It’s been officially confirmed that the Haikyuu Season 4 Episode 14 release date has been delayed.
The official website for the anime series announced that new Haikyuu: To The Top Part 2 episodes were delayed by the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic.
The official statement from the anime production committee states that the decision was made out of concern for the safety of the production staff at anime studio Production I.G.
Thank you for your continued support of Haikyuu!! To The Top. We were planning to broadcast the second season of Haikyu‼ To The Top starting in July 2020, but the release date will be postponed in order to promote the production while also considering safety measures against the new coronavirus infection.
We will announce the new broadcast date and time on the official anime website and official Twitter as soon as the details are decided. We apologize for any inconvenience caused to everyone who has been looking forward to it.
In the future, we will continue to give careful consideration to safety measures against new coronavirus infectious diseases and carefully proceed with production. Thank you for your understanding.
The official website for the anime series will announce the exact Haikyuu!! To The Top Episode 14 release date in the future. Presumably, the launch of the anime series’ second half could be pushed back until October 2020 — the fall 2020 anime season.
Haikyuu!! Season 4 will have 25 episodes in total, split between the two parts. The story for Haikyuu Season 4 Episode 14 will jump straight to the Tokyo National Championship story arc from Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyu!! manga series.
The second half of the Tokyo Nationals arc could adapt the Haikyuu!! Season 5 anime.
Haikyuu Season 4 Part 2 is a split-cour anime season
Haikyuu!! To The Top Part 2 is a split-cour anime, which means the fourth season will have a second half. What’s a “cour,” you might ask?
For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes. A “split-cour” is where a single anime season takes a multi-month break before resuming TV broadcasting.
It’s easy to become confused by anime season labeling. For example, Overlord Seasons 2 and 3 both came out in 2018 yet were considered separate seasons (see our article about Overlord Season 4).
On the other hand, split-cour anime seasons like Attack On Titan S3 and Food Wars! S3 were clearly labeled, while others like Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 2 are labeled as Part 2, not a second season.
(See our articles on Attack On Titan Season 4 and Food Wars! Season 5, which was delayed as of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma Season 5 Episode 3 due to the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic).
2020 anime schedules suffer from coronavirus
In April 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a national state of emergency, which was supposed to end on May 6, 2020. But in the first week of May, NHK reported that Japan’s state of emergency was expanded until May 31, 2020.
In the month of May, the Japanese Prime Minister began lifting the state of emergency in many prefectures around Japan. Unfortunately, Tokyo and the areas near it are still expected to maintain a state of emergency.
Anime studios’ schedules have suffered from cascading effects due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the mitigation efforts by all nations.
Like many other anime studios, studio Production I.G. is located Kokubunji, Tokyo, which has struggled to contain the viral spread.
Many studios outsource parts of the production process to contractors located in China and South Korea. Sometimes compositing is outsourced entirely, and these companies handle multiple projects at the same time.
The Haikyuu!! Season 4 anime is just one of several major anime that have suffered delays.
Black Clover, Pokemon Journeys: The Series, The Promised Neverland Season 2, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Season 3, The Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2, Re: ZERO Season 2, Sword Art Online: Alicization Final Season, and No Guns Life Part 2 have all been pushed back to later dates.
The few anime which are not being delayed had production schedules where the episodes were completed before the pandemic swept the world.
Included in this shortlist is the Tower Of God anime, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, and Ascendance of a Bookworm Season 2/Part 2.