‘Haikyu!!’ manga fuels volleyball mania in Japan, with national team ranked fourth in world heading into Paris Olympics
- Comic-book tale featuring inspirational hero has sold 60 million copies, spawned film that has taken US$65 million at box office
- Exploits of fictional team have triggered a boom in interest, coinciding with era of superstars such as Ran Takahashi
Men’s volleyball is flying high in Japan with the national team ranked fourth globally ahead of the Paris Olympics and the sport’s soaring popularity fuelled by a manga blockbuster.
Haikyu!!, a tale of school teams featuring an inspirational comic-book hero determined to beat the odds and his diminutive stature, has sold 60 million copies since its 2012 inception.
Turned into a hit anime series, the manga has now spawned a film, Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle, that has taken 10 billion yen (US$65 million) at the Japanese box office and will be released in North America this month.
Masahiro Yanagida, who captained the national team from 2018 to 2021, said he was “immensely grateful” that the exploits of the fictional team have helped trigger a boom in numbers hitting the courts.
“I have all volumes of the manga myself,” he told AFP, recalling being “completely hooked” on its “pretty realistic” depictions of the sport.