If you have reviewed our spokon database index, you may have noticed that some commonly cataloged as sport anime are missing. It's not that they are missing, but they simply can't be considered spokon anime. Normally, when an anime contains something related to a sport it is classified as sport anime. It's quite simple and quite logical. However, the tags serve, above all, to identify a certain type of anime with a certain type of audience. The problem is there are animes related to the sport which the common sport anime audience doesn't feel identified, and there are animes not related to the sport which the sport anime audience feel identified. That's why the term "sports anime" is not used here, but "spokon anime", which has a deeper and less confusing meaning for fans of the genre.
The "Spokon" Word
Spokon comes from several acronyms, supotsu which means "sport", kondo which means "spirit", and also kon which means "obsession". "Spokon anime" is the original japanese tag for what we call in English "sport anime" plainly for short, when perhaps it would be more correct "sport spirit anime". That is to say, the spokon anime is not only related to sports, but also sportsmanship, competition and ambition for victory. It's usually very easy to know when an anime is spokon, but then I have prepared a simple and powerful definition that does not give rise to confusion.
Definition
* The central theme of the anime must revolve around an activity of a competitive nature.
With the definition above it should be enough, but just in case, I add a clarifying note:
* There mustn't be a fanservice that goes beyond the occasional comedy.
That is, because in excess, the overload of fanservice ruins what is related to the competitive spirit. Not only happens with the fanservice, also with any other tag with excessive prominence within the anime, but since most of the doubts revolve around the fanservice, I considered necessary to clarify it like this.
Hybrid spokon
An anime can have many tags, although the normal thing is that a particular one predominates. In the case of the spokon tag, due to its definition, it's always the predominant tag, although there are special cases in which a spokon shares a tag with another anime genre in equal parts, without one tag being more important than the other. And these anime is what I call hybrid spokon.
This is something I will extend later, in the examples section.
Characteristics of a spokon anime
Following are some common archetypal characteristics in spokon anime with its corresponding explanation and some examples (I will give examples of some anime scenes that may contain very light "spoilers", you can skip the paragraphs where I mention an anime you didn't watch, although it's not really going to spoil your experience with the anime, I wouldn't even consider them spoilers).
* Aspiration to a great competition
The protagonists of spokon tend to have very high goals, perhaps not at first but with time yes. A difficult sporting goal is something easy to expect in an anime like these. It can be a league, a tournament, or just a single match. Suggesting some examples: The Inter-high, the Chrismas Bowl, the Koshien, the pro world, the World Title Battle...
When Chihaya discovers karuta, the last thing she thinks is to aspire to win a tournament. But the more she discover about karuta and the more her interest in competition increases, the higher her goals become. Until without hardly realizing she ends with the idea of becoming the queen, or what is the same, the best female player in the world.
* Hard training
The characters who practice the activity are usually involved in some type of training that prepares them better for their competition. The more difficult the training, the bigger the effort, the longer the road, the greater will be the preparation to achieve the victory and the greater the satisfaction for having achieved it.
One of the things that makes Hajime no Ippo one of the best spokon anime of all time, is the importance given to training. Continually we see how Ippo and other boxers train tirelessly to prepare for their next fight, sometimes they end up exhausted, sometimes they sweat blood, sometimes they have to spend several days without eating to stay in the regulatory weight, sometimes they have to spend several days in bed to recover from the wounds of the last fight. And that's what makes you get up off the chair every time Ippo wins for KO.
In Baby Steps, the protagonist begins to practice tennis at age 16 and pretends to become a pro, that means that he has to follow a very strict physical training, so that his body acquires a fitness at the height of those who have been playing longer than him, besides being a very disciplined person who practices his technique based on repetitions, and trains his mind with his famous notebooks.
* The skills of the characters are always evolving
Related to the previus one, training leads to self-improvement, and self-improvement is one of the pillars of sportsmanship. In the spokon anime, this is usually shown with the learning of new techniques or abilities, also when the characters improve themselves in the middle of a competition.
If you start to watch Eyeshield 21 and you see that Sena runs 40 yards in 4.2 seconds, maybe you think he is already perfect, he doesn't need to improve anymore. But in sports, perfection doesn't exist. 4.2 seconds is a speed almost impossible to improve, so throughout the series, Sena acquires skills related to agility, which help him to take advantage of his huge speed when he doesn't run in a straight line.
And what could I say about Inazuma Eleven? It's all about super-techniques. Half of the show is based on constantly learning new and better techniques and evolving the ones you already know.
* Strong friendship and rivalry
In the spokon anime you can observe that friendship and rivalry are very marked and differentiated for the protagonists, where friendship is corresponded with teammates, coaches, people who support them, encourage them and believe in them. On the other hand, the rivalry corresponds to those who they want to reach or overcome, or those who do anything to lose. Normally the rivalry in the anime spokon is also usually shown with sportsmanship, with respect and admiration.
In Diamond no Ace the members of Seido support each other, for them it is vital to trust each other, that the pitcher feels good, always encouraging the their batters. If someone in Seido cries, everyone cries, if someone laughs everyone laughs. Although it's not the case of Sawamura and Furuya who are seen as rivals as they compete for the prized pitching position.
The rivalries can be appreciated very well in Yowamushi Pedal. Sohoku and Hakone are the biggest rivals of this anime, face each other continuously and want to win over each other. However, both are aware of the value of their rival, they admire themselves, they incite themselves to compete, they want to win and show that they are better but only with fair play.
* Rivals seem invincible
Overcoming a strong opponent is a good way to show that you are good at what you do and that the effort was worth it. But what if that rival so invincible that it's scary to try to face him? This is one of the great challenges for the protagonists of the spokon and face these challenges and overcome them are key to keep you stuck to the screen.
One of the things that makes Kuroko no Basuke so spectacular is the colossal and impossible level of the Generation of Miracles. Although the unrealism of the play style is very criticized in this anime, the truth is that it makes you morbid to think, how the hell are they going to beat a beast that dunk three-points from his court side?
* The confrontations are to death
The characters may be willing to do anything to win, even if that means putting their own life or health at risk. This shows the great courage and obsession with sports and victory. The purity in the ambition of the characters that is so much sought in a spokon anime.
What better example for this occasion than Ashita no Joe one, where the stark reality of the 60's and 70's is shown, where life was literally at stake during the boxing matches, and the most veteran boxers could bring serious physical and mental sequels, but honor and inner fire for fighting are above that.
Capeta is a racing driver, it's not necessary to explain how dangerous that is. But in one of the most epic races in the anime we can see how Capeta pushes himself to the limit and he ends the race almost fainting, bleeding from the back and with several fractures.
* Victories and defeats have a great impact
The results obtained in the competition usually have a very strong impact on the plot of the anime, and the mood of the characters. Those who win laugh and explode in euphoria, those who lose cry and lament themselves. Winning means accomplishing the goal or being closer to it, losing means failing or going home. Since the protagonists almost always win, when you really notice the weight of the result is when they lose.
In Haikyuu we experience one of the most shocking defeats for the protagonists that have been seen in a long time. The plot takes an unexpected turn and it really is like if they had seen a ghost.
* Everybody loves what they do
Why suffer so much, why try so hard or why expect so long for what you do, if you don't like what you do? It's obvious that all the characters that are involved so much with a sport or an activity should be because they like it, and according to the trend, the better a character is practicing it, the more he likes it.
Tsubasa is dribbling the ball all time, he is always talking about football, all he does is involved with football. Being so madly in love with football it's not strange that he spends so much time training and that he is so good player. Even the mad angry Hyuuga loves scoring.
This doesn't mean that all spokon animes have these characteristics, but it's very likely that they contain the majority.
Examples of animes that are spokon and animes that do not
Let's give some examples of the most controversial or dubious animes to tag.
* Chihayafuru
The central theme in Chihayafuru is karuta and it is practized as an activity of a competitive nature. There is also another central theme that is the romance and relationships between characters, but these two themes are at same level, to the point where one can't live without the other; the shojo complements the spokon, and the spokon complements the shojo. This is what I called before "hybrid spokon".
Chihayafuru IS spokon.
* Touch
The central theme in Touch is romance and shojo. You could think Touch is in a similar situation than Chihayafuru or Cross Game, but actually baseball is just a complement here, something secondary to give meaning to the story. In the spokon, sport is never the means that justifies the end, but the end that justifies the means.
Touch is NOT spokon
* Touhai Densetsu Akagi
The central theme in Akagi is mahjong and that is an activity of a competitive nature. You could say Akagi doesn't compete in tournaments during the entire series, and that's true, he isn't competing for trophies, awards or medals, but he is always betting. So he competes for money or for his own health, although not in an official competition. In addition, it might seem an anime more psychological than sporty, and without a doubt it is a psychological anime. It's another anime that I consider "hybrid spokon". If it still seems to you too much to include this anime as a spokon, note that it shares many characteristics with them.
* Aspiration to a great competition
* The skills of the characters are always evolving
* Strong friendship and rivalry
* The confrontations are to death
* Victories and defeats have a great impact
Touhai Densetsu Akagi IS spokon
* Wangan Midnight
The central theme in Wangan Midnight is drama. The cars and the duels in Wangan are something secondary and sporadic in the series. Also, these duels can't be considered illegal races, since there are no clear rules nor clear winners or losers, and they can't be considered as competitions for bets since the duelists don't bet anything between them.
Wangan Midnight is NOT spokon
* Girls & Panzer
The central theme in Girls & Panzer is tank battles. In real world tank battles or tanks itselfs are not considered as an activity of a competitive nature, but that's different in this anime. Tank battles are safe for the participants, and the battles have their own regulations. Even if the anime is something moe, and the competition somewhat strange, those are not elements that undermine the staging of the spokon.
Girls & Panzer IS spokon
* Keijo!!!!!!!!
The central theme in Keijo!!!!!!!! is ecchi. It's not wrong that keijo is an invented sport, because that's similar to the case of Girls & Panzer or Basquash!, keijo seems a fun game to practice in summer with friends, the problem is that it doesn't matter if it is keijo or any other sport, any excuse would have been valid if it was about teaching tits and asses.
Keijo!!!!!!!! is NOT spokon
* Tiger Mask
The central theme in Tiger Mask is wrestling. In real life, pro wrestling is not a real fight competition, but a show scripted with specialist actors. However in this anime, wrestling is not scripted or acted, it is like a real fight competition. Therefore, in this anime, wrestling can be considered an activity of a competitive nature.
Tiger Mask IS spokon
* Free!
The central theme in Free! is slice of life and relations between characters. Although swimming is quite present in the series, it becomes secondary. As in Keijo, it doesn't matter if it's swimming or any sport, anything would have been worth to supplement this slice of life with a scheme that borders on shonen ai.
Free! is NOT spokon
* Air Gear
The central theme in Air Gear is the "Parts Wars" and the roller skates called "air treks". Air treks don't exist in the real world, but they exist in this anime, and are used in another invented competition called "Parts Wars" as an activity of a competitive nature. Despite the highly shonen appearance of this anime, and being a full-fledged shonen, it doesn't detract from the spokon. It could be called "hybrid spokon", although if we consider the spokon a derivative of shonen, it may not be necessary.
Air Gear IS spokon
* Bakuten Shoot Beyblade
The central theme in Bakuten Shoot Beyblade is beyblades and beyblades competition. In effect, with beyblade competitions, this anime could be genuinely considered spokon, but there is a problem; the characters don't have a real involvement in these competitions. Besides launching these spinning top and giving them orders like pokemon trainers, there is no real participation of the characters in these competitions, that's why I don't consider it an activity of a competitive nature. In the other hand, this anime is focused on the merchandising tag for the official brand of Beyblade, which slightly detracts from the competitive nature of the series.
Bakuten Shoot Beyblade is NOT spokon
I have to make clear one thing, whether an anime is spokon or not, it doesn't mean that an anime is good or bad, or that is good or bad that you like certain anime, it's simply the way to tag an anime.
