Haikyuu!! follows the journey of Hinata Shoyo, who became inspired to play volleyball after seeing "The Tiny Giant" play, though the series isn't about a single player's development and improvement as an athlete. It's also a lot more than just volleyball games -- although the series is largely comprised of match-focused chapters. Ultimately, Haikyuu!! is really about how the sport changed the lives of every character to ever touch a volleyball, and Haruichi Furudate's manga has an impact on its fans' lives even in its absence.
Haikyuu!!'s ending was published in 2020, but fans don't need to worry about their favorite characters. In Chapter 402, the series finale, a time skip several years after high school reveals most of the Karasuno High School players have gone their separate ways. Some still continue to play volleyball on a professional level and some chose another career path, with Hinata heading to Brazil to do some beach volleyball training.
Black Jackals Defeat the Adlers in the Haikyuu!! Ending
Two years later, Hinata returns to Japan and tries out for a pro-league team called MBSY Black Jackals. In his debut match, he faces off against an old teammate and rival, Kageyama, who now plays setter for the Schweiden Adlers. Some familiar faces on Hinata's team are Miya Atsumu, setter from Inarizaki; Bokuto Kotaro, ace of Fukurodani; and Sakusa Kiyoomi, ace of Itachiyama. On the Adlers' side, Kageyama now has Hoshiumi Korai, the "Little Giant" of Kamomedai; Ushijima Wakatoshi, ace of Shiratorizawa; and Nicolas Romero, a world-class volleyball player from Brazil.
With everyone from Karasuno and players that Hinata and Kageyama faced in their first year of high school present, this match-up is the first of the V-League season. Hinata is the wild card because nobody has any stats on him since he disappeared to Brazil. As soon as it begins, Hinata immediately commands the attention of the crowd, receiving Kageyama's strong opening serve, then quickly following up with a jump that sends him flying into the air to deliver a spike that smashes down cleanly in the back corner.
The match is both thrilling and nostalgic, with each team showing off how much they've grown as individual players, as well as a team. In the last few rallies of the fourth set, each player's high school banner's slogan flares behind them as a nostalgic throwback to the values that they still live and breathe by. As Kageyama and Hinata leap and meet in front of the net, Karasuno's banner appears in between them, emblazoned with the words: FLY. The Black Jackals end up taking the match, and even though Hinata didn't score the winning point, his decoy play was what helped seal the winning match point.
The Haikyuu!! Manga Ends With the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
In 2021, the stage is set for the Tokyo Olympics (likely a real-life reference to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being pushed a year back due to COVID-19). The Japanese national team consists of a lot of familiar faces again, along with some of the country's top players: Hinata, Kageyama, Ushijima, Miya Atsumu, Yaku, Bokuto, Sakusa, Hoshiumi, Komori, Hyakuzawa, Hakuba and Ojiro with Iwaizumi Hajime from Aobajohsai as the athletic trainer of the Japan team.
The matchup is against Argentina, and who else but Oikawa would arrive with a symbolic Aobajohsai's banner declaring "Rule the Court" fluttering behind him like a cape? Oikawa was the one who once promised Hinata that he would beat everyone and now, he's the Argentinian team's setter on one of the world's largest sporting stages.
Haikyuu!!'s Message Isn't About Who Wins
When Kageyama and Hinata first meet, Hinata loses badly to Kageyama but vows to one day beat him. Although they end up being teammates at Karasuno, the two never stopped competing against each other -- whether it be in playing skills or in running races. That story doesn't change even after they graduate high school. They end up competing against each other at the pro level; they're teammates on Team Japan at the Olympics and a year later, on opposing sides again with Hinata playing for Brazil and Kageyama for Italy in the World Championship.
They push each other to get better, to keep striving for the impossible and that's the best kind of rivalry that you can ask for. We never find out who wins out of Japan and Argentina at the Olympics in the Haikyuu!! ending. We never know who wins the V-League season. But this emphasizes the point of Haikyuu!! -- that sport isn't about winning or losing, it's about having fun playing the game you love.
Chapter 402 of Haikyuu!!, "Challengers," by Haruichi Furudate, Adrienne Beck and Erika Terriquez is available in English on Viz Media.