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If you liked Ookiku Furikabutte add

...then you might like Haikyuu!! add

(First posted: 2015, Updated: February 2019. I really wanted to edit out some of my overusage of stuff like "dorky adorable anime boys" but to keep some of the spirit of my past enthusiastic highschool self and the raw feelings from when I first experienced these two shows, I'm leaving them here. Also, I'm glad other people agreed with me about Daiya no Ace being a whack reccomendation since I posted this.) **For people that have watched/are watching Ookiku Furikabutte already and are considering other sports anime (go to the next section if it's the other way around): If you were able to find an pretty old and hidden gem like Ookiku Furikabutte (Oofuri) out of the many sports animes out there, you have probably already heard of some of the very popular sports animes, such as Free!, Haikyuu, Kuroko no Basket, Daiya no Ace, Baby Steps, and etc. I will tell you right off the bat that I 10/10 reccomend Haikyuu above all other sports animes if you like Oofuri and want more of the same kind of sports anime experience. "But why not DAIYA NO ACE? Isn't DAIYA NO ACE (DnA) a baseball anime like Oofuri?" I can almost guarantee that if you like Oofuri you likely won't like DnA. While Oofuri puts a lot of focus into the varied cast of characters and developing friendships and bonds that usually come with sports anime, DnA has heavier leanings towards the shounen and classic anime aspects that come with sports anime. DnA is a lot more popular than Oofuri, but a lot of this is because Oofuri was ahead of its time. While there definitely wasn't a lacking of sports anime in the past, not a lot of popular sports anime leaned away from the shounen and romance genres like Inazuma, Major, Prince of Tennis, or Eyeshield 21, causing Oofuri to not be as popular as other sports animes of the era. Now, for the comparison, starting with the basics: Oofuri is a baseball anime, while Haikyuu is a volleyball anime. They both take place in high school, and the manga for both of these are still ongoing if you finish the show. (Although Oofuri doesn't update as much for English readers due to its lack of popularity and thus translators) Haikyuu and Oofuri both have a strong focus on a cast of quirky characters and dynamics that you will find yourself quickly attatched to, while still focusing on the mechanics of the sport and making the games themselves very interesting to even someone that has never played or watched the sport. The two main characters of each anime almost have the identical kind of symbiotic relationship and supportive dynamic: In Oofuri, Abe uses his strategetic thinking to the fullest to make use of Mihashi's abnormally slow, and what would usually be considered bad and easy to hit, fastball pitches, and turn them into some of the hardest pitches to hit. In Haikyuu, Kageyama's accurate and presise setting makes up for Hinata's lack of experience with volleyball, while making great use of Hinata's amazing jumping skills. If you're not looking for dorkiness and just want another baseball anime, then go ahead and watch any of the big or small shounen baseball shows out there, but if you are looking for a sports anime with the same kind of adorableness and dorkiness and cute friendships that Oofuri has, don't expect to find the same sort of focus on characters and relationship dynamics that you saw in Oofuri in DnA just because it's the same sport. ----- **For people that have watched/are watching Haikyuu already and are looking to delve deeper into the sports anime abyss: I can't believe that there are more recs for Kuroko no Basket and Daiya no Ace than Ookiku Furikabutte. Wow. Anyways... Here are the main points, because this is a long rec: -Dorky and adorable characters, with a similar focus on their personal and skill developments as in Haikyuu -Mainly focuses on relationship dynamics between characters and the mechanics of the sport over shounen flair. Puts more of a focus on competition itself rather than competetiveness or rivalry -Cute and nice art style, easy to understand what is going on during games, no long dorito faces and weird unrealistic proportions like Kuroko no Basket -Same kind of mutualism relationship between the two main characters of both shows. -Ookiku Furikabutte side characters have a bit less impact than Haikyuu side characters (but that is only because Haikyuu does the most amazing job out of any sports anime ever at making most if not all of the side characters very loveable. There is a place in my heart for every single character in Haikyuu, no matter how insignificant, and no other anime has even gotten close to competing with this.) -Some people might think baseball would be more boring than volleyball especially because they are so differently paced, but Ookiku Furikabutte makes watching anime baseball just as interesting as Haikyuu makes watching anime voleyball interesting. Even though volleyball can be a lot more fast paced and dynamic, Ookiku Furikabutte does a great job at instilling the same amount of great suspense throughout their matches as Haikyuu does. -If Ookiku Furikabutte hadn't come out before the rise in popularity of sports animes, it would definitely be on the same popularity level as Haikyuu, and would DEFINITELY be more popular than another baseball anime called Daiya no Ace which somehow has more recs than Ookiku Furikabutte -Super dorky and adorable, I can not emphasize this any more. Here's the long and more detailed version: While Daiya no Ace (DnA) and Kuroko no Basket (KnB) are at the same popularity level as Haikyuu in terms of sports animes, besides being sports animes and having all of the basic traits of sports animes, they aren't super similar to Haikyuu. Haikyuu definitely has its shounen leanings like DnA and KnB do, but Haikyuu leans a bit more out of the shounen zone, and puts a little more focus into natural characters, dynamics, and gameplay mechanics, in comparison to DnA and KnB, that embrace a lot of shounen character tropes and shounen super moves. Not to say that Haikyuu leans entirely outside of the shounen side of sports anime by any means. Haikyuu is undeniably a shounen, especially in the flow of its plot and focus on action and suspense during competitions as if they were battles, but a lot of the flashiness that Haikyuu has that would be reminiscent of shounen styles, both inside and outside of the sport itself, also comes from the raw action of the sport without any added shounen flair and the natural character dynamics. Now, to get into the actual comparison: Ookiku Furikabutte (Oofuri) is a baseball anime, while Haikyuu is a volleyball anime. They both take place in high school, and the manga for both of these are still ongoing if you finish the show. (Although Oofuri doesn't update as much for English readers due to its lack of popularity and thus translators) Oofuri emphasizes on the dorkiness and adorableness of the characters and the bonding between them while still paying attention to and highlighting the mechanics of the games in the same way as Haikyuu. The way that they focus on the friendships between the characters is unique compared to the other sports animes, and the way that they balance this focus on dorky people and their dorky friendships well with the actual sport and mechanics of the sport make the two anime a perfect pair. In both Oofuri and Haikyuu, the two main characters rely on each other in a symbiotic/mutualism sort of relationship, and by working together, they enhance each other's skills to create better potential for their team. In Haikyuu, Kageyama's accurate and presise setting make up for Hinata's lack of experience with volleyball while making great use of Hinata's amazing jumping skills. In Oofuri, Abe uses his strategetic thinking to the fullest to make use of Mihashi's abnormally slow, and what would usually be considered bad and easy to hit, fastball pitches, and turn them into some of the hardest pitches to hit. Also, even though the animation and art of Oofuri isn't quite as dynamic and stand-out as Haikyuu, they still manage to illustrate the actual playing of the sport very well and instill a lot of suspense during the sport. Even if you don't know anything about baseball going into this anime (like me when I started watching Oofuri) you will be able to catch on pretty quickly. (And hey, at least they don't have long and pointy dorito faces like knb) The only reason one might not like Oofuri as much as Haikyuu (besides that a lot of people don't like baseball as much as volleyball) is that side characters aren't as loved as much in Oofuri, at least compared to Haikyuu. When watching Haikyuu, it doesn't matter how much screen time a side character gets, or whether they are on a team opposing the main characters, you will still likely fall in love with them, or at least have your interest piqued by them, along with literally every single other character in the entire show. Even the score keeping high schoolers which flash by only a few times in the show will have a special place in your heart. As for Oofuri, the side characters sometimes dont stick in your head as much, mainly because a lot of them look the same and don't have many varying traits. Although many of the side characters find a place in your heart as you watch the show, many just don't make a big enough impact compared to Haikyuu, where every single character is precious. But I believe Haiykuu is already a special case in this aspect compared to any sport anime out the