Haikyū!!! The Dumpster Battle gave me goosebumps!

Almost 4 years had to pass to see the continuation of Haikyū!!!, of course, those who read the manga were already aware of all the upcoming events, but I'm not like that, I preferred to wait for the movie with all the patience in the world because I knew it would be worth it. I don't consider myself a big fan of the spokon genre, but as a lover of soccer and to a lesser extent other sports, sometimes it catches my attention to watch anime that I think I might like. Like many here, my first spokon was Captain Tsubasa, but then the list grew with anime like Hungry Heart, Slam Dunk, Haikyū!!!, Kuroko no basket, among others.

But let's talk about Haikyū! The Dumpster Battle, this movie was released in several theaters around the world during the first quarter of the year, but I couldn't see it because it wasn't released in theaters in my country, or at least in my city, so I had to wait until I could watch it on streaming. As some of us know, this movie is the direct continuation of the anime chapters, so we see what happens after the second part of the fourth season or “To the top (part 2)”.

In this movie Karasuno continues its journey in the national games, more specifically in the third round in which they face nothing more and nothing less than Nekoma, a team with which they have a rivalry that is not new. But beyond the events of the past, it is a special match as Shōyō Hinata faces the particular Kenma Kozume, a boy with in which he has engaged in a quite interesting, fun and endearing rivalry, I must say that Kenma's character is outstanding, but I'll talk about that later. On the other hand, there are other players from both teams who have related to each other in different ways, so the game will undoubtedly become very emotional.

So this decisive match that will end the participation of one of the teams, started with a frenetic pace, from the first moment each one showed their weapons and that made the movie fun to watch, I was one of those who thought that a movie would not be enough for such an emblematic match in the history of Haikyū! However, everything unfolded in a good way, I didn't feel at any time that important parts were omitted, although only those who read the manga know that, as far as I'm concerned the whole game was very well condensed in the 85 minutes that the movie lasted.

A strong point of this game is the good relationship between the players of both teams, the healthy rivalry of these guys and the way they handle it is exemplary and fun. Here we see the highs and lows that a player can suffer in a game of any discipline, they can decline or evolve depending on the game situations, all that completely normal in real life and that they knew how to capture it well, those who have had the opportunity to practice a sport know how complicated it can be to control emotions when the game is against, as well as the advantage when the game is in favor.

The truth is that Shōyō and Kenma gave the best of each one in a duel that could be considered unequal from the point of view that each one has different strengths, on the one hand, one has the energy, desire and an impressive jump for his size, while the other is calm, analytical and a key piece in the strategy of his team. Each player was able to show his strengths, each one was fundamental in obtaining points and had his role, I really liked that because absolutely no one was totally fundamental in the development of the game, everyone needed everyone.

This movie gave me goosebumps for many factors, one of them is the excellent animation it has, that is not new in Haikyū! since we had already seen scenes of games with very fluid movements and spectacular perspectives, but here they innovated with a couple of things that did not go unnoticed, for example, the final point of the game in which we see the perspective of the game from the eyes of Kenma is simply amazing, you can see how the ball comes and goes from one side to another in a play that seemed to have no end, but which in turn was imminent by the fatigue presented by both teams.

The frequent flashbacks were also fundamental as the game unfolded as they made the emotional intensity grow progressively, they made us reaffirm that friendship is an unbreakable value and that the bonds that are generated between people are capable of enduring and becoming stronger when difficulties arise. I loved that the film is much more about Kenma and Kuro than about Shōyō and Karasuno, I think that's a respite for the protagonists and for their development not to become absolutist.

So I confess that I was very happy to finish watching this movie, I was looking forward to it and it was really worth it, it has everything necessary to continue making Haikyū!!! into a spokon legend, I hope the next one keeps this essence and we continue to see exciting matches and spectacular play scenes. I give The Dumpster Battle a solid 10/10, it's so worth it.