‘Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle’ Review
Features the voices of: Ayumu Murase, Kaito Ishikawa, Yuki Kaji, Yuichi Nakamura | Written and Directed by Susumu Mitsunaka
An epic basketball game is set to take place between rival teams Karasuno High School and Nekoma High School. It also means that rival players Shoyo Hinata (Ayumu Murase) and Kenma Kozume (Yuki Kaji) finally get their chance to play against each other, after numerous practice matches. As is the way of The Dumpster Battle, as soon as one team loses it’s all over — and the match can never be replayed.
Sometimes it can be a tall order to make sport exciting, but on the whole, anime excels at perfecting this niche art. From ice skating drama in Yuri On Ice to the aptly named Cheer Boys!, physical exercise comes to life in an entirely new way through these storylines. The most well-known is undoubtedly Haikyu!!, a rambunctious anime about high school basketball. While it’s famed amongst the hardened anime crowd, its latest movie The Dumpster Battle doesn’t quite fan the flames in the same way.
On the face of it, basketball should be made for animation — and to the senses, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle absolutely does the job. Every scuff of a trainer and grunt of a worn-out player is recorded, with a thick silence hanging in the air over the moments of tension that need it most. The film’s camera work is both dynamic and arresting, taking viewers through a sporting point of view not dissimilar to Challengers, but established well before it became arthouse. There’s a natural energy that comes with anime that Western cartoons often fail to replicate, with Japanese creators both able to exaggerate reality and understand its subtleties. This, combined with a handball sport that’s compelling to watch, was always going to look good on the biggest screen possible.
That being said, it feels like there’s something missing with Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle. Perhaps it’s the format, with bursts of basketball tension possibly being better suited to 30-minute episodes than a feature film that’s three times as long. Perhaps it’s down to the fact that the story is slightly more impenetrable than other franchises, opting against the typical film structure of recapping what has been seen in previous seasons. Or perhaps it just boils down to the inevitable — after a certain period of time, watching a group of people smack a ball about is going to become boring. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is certainly going to tick the boxes for existing fans, giving them a new chance to explore the intense and loveable relationships they can’t be without.
Whether Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is actually bringing anything new to the table or enhancing the brand it’s already built is up for debate, but viewers won’t find it hard to have a good time watching. There are genuine heart-in-your-mouth moments that make you question if joining your local team on a whim would be a good idea, but the momentum isn’t always maintained.
*** 3/5
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle is in cinemas now.
