With several new sports anime like Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story season 2 and Mix: Meisei Story premiering soon, fans anticipate the next great show in the genre. Sports anime take the excitement of watching a high-stakes game to their absolute height, since the only limit is the imagination of the writers and animators. The s of the IMDb are rare to give anything higher than middling ratings, but many sports anime achieve some of the highest ratings the site allows for.
10 Kuroko’s Basketball - 8.3
Star basketball player Kagami Taiga attends Seirin High looking to a team of strong players, but ends up with Tetsuya Kuroko, whose talent is having zero presence on the court. But when they team up, Kuroko’s impeccable of Kagami’s strength makes them Seirin’s new secret weapon.
The fact that Kuroko’s Basketball features one of the cutest canines in anime as the team’s mascot is just the beginning of what makes it so good. Basketball is as much a game of skill and teamwork as power, and Kuroko’s understated but perfect coordination of all his teammates is an excellent way of demonstrating that, which stands out even among his opponents’ increasingly explosive basketball superpowers.
9 Tomorrow’s Joe - 8.3
This classic underdog story influenced many of the sports and action manga and anime that came after it. Joe Yabuki grew up rough and used his talent for boxing to scam his way through life, but a chance to get into the big leagues lets him prove he’s got what it takes to be a world champion.
Tomorrow’s Joe is based on the 1968-1973 manga, and is one of the most famous sports anime ever made. While some viewers may find it cliché today, or even have seen its infamous ending parodied to death, it remains as exciting as ever, thrilling audiences with both out-of-this-world shows of strength, and all too realistic depictions of the dangers that professional boxers face in the ring.
8 Yuuri!!! On Ice - 8.3
23-year-old skater Yuuri Katsuki worries his career is over after a disastrous Grand Prix loss. But when a viral video of him performing star skater Viktor Nikiforov’s routine gets back to Viktor, the champion comes all the way to Japan to coach Yuuri personally.
Yuuri and Viktor might get off to an awkward start, but they become one of the best LGBT+ couples in anime, and the genuine love and trust that develops between them is intensely heartwarming. In addition, not only are the skating scenes beautifully animated, but no other skater is overtly antagonistic, even Yurio. It makes for a very fun viewing experience rooting for all of them to achieve their dreams.
7 One Outs - 8.3
Most heroes of sports anime are bright, young, up-and-coming stars who adore their friends. Toua Tokuchi is none of those things: he’s a sly, cunning gambler who is interested only in money, even as he takes his formerly failing team to the major leagues with his arsenal of baseball tricks.
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan: even baseball anime as unconventional as this one reflect that ion clearly. It depicts the game with astronomical drama and gravity, thrilling and exciting viewers as Tokuchi takes greater and greater risks in pursuit of success. Tokuchi’s gradual warming towards his new teammates will do it for those who watch sports anime for the spirit of teamwork and friendship as well.
6 Run With The Wind - 8.4
Based on the doorstopper novel of the same name by Shion Miura, this show follows former track star turned criminal Kakeru. He falls in with his classmate Haiji and the rest of the university track team, and is caught up in Haiji’s dream of taking their team of unmotivated novices all the way to the biggest marathon in Japan.
It achieves such a high rating for its balanced and interesting cast, as well as the rich visuals and sound in racing scenes that sweep the viewers off their feet: if there’s such a thing as a runner’s high, this show will give it. Its inspiring story also sends the message that even in major competitions, sometimes the experiences someone goes through and the lessons they learn are more important than any victory they might win.
5 Blue Lock - 8.4
After losing a soccer game by ing to a teammate who failed to score instead of going for the goal himself, striker Yoichi Isagi chooses some unconventional methods to restore his reputation. He is locked in with hundreds of other strikers in the Blue Lock training program, losing his career if he fails but gaining fame and fortune if he’s the last man standing.
Released in Winter 2022, Blue Lock has already been taking the sports anime world by storm, having racked up many incredibly high ratings in the few months since its release. Fans enjoy the way it utilizes the usually grim survival game premise, spotlighting what in any other sports anime would be the villains’ method of getting stronger. Isagi’s drive to be the best isn’t youthful idealism: it’s an obsession that’s taken to downright frightening levels, shocking and thrilling viewers.
4 Ping Pong The Animation - 8.6
High school ping-pong players Smile and Peco are prodigies in their chosen sport headed for the pro leagues. As they climb higher, they face stronger opponents and learn more about themselves through each game, developing both as players and as people.
While some might not consider professional ping-pong a sport, IMDb s clearly appreciate the unique style and fluid animation that Masaaki Yuasa is known for, as well as a depiction of its chosen sport that it more grounded than over-the-top. It takes the time to show the strategic depth and skill of what is often considered little more than a party game, without ever feeling slow or boring for it, and each player has clear and dynamic development even with the show’s eleven-episode runtime.
3 Slam Dunk 8.7
Fiery first-year Hanamichi Sakuragi is a powerful basketball phenomenon, but he doesn’t so much pursue the sport as fall into it in his romantic pursuit of the team captain’s sister. As he trains with the rest of the Shohoku High School, he not only becomes a well-oiled basketball machine, but learns to tame his infamous temper and channel his fire into the game.
Slam Dunk is a much more realistic take on high school basketball than Kuroko’s Basketball, and it was crucial in making the game popular in Japan in an age where it was largely unknown there. It remains popular to this day for its clear ion for the game, surprisingly strong comedy, and the sincerity of Hanamachi’s bond with his new teammates.
2 Haikyuu!! - 8.7
Like any team sport, volleyball revolves around seamless coordination between players. Though Shouyou Hinata has a shockingly good jump, his skills as a spiker and blocker don’t cut it on his lackluster middle school team, and he’s destroyed on the court by prodigious setter Tobio Kageyama. He’s determined to get revenge in high school…but that becomes impossible when he and Kageyama both wind up on the Karasuno High team!
As Hinata himself points out in the first episode, he and Kageyama would be bitter rivals constantly trying to one-up each other in most other sports anime. Instead, the heart of the show is their developing trust and friendship in each other as they become the best setter and spiker pair in Haikyuu!! Like Yuuri!!! On Ice, every other team they face is sympathetic and unique in their strengths and play styles, keeping the show interesting for fans all the way through.
1 Fighting Spirit - 8.8
Scrawny, bullied Ippo Makunouchi is nobody’s idea of a champion. But once Mamoru Takamura and his fellows boxers-in-training take the boy under their wings, they discover that Ippo’s meek nature hides a tough body and unstoppably strong muscles. So begins Ippo’s journey to reinvent himself as he rises up into the world of professional boxing.
One of Tomorrow’s Joe’s successors, Fighting Spirit is the highest-rated sports anime on IMDb for how easy it is to root for Ippo as he fights to succeed in extremely memorable fight scenes, staying fresh and exciting over its 76-episode runtime. Even viewers who don’t even like boxing will be caught up in its story and action, and then perhaps be persuaded to catch up with the manga, which has currently sured 1,400 chapters and is still going.