In a reversal of fortune, life imitated art magnificently, as the sports anime gods smiled upon Team Japan for their Olympic men’s volleyball preliminary round Pool C match against Argentina. Spoiler alert: Japan won!
This great tribute to the Haikyuu anime managed to attract the attention of fans of the shonen title. The huge fan base immediately sounded the alarm for the unexpected moment of the 2024 Olympics on social media, as the show’s much-loved opening theme song “Fly High” was heard playing at the South Paris Arena not only during the practice set, but also whenever Team Japan scored the winning point. The Japanese team won against Team Argentina on July 31 (3-1) after their previous loss during their face-off against Germany on Saturday.
The popular anime anthem’s historic appearance at the multi-sport event in Paris is yet again proof of Haikyuu’s impressive influence. It has previously earned praise from volleyball’s top athletes such as Yuji Nishida, while generating widespread interest in the sport, inspiring more to take the competitive route.
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Watch the Haikyuu theme song play at the Paris Olympics
Haiku has a wide-reaching real-world impact
Although it is often seen as a declining sport, the birth of the Haikyuu manga in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 2012 changed everything. Released in 2016, “Haikyuu!! Documentary: We Become Stronger with Manga!” told how countless players found the inspiration they needed to take up volleyball after they began reading Haruichi Furadate’s stories.
As the Japan Times reports, former Japanese national team captain Masahiro Yanagida was also “extremely grateful” for how this fictional artwork sparked an unprecedented event. The outlet also reported that membership of high-school volleyball clubs for boys is set to increase from 35,000 in 2012 to 50,000 in 2024.
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However, even beyond the song being played at the Olympic venue, fans couldn’t forget the incredible level of similarities the real-life moment shared with one of the manga’s final subplots. Some of the most loved characters from Haikyuu, Hinata, Kageyama and others faced Oikawa in a similar encounter between Japan and Argentina at the Olympics. Even though this match was never imagined on the pages of the manga, it finally became a reality with real-life professional athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics also featured anime soundtracks to boost the morale of the home team. However, history repeating itself in Paris wasn’t on the game or anime fans’ binge. Still, the 2024 Olympics delivered an unforgettable highlight.
