5 Best Sports Anime of All Time
5 Best Sports Anime Series of All Time including the Legendary Classic and the Trendy Title
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Sports anime has been familiar to many anime fans not only in Japan but all over the world for a long time. Lots of popular anime have been made with the themes of worldly popular various sports including baseball, soccer, basketball, boxing, swimming and so on, which is why sports anime is popular among a wide age group.
International people also enjoy watching the sports anime focusing on those popular and familiar sports while many well-known anime depend on Japanese unique cultures and customs. Them, which sports anime should you watch at first? Here are 5 best sports anime series of all time including the classic anime franchise and the recent series.
1. Haikyuu
Haikyuu (ハイキュー!!) is one of the most popular recent sports manga and anime series with the theme of volleyball. The manga series was completed with the 45th volume in 2020, which has been made into the anime adaption since 2014. There are four seasons aired until 2020 in the anime series.
Haikyuu centers on a little volleyball player Shoyo Hinata, who joins the Karasuno High School’s volleyball club and finds his rival Tobio Kageyama also joins the same club. They set a goal to win the national high school volleyball championship.
2. Slam Dunk
Slam Dunk is one of the best sports manga and anime series of all time focusing on basketball. The classic manga series was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump between 1990 and 1996 and its anime adaption was aired with 101 episodes from 1993 to 1996.
Slam Dunk follows a delinquent high school boy Hanamichi Sakuragi. He is introduced to the basketball club in Shohoku High School by the heroine Haruko Akagi and decides to join it. Though he has no experience of playing basketball, but the sports anime depicts his growing-up story with his great athletic ability. In addtion to the protagonist, there are a variety of cool characters as his teammates and his rivals in other high schools.
3. Prince Of Tennis
Prince Of Tennis (テニスの王子様) is a famous sports manga and anime series especially in Japan. 42 volumes of the manga series were published between 1999 and 2008 and 178 episodes of the anime series were broadcasted from 2001 to 2005. The following series The New Prince of Tennis has been serialized since 2009.
Prince Of Tennis tells the story of a middle school tennis club in Seishun Academy. The tennis anime focuses on a talented new student Ryoma Echizen, who has won some junior championships in the United States. He grows up in the competitive tennis club meeting various strong players all over the country.