A cat and a crow eye each other from opposite sides of the screen. Each waiting for the other to make the first move. Each waiting for the right moment to attack. The scene is utterly silent, punctuated only by the buzzing of cicadas.

This is the first scene from the animated feature film Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, the story of two rival volleyball teams and their mascots: Nekoma (the cats) and Karasuno (the crows). Their face-off is known as the Dumpster Battle because that is where cats and crows battle for supremacy.

The film follows on from the beloved anime series Haikyu!! (Japanese for volleyball), which is itself adapted from Haruichi Furudate’s shonen manga (boys’ comics) of the same name. The anime is almost required coursework for any aspiring volleyball player, capturing the hearts of viewers across the world.

The anime follows the journey of always-energetic, orange-haired, middle blocker Hinata Shoyo, who, despite only being 164 cm tall, is an offensive powerhouse with his team, Karasuno.

The film picks up where the fourth season of the series left off, with Karasuno making it out of the second round of the Spring High School National Tournament and coming face to face with their long-time rivals, Nekoma.

The first scene segues into a brief reintroduction of Hinata’s first encounter (back in season one) with the other protagonist: Kozume Kenma, the cold and calculating ‘brain’ of Nekoma. There’s no other summary; the movie expects audiences to be intimately familiar with everything that has happened in the four seasons of the anime (released between 2014 and 2020) – this is for hardcore fans only!

Without any further preamble, it jumps straight into the action. The electrifying first rally left me on the edge of my seat.

From that point on, I knew the visuals would be superb. Every detail, from the fluid movements to the facial expressions, was incredibly detailed. The animation was unbelievably crisp (a relief after the questionable animation in season four). I’ll try to keep spoilers light, but I nearly cried when Hinata finally got his ‘boom’ jump.

Through a heart-pounding series of sharp angles and close-ups, the cinematography captures the intensity of the match. The long point-of-view shot from Kenma’s perspective near the end of the game was particularly impactful: we see his frantic glances and hear his gasping breaths. This shot lends particular weight to what can be considered the emotional climax of the film.

Kenma, who has long been portrayed as apathetic to volleyball, fights with his all to keep the game alive. In this beautifully immersive moment, the fervor and excitement of the match finally penetrate his emotionless demeanor.

Many Haikyu!! fans were already disappointed by the decision to adapt one of the manga’s most important matches into a movie rather than into another series with multiple episodes. To illustrate just how bad it is, the first few seasons of the anime gave roughly 5-7 minutes per chapter of the manga. The Nekoma vs Karasuno game is just under 3 minutes per chapter.

The film accomplished this runtime by cutting a few of the less exciting points in the volleyball game. This was jarring at times; after the exciting rally that put Karasuno up 1-0, I was absolutely hyped up but sagged back in confusion when the scoreboard suddenly skipped ahead to 7-7. The movie felt more like a highlight reel than an entire game.

The less eventful game plays make the exciting moments even more impactful. It’s hard to fully appreciate how incredible some of the moments are without a basis for comparison.

The match was also broken up by several flashbacks. Though typical of anime, this only cuts the actual game time shorter. When the whistle is blown, everyone, including Hinata, is surprised it’s over so soon.

Although the movie understandably fleshes out Kenma as a character, it often does so at the expense of the other characters.

The incredible returning cast of explosive personalities (wily Kuroo Tetsurō, moodmakers Tanaka Ryūnosuke and Nishinoya Yū, snarky Tsukishima Kei) makes the most of their scenes, but they are underused. The audience has to fill in gaps of many individual rivalries and character relationships.

Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is an exhilarating romp for well-versed fans, but for those who are going in blind, or have forgotten much of the anime, it can be confusing.

A second movie is planned. My hopes are high for this, but I (along with many other fans) am very anxious about the potential runtime and other issues that may come up again.