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What are your favorite sports anime ?
I saw the favorite anime post the other day but there weren't many sports anime there, so thought I'd start another thread for them, this is my first post (topic?) on tildes hopefully I didn't do anything wrong lol and hopefully it's fine to post this here
I personally haven't been watching sports anime lately but my favorite is probably haikyuu (although I've yet to watch the last season), but I've just begun watching Tsurune too.
My favorite is one about table tennis with really weird artstyle. Can't remmember its name atm so someone can help me out pls
PING PONG the Animation directed by the GOAT himself, Masaaki Yuasa! Great choice!
Ping Pong is an absolute masterpiece, but it's a little difficult to categorize it together with everything else mentioned in this thread. Less "sports anime" per se and more the most perfect coming of age story ever assembled.
This description made me even more interested…. I may have to check this one out.
My favorite sports anime is Chihayafuru, which... I don't really know if it even counts as sports anime, but seems to fit the format so there you go. More recently, I had a lot of fun with Blue Lock- which is somehow less sports anime than Chihayafuru was. I really enjoy the "death game" genre cliches being applied to something less serious and I'd like to see more of that edgy/shonen take on different games.
Heck yeah it's a sport! :D there's physically training for reflexes, staying hydrated, mental focus and sleep and healthy energy snacks etc
It makes me a little sad in the parts where athletes who were older, has kids, has a disability, etc, just can't compete at the highest levels anymore..... But I guess that's the point of the whole story: karuta can still be enjoyed by people of different abilities and even if one hasn't got natural talent, you can still contribute to their world, as a historian, as a nurturer of the next group, and even as fans.
Definitely sports.
Baby Steps.
Two seasons, a romantic subplot that didn't disappoint, and a methodic MC I care about.
Now that I think about it, I may rewatch it soon...
I wish they made a new season. I started reading the manga because I wanted more, but I'd really love more anime content.
Did you read it all? Was your hunger for more, resolved?
According to my manga tracker, I've read 309/434 chapters. I rarely finish things, so that I haven't completed it is not indicative of my enjoyment.
I really liked it, but I remember the plot dragging a bit from time to time.
Don't worry, I'm the same. The plot dragging is expected because I have seen it happen in other shows as well. If I love it, I don't mind more plot, even if it's dragging to get there. I'll check it out, thanks!
Baby Steps has been on my plan to watch list for years. I imagine it's the kind of thing I'll enjoy (big fan of romance), but it's also one I want to be in the right mood for it before I begin.
You'll need a bottle of bourbon, your favorite cigar, and plenty of space to gesticulate your happiness to see this show. The right mood is to pay attention, and to be having fun.
Gonna go basic here and recommend Haikyuu, very good artstyle, engaging characters and for the most part good pacing.
For a bit less of a standard high school shounen vibe, Run with the Wind was insanely good, in my opinion.
Run with the wind was very good! I really didn't think a show about running would be interesting, but they managed to pull it off with a great cast of characters. It made me wish I enjoyed running haha.
That's me with every sports anime. I don't do sports at all irl, but sports anime often bring me to almost want to try the sport in question :D
Cross Game (Baseball) and Hikaru no Go (Go).
Cross Game's one of my favorite anime overall and I believe has one of the best first episodes out there with a great hook for the rest of the series.
I think my all time favourite will always be Slam Dunk!
《Keijo!!!!!!!!》
Beat me to it. The finest hip-whip themed sports anime of all time!
Mou Ippon! is by far my favourite one. It's a slice of life anime about a few high school girls doing Judo and participating in a tournament.
Even if you are not into Judo per se, this anime is so good. The characters are down to earth, unique, very well written and most of them go through a meaningful character development.
It is funny, heartwarming and exciting at the same time. I highly recommend giving it a try! :D
Hajime No Ippo for me. You never see that many KOs in real boxing that's for sure!
Has to be Ping Pong the animation, not actually a huge fan of sports anime but that one I feel like transcends the genre
But then most things Masaaki Yuasa touches is gold
If you consider it, SK8 Infinity and Birdie Wing are both absolutely great.
I guess, it's off-topic. But I also kinda liked Hoshiai no Sora where sport [in this case soft tennis] was used as something good in shitty life, and it was not bad, at least for me; but the anime was rushed and fucked at the end.
I'll always be a little sad that it wasn't given a chance to play out the full story since its length was cut in half in production, but respect that the director didn't actually try to give a rushed conclusion in compromise.
The production of Stars Align was a tragedy. It was originally written and ordered as a two-cour show, and they started production of the first cour before the production company decided to cut it down to one. They didn't have enough time to actually rewrite the entire thing to fit half as many episodes, so they ended up just doing the first cour and... hoping that it would eventually get a second.
I will always be mad about how they treated it. It was so good, and it deserved so much better.
I loved the Eyeshield 21 anime. Sadly it caught up with the manga around 5 matches before it ended so the finish off the show is extremely subpar.
I would probably say Initial D, Ashita No Joe, or Hajime no Ippo. Ashita no Joe is the best one but I think the other two stick with me in a more day to day manner. All are great for different reasons and I have wanted to rewatch all of them multiples times since finishing.
Heh, they'd been already mentioned here. I start from the most:
I rewatched them all, even this one with 75 episodes. I would also add One Outs (btw, it's kinda similar to Blue Lock logic) and Sangatsu no Lion (this one is more drama but still) which weren't mentioned here. Haikyuu is also fine.
has to be captain tsubasa (that soccer anime). There's others, but captain tsubasa is way up there for me
Not a fan of the genre but I loved Pong and Chihayafuru.
Chihayafuru is probably the only sport anime I watched and enjoyed.
Can't go wrong with Diamond no Ace (Ace of Diamond), and Haikyu.
I'm gonna go with the classics and say Slam Dunk
I've seen all my other faves mentioned, but not Yuri on Ice, a figure skating anime
Initial D, for sure. Still nothing really like it; hoping that MF GHOST is at least a little bit as good as the early Initial D stages!
A lot of people have already said my top choices, but one that I really enjoy and doesn't ever seem to get brought up is Basquash, I just remember it being such an interesting concept that they executed decently well, and would definitely have appealed to the Shonen demographic.
Thinking about it now, and only because I noticed it being a related recommendation on MyAnimeList, is RideBack, it's racing, which honestly should be it's own genre when it comes to anime. However, like Basquash it had an interesting premise that wasn't wasted or poorly executed, but had a more adult story line.
I’ve only ever watched Blue Lock because I was told it was anti-sport but in reality it was actually sport. Never had an interest in soccer, yet I hung out for every episode.
I binged a good amount of Prince of Tennis in highschool after reading the tennis scene from Death Note. I can't remember much, but I kniw I enjoyed it a good bit.
Hajime no Ippo
A boxing anime and long, long running manga that is still going strong. Can be a bit tricky to watch legally, especially the whole thing start to finish. That said, if you like old school anime this one is a real treat.
I’ll also add Megalo Box to the list, though that one is more modern. Stretches the definition of “Sports Anime” a bit but I believe it still fits. In a semi-dystopian future people compete in boxing using “gear” which augment your abilities in the ring. The story revolves around the character “Gearless Joe” so you can likely guess the premise from there.
First sport anime I ever watched and loved was Prince of Tennis. Recently, I have watched Haikyuu and Kuroko no Basket. Currently am watching Blue Lock and really liking it so far.
Probably Kuroko no Basket. I'm not a huge sports fan or sports anime fan, so I was very surprised to find myself watching a show that was basketball in sometimes-less-than-real-time but I enjoyed it. That said, at times it can be a battle shounen disguised as a sports anime, especially when it comes to the increasingly implausible explanations for why the antagonists skills aren't just straight up superpowers, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I’m gonna second this one. I love lots of other shows that have already been mentioned here, Kuroko appealed to the battle anime enthusiast in me. I loved the characters, and their interactions were always very satisfying. That said there was quite a bit of fluff in between each arc that could have been cut down a bit. Overall fantastic watch.
Hear me out... Beyblade.
Yes, it's not exactly what most would consider an IRL sport, though there is an actual Beyblade World Championship tournament with the real tops, it's just pretty niche. (I competed in it when I was 14, though, Google the East Coast Championships held on the Intrepid in NYC if you're curious about that)
But despite that, it has all the structure and drama of a sports anime, especially Beyblade Burst which tones down the more fantastical elements of spirits and stuff (not entirely, for fans of that!) and focuses a lot more on the struggle of being an athlete in a hyper competitive environment. And the battles are pretty hype, especially in the finale episodes where they always just blow the whole animation budget. The final battle of Burst S3 between Aiger and Phi is just... chef's kiss major props to whoever animated that glorious exchange.