Haikyuu!!

That was a fine ep, We have intro to the MC a little backstory about his past and a match right off the bat!
The King guy was awesome indeed , playing with full sincerity :D and man he can jump *-*
I Liked the animation especially during final jump before match end.

And that plot twist at end, Fated rival turns into fated teammate

Hah, neat. The most recent Haikyuu!! chapter got scanlated now. Hopefully the anime will put the manga in the know as well.

This was really good stuff. I feared Hinata's VA would have too light a voice, but he does a good job.
The animation was good, and Hinata's diagonal jump was cool as hell! As was his "scary face" scene. The anime really does seem like it will do the latter justice.
Kageyama's VA was particularly intense. Loved it!

One thing I don't really get though:
Why does the anime hide the Karasuno seniors? They were already show in the OP!
They even went as far as take their dialogue from Hinata's match and give it to those score keepers instead.
Why? What the heck is the point? It just comes off as bad directing. There's not any "reveal" to be had.

And a simple pet peeve:


They left out what I consider an amusing stab at Kuroko.
What, didn't wanna diss one of their own series? *che*

The main characters actually reminds me a lot of Sawamura from Ace of Diamond, but done right so he isn't a constant irritant every time he opens his mouth. They're both the overeager, over excitable type with more enthusiasm than sense, but this episode also made it a point to show how hard Sho worked on his own, both to get the team together and with training. It showed the marks on his arms from all his practicing, which is something we never got with Sawamura, who has nothing but his enthusiasm. It's the details that make all the difference with this type of character. Showing Sho's hard work and passion means more than just his words. Sure, his hard work was misdirected and could have been used more efficiently, but that doesn't really matter, because all of it goes toward making him a more likable character. He probably won't be my favorite character, but I can still enjoy his character. I did find it pretty amusing when the score keepers started cheering for Sho's team, it was a nice little moment.

The game here was pretty much a one sided slaughter so there wasn't much tension there. The only real thing to note about it are the animation looks fucking great, especially on the jumps. And holy shit did you guys she that last spike? It was cool as hell even if it did end up going out. I'm also looking forward to learning more about volleyball as it's a sport I know nothing about. There were some terms thrown around during the episode, which were easy enough to understand, but I think will probably be given more nuance later.

The other major character this episode was the King and he seems pretty typical for the genre as well. He's super serious and competitive which makes him come off as a bit of an ass. All of this should mean that he and Sho will play off of each other well since they're opposites. One expects perfection and the other appreciates effort, but both want to win above all else.

This episode was full of cheesy lines and was completely predictable, but it was done so well that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The confrontation between Sho and the King, the completely one sided game and the "surprise" when they ended up at the same school were all played well and made for an episode that made me want to see more of this. I also really liked the training montages with Sho and I even liked the quick glimpse of Foxy-sempai during the last training montage, it was just a quick little detail from something brought up in passing earlier in the episode, but I thought it was cool to show it anyway.

I'd agree with all that you said, but I'd say that bratty is definitely a character trait for him here at the start. Several times during the game, he seemed ready to throw a full on tantrum, when his team didn't do things exactly as he wanted them. It's a trait for him to grow out of over the course of the series.

Actually the dynamic here reminds me a lot of early part of Yowamushi where you've got two very different main characters so if one doesn't appeal to you then you've got the other one. I liked both of Hinata and Kageyama this episode so it's a great start.

and starting the show pre-highschool was a nice touch

And that last "spike" or whatever the term is, that was balls to the walls fantastic, and the animation for it was great too.
I don't think I had ever recall a sport's character like him which brought tears to my eyes, which benefits my enjoyment of this series. There's Sawamura from AoD...... Actually I see Kaiji's comparison. They both come from similar backgrounds, dedicated to the game they love and played with a lack of a better term, bad teams. Too bad Sawamura is in a poor excuse of a media because he wouldn't be hated this much if they toned down the damn enthusiasm. Getting sidetracked.