Here’s how to watch ‘Haikyuu!!’ in order

Whether they’re athletes or couch potatoes, everyone loves a good sports anime. There’s just something about this genre’s high energy that grabs your attention from the get-go, and Haikyuu!! is one of the best examples.

Based on Haruichi Furudate’s manga, this series is now the most popular volleyball anime of all time, and for good reason. Its plot is intense but fun, and the characters are all compelling in one way or another, especially Shoyo Hinata, the incredibly driven and hard-working protagonist. It’s not every day that you find such a high-quality anime, so it’s only natural for folks to want to get into it.

If you’re completely new to Haikyuu!!, you’ll need some help figuring out the best way to watch it, but worry not — that’s what I’m here for.

Haikyuu!! watch order

Those who want to dive into the world of Haikyuu!! have two different options for doing so, by going through all the animated episodes or watching the movies. Needless to say, the anime route is deemed the ideal one among hardcore fans of the series, so that’s how you should go about it if you want to get the best experience. To watch Haikyuu!! and its OVAs in order, you can use the following list:

• Season 1, episodes 1-25
• OVA 1 — “The Arrival of Lev,” also known as “Lev Appears!”
• Season 2, episodes 1-11
• OVA 2 — “VS Failing Grades,” also known as “VS Failing Marks”
• Season 2, episodes 12-25
• Season 3, episodes 1-10
• OVA specials — “Land vs. Air” and “The Path of the Ball”
• OVA 3 — “The Spring Tournament of Their Youth”
• Season 4, episodes 1-25
• Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle

It’s worth mentioning that despite how fun OVAs may be, they’re not required viewing. You won’t miss out on any key plot points or details by skipping the OVAs, as most of them act as simple side-stories, and are not based on the source material. That said, there are two exceptions — the “Land vs. Air” and “The Path of the Ball” specials, which adapt volume 22 of the manga, covering chapters 191 through 199. All this to say that if you want to skip all other OVAs, feel free to do so, but the specials are important.

Haikyuu!! movie watch order

If you don’t want to sit through multiple episodes of the anime, you can watch the story unfold via Haikyuu!!’s recap movies. Bear in mind that this isn’t the preferred option, as there will be some scenes missing and others added in, but the movies cover all the relevant events in the series. This makes them okay substitutes for the anime series, especially for fans looking to speed up the viewing process. You can watch all the Haikyuu!! movies in the following order:

• Haikyuu!! The Movie: Ending and Beginning
• Haiyuu!! The Movie: Winners and Losers
• Haiyuu!! The Movie: Talent and Sense
• Haiyuu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts
• Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle

All four seasons of Haikyuu!! are currently available to stream on Crunchyroll, along with some of the films.