The rise in popularity of Japanese animations --- a.k.a. anime --- has been continuously blasting its way through cultures around the globe. It covers an array of genres, some well-known ones being: Isekai, Slice of Life, Shoujo... and of course, the literal title of this article --- sport. Thus, after hours on end of binging over many different sport anime, here's a list of sport anime that vary in popularity, length, and realistic-ness that personally made me laugh, cry, squeal and everything in between!
1) Haikyuu!!
Credits: GifBoyOfficial from Tenor
Length: 4 seasons - 85 episodes
OVA(s): 5
Movie(s): 5
If you've somewhat explored the vast anime universe, its very likely you've come across this title. Haikyuu!! may come off as 'overrated', but I assure you all the hype it receives is well-deserved! Haikyuu!! definitely falls on the more 'realistic' side of the sport anime spectrum --- no super moves that defy the laws of physics or fancy shot combos; all the spikes and serves and sets are all (almost) fully within actual human capability.
Being one of the first anime I watched, after Pokémon (obviously), Haikyuu!! was my first step into the boundless universe of anime! The story felt raw and personal, the intros (especially the song 'Fly High', by the BURNOUT SYNDROMES) gave me goosebumps every time, and the funny characters continuously gave me laughing fits! I even remember thinking about the show during school midterms because I got left on a cliffhanger right before the exam. Haikyuu!! 's pacing does lean more toward to slower side --- one volleyball match can last 3-5 episodes --- but the tension and excitement and shock makes it all worth it!
Hinata Shoyo & Kageyama Tobio: Karasuno's power duo!
To avoid unintentional spoilers, here's the basic plot: Hinata Shoyo --- the short, super loud orange-haired boy --- is a high school volleyball player who is pursuing his dream of becoming the next 'Little Giant', which is essentially just this other high school/national team volleyball player who is also really short! So he joins the original Little Giant's high school volleyball team --- Karasuno High --- and fights his way to the top despite having a major height and experience disadvantage.
2) Oblivion Battery
Credits: elimaru from Tenor
Length: 1 season (with season 2 coming!) - 12 episodes
OVA(s): 1
Movie(s): -
Being one of the newer anime on the market, its definitely not as popular as longer-running titles such as Haikyuu!!, but its perfect if you need a little 'ultimate career comeback' kind of content to spark some much-needed motivation. My personal favourite element of the show was its characters; the main lineup of Oblivion Battery is diverse in background and capabilities, making this underdog team well-balanced and full of surprises! On the more deeper underside, they also embody the struggles of student life: wishing to have someone else's genes, wishing to be a natural-born genius, wishing to be anyone but their inferior selves... Those scenes particularly hit close to home; after all, its something every teen typically struggles with --- insecurities. Anyways, with only 1 season so far (but with a season 2 confirmed!), no harm binging it on a couch potato Sunday for a good 4 hours straight!
Kaname Kei: goofy class clown edition!
Again, here's the gist of the plot: Kiyomine Haruka and Kaname Kei are renowned as the ultimate pitcher and catcher duo in middle school baseball. They are the cause of many players quitting the sport due to the complete ruin of their pride as 'the ace' or 'the young genius' player on the team simply by being defeated by this duo once.
But somehow, Kei gets amnesia, totally forgets how to play baseball properly, and goes from 'cool, charismatic captain' to 'perverted class clown'. The rest of the story follows the pair's journey through high school and how they restart their careers as high school baseball players.
3) MF Ghost
Credits: Sooryan_101 from Tenor
Length: 2 seasons (with season 3 coming!) - 48 episodes
OVA(s): -
Movie(s): -
Now, if you're willing to sacrifice a tiny bit of animation quality for a good story and lots of unexpected underdog wins, go watch MFG. The adrenaline rush and excitement from the all the frenzied races, the bouncy dance-pop music, and the hilariously random English lines spoken by the one and only Katagiri/Rivington Kanata (the main character) gives this show a personally high enjoyability score. Fun fact though, its actually the newer 'continuation' of the anime Initial D. Both anime take place in the same universe, and although not directly linked to each other, some characters from the older story are mentioned in the newer show. However, you don't need to watch Initial D first before watching MFG --- there won't be gaps in the story, I promise!
Kanata slaying with his Toyota 86-GT
Credits: Sooryan_101 from Tenor
MFG follows the journey of Katagiri/Rivington Kanata, who's a prodigy racer whose superior memory helps him thoroughly navigate routes he has never drove on before accurately. He's half Japanese (his dad, Katagiri Ken) and half British (his mum, Katherine Rivington), and comes to Japan to explore the world of MFG with hopes of also finding his father who disappeared a while ago.
Being the product of a prestigious racing school in Britain and the student of a genius racer of the previous generation (during the Initial D era), Kanata takes Japan's racing world by storm and steadily rises to the top in hopes of getting his long-lost father's attention.
4) Blue Lock
Credits: benja6089 from Tenor
Length: 2 seasons - 38 episodes
OVA(s): -
Movie(s): 1
If you're looking for more underdog wins (and eye candy!), give Blue Lock a shot. Ever since its launch in 2022, its brilliant animation and striking characters have won the approval of many avid anime watchers (including myself!). Although many have said that season 2 went downhill and the animation dropped significantly --- as in, 'it looks like a PowerPoint slide animation' --- personally, I don't think it was that bad. You can definitely feel the downgrade but its not as bad as people claim; people were probably just expecting more fantastic, out-of-this-world (and expensive!) animation like the first season, which the studio unfortunately couldn't do due to budget cuts, but Blue Lock is still worth a watch, especially if you're looking for funny, wholesome team sport shows!
Isagi Yoichi and his 'puzzle' moment (you'll understand if you watch the anime!)
Blue Lock is actually the name of a football training facility for high school football strikers who have been scouted discreetly with hopes to train these players with an 'ego' mindset to revolutionise Japan's football scene. Isagi Yoichi, the main character, is one of these recruits and endeavours to make his way to the top in the facility and become the world's No.1 striker! The show follows his journey and the allies he forms along the way.
5) Sk8 the Infinity
Credits: hanavko from Tenor
Length: 1 season (with season 2 coming!) - 12 episodes
OVA(s): 1
Movie(s): -
Sk8 the Infinity's about sk8-boarding (hope you like the pun)! Its a goofy show that's all about the underground world of skateboarding. With great comedy and one or two questionable characters(?), its a good show with lots of 'omg he could do that???!!!' moments!
The racing element of the show is dynamic and brilliantly creative! Since skateboarding isn't the most common sport around, the show takes advantage of that and showcases the most outrageously crazy race tracks with the steepest slopes and dangerous jumps never seen before on TV --- likely also due to the fact that they seriously defy gravity and a 100 other laws of physics. Thus, it falls under the more unrealistic side of sport anime, but all the daredevil moves and stunts leave you wanting more anyway!
Reki (red) x Langa (blue) in that one funny beach episode almost every anime has:
Here's the plot: Kyan Reki is a passionate skateboarder and one of the main characters of this show! One day, a new kid, Hasegawa Langa, transfers to his school and, as an ex-snowboarder, is somehow naturally very skilled at skateboarding. The story follows the duo and their (usually) nighttime adventures at 'S', an illegal skateboard racing hub, where Langa is constantly challenged as the newcomer with unprecedented talent and the friends and foes they make throughout!
6) Free!
Length: 3 seasons - 37 episodes
OVA(s): 8
Movie(s): 6
This one's all about swimming. Like Haikyuu!!, its a wholesome school team sport anime with the added childhood rivalry among characters. I personally really like the drama of the show: its lowkey childish but super funny and follows the 'hot-headed rival VS the 'I couldn't care less' genius' trope.
The story is inspiring and although it follows the typical team sport anime plotline of 'working our way to the top', it doesn't feel as intense and comes off as rather refreshing and chill, making Free! a good anime for a casual watch.
Kirishima Ikuya: the 4th member of the Iwatobi swim relay team!
Credits: EllieInTheStars from Tenor
Free! follows the high school swimming journey of Nanase Haruka whose natural passion and love for water led him and his 3 relay teammates --- Matsuoka Rin, Hazuki Nagisa, and Tachibana Makoto --- to win a middle school swimming tournament. In high school, 3/4 of them reunite and form the Iwatobi High School Swim Club while Rin becomes a jealous brat and tries to prove that his aquatic prowess surpasses that of Haruka. So, to clap back, Haruka recruits another member to complete their relay team and challenges Rin's school to prove him wrong.
7) Kuroko's Basketball
Credits: mawadaradwan from Tenor
Length: 3 seasons - 75 episodes
OVA(s): 3
Movie(s): 4
Finally, we're at No.7 --- Kuroko's Basketball! Again, another school team sport anime with a very similar plot to Haikyuu!!, just a different sport: its the 'my school used to be great at (insert activity) but now it isn't, so I am going to make it great again!' plot. It does fall away from the realistic side of the sport anime spectrum, unlike Haikyuu!!, but the special moves sound cool, so why not? Although sometimes they are so ridiculously unrealistic and powerful that my mind needs time to process how they even developed that 'skill', it leaves you shock and laughing at the opponent's gaping mouth and wide eyes --- again, a lot of 'omg he could do that???!!!!' moments!
Kuroko slaying on the court:
Credits: Kirito2878 from Tenor
During Kuroko's middle school life, there existed the 'Generation of Miracles': these super talented basketball prodigies that all happen to be in the same middle school basketball team! So, obviously, with their special abilities they dominated the middle school basketball scene. Kuroko was known as their 'phantom' player, which you can learn more about if you go ahead and watch the anime!
He was the special 6th member of the Generation of Miracles. But in high school, all of them separated and went to different schools, so with the powers of these geniuses divided, each high school's basketball team got a massive upgrade. Kuroko now teams up with a newcomer basketball talent from America, Kagami Taiga, to challenge and defeat his ex-teammates in competitive basketball.
Credits: MomoThePeachy from Tenor
With that, I hope you found this article useful and interesting to some extent! May your future anime binges be as gratifying as all mine have been for me (with the occasional trash Isekai exceptions, but that's just because they hit in a different way!)! Thanks for giving this article a read and, if you have the time, give these anime a shot!
