Haikyuu Season 4 release date: Anime director ready for fourth season in 2019? Haikyuu manga confirmed long enough to continue Shoyo Hinata’s story
Haikyuu Season 4 is highly anticipated by Haikyuu manga fans now that Shoyo Hinata’s story has reached a good stopping point for the anime adaptation by Production I.G.
Manga readers love to watch Haikyuu creator Haruichi Furudate’s art be put into action. Since the fourth Haikyuu movie is already out and US theaters will show it in the fall of 2018, it’s hoped that the fourth season might be confirmed for production by 2019. But why hasn’t the announcement been made already? No one except Production I.G. knows for certain, but it is possible director Susumu Mitsunaka might be the missing critical factor in beginning the anime production.
From purely a financial perspective, the Haikyuu anime series has always sold plenty of Blu-Ray copies in Japan, never mind the rest of the world, to justify producing Haikyuu season 4. In 2016, Haikyuu was in the top five for the top-selling media franchises in Japan, generating about $41.4 million in the first year.
The third season ended on a solid note with a 9.0 rating from MyAnimeList. In 2018, Haikyuu manga sales in Japan put the series in the top 5 on the Oricon charts, with the volleyball anime beating even the mighty My Hero Academia. So if the numbers are good, there must also be a good reason for the delay.
This article provides everything that is known about Haikyuu Season 4 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Haikyuu Manga Compared To The Anime
Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 2012, the Haikyuu manga series (which is also spelled as “Haikyu”) is over 300 chapters long and has been published in the tankobon hardcover format in 31 volumes as of the early summer of 2018. The official English translation of Haikyuu is up to Volume 24 as of June 5, 2018. Volumes 25 through 29 will be released on a monthly basis through the end of 2018.
The manga tells the story of Shoyo Hinata, a Japanese high school freshman who desires to dominate the volleyball court despite being significantly shorter than the average player. Hinata once competed with the egotistical Tobio Kageyama only for the two players to become teammates. Now, they find themselves on divergent paths on the road to the Tokyo Nationals.
Many popular anime series will often be delayed by years when the anime episodes catch up with the source material and the Haikyuu anime is no exception. Season 1 was a two-cour anime with 25 episodes and it adapted up through Chapter 71 of the manga, which was the ending of Haikyuu Volume 8. Season 2 was the same number of episodes and adapted slightly more chapters, ending with Chapter 149. But the third season ended in December 2016 with only 10 episodes because the anime was catching up to the manga.
All in all, the Haikyuu anime adapted all the way up through Chapter 190, the ending of Haikyuu Volume 21 (although the scene where Hinata and Kageyama compete over who can jump higher was pulled out of order from Chapter 207 of Volume 24). The fourth Haikyuu movie released in September 2017 was simply a recap movie that covered Karasuno High versus Shiratorizawa High.
It was announced in July 2018 that Haikyuu The Movie: Battle Of Concepts will be shown in US theaters starting on September 19, 2018. Screenings will be held by Crunchyroll Move Night on September 19, 22, and 23. Tickets are available through the official website.
The manga has already reached the 300 chapter mark as of the summer of 2018, which means that there over 100 chapters available for creating the fourth season. Considering that the chapter to episode ratio has been roughly around 3 to 1 for most of the series, that means Haikyuu Season 4 could easily be two cours with 25 episodes.
It could even be argued that by the time the Haikyuu Season 4 premiere date happens that there will be enough weekly chapters for the fourth season to be three or four cours with 52 episodes. Assuming that idea does not happen, the good news is that Production I.G should have ample source material for jumping straight into Haikyuu Season 5.
The hard part is finding a good stopping point. Many fans consider Chapter 292 to be the best stopping point since that chapter sets the stage for the upcoming Nekoma vs Karasuno match, but that means adapting roughly 102 chapters.
While reaching such a goal means the pacing would be a brisk 4-to-1 chapter-to-episode ratio, that would not be unprecedented since the third season was a 5-to-1 ratio. Let’s just hope Production I.G is able to find a good balance that pleases both manga and anime fans.
Haikyuu English Dub Released By Sentai Filmworks
The high-flying volleyball action finally got a Haikyuu dub starting in November 2017. The full cast list was revealed on the official website along with a trailer showing off the voices for the Haikyuu English dub.
The English dub is currently available to purchase from Sentai Filmworks on both Blu-Ray and DVD. The English Haikyuu Season 2 was released in 2018 and although an English Haikyuu Season 3 has not yet been announced it seems likely the English dub will continue to be released for later seasons.
Haikyuu Season 4 Release Date: Announcement Possible In 2019?
As of the last update, Production I.G or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Haikyuu Season 4 release date. Nor has the production of a sequel been announced. Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information. In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Haikyuu Season 4 premiere date will occur in the future.
Anime fans were hoping for a major announcement when Haikyuu Chapter 300 was released by Shonen Jump. When that did not happen, fans predicted that the end of the Inarizaki match or maybe even the current Nekoma match in the manga would precipitate an official announcement. After all, Metropolitan Nekoma High is Karasuno High’s rival and thus a major story point in the Tokyo Nationals story arc.
To be clear, while it’s still possible that a 2018 Haikyuu Season 4 announcement could take place, nobody knows for certain. One educated guess is that production might not start until 2019 at the earliest. The reason is that Susumu Mitsunaka, who directed the first three seasons of Haikyuu, is now committed to directing the newly released Professor Layton anime for the foreseeable future. The Professor Layton spinoff is going to be 50 episodes and started broadcasting in April 2018, so the director might not be available for another project until around the summer of 2019.
This educated guess is based on a brief comment from Yonkou Productions, who is well-known for providing accurate anime news. In April 2018, he was asked, “How soon do you think Haikyuu will get a new season announced?” Yonkou replied, “Stay faithful but our director is stuck working on the Professor Layton anime for a year so who knows.” In June 2018, he followed that comment up by explicitly stating that “there is no release date for Haikyu S4 ATM” and “nobody knows because Mitsunaka is currently on Professor Layton.”
The idea that Haikyuu Season 4 could be delayed for so long should not be surprising. The anime industry as a whole is facing a human resources crisis where there simply is not enough manpower. All of the studios are operating at peak capacity, so projects are being scheduled many years in advance based on studio availability.
Considering the available information, predicting the Haikyuu Season 4 release date with any accuracy is difficult. It’ll definitely happen; it’s just a matter of when. However, it can be reasonably said that either 2019 or 2020 seems the most likely time period for the premiere. Historically, the anime seasons have premiered in the spring and fall, but that does not necessarily mean the fourth season will follow suit.
Haikyuu Season 4 Spoilers
The Karasuno boys’ volleyball team’s journey to the top last ended with the match against Shiratorizawa High. Hinata scored the last points by spiking the ball, but the entire team had to pull together to defeat their competitor’s team captain, Wakatoshi Ushijima, the number one ace in the Miyagi prefecture and one of three volleyball aces throughout Japan.
With that win secured by Karasuno, the manga has been in the Tokyo Nationals story arc since Chapter 205. Like previous seasons, the first half of Haikyuu Season 4 will be focused on training. One of the highlights will be a difficult practice match against a team called Date Tech.
The Snakes deserve their name since they try to rile up competitors by insulting them. The Snakes captain even stoops to cheating by blocking the referee’s vision so that a point by Nekoma is called as an out. Despite the lowbrow tactics, Hinata receives a text message from Kozume Kenma that reads, “We’re headed to Nationals.”
The Spring High Tournament story arc ends in Chapter 206 with Itachiyama Academy as the first representatives, Fukurodani as the second representatives, and Nekoma as the host city representatives. Next up is the beginning of the story arc about the training camps.
That means the fourth season will probably continue where the last episode left off. Kageyama is invited to the National Youth Intensive Training Camp for volleyball whereas poor Hinata did not receive an invitation at all. Insult is piled on top of Hinata’s injured pride when Kei “Four Eyes” Tsukishima also receives an invitation to a first-years training camp program.
So, the dynamic duo of Hinata and Kageyama end up going their separate ways for a time so they can grow individually. The invitation-less Hinata sneaks into the first-years’ training camp, but is quickly discovered during roll call and is chewed out by coaches for entering uninvited. Hinata talks Shiratorizawa’s coach into allowing him to stay as the ball boy, but he can only observe the practice matches.
Without being able to play, Hinata struggles to figure out how he can improve himself by becoming a better ball boy. The pint-sized player also helps a tall volleyball player who joined the sport late in his youth. The bigger boy may have the height advantage, but Hinata is able to help increase the other boy’s skills.
The second act of Haikyuu Season 4 will probably line up with Chapter 230 of Volume 26: Warfront. The team finally arrives at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium for the National Volleyball High School Championships. Karasuno’s first match will be up against Tsubakihara Academy, second representatives of the Kanagawa Prefecture.
As previously mentioned, the anime will probably find an ending somewhere around Chapter 291 or 292. A very solemn Nekoma High watches in disbelief from the stands as the Karasuno vs Inarizaki match causes a large upset. While anime fans can look forward to watching this moment on their TV screens, let’s just hope fans don’t have to wait until 2020 for the Haikyuu Season 4 release date. Stay tuned!
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