Haikyu!! (ハイキュー!! Haikyū!!, from the kanji 排球 “volleyball”) is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate. Individual chapters have been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since February 2012, with bound volumes published by Shueisha. The series was initially published as a one-shot in Shueisha’s seasonal Jump NEXT! magazine prior to serialization. As of December 2018, thirty-five volumes have been released in Japan. The manga has been licensed in North America by Viz Media. As of January 2018, Haikyu!! has sold over 28 million copies.

An anime television series adaptation by Production I.G aired from April 2014 to September 2014, which has been licensed for digital and home release in North America by Sentai Filmworks. The second season of the anime aired from October 2015 to March 2016. A third season aired from October 2016 to December 2016. A fourth season was announced at Jump Festa 2019.

Plot:

Junior high school student Shōyō Hinata gains a sudden love of volleyball after seeing a national championship match on TV. Although short in height, he becomes determined to follow in the footsteps of a star player, nicknamed the “Little Giant”, after seeing his plays. However, his dreams are destroyed in his first official match, where his team suffers a crushing defeat against the Junior championship favourite team, which includes the so-called “King of the Court” Tobio Kageyama. Hinata vows to follow in the footsteps of the “Little Giant” and enter Karasuno High School to defeat Kageyama, only for the two to wind up as unlikely team mates. By combining the genius-like qualities of Kageyama with Hinata’s sheer athleticism, the duo create a brand-new volleyball tactic. Their new combo allows them to get over their differences and creates a strange alliance between the two filled with fun and laughter for them and their teammates. Thus begins the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team’s journey to the top.

Dragon Ball (Japanese: ドラゴンボール Hepburn: Doragon Bōru), sometimes styled as Dragonball, is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected into 42 tankōbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was initially inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. The series follows the adventures of the protagonist, Son Goku, from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.

Toriyama’s manga was adapted and divided into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed 20 animated feature films and three television specials, as well as two anime sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997) and Dragon Ball Super (2015–2018). From 2009 to 2015, a revised version of Dragon Ball Z aired in Japan under the title Dragon Ball Kai, as a recut that follows the manga’s story more faithfully by removing most of the material featured exclusively in the anime. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films, both animated and live-action, collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, along with several collections of soundtracks and a large number of video games. As of December 2014, the franchise has generated over US$5 billion in merchandise sales. Dragon Ball is one of the top ten highest-grossing media franchises of all time, as of 2018.

Since its release, Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga and anime series of all time. The manga’s 42 volumes have sold over 159 million copies in Japan and over 350 million copies worldwide, making it the second best-selling manga series in history. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humour of the story. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest manga series ever made, with many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now popular works. The anime, particularly Dragon Ball Z, is also highly popular in various countries and was arguably one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture.

My Hero Academia (Japanese: 僕のヒーローアカデミア Hepburn: Boku no Hīrō Akademia) is a superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since July 2014, and 20 volumes have been collected in tankōbon format. The story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without superpowers (called quirks) in a world where they have become the norm, but who still dreams of becoming a hero himself. He is scouted by the world’s greatest hero, who shares his quirk with Izuku after recognizing his potential, and later enrolls him in a high school for heroes in training.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Bones. Its first season aired in Japan from April 3 to June 26, 2016,^[11] followed by a second season from April 1 to September 30, 2017, then a third season from April 7 to September 29, 2018, and an animated film titled My Hero Academia: Two Heroes was released on August 3 of that year.

The series has been licensed for English-language release by Viz Media and began serialization in their weekly digital manga anthology Weekly Shonen Jump on February 9, 2015.

Lore:

In a world where people with superpowers (known as “Quirks” (個性 Kosei)) are the norm, Izuku Midoriya has dreams of one day becoming a Hero, despite being bullied by his classmates for not having a Quirk. After being the only one to try and save his childhood friend Katsuki Bakugo from a villain, All Might, the world’s greatest Hero, bestows upon him his own Quirk “One For All”. The story follows Izuku’s entrance into U.A. High School (雄英高校 Yūei Kōkō), a school that cultivates the next generation of superheroes. As Izuku and his new friends try to balance their Hero training with ordinary school duties, they must face new challenges including the League of Villains, an evil organization established by All Might’s archenemy, All For One, to destroy all Heroes and take control of society.

First season

In 2022, a virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game (VRMMORPG) called Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the NerveGear, a helmet that stimulates the user’s five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. Both the game and the NerveGear were created by Akihiko Kayaba.

On November 6, 10,000 players log into the SAO‘s mainframe cyberspace for the first time, only to discover that they are unable to log out. Kayaba appears and tells the players that they must beat all 100 floors of Aincrad, a steel castle which is the setting of SAO, if they wish to be free. Those who suffer in-game deaths or forcibly remove the NerveGear out-of-game will suffer real-life deaths.

One of the players, named Kazuto “Kirito” Kirigaya, is one of 1,000 testers in the game’s previous closed beta. With the advantage of previous VR gaming experience and a drive to protect other beta testers from discrimination, he isolates himself from the greater groups and plays the game alone, bearing the mantle of “beater”, a portmanteau of “beta tester” and “cheater”. As the players progress through the game Kirito eventually befriends a young girl named Asuna Yuuki, forming a relationship with and later marrying her in-game. After the duo discover the identity of Kayaba’s secret ID, who was playing as the leader of the guild Asuna joined in, they confront and destroy him, freeing themselves and the other players from the game.

In the real world, Kazuto discovers that 300 SAO players, including Asuna, remain trapped in their NerveGear. As he goes to the hospital to see Asuna, he meets Shouzou Yuuki, Asuna’s father, who is asked by an associate of his, Nobuyuki Sugou, to make a decision, which Sugou later reveals to be his marriage with Asuna, angering Kazuto. Several months later, he is informed by Agil, another SAO survivor, that a figure similar to Asuna was spotted on “The World Tree” in another VRMMORPG cyberspace called Alfheim Online (ALO). Assisted in-game by his cousin Suguha “Leafa” Kirigaya and Yui, a navigation pixie (originally an AI from SAO), he quickly learns that the trapped players in ALO are part of a plan conceived by Sugou to perform illegal experiments on their minds. The goal is to create the perfect mind-control for financial gain and to subjugate Asuna, whom he intends to marry in the real world, to assume control of her family’s corporation. Kirito eventually stops the experiment and rescues the remaining 300 SAO players, foiling Sugou’s plans. Before leaving ALO to see Asuna, Kayaba, who has uploaded his mind to the Internet using an experimental and destructively high-power version of NerveGear at the cost of his life, entrusts Kirito with The Seed – a package program designed to create virtual worlds. Kazuto eventually reunites with Asuna in the real world and The Seed is released onto the Internet, reviving Aincrad as other VRMMORPGs begin to thrive.

Second Season

Soon after, at the prompting of a government official investigating strange occurrences in VR, Kazuto takes on a job to investigate a series of murders involving another VRMMORPG called Gun Gale Online (GGO), the AmuSphere (the successor of the NerveGear), and a player called Death Gun. Aided by a female player named Shino “Sinon” Asada, he participates in a gunfight tournament called the Bullet of Bullets (BoB) and discovers the truth behind the murders, which originated with a player who participated in a player-killing guild in SAO. Through his and Sinon’s efforts, two suspects are captured, though the third suspect, Johnny Black, escapes.

Kazuto is later recruited to assist in testing an experimental FullDive machine, Soul Translator (STL), which has an interface that is far more realistic and complex than the previous machine he had played to help develop an artificial intelligence for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) named A.L.I.C.E. He tests the STL by entering a virtual reality cyberspace created with The Seed package, named UnderWorld (UW). In the UW, the flow of time proceeds a thousand times faster than in the real world, and Kirito’s memories of what happens inside are restricted. However, Black injures Kazuto with suxamethonium chloride. The MOD recovers Kazuto and places him back into the STL to preserve his mind while attempts are made to save him. Meanwhile, it is revealed that UnderWorld was created as part of an experiment to create artificial intelligence that could be used for military purposes.

Over 100 years before the beginning of the story on an alternate world, giant humanoid creatures called Titans (巨人 Kyojin) suddenly appeared and nearly wiped out humanity, devouring them without remorse or reason and only targeting them; they completely ignore other wildlife. What remains of humanity now resides within three enormous curtain walls: the outermost is Wall Maria (ウォール・マリア Wōru Maria); the middle wall is Wall Rose(ウォール・ローゼ Wōru Rōze, sometimes pronounced like rosé) and the innermost is Wall Sheena (ウォール・シーナ Wōru Shīna, alt. “Wall Sina”). Inside these walls, humanity has lived in uneasy peace for one hundred years, many people growing up without ever having seen a Titan. This all changes when one day, a giant 60-meter (200 ft)-tall Colossus Titan mysteriously appears after a strike of lightning and breaches the outer wall (which is 50 meters tall) of the Shiganshina district, a town at Wall Maria, allowing the smaller Titans to invade the district. An Armored Titan smashes clean through the gate in Wall Maria, forcing humankind to abandon the land between Wall Maria and Wall Rose, evacuating the remaining population into the inner districts. The sudden influx of population causes turmoil and famine.

The Titans are giant humanoid figures ranging between 3 and 15 meters (10 and 50 ft) tall and are usually masculine in body structure but lack reproductive organs. Although they do not appear to need food, they instinctively attack and eat humans on sight; it is mentioned that they derive their energy from sunlight. Furthermore, the Titans also do not have a proper digestive tract; once they have eaten their fill of human prey, Titans will vomit large, slimy balls, derisively referred to as “hairballs”, as shown in the episode where the squad retakes Trost. Finally, their skin is tough and difficult to penetrate, and they regenerate quickly from injuries, except for a weak spot at the nape of their neck.

Combating the Titans is the military, which is divided into three branches. Foremost in the story is the Survey Corps (調査兵団 Chōsa Heidan), which goes out into Titan territory to try to reclaim the land. The Survey Corps is heavily derided in society because of its apparently senseless high casualty rate and little sense of progress. The second and largest branch is the Garrison Regiment (駐屯兵団 Chūton Heidan), which guards the walls and the civilian populace. The third branch is the Military Police Brigade (憲兵団 Kenpeidan), which guards the royal family and lives relatively relaxed lives in the innermost wall, although this eventually results in fraud, corruption, and political subterfuge. The soldiers use a grappling, tethering system called Vertical Maneuvering Equipment (立体機動装置 Rittai Kidō Sōchi) that allows them to jump onto (and swing from) walls, trees, or nearby buildings to attack Titans with dual swords, and use gas canisters which to propel themselves. However, despite it being the soldiers’ primary line of both offense and defense against the Titans, it is useless in open and flat terrain like fields.

It is later revealed that the Titans were created when Ymir Fritz found the “source of all organic life” and became the Founding Titan which gave her the ability to become a Titan and create and control the other Titans. When Ymir died as a side effect of having the Titan ability for 13 years, her power was divided among nine who received this same fate, and thus have their abilities passed to another upon death to other Subjects of Ymir, also known the Eldian people, their home country known as Eldia. These Titans consist of the Founding Titan, the Attack Titan, the Colossal Titan, the Armored Titan, the Female Titan, the Beast Titan, the Jaw Titan, the Cart Titan, and the War Hammer Titan. The Founding Titan remained with the Fritz family as Eldia’s 145th King Karl Fritz arranged for his country’s fall by the country of Marley and took a handful of his people to the island of Paradis, where he used countless Colossus Titan bodies to make the walls and erased the memories of most of the people he brought with him with his Titan power, so they did not know anything about the outside world. As the memories of those with Titan powers are passed with them when they are passed to another, his descendants were influenced into continuing his corrupted work of ruling the Eldians in the walls through fear from the shadows, while the Eldians in Marley suffer as second-class citizens with some being exiled to Paradis as the Titans that terrorize the island’s residents.

One Piece (Japanese: ワンピース Hepburn: Wan Pīsu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997, and has been collected into 91 tankōbon volumes. The story follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, a boy whose body gained the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the Grand Line in search of the world’s ultimate treasure known as “One Piece” in order to become the next Pirate King.

The manga has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) produced by Production I.G in 1998, and an anime series produced by Toei Animation, which began broadcasting in Japan in 1999. Additionally, Toei has developed thirteen animated feature films, one OVA and eleven television specials. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a trading card game and numerous video games. The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America and the United Kingdom by Viz Media and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. The anime series was licensed by 4Kids Entertainment for an English-language release in North America in 2004, before the license was dropped and subsequently acquired by Funimation in 2007.

One Piece has received praise for its storytelling, art, characterization, and humor. Several volumes of the manga have broken publishing records, including the highest initial print run of any book in Japan. The official website for Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece manga announced that the manga has set a Guinness World Record for “the most copies published for the same comic book series by a single author”. As of May 2018, the manga has sold over 440 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling manga series in history. It became the best-selling manga for the tenth consecutive year in 2017.

Fairy Tail (Japanese: フェアリーテイル Hepburn: Fearī Teiru) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 2, 2006 to July 26, 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 tankōbon volumes. The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the popular wizard guild Fairy Tail, as he searches the fictional world of Earth-land for the dragon Igneel.

The manga has been adapted into an anime series produced by A-1 Pictures, Dentsu Inc., Satelight, Bridge, and CloverWorks which began broadcasting in Japan on October 12, 2009. Additionally, A-1 Pictures has developed nine original video animations and two animated feature films. The series ended its initial run on March 30, 2013. A second series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2014, and ended on March 26, 2016. A third series of the anime series began airing on October 7, 2018, and is slated to have 51 episodes. The series has also inspired numerous spin-off manga, including a sequel storyboarded by Mashima, titled Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest, which launched on July 25, 2018.

The manga series was originally licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which began releasing the individual volumes on March 25, 2008 and ended its licensing with the 12th volume release in September 2010. In December 2010, Kodansha USA took over North American release of the series. The Southeast Asian network Animax Asia aired an English-language version of the anime for seven seasons from 2010 to 2015. The manga was also licensed in the United Kingdom by Turnaround Publisher Services and in Australia by Penguin Books Australia. The anime has been licensed by Funimation for an English-language release in North America. As of February 2017, Fairy Tail had 60 million copies in print.

Naruto (ナルト) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who searches for recognition from his peers and the village and also dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is in two parts, the first set in Naruto’s pre-teen years, and the second in his teens. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha’s monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).

Naruto was serialized in Shueisha’s magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1999 to 2014, and released in tankōbon (book) form in 72 volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex, which broadcast 220 episodes in Japan from 2002 to 2007; the English adaptation of the series aired on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2009. Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, premiered in Japan in 2007, and ended in 2017, after 500 episodes. The English adaptation was broadcast on Disney XD from 2009 to 2011, and then switched to Adult Swim’s Toonami block in January 2014. Besides the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed eleven movies and eleven original video animations (OVAs). Other Naruto-related merchandise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies.

Viz Media licensed the manga and anime for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films and most OVAs from the series were also released by Viz, with the first film premiering in movie theaters. Viz Media began streaming the two anime series on their streaming service Neon Alley in December 2012. The story of Naruto continues with Naruto’s son, Boruto Uzumaki, in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Boruto wishes to create his own ninja way instead of following his father’s.

Naruto is the third best-selling manga series in history, selling 235 million copies worldwide in 35 countries. It has become one of Viz Media’s best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga’s character development, strong storylines, and well-executed fight scenes, though some felt the fight scenes slowed the story down. Critics noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, makes use of cultural references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.