Many sports anime have become increasingly popular over the years, with some cultivating massive fan bases and even inspiring viewers to step outside their comfort zones and try new sports. These anime cover popular sports such as swimming, basketball, skating, soccer, and volleyball; and some even depict sports that are invented for the sole purpose of the show. What intrigues many audiences about such anime is the skillful animation, the themes of hope, determination, and strength that they usually revolve around, and the many characters that inspire viewers to overcome their fears and try new things. Here is our list of the top five sports anime that everyone should watch.
5. Free!
The Free! anime highlights a group of swimmers navigating their athletic and professional lives, revitalizing old friendships, and transitioning from children into adults. This uplifting story shows immense growth of the characters, and is praised for the incredible and realistic swimming animation.
The story follows protagonist Haruka Nanase (a.k.a Haru), a high school student and incredible swimmer. After Iwatobi’s High School Swim Team ended, he was only able to swim in the ocean in summer. His mind was constantly on the water, so much so that he even would “swim” in his bathtub to experience the rush that swimming gave him. Haru’s childhood best friend Makoto Tachibana and former teammate Nagisa Hazuki become instrumental in the reorganization of Iwatobi High School’s swim club.
After a chance encounter reignited an old childhood rivalry between Haru and Rin Matsuoka, who transferred back from Australia to Samezuka Academy, the two navigated training, competitions, challenging one another, and the possibility of reigniting their old friendship.
Number of Episodes: 39
Streaming Services: Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video
4. Kuroko’s Basketball
Kuroko’s Basketball is known for its themes of teamwork, determination, and growth. The anime’s fanbase praises the show’s intriguing and fast-paced storylines, likable and interesting characters, and illustrative art and animation of action scenes.
This sports anime story begins with the recruiting of members for Seirin High School’s basketball team. Since the school formed the previous year, they hoped to recruit a powerful team to put their school on the map. Taiga Kagami smugly signed up to play, and to the student’s dismay, revealed himself to only be a first year despite his massive size and intense demeanor. The female coach, Riko Aida, noticed that a player on the signup sheet seemed to have passed her by since she didn’t even see him sign up. She was shocked to discover the name Tetsuya Kuroko, from the acclaimed Teiko Middle School, and wondered if he was part of the legendary “generation of miracles.”
The “generation of miracles” was a group of five prodigies from the Teiko basketball team that brought their school win after win. The rumor that circulated; however, was that there was a sixth phantom member of this group that carried the team on their back.
The anime follows the journey of the Seirin High School basketball team to see if they have a shot at beating a school led by basketball royalty. Viewers get to see if the member of the generation of miracles that would bring their high school to the top could in fact be the forgettable sixth member, that everyone deemed invisible.
Number of Episodes: 75
Streaming Services: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll
3. Sk8 the Infinity
Sk8 the Infinity is a heartwarming anime about two people building an unbreakable bond through their love of skateboarding. This story is loved by many because of its moving story of two people who found everything they needed in each other, and upbeat depiction of awakening a new passion
The story began with loud and carefree skateboarder and skateboard designer, Reki Kyan, trying to beat the eccentric skater known as “Shadow” in a race, to no avail. Reki was a regular at the underground skating course called “S”, where he regularly partook in dangerous, but thrilling races against other skaters who were part of the secret skating operation. After his loss left Reki with an arm that was almost as hurt as his pride, he met Langa Hasegawa, a new transfer student from Canada whose quiet demeanor was a perfect opposite to Reki’s boisterous personality.
What came as a shock to all, was that Langa possessed an incredible natural talent of snowboarding which came from boarding with his dad back in Canada. His father’s death made him give up the sport, but his natural ability ended up translating to the skateboard, and winning him the race.
Reki taught Langa how to have hope again following the death of his father, and Langa showed Reki that the true love of skateboarding comes from who you’re skating alongside.
This sports anime highlights the ebbs and flows of Reki teaching Langa to skate, and the infinite connection between them that follows suit. They both come to the realization that they want to skate infinitely, as long as they have each other to skate by their side.
Number of Episodes: 12
Streaming Services: Funimation, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video, Youtube
2. Yuri!!! On Ice
A classic anime depicting themes of hope, love, and never giving up on your dreams is Yuri on Ice, created by MAPPA studios. It won many Crunchyroll Anime Awards including: Best Boy, Best Animation, Most Heartwarming Scene, Best Opening, Best Closing, and Anime of the year in 2016.
Yuri on Ice follows 23 year old Yuri Katsuki in his journey as a professional figure skater who struggles with intense anxiety. Growing up, Katsuki idolized the Russian figure skating legend, Viktor Nikoforov, who had countless medals and was acclaimed as an artist on the ice.
As a professional figure skater, Katsuki found true solace while skating but often crumbled under the pressure of competing and the harsh opinions of the outside world. It turned out that it took Victor to teach Yuri how to defeat the devil on his shoulder and discover his self-worth. After spending his entire life in Victor’s shadow emulating his every glide on the ice, he was able to enthrall Victor so greatly by his ability to lose himself in the art of skating. Fueled by his incessant need to please Victor, somewhere along the way Yuri began to trust his abilities and find his love for skating once more.
Throughout the series, Yuri learned to be held up by the love and confidence of those around him rather than balancing all of his self-worth on his 50cm blades alone.
Number of Episodes: 12
Streaming Services: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Amazon Prime Video
1. Haikyuu!!
The massively popular sports anime conveying a young student’s passion for volleyball, Haikyuu!! was released in 2014. The four season anime series is a fan-favorite due to its themes of overcoming obstacles, its catchy opening and closing songs, and the many exciting characters that are introduced throughout the series. Fans can resonate with the main protagonist, Shoyo Hinata, who relentlessly fights for his dreams.
Although Hinata had some cards stacked against him, being the only member of his school’s volleyball club and having to beg students to practice with him, he discovered that he had an impressive jump despite his size. Once he finally found some friends to play in a tournament with him, they suffered a crushing loss against another school, featuring an incredible setter known as “King of the Court”, Tobio Kageyama. Their encounter at the game fueled a rivalry, where Hinata vowed to defeat the so-called King of the Court.
Through the series, viewers get to bear witness to the growing bond between former foes who grow to become unexpected teammates and an unstoppable duo. The two work to grow alongside their team to overcome their obstacles and hopefully spike their way into the nationals once more.
Seasons: 4
Number of Episodes: 86
Streaming Services: Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime Video
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