Interest Stacks

Recommended Sports and sports-adjacent animes

Anime
byWillowtry
Nov 21 2022, 3:00 PM | Updated Aug 27, 2023 10:33 AM
Most expected sports animes won't appear. Purely subjective, duh.

And yes, the three first animes are adapted from the same magazine.
Blue Lock
TV, 2022, 24 eps Me:- Author:6
Mixes survival game tropes with football/soccer. Probably best to ignore the telling and showing dissonance.

Female honey-trap approved. Papa KnB is proud.
Diamond no Ace
TV, 2013, 75 eps Me:- Author:10
Episodes-long matches keeping you on the edge of your seat. Large well-developed cast.

Avoid at all cost if you're after power fantasies.
Ahiru no Sora
TV, 2019, 50 eps Me:- Author:10
Utilizes its female cast in more diverse ways than the majority of male-oriented sports anime.

Also fluffy thugs. Somehow. I've heard Slam Dunk is calling.
Kuroko no Basket
TV, 2012, 25 eps Me:- Author:8
When the anime industry realized how to honey-trap female viewers in male-oriented sports animes. Probably.

Not even the shounen Prince of Tennis and its myriad of female-oriented dating sim games were able to.
Ping Pong the Animation
TV, 2014, 11 eps Me:- Author:8
Good animation doesn't equal pretty animation.
Battery
TV, 2016, 11 eps Me:- Author:8
Baseball is only the setting for this slice-of-life, angsty, story.
Keijo!!!!!!!!
TV, 2016, 12 eps Me:- Author:8
Did you say fanservice ?
Free!
TV, 2013, 12 eps Me:- Author:7
Did you say fanservice ?

Papa fanservice-shoujo-sports-animes is here.
Hanebado!
TV, 2018, 13 eps Me:- Author:7
Not just fanservice.
SK∞
TV, 2021, 12 eps Me:- Author:7
Not just fanservice.
Taisou Zamurai
TV, 2020, 11 eps Me:- Author:8
Can someone past his physical peak still be a good athlete ?
Ryman's Club
TV, 2022, 12 eps Me:- Author:7
Fun fact, salarymen can play sports too.
Bakuten!!
TV, 2021, 12 eps Me:- Author:7
Low-budget anime that tries its best.
Shin Ace wo Nerae!
TV, 1978, 25 eps Me:- Author:-
A classic in Japan that is often ignored/unknown by the Western audience. Still is regularly voted among the 100 best animes of all time in Japan.

(to be fair, many animes/mangas considered "classics" in Japan aren't considered as such in the West)

Behind many tropes in sports animes for either the male or female audience. Could be erroneously perceived as cliché in consequence.

Also behind many yuri tropes. Probably is one of the influences behind the presence of yaoi tropes in modern sports animes, male or female, after the boom of KnB and Free.

Mama is proud of how far everybody has come.

Avoid if 70ties animation is hard to swallow.
Ballroom e Youkoso
TV, 2017, 24 eps Me:- Author:4
Dancing is a man's sport too. Shounen Edition.
Dance Dance Danseur
TV, 2022, 11 eps Me:- Author:7
Dancing is a man's sport too. Seinen Edition.
Haikyuu!!
TV, 2014, 25 eps Me:- Author:3
Do you want fluff without thugs ?
Princess Tutu
TV, 2002, 38 eps Me:- Author:10
Mixes fairy tales with ballet.
Princess Nine: Kisaragi Joshikou Yakyuubu
TV, 1998, 26 eps Me:- Author:7
Probably the most obviously inspired by Ace wo Nerae from the list.
Yowamushi Pedal
TV, 2013, 38 eps Me:- Author:8
Racers' "abilities" are so absurd, give it a try if you want a good laugh.
Iwa Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls
TV, 2020, 12 eps Me:- Author:6
Baits you for fanservice, but is just a regular sports anime with female characters. All the tropes you'll find in sports anime with male characters are featured here. A good self-evaluation anime.
Ao Ashi
TV, 2022, 24 eps Me:- Author:8
Modern show without ugly 3D. Would recommend if you're interested in a show where the protagonist has a defending position.

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