2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team First Impressions

“Looks like you showed your true colors. The genius setter from Meisei with a shitty reputation only cares about fulfilling his own desires, huh?”

Due to its prominence in the genre, it’s almost inevitable that one of the points of comparison when analyzing a new sports anime would be Haikyu!!. This comparison becomes even more likely in the case of 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team, and not simply because both series center around volleyball. There are many plot beats that will ring familiar to fans of Haikyu!! though it’s worth noting the significant difference in tone. While the basic trimmings of both series sound quite similar, the substance here appears to be darker, more serious and aiming more for the atmosphere of 2019’s Hoshiai no Sora.  If you’re a fan of grounded sports anime with their share of significant drama, it’s looking like 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team will effectively scratch that itch.

The story for 2.43 features a talented setter named Hajime Kimichika, whose obsession with the game and toxic relationship with his teammates led to him being removed from the team. I know I’m only a single sentence in, but I suspect anyone playing along at home is ready to call Haikyu!!-bingo at this point. It’d be unfair to say Chika is the same as Haikyu!!’s Kageyama, but the similarities in their backstories are certainly notable. When it comes to this first episode, the biggest departure is Chika’s willingness to praise talent in those around him and his gleeful enthusiasm when others are willing to join him in playing the sport. There is one other factor that sets him apart from Kageyama. While both characters ended up isolating themselves due to their perfectionist demands, the impact of Chika’s actions is a bit more stark as his abuse led one of his teammates to self-harm. Given his almost bi-polar temperament in this episode, I’m curious to delve a bit further into his psyche and learn what his perspective on these events is. Our other lead is Kurokuba Yuni, Chika’s childhood friend who he reconnects with when he returns back to his childhood home following the incident at his previous school. Yuni is, at least initially, less passionate than Chika, and doesn’t know how to cope with his friend’s single-minded enthusiasm. Chika and Yuni have an interesting dynamic, with Yuni clearly having a fear of committing to something only to have to face the disappointment of failure. It’s a good and interesting clash of personalities that will have me come back for at least a few episodes.

The production is being handled by David Production, and this is easily the best-looking show I’ve encountered so far this season. That’s not the strongest of competitions admittedly, since I’ve reviewed one show from J.C.Staff, one from CloverWorks, and three from Liden Films, but CloverWorks is nothing to sneeze at. I don’t have a ton of experience with David Production, but they tend to have very polished visuals, though I’ve never actually finished any series I’ve sampled by them. They’re probably best known for their adaptations of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Fire Force. With that pedigree, it’s unsurprising to find the animation is crisp with a good sense of momentum, and no reliance on CG that I could identify. The OP wasn’t instantly seared into my memory or anything, but it’s pretty darn solid with a nice horn track and visuals that complement the flow of the music nicely. This first episode doesn’t have a multitude of opportunities to really show off the action outside of the opening, but the small glimpses we do get appear to be held to a high standard, and if David Production has a weakness, I don’t think it is a lack of crisp visuals.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• This first episode never explains the meaning behind the 2.43 number in the title. Evidently, it’s the height of the net in male volleyball.
• While I’ve given both Skate-Leading ☆ Stars and 2.43 the same score, I think I’d give the point to 2.43 for being the series I’m more interested in. Skate-Leading ☆ Stars’ first episode provides a more complete picture of the dynamics and the challenge the characters are facing, but 2.43’s reliance on more complicated drama prevents that sense of clarity while still being more compelling overall.
• I don’t recall seeing many sports anime light novel adaptations in the past, so this may be something of an outlier in that regard. However, I can’t say I do an exceptional job committing source material information to memory, unless it’s a series where I’ve actually sampled said source material.