In the manga and anime industry, there are quite a few sports series for fans to enjoy. When it comes to soccer, there are ongoing big hits, like Blue Lock, or iconic franchises like Captain Tsubasa to enjoy. But when it comes to volleyball, there is only one series that has always been ranked at the top and that's it Haikyuu.
Haikyu, by Haruichi Furudate, began its run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #12 on February 20, 2012 and has been dominating ever since. It became not only one of the most popular sports series, but one of the most popular and recognizable manga in the entire world. Unfortunately, Haikyu's manga ended in 2020 with chapter 402 on July 20. Once the Haikyu manga series had left Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump, most fans were eagerly looking for a new volleyball manga to turn to. Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon magazine has delivered just that, and finally a new volleyball replacement series is here, with huge potential to succeed Haikyu. This new manga, Dig It, is a brand new volleyball series that fans of Haikyu! will surely love.
The huge impact of Haruichi Furudate's Haikyu as a beloved volleyball manga worldwide
The Haikyuu manga first began serialization in 2012 in Weekly Shonen Jump, and since then it has arguably become one of the magazine's most successful sports series of all time. Through its 8 years, this manga has managed to become one of the best-selling series of all time, with 75 million total sales over just 45 volumes. Taking all the numbers into account, Haikyu averages 1.6 million sales per volume, which is an extremely impressive number. The Haikyu manga came to an end in 2020, and although the franchise received a brief sequel, fans miss the original series.
Meanwhile, the Haikyu anime currently has 4 anime TV seasons, as well as 3 new movies. The last Haikyu movie was released in 2024, and whatever remains of the Haikyu manga will be adapted into more movies starting in 2027. Based on the current adaptation rate, the Haikyu anime should end in the next five years. It's definitely unfortunate to see one of the most popular Shonen Sports series come to an end, but with Dig It, fans have a new story to turn to, and one that may be even more complex and serious than Haikyu, given that it's actually a Seinen manga.
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Dig It is listed as Japan's new hit Seinen Volleyball Manga in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon Magazine
It's no secret that there are quite a few popular sports manga and anime series out there. But when it comes to volleyball, the scope is not as varied as the rest. Haikyu is currently the only really popular volleyball series. However, Japan has a new volleyball series with the potential to be a big hit, just like Haikyu, known as Dig It. Created by Yoshidamaru, Dig It is a brand new manga series that debuted in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon Magazine as a Seinen story on April 24, 2025. Despite a year under its belt, Dig It is still fairly new, only having 3 volumes out at the moment, but it shows great potential. With only 3 volumes, the Dig It series has reached over 300,000 sales. For a non-anime manga series, 100k per volume is extremely impressive and shows tremendous promise.
Fans of Haikyu should definitely give Dig It a chance, but also keep in mind that Dig It and Haikyu are still completely different series. While Haikyu focuses on the story of Hinata and the Karasuno team, Dig It instead follows Shishiya Gaku. Gaku has a big goal – to surpass his father at volleyball. Gaku's father was a former player for the Japanese volleyball team, so his goal will not be an easy task to achieve. Dig It is also a Seinen story, so it's more on the serious side, with deeper elements and in some cases a richer plot. Even without much content, the reception in Japan for this series has been fantastic, with fans particularly praising the art and quality of the writing.
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Dig It's 2026 Awards Nominations Prove It's Ready to Succeed with Haikyu When Anime Adaptation Becomes a Possibility
At the moment, Dig It is still a fairly new series with not much manga content for fans to read. This story is just over a year old at this point and clearly has a long way to go. For it to actually become a real replacement for Haikyu, the series needs an anime adaptation. If picked up by a studio and animated, its popularity may one day be comparable to Haikyu. Of course, for that to happen, Dig It needs to maintain its popularity and show overall good sales for its volumes. Thankfully, based on the current sales record, the series is doing great and it's only a matter of time before it gets its own anime.
In addition, Dig It has also already received quite a few major nominations in Japan. In Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga for male readers 2026, this series took the 11th place, which is incredibly impressive. It was also featured as the fourth best series in the Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics, and took third place in the 2026 Sanyodo Bookstore Comic Awards.
With its amazing start and reception in Japan, it's safe to say that Dig It is safe from the ax and only growing bigger. The first year of manga series is the most dangerous, and it has gone with flying colours, which means fans will get to see more of Gaku's story. In the next 2-3 years, Yoshidamaru's Dig It may very well go on to get its own anime adaptation. Then the series will also have become even bigger, with more sales under its belt.
What digs does it need to do to become the next haikyu
While volleyball is at the heart of Haikyu, what fans really grew to love about this series is its lovable characters. Haikyu definitely wouldn't be where it is without Karasuno's cast, and even the captivating supporting characters from various other teams. For Dig It to match that, it takes more than just Gaku to be exciting and compelling characters.
For now, the signs for Dig It to continue and succeed Haikyu look good. It's the best new volleyball manga out there still going and showing great signs while it's going. All the author needs to do is maintain this quality and hope more fans check out the story.
All chapters in Dig It can be read at K Manga.
