, but series creator Haruichi Furudate has been steadily building toward this ending throughout its final arc as Shoyo Hinata and Tobio Kageyama’s respective pro volleyball teams take on one another in a fierce match to settle their rivalry. At least, that’s what the final arc seemed to be doing when Hinata and Kageyama began their final game against one another. But as the results revealed themselves, it turns out it was just another game in between a long standing rivalry developed through the years off page.
Haikyuu!! began its final arc with a surprising timeskip that moved the series several years into the future following Karasuno High School’s first bout at the Spring Nationals tournament. This lead to Hinata and Kageyama joining the pro teams, the MSBY Black Jackals and the Scheweiden Adlers respectively. Thus the two of them were set to have one final game in the series.
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As this final game progressed, we began to see deeper looks into how many of our favorites have grown into adults. This also meant a showcase of new skills from both Kageyama (who had been boosting his skills as part of the pro league) and Hinata (who had been spending the last few years training at Beach Volleyball in Brazil). But after an emotional back and forth for the love of the game, the game finally came to an end with the Black Jackals’ victory in the penultimate chapter of the series.
Chapter 401 of the series depicts the final volley of this pro game as Bokuto manages to make the final score, and the Jackals defeat the Adlers with a 3 to 1 set score. Kageyama does acknowledge Hinata for the first real time as he managed to defeat him during his pro league debut, but hilariously it doesn’t stop the two from having their fierce rivalry.
As Hinata reveals, although he takes this final victory for himself it marks 1,096 wins and 1,100 losses for him against Kageyama. The two of them have been keeping score since their very first match, and this small detail goes to further show how close the two of them have become as rivals, team mates, and friends over the course of the series.
How do you feel about this result for Hinata and Kageyama’s final game? Did you expect this outcome? Surprised to see how it doesn’t really finalize their rivalry? How do you think Haikyuu!! will come 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!
