Of all the many genres and categories in anime, there’s something especially compelling and addicting about sports anime. There’s quite literally something for everyone. The genre—often set in a character’s high school years but not always—is the perfect channel for the most remarkable development and growth. Characters must reach specific benchmarks that are relatable to viewers, and there is often a found family element that allows expansive casts to latch on to.
Haikyū!! The Movie Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump was released, and the anime series’ tenth anniversary has passed. But with the premiere volleyball title nearing its end, here are ten of the best sports anime you can watch now. This hardly touches on everything. For older, early 2000 shows, check out Hajime No Ippo and The Prince of Tennis. There’s Kuroko’s Basketball for basketball court-related drama, while baseball fans can check out Ace of Diamond.
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For fans looking for excessively heightened sports drama, look no further than Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story or Kyoto Animation’s Free! 2022 offered not just one but two soccer animes with Ao Ashi and Blue Lock. This isn’t enough? Then check out the five seasons of Yowamushi Pedal or subject yourself to the Stars Align pain, which ended abruptly after only one season.
From skateboarding to table tennis, here are ten best sports anime to stream now.
Slam Dunk (1993)
Director: Nobutaka Nishizawa
Studio: Toei Animation
Mangaka: Takehiko Inoue
Based on the series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue, Slam Dunk is a certified classic. The series follows a first-year high school student who joins the basketball team to impress his crush, becoming a star in the process. The series has a screwball comic aspect that undercuts the over-the-top dramatics. Charmingly playful in its visuals with highly contrasting color stories, the series roots itself in reality, too.
It sets the bar for some of the most formidable sports anime that understand it’s not just the flashy, climatic moments that make fans latch on to the stories but seeing the dedication and practice that goes into being an athlete. Fans of the series and newcomers alike can also watch the 2023 spinoff film, The First Slam Dunk.
Watch now on Crunchyroll
Chihayafuru (2011)
Director: Morio Asaka
Studio: Madhouse
Mangaka: Yuki Suetsug
One of the rare sports anime with a female protagonist, Chihayafuru, follows Chihaya Ayase, who takes up Hyakunin Isshu karuta competitively. Based on the manga written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu, the series follows Chihaya as she’s inspired to play karuta after meeting a boy named Arata Wataya. The series follows her into high school, where she’s dedicated herself to becoming Japan’s best karuta player, forming the Mizusawa Karuta Club with her friends.
Similar to series such as March Comes In Like a Lion (2016) and Hikaru No Go (2001), Chihayafuru highlights a more traditional type of Japanese sport. It’s beautifully animated, playing with motion and stylized direction to offer more dynamism to the card game. Along with the interesting sport itself, the series provides strong character insight while dealing with more serious subject matters.
Watch now on Crunchyroll
Haikyuu (2014)
Director: Susumu Mitsunaka, Masako Satō
Studio: Production I.G.
Mangaka: Haruichi Furudate
Most days, it would be easy to call Haikyuu the best sports anime ever. With a tremendous ensemble cast that continues to grow as the series develops, it’s a pinnacle in both sports anime and anime in general. Produced by Production I.G. and based on the manga by Haruichi Furudate, the series is synonymous with the genre. The series follows Shoyo Hinata, who dreams of becoming a volleyball star despite his diminutive height, using the success of a player dubbed the “Little Giant” as inspiration. Soon, he meets prodigy setter Tobio Kageyama and thus starts a rivalry that turns into friendship as they’re both accepted to Karasuno High School.
The series is endlessly infectious through its lovable characters and enthusiasm for volleyball. The show exemplifies how much character development can occur within the sport. Rather than follow these characters home and into their daily lives outside of volleyball, the series instead exerts its character development on the court. Through high-octane showdowns to the repetition of practice, the series bottles what it means to be passionate about something through adolescence and how that passion and dedication mature us. Through stunning animation that embodies the natural physicality in athleticism to engaging characters both on the central team and elsewhere, Haikyuu captures the addicting, edge-of-your-seat nature of sports while never losing the heart of Hinata and co.,
Watch now on Crunchyroll
Ping Pong (2014)
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Studio: Tatsunoko Production
Mangaka: Taiyō Matsumoto
Despite the sheer wealth of sports anime, very few will ever come close to looking like Masaaki Yuasa’s Ping Pong the Animation. With its rough lines, direction, and artistry that prioritizes movement over realism. The effect is staggering. The series follows high school boys Peco and Smile, who’ve been friends since childhood despite their polar opposite personalities. Both are talented table tennis club members, though Peco is devastated by a major upset and quits for a period of time.
The series follows as both of them develop their skills independently while coming together for an eventual major showdown. Kensuke Ushio’s score delivers crucial emotionality to the series, drawing us into this hypnotic, dizzying world. Like so many great stories, the narrative balances the significance of the sport they’re training for while mirroring how it allows the characters to grow throughout this potent coming-of-age story.
Watch now on Prime Video
Yuri on Ice (2016)
Director: Sayo Yamamoto, Jun Shishido
Studio: MAPPA
Despite the argument to be made that Yuri on Ice is, first and foremost, a romance anime, there’s no denying that its drama is born through sports. The original series from MAPPA follows skater Yuri Katsuki, who is on the verge of retirement after a devastating competition. However, his competitive nature reignites after meeting Victor, who agrees to be his coach and the younger Russian prodigy skater Yuri Plisetsky.
While romance is undoubtedly one of the significant elements that keep viewers glued to the screens, the animation of the skating itself first transfixes us. The fluidity and grace are demonstrative of studious work by animators who capture the motion of figure skaters, from the way their skates hit the ice to the balletic hand gestures.
But even more remarkable still is the emotional journey Yuri goes on. From the deep, debilitating insecurity he initially feels, his character is sympathetic. Watching him grow from that place to his later achievements and sureminded confidence is astonishing. It reminds us how often our most significant obstacles are ourselves, with Yuri finding his spark and life through a sport he loves and the pain and triumphs that come with it.
Watch now on Crunchyroll
Megalo Box (2018)
Director: Yō Moriyama
Studio: TMS Entertainment 3xCube
With animation styles reminiscent of the works by Shinichirō Watanabe, Megalo Box is a deliberate, aesthetic throwback. Directed by Yō Moriyama, the series came to life to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the boxing manga Ashita no Joe. The series occurs in the late 21st century, where boxers wear exoskeletons to fight. The protagonist, Junk Dog, enters a boxing competition, Megalonia, to defeat the standing champion.
There’s a pleasing, old-school effect with lighter shading and less bold colors, befitting the Western, lawless nature of the setting. The series finds momentum through character-based decisions, such as Junk Dog’s decision to fight sans gear against players equipped with it. This allows for a steady discordance of movement in the animation, making the underdog element sing as we’re always ready for a significant loss due to the unbalanced fighting conditions.
Refusing to pull any punches, Megalo Box delivers, at times, a haunting portrait of what it means to survive in a society that prioritizes the social and economic elite. It’s bruising without ever being wholly depressing, remembering that a good sports anime is one where the protagonist is always capable of a euphoric comeback.
Watch now on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Prime Video.
Run with the Wind (2018)
Director: Kazuya Nomura
Studio: Production I.G.
Author: Shion Miura
The found family-centered Run with the Wind bottles the magic of what a sports anime can accomplish. Based on the novel by Shion Miura, the series contains everything about what makes the genre so exciting: the underdog narrative, training montages, missed dreams, and opportunities reignited by certain characters’ untarnished talent and potential. Its ensemble cast is terrific in rounding out the show’s thematic core.
Kakeru and Haiji are undoubtedly the leads that the series lives and breathes on. However, the beauty lies in how the writing highlights how running, diligent repetition, and endurance open the eyes of the rest of the team. Run with the Wind follows these characters as they ponder the possibilities that lay well beyond the plains of the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon.
Run With the Wind beautifully understands that real-life challenges don’t disappear as we age. However, embracing a love of a sport and a love of community can help elevate and better prepare ourselves for the stain of it. Anchored by a score both whimsical and invigorating by Yuki Hayashi, the series makes you believe you could tackle the steepest incline in the world, too.
Watch now on Crunchyroll
Tsurune (2018)
Director: Takuya Yamamura
Studio: Kyoto Animation
Author: Kotoko Ayano
Kyoto Animation delivers some of the medium’s finest, most detail-oriented anime. This is true with Tsurune and its predecessor, Tsurune: The Linking Shot. Based on the Japanese light novel series written by Kotoko Ayano with illustrations by Chinatsu Morimoto, the series is directed with patience and grace by Takuya Yamamura. The series follows Minato Narumiya, who quit his school kyūdō club and archery for good after a significant loss in his life. Now in high school, his passion is reinvigorated after encountering a mysterious man at an archery range at a Shinto temple, which inspires him to take it up again.
There’s a necessary and fitting tranquility to the series that captures the peaceful yet sturdy nature of the sport itself. There’s never any doubt of the strength and durability that goes into archery, but the series finds its formidable quality in how it approaches kyūdō with a gaze befitting a sacred art form. But Kyoto Animation and its animators highlight the small beats and scuff marks, too, from half-drunk bottles of water to how the athlete’s gear spills lightly out of gym bags. It’s a compelling, character-driven series that allows its characters moments of growth both in the inconsequential moments and the monumental ones.
Watch now on HiDive.
Sk8 the Infinity (2021)
Director: Hiroko Utsumi
Studio: Bones
Created by Hiroko Utsumi (Banana Fish, Bucchigiri?!), Sk8 the Ifinity is a hilarious contrasting paradox of tones and styles. To commit fully to the series, fans must accept the absurdity of the central competition that links the characters, a no-holds-barred racing competition known as “S,” where competitions race down an abandoned mine.
It’s not just the existence of the race itself but the ridiculous rules — or lack thereof — that follow it. Because aside from the race itself, the series finds its heart in more relatable, grounded characters. Sk8 the Infinity follows Reki (terrifically voiced by Tasuku Hatanaka), a hardcore skater who spends all of his free time dedicated to the sport of skateboarding. He meets recent transfer student Langa and introduces him to S, where Langa shines despite a snowboarding history.
Their friendship and how it ebbs and flows throughout the series are the most compelling aspects, with Reki’s development in particular a direct second. Their friendship and how Reki is written to veer off course from our prototypical protagonist — he’s not the prodigy — makes for a wonderfully layered coming-of-age story.
You won’t often be the best at what you love, but why should that mean you love it any less? The wild antics of the competition add necessary levity and vibrancy to the series that finds necessary fluidity in the skaters’ motion. As Reki and Langa realize, the beauty of Sk8 the Infinity isn’t in who wins or loses a match but in the infectious nature of what it means to love something so completely.
Watch now on Crunchyroll.
Overtake! (2023)
Director: Ei Aoki
Studio: Troyca
A little show that could, Overtake!, was one of the best anime of 2023 and a solid addition to the sports anime genre. Highlighting the significance of small, internal character beats, the series dedicates its time to the strains and passion involved in formula racing. However, it excels because it goes beyond just the racing and explores the unexpected connections between characters, both of whom harbor their losses and grief, which push them into the future with new determination.
Haruka Asahina is a teenager racing in Formula 4, while Kouya Madonna is a washed-up photographer who can no longer photograph people’s faces. How the two intersect and what they learn about one another and, subsequently, themselves make the series a must-watch.
That said, the animation of the races also excels, especially when shot through the racer’s perspective. The white-knuckled moments add extra gravity to the series as we realize the genuine danger these young racers put themselves in. Fast-paced and energetically shot with some of the most intriguing direction in recent memory, Overtake! celebrates the sport while highlighting that as much fun as it is in the moment, there’s always more to life beyond our own point of view.
Watch now on Crunchyroll.
The best sports anime are addictive by nature. Any one of the above and many, many, more are worth the time and energy. Watch as these characters grow not just through their athleticism but through their personal relationships and aspirations.
