Are you into sports anime? What do you think is the Best Sports Anime out there? Do you love watching the main character make the impossible shots to bring the team to victory?
Then you’ve come to the right place. I will tell you about my favorite sports anime and why they are worth watching.
Sports anime is a vast genre that varies in genre and media. There are hundreds of sports out there, and at least one anime covers them all.
This list aims to include the best sports anime out there. Whether it’s your favorite one or an anime you haven’t heard of yet, I aim to list as many as I can.
1. Princess Nine (1998)
One of the best sports anime, Princess Nine, is led by a hot-shot young natural who defies the male-dominated tradition of what women can do.
Showing their equal talent for sports, the girls take on their male counterparts for their love of sport and prove that women are just as good as men.
2. Slam Dunk (1993)
Slam Dunk is by far the best sports anime ever made. The story of Sakuragi and his relentless pursuit of love through basketball will make you laugh and cry.
3. Prince of Tennis (1999 – 2008)
The Prince of Tennis is a sports anime about the adventures of Echizen Ryouma, the best young tennis prodigy in the anime, who joins a junior high school with an excellent tennis team.
He experiences many interesting events there and meets new friends and battles being overshadowed by his father’s feats.
4. Chihayafuru (2011)
Chihaya’s sister is Japan’s best karuta player until she meets Arata, a quiet and unassuming transfer student passionate about karuta.
Chihaya’s interest in the game is also piqued after Arata teaches her his playing style, which is unlike any she’s ever seen.
Chihayafuru is the story of an everyday girl who finds her passion in karuta. This anime will change your life, and it’s the best sports anime ever.
5. Kuroko No Basket (Kuroko’s Basketball) (2008 – 2014)
A legendary sixth player, Taiga Kagami, transfers to Seirin High School from America when he meets the overly ordinary Tetsuya Kuroko. Kuroko’s lack of talent for basketball makes him impossible to see on the court.
But Kuroko’s plainness allows him to slip past defenders and pass the ball around without being noticed—he is the sixth member of Teiko’s famous “Generation of Miracles.” Kuroko and Kagami make a pact to defeat the other five members of Teiko’s basketball team, who played at other schools.
One of the best basketball animes ever, Kuroko’s Basketball, is an enthralling mix of a feel-good story and nonstop action.
6. Ashita no Joe (1970)
In the boxing manga Ashita no Joe, orphaned street kid Joe Yabuki falls into one of Tokyo’s slums.
He gets into a fight with a local gang, and his fighting skills are noticed by an alcoholic former boxer named Rikiishi Tooru, who takes him in.
Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe) creates a compelling tale of a wandering orphan and his journey to rise above his environment.
7. Yuri!!! on Ice (2016)
Yuri!!! On Ice is a sports anime about figure skating, created by Sayo Yamamoto and produced by MAPPA and Funimation.
It won the Animation of the Year award at the 2017 Tokyo Anime Award Festival and was well-received by critics and fans. It was a candidate for the best anime in 2017.
8. Giant Killing (2010)
East Tokyo rug tags are battling it in the Giant Killing, Japan’s top soccer league. The team has reached the bottom of the table and is facing the worst spell of losing five games.
The defeat was already low, so it didn’t affect team morale. On the other hand, fan support looks dark. In football, the end is approaching when fans turn on the team.
The team will not recover. The coach is fired, the player is sold out, and the group falls into the minor division.
There, profits often prevent the average high-level program from succeeding. East Tokyo United, ETU can currently only blame their coaches.
The coach is ready to give up this next game to prove to his team and the fans that he can win this team over the biggest club in the country. When it comes to soccer, it’s one of the best sports anime.
9. All Out!! (2016)
Rugby has no ace striker or 4th batter, so who is the team’s star? The story begins with the Kanagawa High School entrance ceremony. Kenji Zion, a small but brave man, joins a rugby club.
Classmate Iwasimizu, who has a complicated past, and deputy captain Hachioji, who looks after the club members, join. Finally, Captain Sekiyama has enormous power but keeps the card close to his chest.
With such differences in personality and physical fitness, teams must learn to work together and grow to be at their best.
10. Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club (2013)
The story revolves around a boy named Haruka Nanase, who loves to swim in the water. Before becoming an elementary school student, he participated in swimming competitions with his fellow swimming members, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rin Matsuoka.
After winning, the boys went their separate ways. Over time, Rin appears in the middle of quiet high school life, challenging a game far away and showing her immense energy.
Not wanting to end up like this, Haruka reassembled Makoto and Nagisa, formed the Ivatobi High School Swimming Club with a new member named Rei Ryugazaki, and defeated Rin—one of the best sports anime.
11. Major (2004)
Goro’s dream is to become a professional baseball player like his father. His passion for sports excites everyone around him as he walks from childhood to adolescence to the professional league.
Shigeharu Honda is an increasingly popular major league batter. His son Goro is a minor league pitcher who hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Momoko Hoshino was Goro’s schoolteacher and was interested in Shigeno, the first woman after Goro’s mother died.
These three destinies are intertwined as father and son experience grief and success in baseball diamonds.
But when an indescribable tragedy befalls a family, they need everything to pick up the fragments and regain their dreams.
12. Eyeshield 21 (2005)
Sena Kobayakawa is a young boy who is constantly bullied at school. Ever since elementary school, I have played the role of my boy, who moves faster and faster.
Incidentally, Yochi Hiruma and Kurita Water Industries are looking for an American football team (rainfoot) and want to include Sena.
Hilma Senna wrapped herself in an American football helmet with a dark visor to hide the new star from the eyes of other high schools, naming him after the sports anime Eyeshield 21.
13. Bamboo Blade (2007)
Toraji Ishida is a high school condo teacher. His friend and fellow Kendo teacher bet on him. If Ishida can assemble a girl condo team that can beat her girl team in a practice match, he will give Ishida a free meal for a year at his father’s sushi restaurant. Now, Ishida has to look for five girls to join the team.
14. Baby Steps (2014)
The story continues with Ei-Chan, a punctual and earnest boy who has worked hard since elementary school.
He started attending tennis school in high school and meets the beautiful and stately girl Natsu, who is passionate about tennis.
15. Initial D First Stage (1998)
Takumi Fujiwara is a strange, empty high school student who makes midnight deliveries on his father’s Toyota AE86.
Despite working at a gas station and having a friend who loves cars, he knows nothing about cars.
Takumi is introduced to street racing, and his talent is attracting attention throughout Gunma Prefecture. Will Takumi face a challenge or withdraw from the call to pass?
16. Yawara! (1989)
Inokuma Yawara is another high school girl. Well, it’s not like that. She was raised by her grandfather, 7th dan Judo master Inokuma Jigorou, to become Japan’s great hope in the women’s judo tournament at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. However, Yawara wants to live an ordinary life.
17. Days (2016 – 2022)
This series is about two boys, TSukushi and Jin. TSukushi is a boy with no unique talents or qualities and is considered a gin soccer genius. One stormy night, Jin meets TSukushi and enters the world of soccer.
18. Inazuma Eleven (2008)
The main character, Endou Mamoru, is the grandson of a talented goalkeeper and Japan’s most vital goalkeeper, who died before he was born.
His skills are excellent, but the other six members are not very interested in training, so his school has no actual football club.
However, soon after moving to a mysterious forward endo town called Goenji, a young goalkeeper set out to find and recruit members of his football team.
19. Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup!) (2007 – 2010)
Mihashi Ren is an extraordinary ace pitcher for the new baseball team at Nishiura High School.
However, thanks to his painful three years at the Samsung Academy in Junior High School, he was at the bottom of confidence and confidence and switched to Nishiura to escape everything.
Team catcher Takaya Abe thinks about other things and believes Mihashi has the necessary controls and skills to lead Koshien.
Guided by amateur coaches and innovative mentors, the team slowly gels as a unit and trains hard to figure out next summer’s tournament.
20. Cross game (2005 – 2010)
The story of Kou Kitamura, the son of the owner of Kitamura Sports Animation, and Aoba Sukishima, the third daughter of the Sukishima Firefly family, and Ayoba’s younger sister, Wakaba.
When the tragedy happened, the two were more determined than ever to make Wakaba’s dream come true.
Watch them play at the Kozhian Stadium National High School Baseball Championship. Whether they win or lose, they try to make their dreams come true with a smile and tears.
21. Diamond No Ace (2013)
The story continues in the order of a pitcher named Eijun Sawamura, who is studying in an elite school with a fantastic catcher named Kazuya Miyuki.
Together with other team members, they work hard for Japan’s prestigious Kozhian Championship.
22. Haikyuu!! (2014)
Coincidentally, Shouyou Hinata grew to love volleyball. Although his club had no members, he turned it into the first and last regular match in junior high school, with superstar Tobio Kageyama being called the “King of the Court,” the steam-rolling.
After getting revenge, Shouyou Hinata applied to the high school volleyball club. He faces off against his rival, Kageyama!
23. One Outs (2008)
Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the Lycaons, headed to Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump.
He met Toua Tokuchi, a 134-km/83 mph pitcher and undisputed king of “One Out”—gambling baseball that demanded one out per inning.
Kojima urged Tokuchi to sign up with the Lycaons, but he could only order 2 million yen (about $20,000) for every out he pitched one of the best sports anime of all time as it is filled with so much tension and proper build-up.
24. Yowamushi Pedal (2013)
Yowamushi Pedal is a sports anime about a group of high schoolers who are cycling. It follows the main character, Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku who joins his school’s Sohoku High School Bicycle Club to conquer the inter-high competition.
The show has had four seasons, with over 120 episodes in total. This series is one of the most popular sports anime of all time.
Yowamushi Pedal combines comedy and action to make an incredibly entertaining show
25. Ping Pong (2014)
Ping Pong the Animation is about two school friends who become rivals when they discover a shared love of ping pong.
This anime is one of the few accessible sports series not about baseball or soccer. It’s a great depiction of the rivalry between the two characters, especially when they end up on opposing teams.
