Top 50 Sports Anime of All Time
1. Tomorrow's Joe 2
Yabuki Joe is left downhearted and hopeless after a certain tragic event. In attempt to put the past behind him, Joe leaves the gym behind and begins wandering. On his travels he comes across the likes of Wolf Kanagushi and Goromaki Gondo, men who unintentionally fan the dying embers inside him, leading him to putting his wanderings to an end. His return home puts Joe back on the path to boxing, but unknown to himself and his trainer, he now suffers deep-set issues holding him back from fighting. In attempt to quell those issues, Carlos Rivera, a world renowned boxer is invited from Venezuela to help Joe recover.
2. THE FIRST SLAM DUNK
Shohoku's “speedster” and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.
In his second year of high school, Ryota plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship. And now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.
(Source: GKIDS)
3. HAIKYU!! 3rd Season
After the victory against Aoba Jousai High, Karasuno High School, once called “a fallen powerhouse, a crow that can’t fly,” has finally reached the climax of the heated Spring tournament. Now, to advance to nationals, the Karasuno team has to defeat the powerhouse Shiratorizawa Academy. Karasuno’s greatest hurdle is their adversary’s ace, Wakatoshi Ushijima, the number one player in the Miyagi Prefecture, and one of the country’s top three aces.
Only the strongest team will make it to the national tournament. Since this match is the third-year players’ last chance to qualify for nationals, Karasuno has to use everything they learned during the training camp and prior matches to attain victory. Filled with restlessness and excitement, both teams are determined to come out on top in the third season of Haikyuu!!.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
4. Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!
Makunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to the Kamogawa boxing gym to recover. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo's classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo's journey to the top of the boxing world begins.
5. HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle
Theatrical follow-up to Haikyuu!! TO THE TOP 2. The first film of Haikyuu!! FINAL.
The Spring Nationals tournament continues on, with Karasuno High matched against rivals Nekoma High, the fated battle between cats versus crows, also known as the highly anticipated “Dumpster Battle”. This match is the long awaited ultimate showdown between two opposing underdog teams.
(Source: Crunchyroll, edited)
6. HAIKYU!! 2nd Season
Following their participation at the Inter-High, the Karasuno High School volleyball team attempts to refocus their efforts, aiming to conquer the Spring tournament instead.
When they receive an invitation from long-standing rival Nekoma High, Karasuno agrees to take part in a large training camp alongside many notable volleyball teams in Tokyo and even some national level players. By playing with some of the toughest teams in Japan, they hope not only to sharpen their skills, but also come up with new attacks that would strengthen them. Moreover, Hinata and Kageyama attempt to devise a more powerful weapon, one that could possibly break the sturdiest of blocks.
Facing what may be their last chance at victory before the senior players graduate, the members of Karasuno's volleyball team must learn to settle their differences and train harder than ever if they hope to overcome formidable opponents old and new—including their archrival Aoba Jousai and its world-class setter Tooru Oikawa.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
7. Ping Pong the Animation
Tsukimoto Makoto (nicknamed Smile) is a quiet high-schooler who's been friends with the loud and energetic Hoshino Yukata (nicknamed Peko). They're both in the table tennis club and are very good at it, though Smile's personality prevents him from winning against Peko. The club teacher however notices Smile's talent and tries to make him gain some sportive tenacity.
(Source: Anime News Network)
8. HAIKYU‼ TO THE TOP Part 2
The second half of Haikyuu!! 4th season kicks-off where the first part ended. Karasuno High won their first match of The Spring Nationals against Tsubakihara Academy. Karasuno High is excited to be back in the Spring Nationals after many years of not making it, so can they handle the pressure of playing against the best teams in Japan? Will they make it to the top?
9. Fighting Spirit: New Challenger
Ippo Makunouchi continues his boxing career and his goal on knowing the meaning of being strong, and the desire on fighting his idol Ichiro Miyata once again. Along him are pro boxers Takamura, Aoki and Kimura that each one of them aspire to their own dreams.
(Source: Anime News Network)
10. Chihayafuru 3
They may have just won their most coveted karuta tournament, but members of the Mizusawa karuta team still have a long way to go. Each member chases their dreams, and with a win under their collective belt, those dreams are closer in reach than ever. Chihaya Ayase is determined to challenge Wakamiya Shinobu and win the title of Queen, and Taichi Mashima is ready to take on Arata Wataya now that he’s made it into the most elite of karuta players — but an unexpected revelation will deal these karuta players a hand none of them saw coming.
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
11. Fighting Spirit: Rising
Ippo continues to defend his Japanese Featherweight title from an ever stronger pool of challengers. Meanwhile, Takamura challenges for his second WBC title in the middleweight class, and Aoki challenges for the Japanese Lightweight title.
12. HAIKYU!!
Inspired after watching a volleyball ace nicknamed "Little Giant" in action, small-statured Shouyou Hinata revives the volleyball club at his middle school. The newly-formed team even makes it to a tournament; however, their first match turns out to be their last when they are brutally squashed by the "King of the Court," Tobio Kageyama. Hinata vows to surpass Kageyama, and so after graduating from middle school, he joins Karasuno High School's volleyball team—only to find that his sworn rival, Kageyama, is now his teammate.
Thanks to his short height, Hinata struggles to find his role on the team, even with his superior jumping power. Surprisingly, Kageyama has his own problems that only Hinata can help with, and learning to work together appears to be the only way for the team to be successful. Based on Haruichi Furudate's popular shounen manga of the same name, Haikyuu!! is an exhilarating and emotional sports comedy following two determined athletes as they attempt to patch a heated rivalry in order to make their high school volleyball team the best in Japan.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
13. HAIKYU!! TO THE TOP
The fourth season of Haikyuu!!
The Karasuno High School Volleyball Club finally won their way into the nationals after an intense battle for the Miyagi Prefecture Spring Tournament qualifiers. As they were preparing for the nationals, Kageyama is invited to go to All-Japan Youth Training Camp. At the same time, Tsukishima is invited to go to a special rookie select training camp for first-years in Miyagi Prefecture. Hinata feels panic that he’s being left behind as one of the first-years and then decides to show up at the Miyagi Prefecture rookie select training camp anyway...
(Source: Crunchyroll)
14. Chihayafuru 2
Now in their second year of high school, Chihaya and her friends share all the fun and worries that come with welcoming underclassmen to the team as they face tough rival schools. The passion of the Mizusawa Karuta Club burns hotter than ever, but with the same refreshing, youthful mood carrying over from the first season.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
15. Run with the Wind
Former ace runner of Sendai Josei High School, Kakeru Kurahara is chased away from a convenience store for shoplifting. Shaking off his pursuer, he runs into Haiji Kiyose, another student from his university. Haiji is impressed by Kakeru's agility and persuades him to live in Chikusei-sou, the run-down apartment where Haiji resides along with eight other students. Having lost his entire apartment deposit at a mahjong parlor, Kakeru accepts the offer reluctantly. However, Haiji reveals a secret during Kakeru's welcoming party: the apartment is actually the dormitory of the Kansei University Track Club. He unveils his ultimate goal of participating in the Hakone Ekiden—one of the most prominent university marathon relay races in Japan. Unfortunately, all the residents apart from Haiji and Kakeru are complete running novices. Worse still, none of the inhabitants are even remotely interested in being involved with Haiji's ridiculous plan! With only months before the deadline, will the fourth-year student be able to convince them otherwise and realize his elusive dream of running in the Hakone Ekiden?
16. Slam Dunk
Hanamichi Sakuragi, an entering Shohoku high school freshman holds a record for being rejected by 50 girls during middle school. His nearly 2 meters height and bright red hair causes most students to write him off as a delinquent.
One day, a girl named Haruko Akagi approaches Hanamichi without any fear. When she asks Hanamichi: "do you like basketball?" Hanamichi falls head over heels for the girl of his dreams. Without missing a beat, Hanamichi tells her he loves basketball, and the two head to the gymnasium where Hanamichi learns about the slam dunk. He also learns of Rukawa, one of the country’s top basketball prospects, also a freshman at Shohoku.
(Source: Funimation)
17. Ace of the Diamond Second Season
The second season of Diamond no Ace.
After the National Tournament, the Seidou High baseball team moves forward with uncertainty as the Fall season quickly approaches. In an attempt to build a stronger team centered around their new captain, fresh faces join the starting roster for the very first time. Previous losses weigh heavily on the minds of the veteran players as they continue their rigorous training, preparing for what will inevitably be their toughest season yet.
Rivals both new and old stand in their path as Seidou once again climbs their way toward the top, one game at a time. Needed now more than ever before, Furuya and Eijun must be determined to pitch with all their skill and strength in order to lead their team to victory. And this time, one of these young pitchers may finally claim that coveted title: "The Ace of Seidou."
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
18. Ace of the Diamond act II
Picking up the next year after the end of the fall tournament, Seidou High School baseball team battle it out with new and old faces as they begin their tournament run at Koshien.
(Source: Crunchyroll)
19. Major S5
After the baseball season was over, Goro returned to Japan. There he learned from Toshi that there is going to be a Baseball World Cup the following year hosted in America.
(Source: AniDB)
20. Grand Blue Dreaming
A new life begins for Kitahara Iori as he begins his college career near the ocean in Izu city, full of excitement for his new life. He will be moving into his Uncle's diving store "Grand Blue." There he finds the beautiful ocean, beautiful women, and men that love diving and alcohol. Will Iori be able to live his dream college life?
21. Initial D 1st Stage
High school student Takumi Fujiwara works as a gas station attendant during the day and a delivery boy for his father's tofu shop during late nights. Little does he know that his precise driving skills and his father's modified Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno make him the best amateur road racer on Mt. Akina's highway. Because of this, racing groups from all over the Gunma prefecture issue challenges to Takumi to see if he really has what it takes to be a road legend.
(Source: Anime News Network)
22. Girls und Panzer: Saishuushou 4
The fourth film in the six-part Girls und Panzer: Saishuushou film series.
23. BLUELOCK
Japan’s desire for World Cup glory leads the Japanese Football Association to launch a new rigorous training program to find the national team’s next striker. Three hundred high school players are pitted against each other for the position, but only one will come out on top. Who among them will be the striker to usher in a new era of Japanese soccer?
(Source: Crunchyroll)
24. Cross Game
The main character is Kou Kitamura, son of the owner of Kitamura Sports. In the same neighborhood is a batting center run by the Tsukishima family. Due to their proximity and the relationship between their businesses, the Kitamura and Tsukishima familes have been close for many years, with their children going back and forth between the two homes like extended family. Because Kou and Wakaba were the same age and always together, Aoba was jealous of all the time Kou spent with her older sister. Aoba is a natural pitcher with excellent form, and Kou secretly trains to become as good as she was, even while publicly showing little interest in baseball.
25. Major S6
The sixth season begins after the "Baseball World Cup" has ended. Goro regained his passion for baseball in Japan thanks to his friends, and left to join the Hornets baseball team in preperation to the new season. When he arrives in America he starts to celebrate his role as a Major League pitcher at last! Goro's family and friends gathers in groups in Japan to watch Goro's debut in the Major League. However, Goro's debut is the beginning of a line of surprising happenings, that has an outcome no one expected...
26. Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 2
The second season of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.
All eyes are on Toukai Teiou as she takes on the Japanese Derby, ready to gallop in Symboli Rudolf's footsteps and become an undefeated Triple Crown Horse Girl. The stands are full. The track is set. It's time to see which horse girl fortune favors!
(Source: Crunchyroll, edited)
27. Aoashi
Ashito Aoi is a young, aspiring soccer player from a backwater town in Japan. His hopes of getting into a high school with a good soccer club are dashed when he causes an incident during a critical match for his team, which results in their loss and elimination from the tournament. Nevertheless, he catches the eye of someone important who happened to be visiting from Tokyo. How will things turn out for Ashito?
(Source: Shogakukan Asia)
28. Kuroko's Basketball 3
Following their triumph against Yousen High, Seirin's basketball team has reached the semifinals of the Winter Cup along with Kaijou, Rakuzan, and Shuutoku. Each of these teams possesses a member of the Generation of Miracles, and Seirin prepares to face the largest obstacles on their path to winning the Winter Cup.
In the final season of Kuroko no Basket, Kuroko goes head-to-head with his old teammates once more as he attempts to show them that individual skill is not the only way to play basketball. His firm belief that his form of basketball, team play, is the right way to play the sport will clash with the talents of a perfect copy and an absolute authority.
While Kuroko tries to prove that his basketball is "right," he and the rest of Seirin High ultimately have one goal: to win the Winter Cup and overcome the strength of the Generation of Miracles, who have long dominated the scene of middle and high school basketball.
(Source: MAL Rewrite)
29. Girls und Panzer der Film
When the Ministry of Education goes back on its promise to keep Ooarai Girls Academy open, the task of saving the five-mile-long Academy Ship from the wreckers falls to Miho and her barely-seasoned tankery team. However, things go off track almost immediately. While the Oorai tank crew may have won the high school tournament, they’re now facing a larger and more experienced university team, and if they fail, their armored vehicles will be forfeit! Will they be swapping their tanks for the memories? It’s possible, but winning a tank battle is all about tactics and teamwork, and the fledgling Ooarai students have more friends and allies than anyone suspects.
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
30. Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Mashiba vs Kimura
Kimura finally has his championship match. It takes place at the annual champion carnival. But now he must face the intense champion, Mashiba for the Junior Lightweight championship.
(Source: Anime News Network)
31. MEGALOBOX 2: NOMAD
The second season of Megalo Box.
In the end, “Gearless” Joe was the one that reigned as the champion of Megalonia, a first ever megalobox tournament. Fans everywhere were mesmerized by the meteoric rise of Joe who sprung out from the deepest underground ring to the top in mere three months and without the use of gear. Seven years later, “Gearless” Joe was once again fighting in underground matches. Adorned with scars and once again donning his gear, but now known only as Nomad.
(Source: TMS Entertainment)
32. Redline
Redline is about the biggest and most deadly racing tournament in the universe. Only held once every five years, everyone wants to stake their claim to fame, including JP, a reckless dare-devil driver oblivious to speed limits with his ultra-customized car - all the while, organized crime and militaristic governments want to leverage the race to their own ends. Amongst the other elite rival drivers in the tournament, JP falls for the alluring Sonoshee - but will she prove his undoing, or can a high speed romance survive a mass destruction race?
(Source: Anchor Bay Films)
33. Initial D Final Stage
After defeating every racing team in the prefecture, everything comes down to one last race. Takumi Fujiwara has never lost a race, but when his opponent is also using an AE86, it turns into a battle of the AE86. Will Project D succeed in the final and most difficult race of Initial D?
34. Chihayafuru
Chihaya Ayase is a girl who has spent most of her life simply supporting her sister in her model career. That changes when she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, a talented karuta player who recognizes Chihaya's potential to become a great player herself. As Chihaya takes on a new dream of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends, Taichi Mashima and Arata Wataya, as they grow up. Now in high school, Chihaya still continues to play karuta in the hope that she will one day meet her friends again.
(Source: Chihayafuru Wikia)
35. One Outs
The story begins when Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$460,000) for every point he gives up.
(Source: Anime News Network)
36. Girls und Panzer das Finale – Part 3
The third film in the six-part Girls und Panzer: Saishuushou film series.
Firepower and strategy are the name of the game as the schools square off on three additional battlegrounds. Six teams enter and only the survivors will advance!
(Source: HIDIVE)
37. Tsurune - The Linking Shot -
The second season of Tsurune.
Minato’s return to archery may have helped Kazemai High’s Kyudo Club win a prefectural tournament, but it’s a poor bowman who expects an arrow to fly the same flight every time. With the entry of a radical new team, one of whose members is Minato’s former upperclassman, the old rivalry between Kazemai and Kirisaki becomes a triangle with the upstart team from Tsujimine as serious contenders. And even as the men’s team struggles to adjust to the new paradigm, competition doubles again as the Kazemai women’s team of Rika, Yuna, and Noa prepares to enter their first tourney as well! Prepare to be aquiver as each new arrow makes its mark in TSURUNE - THE LINKING SHOT!
38. Ashita no Joe
Joe, a teenage orphan in the slums of the Doya streets, meets Danpei, a homeless, alcoholic ex-boxing coach. Danpei, seeing Joe's boxing talent, decides to train him. When Joe is sent to a terrible juvenile home for petty crimes, he meets Rikiishi who becomes his boxing rival. Danpei arrives at the home to help Joe to train in order to defeat Rikiishi. When Joe decides to seriously pursue boxing, Danpei cannot get a coaching license because of his reputation as a drunk.
(Source: AnimeNfo)
39. Initial D 2nd Stage
Following his victory over RedSuns leader Ryosuke Takahashi, AE86 driver Takumi Fujiwara is challenged by the Lancer EVO-based "Emperor," a group known for taking decals of racing teams they defeat, cutting them up and placing them on their cars like a fighter plane kill board. Takumi's undefeated streak is on the line as his AE86 is virtually no match against the more powerful and more agile four-wheel-drive EVOs of the Emperor team.
(Source: Anime News Network)
40. Major: World Series
According to Weekly Shonen Sunday, a new OVA of manga "Major" was announced to be released in December. The World Series chapter, which was skipped in the TV series, will be animated. This OVA will be the final anime of Major.
(Source: Scan of WSS)
41. Kuroko's Basketball 2
With the Interhigh Championship finally over, Seirin's basketball team refocuses their efforts, training harder than ever to get the chance to participate in the Winter Cup. Both Kuroko and Kagami see old friends walk back into their lives, providing a challenge both on and off the court.
As new skills are developed and new alliances created, enemies from various teams—giants of high school basketball such as Yousen, Shuutoku and Touou—stand in the way of Seirin's steadfast attempts to get to the top. All of these schools prove to be formidable foes whose abilities progress exponentially, while Kuroko struggles to find a balance between his resolve to play as part of a team and his desire to win.
With old wounds reopening, new challenges to face on the court, and a new set of foes—the "Uncrowned Kings"—vowing to defeat the new hopefuls, will Seirin ever be able to achieve their dream of beating the Generation of Miracles?
(Source: MAL Rewrite)
42. Haikyu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts
A compilation film depicting the match against Shiratorizawa Academy in the third season of the anime series.
43. Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! - Champion Road
As the new Champion, Ippo must protect his title against some of the best boxers available.
Makunouchi Ippo is the new Featherweight champion of Japan and is now ready for his first title defense. His opponent, the former Jr. Featherweight champion and a medical student, Sanada Kazuki. In addition to this feud, Sanada is being coached by Kamogawa's former rival, Hama Dankichi. What makes things worse is that Sanada works at the same hospital where Kumi is a nurse at and everybody at the hospital wants Sanada to win. Not only does Ippo have to defend his title, he has to reclaim his love.
(Source: Anime News Network)
44. Major S3
After leaving Kaido in a promise to meet them at the Koshien tournament, Goro comes back to his home town once again in an attempt to join up with his old friends. Only this time, things aren't as easy to get back in the groove of.
45. Baki Hanma Season 2
The second season of Hanma Baki.
In Hanma Baki’s first season, the fighter Baki — the strongest high schooler in the land — trained in a prison against fellow inmates, defeating a giant praying mantis and formidable opponents like Biscuit “Mr. Unchained” Oliva and Jun “Mr. Second” Guevaru. Now, Baki is back and gearing up to battle Pickle, a perfectly preserved prehistoric man so powerful, he once preyed on dinosaurs. If Baki can take down Pickle, his final matchup will be with his all-powerful father, Yujiro Hanma.
(Source: Netflix)
46. Ace of the Diamond
With a stray pitch that completely missed the batter, Eijun Sawamura loses his final middle school baseball game. Frustrated by this defeat, Eijun and his teammates vow to reach the national tournament once they are in high school. But everything changes when a scout unexpectedly invites him to Tokyo's prestigious Seidou High School after seeing the potential in his unusual pitching style. Encouraged by his teammates, Eijun accepts the offer, ready to improve his skills and play at a much more competitive level of baseball.
However, now surrounded by a large number of skilled players, Eijun struggles to find his place on the team. He declares that he will one day become the team's ace, but that's only if fellow first year Satoru Furuya doesn't take the title first, with his breakneck fastballs that earn him a coveted spot on the starting roster. With the addition of these talented new players to an already powerful lineup, the Seidou baseball team aims to become the best in Japan, facing off against a number of formidable foes that stand in their way.
(Source: MAL Rewrite)
47. Initial D 4th Stage
Takumi Fujiwara and brothers Keisuke and Ryousuke Takahashi have formed "Project D," a racing team aimed at bringing their driving skills to their full potential outside their prefecture. Using the internet, Project D issues challenges to other racing teams and posts results of their races. Managed by Ryousuke, the team has Takumi engaging in downhill battles with his AE86, while Keisuke challenges opponents uphill. Among their rivals are the Seven-Star Leaf (SSR) and Todo-juku.
48. Major S1
Honda Shigeharu is a Major League batter on the rise. His son Goro is a Little League pitcher who one day hopes to follow in his father's footsteps. Hoshino Momoko is Goro's schoolteacher, and the first woman Shigeharu has been interested in since the death of Goro's mother. The destines of these three individuals will become intertwined as father and son experience both heartbreak and triumph on the baseball diamond. But when an unspeakable tragedy visits the family, it will take everything they have to pick up the pieces and reclaim their dreams.
(Source: Anime News Network)
49. Major S4
Next season of Major.
After the final game of his Seishuu team against the goal he set himself, Kaidou - the team he left to play against, Gorou has no feelings of remorse anymore. Again he decides to take a step forward and challenge himself.
Saying one more time good bye to Shimizu and his friends, he leaves for the USA, where he plans on competing in the Minor League.
This is where Season 4 starts, in a country that`s foreign to him, a baseball style that`s unknown to him and new friends and strong rivals who share the same love to the game as him. Accompany Gorou in his neverending quest for new challenges.
(Source: AniDB)
50. Girls und Panzer das Finale – Part 2
The second film in the six-part Girls und Panzer: Saishuushou film series.
After falling for BC Freedom High’s clever deception, the Oarai Girl’s High tank-maidens find themselves faced with an entirely different battlefront than expected. However, Yukari suspects that any bluff that could have been carried out so easily by so many people must have some basis in fact. So, as the other school teams prepare for combat across the competition, Oarai digs down with a plan to undermine the groundwork beneath their opposition.
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)