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I really enjoy sports themed anime, come share your favourite!

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B

Boney

Banned
I was here watching tv, when I just came to the realization of how enjoyable it is to watch some of these, when the underdog really becomes a star on their team. There's a lot of man spirit about overcoming one's weaknesses.

First up, Captain Tsubasa, I enjoyed it as a kid but it feels a little plain really, Oliver is way op, and it really borders on the fantastic from the wrong angle.

Now, Slam Dunk came later on my life and man it was just so different from everything I'd seen before. Hanamichi is hilarious and it gets really exciting to see him progress and get better. Getting to know all the team mates and their speciality. Can't go without mentioning how it approached Japanese gangs and all the different fist fights which were pretty graphic. I remember reading just the ending a few years ago

Here's the Spanish opening https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=euW71JOlKy0

And last, hajime no ippo was great, haven't seen all the new episodes but it also had a great mix of humor and god damn testosterone. Seeing him train always brought that fire in you and made you wanna join a gym and start sparring.

So, share your favourite shows that revolve around sports! Why you like them and what's so special about them.

Disclaimer, on mobile so no pics
 
D

DominoKid

Member
it's all about Kuroko's Basketball.
yeah it doesn't really get into the finer points of basketball but it nails the highlight plays and the entertainment value.
 
solomon

solomon

Member
eyeshield 21 and hajime no ippo are great. For some reason I can't stand kuroko no basket, maybe its because basketball is the only sport I really follow but something is just off.
 
cheezcake

cheezcake

Member
Ping Pong the Animation

1403612853.07384788.jpg
Click to expand...
 
C

CSSer

Member
I like Hajime No Ippo and Major. The Ippo manga is still going strong after 1k chapters, and I still can't get enough, although I don't like Ippo getting schooled every match.
 
M

Magicgamer101

Member
Prince of Tennis is my favourite one, has really great characters! Probably followed by eye shield 21 and more recently Kuroko no basket
 
A

akachan ningen

Member
I've only seen prince of tennis and I stopped watching that because it got lame pretty quick. The only one that seems interesting to me now is ippo but I don't know if I'll ever watch it.
 
R

Ricerocket

Member
I know OP and everyone mention it a lot but nothing tops Hajime no Ippo. It's the ultimate underdog boxing anime so I hope more people can realize it!

As for a recommendation, check out Eyeshield 21, I enjoyed that a lot.
 
M

MacH1nation

Member
Can't say I'm totally familiar with a lot from this sub-genre of anime, but I can say I found prince of tennis to be thoroughly entertaining.
 
L

likeGdid

Member
*rd for Ping Pong. A really good adaptation of an amazing manga.

Regarding Eyeshield 21, I'm not so sure. The anime really doesn't do the art justice, so if you get into it, I would read it
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
Just to go off the beaten path (everyone loves Ippo, let's face it), I'll pass along a recommendation for Princess Nine.

2317908_1325741890218.98res_350_291.jpg
codc1489a.jpg


If you've seen A League of Their Own, this is pretty darn similar.
Just with the expected anime tropes and 90s anime goodness thrown in.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
Ping Pong: The Animation is probably the best I've seen. It has solid character drama with a unique (if not occasionally unsightly) visual style.

Eyeshield 21 is ugly as sin (especially compared to its original art), but idgaf. This is coming from a viewer who's usually a strict case for visuals regardless of genre. It's a really fun shounen sports anime.

I also liked Chihayafuru.

=

As far as things I haven't watched yet, Hajime no Ippo is on my list of things I may watch in the future. A number of trusted posters have given it positive reviews.
 
T

Tidesofblood

Member
Prince of tennis and hajime no ippo are both great sports anime.

Both have ALOT of episodes and manga and I've watched/read them all.

Its easy to cheer on the characters and laugh at the humor, good balanced animes overall.
 
J

jbug617

Banned
Cross Game (Baseball)
Yowamushi Pedal (Cycling)
Haikyuu (Volleyball)
Baby Steps (Tennis)
Prince of Tennis (Tennis)
Eyeshield 21 (Football)
Slam Dunk (Basketball)
Kuroko no Basket (Basketball)
 
T

Tidesofblood

Member
Forgot to mention AIR GEAR too although its not a typical sports anime its got great character's and freaking roller blading dragon ball z fighting.

Did I mention hot anime kawaii girls??

Watch/read it.
 
S

smurfx

get some go again
jetbVhwEH7kIB.jpg


one outs.

jVFJkNwbyst8V.jpg


ookiku furikabutte

jbyHP75v5FEsm8.png


over drive.

you guys named the ones i like so i'll mention these three.
 
B

Boney

Banned
Kite said:
GuCGeP7.jpg

Cross Game

yV4Wbsy.png

Haikyuu has damn good animation, Production IG doing work. Link to 16 mb gif
Click to expand...

UberTag said:
Just to go off the beaten path (everyone loves Ippo, let's face it), I'll pass along a recommendation for Princess Nine.

2317908_1325741890218.98res_350_291.jpg
codc1489a.jpg


If you've seen A League of Their Own, this is pretty darn similar.
Just with the expected anime tropes and 90s anime goodness thrown in.
Click to expand...
These really seem like stuff I would enjoy.

I really couldn't get into eye shield 21, with the lousy shonnen humor and tropes and it's visually so uninteresting.
Prince of tennis was also a show I could never get behind, it's way to ridiculous, I just can't buy 14 year olds doing jesus shit on the court

It really needs to stuck a balance between it being grounded but also having a lot of visual flare for me.
 
K

Kyne

Member
TsubameGaeshi.gif


eyeshield21-o.gif


Prince of Tennis and Eyeshield 21 are tied for my fav.

Kuroko is in a close second.

edit:
BladeoftheImmortal said:
slam dunk, hajime no ippo, amd eyeshield 21 are my jams...but the ending to eyeshield 21 was rushed and horrible.
Click to expand...

I take it you watched it? If so, you should read it. x1000000 better.
 
C

Cloudy

Banned
Major. Fantastic show that follows the main character from when he's a kid playing little league in Japan to the pros in the US. Just great stuff

major-episode-26-english-subbed.jpg


Why is there no US release of this?

I guess Ippo would be 2nd
 
F

farisr

Member
You have already mentioned my favorite of all time Slam Dunk. So darn funny, and I thought I wouldn't be able to get into it because it was so old. Hajime No Ippo is another one right up there. Here are some other of my favorites (and some I found decent, so I'm kinda putting them in as recommendations for others).

Major is an awesome one, and I'm not even into baseball. Lots of episodes with lots of progression.

Cross Game, another baseball one, was good as well.

Hungry Heart Wild Striker is a fun soccer one (you already mentioned the GOAT Tsubasa). Good characters. Fun matches, funny moments.

Whistle! another soccer one, a little different this time around compared to Tsubasa and HHWS since the main character is not nearly as skilled to start, also more realistic than either show.

Kuroku's Basketball is a good one right now. Aside from a few moments in Slam Dunk ("I'll get my own rebound!" the actual matches in that were semi-realistic at least, this show, can get really crazy with the matches, but has a really good entertainment factor.

Prince of Tennis was good for the most part (at least the first one, I heard the second one gets ridiculous)

Eyeshield 21, I initially watched this while it was airing, at that time I got through it, but upon a revisit, something totally felt off about this show, all the other anime I've mentioned I've probably rewatched once over already, but this show... I really don't know how to explain it (And I liked it enough when it was airing, to actually time subs for new eps when there were some problems occurring for the main people who subbed the anime).
Had some nice animations and what not, who knows maybe it's one of those one-time spectacle shows that loses its flavor after the first viewing, so it may suit you just fine if you haven't seen it. I can say I enjoyed it the first time around, so give it a shot. But I would much rather recommend every other anime in my post here before this one.

Edit: Also, not really a sports anime but the way they do it, might as well be.

Yakitate Japan!
The sport of bread-making. Some epic techniques, battles & reactions. No joke. Pretty damn funny as well, so I would just watch it for that.
 
Ultimadrago

Ultimadrago

Member
BladeoftheImmortal said:
slam dunk, hajime no ippo, amd eyeshield 21 are my jams...but the ending to eyeshield 21 was rushed and horrible.
Click to expand...

Man, I definitely agree with this. They left the best showdown for manga only. On one hand, the model art is much better in the manga than in the anime. On the other, why would someone watch through all those episodes and not want to see the exhibition bowl animated? It was way too rushed for all the episodes they had.

Kyne said:
I take it you watched it? If so, you should read it. x1000000 better.
Click to expand...

I could imagine. Alas, I only read the part they didn't cover. I can't get into reading many manga at all.
 
X

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Hajime no Ippo
Ookiku Furikabutte
Princess Nine
Bamboo Blade

Would something like Kaleido Star technically count? Though that's more about girls trying to make a Cirque du Soleil show, it still has the feel of a sports anime, though a bit more on the shoujo side.
 
C

Cloudy

Banned
Anyone who hasn't seen Major should drop everything and go watch now. Goro is the biggest badass in sports anime

PS: It doesn't matter if you like baseball or not
 
Kite

Kite

Member
Cloudy said:
Any thoughts on Baby Steps? I watched one ep and it was okay
Click to expand...
I like it a lot, but I'm also a tennis nut so ymmv. The show is good but hard to recommend cus the animation is so low budget. But if you want to watch a realistic tennis anime about a hard working guy slowly training to become a pro then go for it.
HgxiJqS.gif
 
P

postcognition

Member
One Outs is amazing but it's more of a psychological battle of wits type of show, baseball just happens to be the medium. Prince of Tennis has a huge cast of entertaining characters but the main character is one-dimensional and the absurdity of their abilities grows exponentially. Some of the comedy episodes are surprisingly good too. Hajime no Ippo is quite good, it might even inspire you early on. It does get a bit repetitive though.
 
D

Dryk

Member
wonzo said:
girls und panzer is p. much the best sports series that isn't ping pong
Click to expand...
I came into this thread to ask if it counted. Because whether or not Shenshado counts as a sport, it has the spirit of a sports anime in spades.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
The 3 I've REALLY liked:

slam-dunk-l0.jpg

Great characters, tense matches and it just felt a bit more relastic than most other sports anime that heavily depend on super powers or "special skills". Plus Inoue is just one of my favorite manga artists, and his style translated decently into the anime.
And damn, I still know the lyrics for the spanish (latin america) opening

220px-Vol_1_-_The_Boy_With_the_Golden_Legs.jpg


Eyeshield 21 is great.
I started it knowing NOTHING about american football (it was recommended by a friend) but still managed to enjoy it. I liked the team and the matches were just fantastic. I remember going "ok, just one more chapters" until really late at night just because I wanted to see how the matches ended

230px-Kuroko_no_Basuke_Cover.jpg


Kuroko No Basket is sort of the opposite of Slam Dunk: A traditional Shounen type artstyle and story, with plenty of super powers and BS special abilities.
But it's really enjoyable. I got hooked on the anime and decided to continue with the manga and it's just great.
As with all the previous ones, likable characters and tense matches.

Does anyone read the manga? If so:
JESUS CHRIST THERE WAS NO CHAPTER LAST WEEK... I can't contain the hype for the next one




PS:
Also, while I didn't like the anime/manga.
The price of Tennis had an awesome Ps2 game

PS2:
Oh, and while I didn't think it was that great either.
I just love the ending of Hungry Hearts. One of the few anime openings/endings I actually like as a song
 
UberTag

UberTag

Member
XiaNaphryz said:
Hajime no Ippo
Ookiku Furikabutte
Princess Nine
Bamboo Blade

Would something like Kaleido Star technically count? Though that's more about girls trying to make a Cirque du Soleil show, it still has the feel of a sports anime, though a bit more on the shoujo side.
Click to expand...
I would personally count Kaleido Star. Literally every patented sports anime hook gets trotted out in that series.
 
A

Articalys

Member
Kite said:
I like it a lot, but I'm also a tennis nut so ymmv. The show is good but hard to recommend cus the animation is so low budget. But if you want to watch a realistic tennis anime about a hard working guy slowly training to become a pro then go for it.
HgxiJqS.gif
Click to expand...
If only the whole show looked as good as those cuts from the opening...
 
B

Boney

Banned
XiaNaphryz said:
Hajime no Ippo
Ookiku Furikabutte
Princess Nine
Bamboo Blade

Would something like Kaleido Star technically count? Though that's more about girls trying to make a Cirque du Soleil show, it still has the feel of a sports anime, though a bit more on the shoujo side.
Click to expand...
Yeah I guess it counts. It has all the elements, preparations, exhibitions, in group drama.

Wasn't very good though
 
M

Master Milk

Member
Does Saki count? If so, easily my favorite.

UberTag said:
Just to go off the beaten path (everyone loves Ippo, let's face it), I'll pass along a recommendation for Princess Nine.

2317908_1325741890218.98res_350_291.jpg
codc1489a.jpg


If you've seen A League of Their Own, this is pretty darn similar.
Just with the expected anime tropes and 90s anime goodness thrown in.
Click to expand...

If not, then Princess Nine. Love the main character and her rival, and the team, and everybody, really.

Surprised no one's mentioned Free yet, that shit was good.

Surprised there's only one mention of Free so far, that shit was good. lol
 
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