Haikyu!!

This sporty anime features great animation, likeable characters and intense volleyball matches that deliver a lively and fun viewing experience. Haikyu!! is a standard sports shonen (a type of anime made for younger kids) that follows a lot of familiar patterns found in other sports anime. But even though it's nothing new, it's got great art and animation, characterizations, and story. One especially notable element is how the series depicts hard work and dealing with losing. Many sports anime depict characters pushing their bodies well past healthy levels to gain victory. Here, characters learn to listen to their bodies and recognize defeat not as a sign of weakness, but an opportunity to learn. There;s a good balance of showing the value of hard work and winning while also reminding viewers that you can't win them all, but you can always continue to grow.

The only challenge that everything in Haikyu!! is heavily centered around the sport of volleyball. It's all volleyball, all the time. But anyone familiar with sports and playing on a team should be able to relate, and the series serves up a great time for teen viewers.