No stakes in Haikyuu
Haikyuu feels like there is nothing really to lose, it feels like there are no stakes and they never suffer any consequences.
They first baited us with the, this is the seniors last time, then they lost to Aoba Johsai and all the seniors kept playing as if nothing happend.
It was a good match but what did they really lose? Nothing. And then when they lost again to Kamomedai, the author run away from the consequences and jumped into a timeskip.
Haikyuu feels to much like a Fairy Tale Anime were nothing goes wrong. In other Sports Anime loses feel way bigger, like in Diamond No Ace, there was no bait, they actually lost all there Seniors and Key players like Captain + Ace, had to start over from scratch which created a interesting Story line.
In Hajime no Ippo or Ashita no Joe, boxing can grand you many things but it also takes away whatever it wants like your health. MF‘s putting their health on the line every fight.
I love how obsessed everyone is about winning in Blue Lock and how crushed they are when they lose. Every Game literaly feels like life or death, if they lose against the U20 National team Blue Lock will be erased and everything would had been for nothing, if they lose the World Cup Blue Lock was a failure.
A loss in Haikyuu feels like it does not really matter, 1 Episode later they all still be together having fun and laughing. No stakes, no consequences, matches like Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa were still great but Haikyuu really lacks that one crushing defeat with real hard consequences.