Haikyu Puts 6 Second-Years on Ootoya's Menu This October

The Captains Hand the Plate Over

Ootoya, a nationwide Japanese chain built on grilled fish, miso soup and rice set meals, ran its first Haikyu!! campaign last year under the banner "The Winning Meal That Leads You to Victory." That one belonged to the captains. The 2026 sequel drops a year down every roster and gives the menu to six second-years, one per school: Yū Nishinoya of Karasuno, Kenma Kozume of Nekoma, Kenji Futakuchi of Date Tech, Keiji Akaashi of Fukurodani, Atsumu Miya of Inarizaki, and Kōrai Hoshiumi of Kamomedai.

The campaign title translates roughly to "the winning meal we build and pass down," and the captains have not been written out. They get the dessert course. Every visual in the campaign, from the food freebies to the merch, uses artwork drawn specifically for Ootoya, according to the chain's PR TIMES release.

Six Schools, Six Set Meals

The food runs in two waves. From October 8 to October 28 it is Karasuno's "First Step of the Match: Gear Meal," Nekoma's "Connect with Flexibility: Balance Meal," and Kamomedai's "Consistency Becomes Habit: Routine Meal." Each costs ¥1,880 (roughly $12.50) and comes with one randomly assigned hologram postcard out of six designs.

From October 29 to November 23 the second wave takes over: Date Tech's "Build the Iron Wall: Guard Meal," Fukurodani's "Adjustment Is Key: Tuning Meal," and Inarizaki's "Sharpen Your Focus: Sync Meal." Same ¥1,880 price, with a random sticker from a set of six instead of a postcard.

Running the whole period is the ¥680 dessert plate, sold as "a treat from the captains" and packaged with a random captain-design sticker (six types). Ootoya has stocked 240,000 set meals and 40,000 dessert plates. Each item stops when its allocation runs out, so the end date moves from store to store, and food court branches carry a partly different lineup.

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Merch, Decorated Stores and a Nishinoya-Voiced Ad

The goods line is the usual Japanese collab spread, all using the new illustrations: acrylic stands at ¥1,650 each (six types), trading hologram can badges at ¥550 (six types), two-part acrylic charms shaped like a rice ladle and a bowl of miso soup at ¥880 (six types), a clear file at ¥660, and a rice-themed pouch with an acrylic charm at ¥2,970. In-store buyers have to order food to qualify, purchase limits apply, and not every branch stocks merch. The same goods go up on Ootoya's online collab store from October 8 at 12:00 through November 24 at 10:00.

Eight locations get physical decoration. AEON Mall Sendai Kamisugi installs character panels and wall art for Nishinoya, Kenma and Futakuchi. Namba Skyo in Osaka gets glass-surface artwork featuring all six second-years. Six more stores take three panels each: Nissay Sapporo Building in Hokkaido, Ikebukuro Metropolitan-dori in Tokyo, Omiya Stella Town in Saitama, Ueda Sumiyoshi and Nagano Minami in Nagano, and Terrasso Himeji in Hyogo.

Two promotions round out the campaign. Fans who follow Ootoya's official X account @Ootoya_Gohan and repost the campaign post are entered in a draw for one of 10 six-piece BIG acrylic stand sets. Ootoya app members get a Haikyu!!-designed coupon for a free large rice serving, valid November 1 to November 30. There is also a promotional web video with voice work from Nobuhiko Okamoto as Nishinoya.

Looking Ahead

This is a Japan-only campaign tied to Ootoya's domestic locations, and no international version has been announced. For fans outside Japan, the franchise itself is easy to reach: Viz Media publishes all 45 volumes of Haruichi Furudate's manga in English, and Crunchyroll carries the four TV seasons, with English dubs of seasons 1 and 2 added in November 2025. The press release puts the manga at more than 75 million copies in circulation after an eight-and-a-half-year run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump starting February 2012.

The campaign lands between films. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle opened in February 2024, grossed over ¥20 billion (approx. $130 million) worldwide according to the release, and took the Japan Academy Film Prize for Excellent Animation of the Year. Still to come are the sequel film Haikyu!! VS The Little Giant, covering Karasuno against Kamomedai, and the special anime Haikyu!! Where the Monsters Go, covering Fukurodani against Mujinazaka, both slated for 2027. That means two of the six faces on Ootoya's menu, Hoshiumi and Akaashi, are about to headline the next animated quarterfinals.