The best sports anime

If you already watch anime, you know the shelf is huge. Plenty of it is fights and powers. Plenty is just life as it is — school, money, the usual crush. Some of it is for kids. Some of it is for adults who are not looking for a lesson.

Sports anime sits in the middle of that pile and still feels like its own thing. Some series show the ugly parts: training, teammates who grate on you, a match that will not wait. Others blow a play up until it looks almost like a superpower. The odd part is that even sports that barely get TV time in Japan still get a full series. One cut, though: soccer stays off this page — that pile already has its own football anime list.

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Hajime no Ippo (Boxing) - 2000

Synopsis: Makunouchi Ippo is a shy boy who studies and helps his mother in a fishing boat shop. Since he doesn't have much free time, he doesn't have friends.

He is also bullied by a gang that has been beating him since childhood. One day, when he was being attacked by this gang, Ippo is saved by a former boxer. To treat his injuries, he is taken to a boxing gym.

There, he becomes interested in the sport and asks the person who saved him to train him. Thus, he tries to prove that he can become a respected boxer, with determination and effort.

Haikyuu!! (Volleyball) - 2014

Synopsis: After watching a volleyball game on TV, Shoyo Hinata, a middle school student, becomes interested in the sport. Even though he is not very tall, he is determined to be like a star player he observed in the national championship. He even creates a volleyball club and starts training alone.

Soon, other people join the team. But right in the first game, they are humiliatingly defeated. Therefore, they decide to train hard to defeat their opponents. If you want more in that lane, there is a separate page for volleyball anime like Haikyuu.

Kuroko no Basket (Basketball) - 2012

Synopsis: There was a basketball team from Teiko junior high school that stood out a lot. They were the best team in the country, and in this team, there were great players. Among them, five stood out a lot, they were even known as the Generation of Miracles. But another player named Kuroko Tetsuya did not stand out as much as the others. At the end of elementary school, the six separated, each going to a different school. Kuroko joins Kagami Taiga to defeat each of the members of the former Generation of Miracles and become the best players in Japan.

Yowamushi Pedal (Cycling) - 2013

Synopsis: Onoda Sakamichi is an otaku and a shy first-year high school student. Even wanting to join the anime research club at his school, he ends up joining the cycling club.

Then he enters rigorous training, and with the help of his friends, his talent for cycling begins to take shape. Onoda, this high school boy, overcomes all his limits and puts everything into his bicycle, which becomes his passion and life goal.

Free! (Swimming) - 2013

Synopsis: From a very young age, Nanase Haruka was passionate about swimming. During his school years, he and his three friends join the swimming club. They even manage to win the tournament before finishing elementary school. After that, everyone ends up separating and taking different paths.

Years later, Haruka reunites with one of his friends, and together with two new colleagues, they form the Iwatobi High School swimming club. Soon they start dreaming again of swimming competitions.

Eyeshield 21 (American Football) - 2005

Synopsis: A boy named Sena has just entered his first year of high school, and because he is shy, others take advantage of him. Almost unintentionally, he ends up joining the school's American football team.

This team is led by Hiruma, the meanest person in the school. But seeing that Sena is a great runner, Hiruma forces him to join the team and makes him assume a secret identity called Eyeshield 21. Thus begins Sena's adventures, helping his team to become the best in Japan.

Slam Dunk (Basketball) - 1993

Synopsis: Hanamichi Sakuragi arrives at Shohoku High as a delinquent and joins the basketball club because he falls for Haruko Akagi. He has the jump, almost no technique, and a temper that hits the floor faster than the ball.

Together with the cool Shohoku ace Rukawa and the rest of the team, he works his way toward the inter-high. Slam Dunk is the classic a lot of later basketball anime borrowed from — including the red-haired hothead who learns the game on camera.

Yuri!!! on Ice (Figure skating) - 2016

Synopsis: Yuri Katsuki goes home to Hasetsu after a string of lost competitions and starts wondering if the career is over. Then the Russian champion Viktor Nikiforov shows up and offers to coach him.

The younger Yuri Plisetsky wants Viktor's attention too. The series takes the free skate, the music, and the pressure of a Grand Prix season seriously — and it is a story about two adults, not another high-school club.

Which sports anime fits what you want?

Not every series is chasing the same high. If you want realistic punches and long gym hours, Hajime no Ippo is the one. If you want a team that grows match by match, start with Haikyuu!! or Slam Dunk. Kuroko no Basket leans into almost supernatural moves. Yowamushi Pedal and Yuri!!! on Ice give the main role to sports that rarely get it. Eyeshield 21 is American football, not a Premier League story.

If you care more about grit than about the final score, the motivational anime page sits next to this one. And if you want the real-world map — what Japan actually watches and plays — cross it with the piece on the sports Japanese people love most or the five titles that helped popularize sports in Japan.

Other sports anime

It is not possible to write a synopsis for every sports anime, so here are a few more in the same genre:

• Major (Baseball);
• Baby Steps (Tennis);
• Slam Dunk (Basketball);
• The Prince of Tennis (Tennis);
• Big Windup! (Baseball);
• Kenkou Zenrakei Suieibu Umishou (Swimming);
• Aim for the Ace! (Tennis);
• Touch (Baseball);
• Ro-Kyu-Bu! (Basketball);

Sports anime catalog

The table below is a map of sports anime by title and year — not a live ranking of “the 100 best.” A lot of the names come from older popularity lists, so soccer shows still appear here even though the featured picks above leave football to its own article. Treat it as a catalog you can scan, not as a podium.

We kept a second, separate movie table because it can hold other kinds of titles too: traditional Japanese games, cycling, and more extreme sports.

Title	Year
Haikyuu!! Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy	2016
Haikyuu!! Second Season	2015
Haikyuu!! To the Top: Part II	2020
Haikyuu!! To the Top	2020
Haikyuu!!	2014
SK8 the Infinity	2021
Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!	2000
Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger	2009
Kuroko's Basketball 3	2015
Hajime no Ippo: Rising	2013
Kuroko's Basketball 2	2013
Yuri!!! on Ice	2016
Major Season 5	2009
Ace of the Diamond: Act II	2019
Chihayafuru 2	2013
Chihayafuru 3	2019
Kuroko's Basketball	2012
Run with the Wind	2018
Ace of the Diamond: Second Season	2015
Major Season 6	2010
Major Season 3	2007
Major Season 2	2005
Major Season 1	2004
Initial D Final Stage	2014
Major Season 4	2008
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi	2006
One Outs	2008
Initial D Fourth Stage	2004
Initial D Fifth Stage	2012
Ping Pong The Animation	2014
Cross Game	2009
Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road	2014
Welcome to the Ballroom	2017
Megalo Box 2: Nomad	2021
Initial D Second Stage	1999
Baby Steps 2	2015
Stars Align	2019
Initial D	1998
Chihayafuru	2011
Slam Dunk	1993
Ace of the Diamond	2013
Yowamushi Pedal	2013
Megalo Box	2018
Big Windup! 2	2010
Free! Dive to the Future	2018
Free! Eternal Summer	2014
Backflip!!	2021
Baby Steps	2014
Tsurune	2018
Major 2nd: Second Season	2020
The Prince of Tennis II	2012
Ashita no Joe 2	1980
Big Windup!	2007
Eyeshield 21	2005
Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation	2017
Capeta	2005
Hinomaru Sumo	2018
Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club	2013
Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line	2018
The Prince of Tennis	2001
Kaleido Star	2003
Major 2nd	2018
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2	2021
Over Drive	2007
Air Gear	2006
Ahiru no Sora	2019
Hungry Heart: Wild Striker	2002
Touch	1985
Tsuritama	2012
Giant Killing	2010
RE-MAIN	2021
Days	2016
Inazuma Eleven	2008
Ashita no Joe	1970
Inazuma Eleven: Orion no Kokuin	2018
Ganba Fly High	1996
Inazuma Eleven GO: Chrono Stone	2012
Zoids: New Century/Zero	2001
Captain Tsubasa (2018)	2018
Wangan Midnight	2007
Princess Nine	1998
IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix 2nd Season	2006
Whistle!	2002
Mix	2019
Plawres Sanshiro	1983
Ganbare Genki	1980
Bamboo Blade	2007
Offside	2001
All Out!!	2016
Suzuka	2005
Burning Kabaddi	2021
Ginban Kaleidoscope	2005
Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl	1989
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby	2018
Prince of Stride: Alternative	2016
The Knight in the Area	2012
Midori no Makibaoh	1996
Ginga e Kickoff!!	2012
Honoo no Toukyuuji: Dodge Danpei	1991
Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy	2013
Inazuma Eleven GO	2011
Basquash!	2009
Oban Star-Racers	2006
Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun	2017
number24	2020
H2	1995
Miracle Giants Dome-kun	1989
Aoki Densetsu Shoot!	1993
Future GPX Cyber Formula	1991
The Gymnastics Samurai	2020
Dash! Kappei	1981
Taisho Baseball Girls	2009
Shippu! Iron Leaguer	1993
Umisho	2007
Dragon League	1993
Kinnikuman	1983
Kunimatsu-sama no Otoridai	1971
Pro Golfer Saru TV	1985
Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002	2001
Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS	2013
Gurazeni: Money Pitch 2nd Season	2018
Ring ni Kakero 1: Shadow	2010
Keijo!!!!!!!!	2016
Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen	2011
Captain Tsubasa J	1994
IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix	2005
Dan Doh!!	2004
Cheer Boys!!	2016
F	1988
Ikkyuu-san (1978)	1978
Inazuma Eleven: Ares no Tenbin	2018
Monkey Turn V	2004
Musashi no Ken	1985
Battle Athletes Victory	1997
Anima Yell!	2018
Shin Kyojin no Hoshi	1977
Soccer Fever	1994

After 2021 the catalog above mostly stops. Titles that arrived later and belong on the same shelf include Oblivion Battery (baseball, 2024), the film The First Slam Dunk (2022), and Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle (2024). Soccer-heavy hits from those years stay on the football list.

Sports anime movies

A catalog of sports anime films, with the same caveat: it is a map, not a new ranking.

Title	Year
Haikyuu!! Movie 4: Battle of Concepts	2017
Haikyuu!! Movie 3: Talent and Sense	2017
Kuroko's Basketball: Last Game	2017
Haikyuu!! Movie 2: Shousha to Haisha	2015
Haikyuu!! Movie 1: Owari to Hajimari	2015
Redline	2009
High Speed! -Free! Starting Days-	2015
Kuroko's Basketball Movie 3: Winter Cup Highlights -Crossing the Door-	2016
Free! Road to the World - Yume	2019
Free! -Take Your Marks-	2017
Initial D Legend 3: Dream	2016
Initial D Third Stage	2001
Major Movie: Yuujou no Winning Shot	2008
Kuroko's Basketball Movie 2: Winter Cup Highlights -Beyond the Tears-	2016
Initial D Legend 2: Racer	2015
Free! -Timeless Medley- The Bond	2017
Detective Conan Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker	2012
Free! -Timeless Medley- The Promise	2017
Initial D Legend 1: Awakening	2014
Kuroko's Basketball Movie 1: Winter Cup Highlights -Shadow and Light-	2016
Yowamushi Pedal The Movie	2015
The Prince of Tennis Movie 2: Eikoku-shiki Teikyuu Shiro Kessen!	2011
Yowamushi Pedal: Spare Bike	2016
Slam Dunk Movie 4	1995
The Prince of Tennis: A Gift from Atobe	2005
Slam Dunk Movie 3	1995
Slam Dunk Movie 2	1994
The Prince of Tennis Movie 1: Two Samurai - The First Game	2005
Yowamushi Pedal: Re:GENERATION	2017
Inazuma Eleven GO: Kyuukyoku no Kizuna Gryphon	2011
Slam Dunk Movie 1	1994
Farewell, My Dear Cramer Movie: First Touch	2021
Free! Movie: The Final Stroke - Zenpen	2021
Yowamushi Pedal: Re:RIDE	2014
Yowamushi Pedal: Re:ROAD	2015
Inazuma Eleven: Saikyou Gundan Ogre Shuurai	2010
Batsu & Terry	1987
A Sumo Wrestler's Tail	2010
Pro Golfer Saru: Super Golf World e no Chousen!!	1986
Kazu & Yasu Hero Tanjou	1995
Pro Golfer Saru: Kouga Hikyou! Kage no Ninpou Golfer Sanjou!	1987
Inazuma Eleven GO vs Danball Senki W Movie	2012
WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! Movie 3	2020
WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! Movie 2	2020
Midoriyama Koukou Koushien-hen Movie	1990
Inazuma Eleven: Chou Jigen Dream Match	2014
Shouri Toushu	1987
Captain The Movie	1981
Tomorrow's Joe 2: The Movie	1981
Tteodori Kkachi	1987
Tomorrow's Leaves	2021
Kyojin no Hoshi Movie 2: Ike Ike Hyuuma	1969
Kyojin no Hoshi Movie 1: Chizome no Kesshousen	1969
Kinnikuman Movie 7: Seigi Choujin vs Senshi Choujin	1986
Kinnikuman II Sei Movie	2001
Dosukoi! Wanpaku Dohyou	1995
Nasu: Summer in Andalusia	2003
Pro Yakyuu wo 10-bai Tanoshiku Miru Houhou Part 2	1984
Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! Aa Tsuppari Jinsei	1980
Kinnikuman Movie 6: New York Kiki Ippatsu!	1986
WAVE!! Surfing Yappe!! Movie 1	2020
Baribari Densetsu	1987
Tobe! Pegasus Kokoro no Goal ni Shoot	1995
Pro Yakyuu wo 10-bai Tanoshiku Miru Houhou	1983
Kinnikuman Movie 2: Ooabare! Seigi Choujin	1984
Fusha no Sha	1988
Aoki Densetsu Shoot! Movie	1994
Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!!	1979
Crush Gear Turbo The Movie - Kaiservern's Ultimate Challenge	2002

Do you like anime of this style? Have you watched any of these? Do you know of any others that we didn't mention? Let us know in the comments and share with your friends.