Let’s start with the obvious – life isn’t fair. 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team shouldn’t have to be compared against Haikyuu, any more than Major should against Touch or Giant Killing Captain Tsubasa. Sports – or any anime theme – are fair game (no pun intended) for any writer to trade in. But the reality is that Haikyuu casts a Godzilla-sized shadow over this series, and any other volleyball series that comes along in the next few years. It’s both rather good and stupendously popular. And if that weren’t bad enough, the anime may be the most lavishly-produced sports series in the history of the medium.
So that’s the context in which 2.43, based on a light novel series, comes into existence as an anime (on NoitaminA no less). Strictly from my personal experience, the hardest thing for me is not to compare it against Haikyuu in terms of visuals. The bar was just set so high in that regard, since Haikyuu defined a sport in anime form more than any other series has, probably. And 2.43 certainly isn’t on that level, to be sure. David Production is an interesting studio though, and director Kimura Yasuhiro (largely untested in that role) generally manages to present an attractive product without the benefit of Haikyuu’s avalanche of sakuga. Character designer/animation director Takanashi Yuuichi is an old hand going back to classic Gainax days, and has worked on some excellent series.
Story-wise, 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team more than anything puts me in mind of another NoitaminA sports series, Battery (also based on a novel series). That one kind of flamed out after a pretty good start, so here’s hoping 2.43 fares better. The setting here is a snowy small town somewhere in Fukui, where laid-back Kuroba Yuni (Enoki Junya) eases his way through his last year of middle school, dodging the affections of his female cousin (sitting on the desk is unspeakably rude in Japan) while kissing up to an older male one and his yankee friends. Yuni belongs to the volleyball club, which exists only as a means for boys to meet the school’s club requirement and never actually plays volleyball.
The plot kicks into gear when Kuroda’s best friend from kindergarten Hajima Kimichika (Ono Kenshou) moves back from Tokyo. He’s now a volleyball player and a surly pain in the ass, and he gives Yuni the cold shoulder when he sulks back into his life. You can pretty much see where this is headed and thankfully it gets there pretty quickly, as both boys obviously want to be friends again even if only Yuni will admit to it. Eventually he takes pity on Chika for having to fight alone against the girls team for his half of the gym, and the volleyball club slowly starts to turn into an actual entity.
The plot twist – Chika’s dark past in Tokyo, which cousin Yori digs up and blabs to Yuni – stirs the pot a bit. Making the deuteragonist a genius setter who ruined things for himself by antagonizing his middle school club – not to mention the lead a cheerful naturally athletic spiker – might be an unfortunate choice for obvious reasons. Still, the dynamic is distinct enough and I rather liked the characters, as annoying as Chika is. And Yuni is no little giant – these are big boys for their age, and at 175 cm in 9th grade he seems ticketed for the physical profile of a volleyballer if nothing else.
This was a pure setup episode (the bulk of the narrative will clearly take place in high school), and as such it’s really impossible to draw any firm conclusions about 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team. But generally speaking I’m modestly optimistic based on incomplete returns. As I said the cast (especially Yuni) seems likeable enough, and it’s a positive that the look of the series is totally different from Haikyuu, given that it could never match it in terms of pure polish (and budget). I’m good to go for a few more episodes at least.
Princess Usagi
January 9, 2021 at 12:47 pmIt was an enjoyable 1st episode; definitely with some Haikyuu-ish elements but enough to make it different. I didn’t realize the source was a light novel; I’d imagine that manga lends itself better to sports stories than light novels, in that the visualization of the matches is key, with there being moves/plays that are easier shown than written (and more thrilling that way too), but I’ve not yet read a sports light novel, so I couldn’t say for sure.
Guardian Enzo
January 9, 2021 at 1:31 pmBattery is one, and that’s the series this reminds me most of along with Haikyuu.
Nadavu
January 9, 2021 at 9:55 pmI liked this episode a lot. I can’t help but hope that 2.43 will be to Haikyuu as Ping Pong was to Baby Steps. It probably won’t, as the off-the-court drama will probably play itself out withing the first 3 episodes and the rest would be mostly on-court matches. Still, the grimness of a falling-apart middle-of-nowhere little snow city where everyone sounds like Arata really speaks to me.
Nadavu
January 10, 2021 at 2:09 amAlso, the animation here is actually better than most of To The Top!!!!!!’s second season
leongsh
January 10, 2021 at 4:12 pmYou’re comparing the first episode of a new series, where a lot of budget would usually be spent, to a 2nd half of a series badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. An apples-to-apples comparison would be to compare against the 1st episode of Haikyuu’s Season 1. Let’s see whether 2.43 can keep up the same quality of animation through the whole series and if a comparison is needed by the end of it, against the whole Season 1 of Haikyuu.
Nadavu
January 10, 2021 at 9:11 pmYes, that would be an apples-to-apples comparison. I was merely pointing out an amusing anecdote, and a relevant one, in response to Enzo’s thoughts about how 2.43 is invariably under the shadow of Haikyu!!. To The Top season two ended two weeks ago. This episode looks better than almost anything that particular half-season had to offer. If you take that to mean that I think 2.43 will, overall, be of better animation quality than Haikyuu!!, then you’re putting thoughts into my head.
Guardian Enzo
January 10, 2021 at 9:23 pmI took your comment in the manner you intended it, FWIW.
leongsh
January 10, 2021 at 4:05 pmA good start. Interesting characters and plot. Will need to watch more to get a better handle on the storyline. Following for now.
Color2413
January 10, 2021 at 6:21 pmWow–honest, when I watched this (before reading your review) I thought, “this has a ‘Battery’ vibe to it.” I thought I was the only one who remembered that four-year-old show! (I originally had high hopes because it was based on a novel by the creator of “No. 6.”)
I liked the first episode a lot. It had a real sense of place and mood. interesting characters, and an unsettling sense of malice that kept me interested. It could definitely go south (as :Battery” eventually did), but right now, I’m on board.
Guardian Enzo
January 10, 2021 at 6:53 pmI remember it very well, though mostly for how disappointing it was. NoitaminA, Mochizuki Tomomi, author of No. 6 – yeah, I had very high hopes. And I liked the first couple eps a lot. After that. not so much.
Kim
January 11, 2021 at 1:39 amIt reminds me of Battery and Stars Align which does make me nervous because both were disappointing in the end. Although in Stars Align’s case certainly not the creative teams fault but unfair circumstances
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2021 at 9:02 amWell, Battery and Stars Align are both shows which embrace the emotional side of boys, which most anime still seems to be allergic to. 2.43 looks to be the same. As you note there’s a major difference between those two series in why they struggled in the end (and Battery, frankly, punted it a lot sooner) but I truly believe if it had been allowed its planned two cours Hoshiai no Sora would have been a masterpiece or close to it.
Riv
January 11, 2021 at 6:41 amI will give any sports anime a chance and there was definitely enough here to keep me watching. As you say, comparisons to Haikyuu! are inevitable, and I do wish that Hajima did not remind me so strongly of Tsukishima in terms of character design. But I think the character will be different enough that it will become less of an issue moving forward.
Guardian Enzo
January 11, 2021 at 9:00 amEspecially since he seems to ditch his glasses.
KumaShock
January 16, 2021 at 3:47 pmI have this series earmarked as my dose of sport anime this season. My first impression of 2.43 is that it may be one of those sport anime that load up on the melodrama to fill the spaces between the sports action. The highly dramatic reveal of Hajima’s checkered past left me a little underwhelmed as Im not a fan of that approach. One thing I’ve liked about most sports anime I’ve watched recently – Haikyuu!, Tamayomi and the second season of Major 2nd – is that mostly they did not take the high drama route, treating the protagonists as mostly being normal young people with real world problems enjoying their sports, rather than being vehicles for high drama. That was a relief to me after enduring Hanebado and the old baseball epic Princess Nine earlier this year. Hajima may or may not be Bad Tobio on steroids but if they make him too impossible, too bullying, the resolution of his issues will need to be concomitantly highly dramatic and colorful too. The volleyball action, such as it was is okay I thought. it’s not Haikyuu but it will do. I’m hoping 2.43 will return to a more naturalistic approach overall in the next couple of episodes – but I’m not convinced it will