Second Haikyuu Film Confirmed (And a Bonus Short!)

It’s almost the end of an era, as we have new details confirmed about the second and final (???) film in the Haikyuu!! franchise.

The second film, Gekijōban Haikyū!! VS Chiisana Kyojin (Haikyu!! Vs. The Little Giant), was officially confirmed to be greenlit earlier today at the Haikyuu Next Step stage event. I thought this was already confirmed, but I guess I shouldn’t assume. Just because something was announced doesn’t mean it will come to pass. After all, as we’ve learned from many American studios, even fully finished films can be shelved for a variety of stupid reasons.

Haikyu!! Vs. The Little Giant will continue the story from where the first film, HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle, left off. Now that Karasuno has finally beaten Nekoma, they face their next opponent – the fearsome Kamomedai, who has their own Little Giant in Hoshiumi. We briefly met Hoshiumi in season 4 of the anime, when Kageyama went to training camp, and later when Hinata got a glimpse of him in the earlier Nationals matches.

The promo spot only reveals the title, so we don’t have a release date yet. But if they follow a similar timeline to the first film, we’ll potentially get a trailer in about a month, and the film approximately five months after that. Granted, international fans will have to wait probably an additional three months after that. Still, it’s possible that we could have this film by the end of 2025.

It’s been a very long time since these films were announced – all the way back in 2022 – thereby killing fans’ hopes for a new season of the anime. Instead, Hinata, Kageyama, and the rest of Karasuno would see their story concluded in two films. Obviously, many people were unhappy with this news. There was just so much of the manga left to adapt that two films wouldn’t be able to cover everything. So we’re going to be left with a lot of the story unanimated.

There is one bright spot, however. Alongside the promo for the second film, a second promo was released, announcing a new television “short” featuring one of Fukurōdani’s matches at Nationals. “Haikyū!! Bakemono-tachi no Iku Tokoro” (Where Monsters Go) will adapt the game between Fukurōdani Academy and Mujinazaka High School, which in the manga occurs directly after the Karasuno/Nekoma match.

I’m unsure what they mean by TV “short”. Is it potentially the length of a regular episode? Or will it be shorter than that? Or do they just mean it will be shorter than the film? We just don’t have that information yet. However, this news makes me very happy, because it indicates the potential for further shorts that adapt more of the material from the manga that won’t be covered in the films.

Now, you may have noticed in the first paragraph that I put question marks after final when referring to this film, because when I went to see the fan reaction I noticed a lot of contradictory information. I thought it was settled, back when this announcement was first made, that they weren’t going to get to the post-time skip arc from the manga (Hinata in Brazil, pro-volleyball arc).

I realize now that was an assumption I made, as it was never actually directly stated at the time just what the films would cover. This information was never confirmed until the titles and promos for the films dropped. Still, the original announcement said two sequel films, and that’s something that’s been reiterated over the years. At least I thought so.

Posts from the event today imply that there were two NEW sequel projects, that being the film and the short I mention in this article. I’m now confused as to whether the film is one of the two that was originally announced, or if they’re adding projects as they go. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be beyond thrilled if they just keep adding projects. I was very upset when I thought that the post-time skip arcs weren’t going to be covered. But I don’t know whether we’re actually getting new material, or if this comes down to translation issues.

Apparently it’s been confirmed at some point that they will adapt the post-time skip arc. This was revealed at a panel from Anime Expo last year that was attended by representatives from Production I.G, the studio that animates Haikyuu!!. (I don’t remember hearing this at all!) But of course, no one knows just how it will happen.

Someone in this Reddit thread says that they confirm it will be in Haikyu!! Vs. The Little Giant while others speculate that we’ll get a new film (or even anime) under an entirely different name – sort of the way Free! had like four different titles. And multiple posters in this Reddit thread claim that the official website no longer uses the word “final” when referring to the films. (I’ll take their word for it, as I am not a frequent visitor of the official site.)

Looks like we have an Attack on Titan situation, everyone. They’re going to keep saying it’s the last one, we mean it this time, as they keep putting out more projects. And unlike Attack on Titan, I already know how it ends, so if they want to keep putting out more animated content, I’m a thousand percent here for it.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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