SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 AHEAD
For context, I watched the show Dubbed.

This anime is a fun and easy watch. It starts out strong showing the desires and passions of two young, at the time, middle (secondary) school boys, who want to play volleyball. Chika and Yuni were friends in kindergarten, but after the death of his mother, Chika moved away until secondary school. Now that he's back, he reunites with his old friend Yuni, and motivates him into playing volleyball.

The volleyball scenes and explanations of things make it easy to follow, even for someone who knows nothing about volleyball. The animation is absolutely amazing, not to mention the music. It has fun characters, interesting matches, and has some great overall themes like friendship and perseverance. And there were a few times where I was holding my breath to see how things turned out. However, despite all of this, something feels... Lacking.

With the exception of the two "main" characters, Chika and Yuni, it feels like every other character doesn't receive the same attention, despite the show wanting you to root for them. Most of the team for Seiin are ignored, and instead the show focuses on the rival school's team. In some episodes they don't even show Seiin at all. It almost feels like the show is trying to get you to root for the rival team so that no matter who "wins" in the end, you'll be happy about it.

If you can get past the fact that the show likes to focus on the rival team even more than the titular team, then you also have to contend with one of the main characters, Chika, because a complete asshole the entire time. The show tries to frame it as him pushing his team to be better and get to Nationals, but it feels shallow, selfish and even dismissive. In fact, the main character's attitude is so bad that his previous volleyball team played a "prank" on him by saying that one of the team members that Chika used to be particularly harsh to tried to kill himself. It turns out that it was just a prank that the team used to try and get him to mellow out.

The other main character, Yuni, is never really fleshed out. He has a few motivational scenes where he talks about wanting to do nothing more than play the game, but for the most part, he seems to be a prop to motivate Chika and to act as a personality foil for him. Yuni is passionate for the game because Chika is playing the game. And as long as they're out there playing together Yuni wants to continue. We never seen any passion for the game outside of his desire to be with his friend and doing something that his friend likes.

The motivations of the characters always come down to one thing: They just want to play volleyball. With the exception of one character who joined the team because of his friend, there's no other explanation as to why the characters wanted to join the team, or why they continue to fight so hard.

There is no romance in this anime except for a fleeting interaction at one of the training camps where Seiin is talking about their crushes. The show could be considered queer-baiting in a few places because it does show Yuni getting jealous of the fact that Chika might have a crush on a girl. Other than that, it does portray strong, athletic, and well-admired men in very loving and supportive friendships.

All-in-all I gave this anime a 85/100. It's cute. It's fun to watch and just enjoy. But if looking for something with a stronger plot, one might look elsewhere.