Top 5 Sports Anime, Ranked
You do not have to care about the sport. That is rather the point.
Sports anime turns a single point, a single punch or a single pass into the most important moment in the world. The best ones are really about friendship, rivalry and refusing to quit.
These five will have you screaming at the screen over sports you have never watched.
1. Hajime no Ippo (2000)
2000 · TV series · 75 episodes · Madhouse
A bullied kid learns what it means to be strong, one punch at a time.
Ippo Makunouchi helps his mother run a fishing boat business and gets beaten up after school. Then a boxer named Takamura saves him, and Ippo discovers the ring.
Every fight is a war of will and the training arcs are as gripping as the matches. The Ippo versus Sendo fight and the Date fight are among the greatest sports scenes in anime.
2. Haikyu!! (2014)
2014 · TV series · 25 episodes · Production I.G
A short kid who can fly, on a team that refuses to stay grounded.
Hinata and Kageyama, two rivals forced into the same team, create the quick attack that makes Karasuno dangerous again. Every opponent has a story, every match is tense.
It is the most popular volleyball story ever told, and it might make you want to join a team.
3. Slam Dunk (1993)
1993 · TV series · 101 episodes · Toei Animation
A delinquent becomes a basketball player to impress a girl, and ends up finding something bigger.
Hanamichi Sakuragi knows nothing about basketball, but he is tall, fast and determined. With Rukawa, Akagi and the rest of Shohoku, he faces powerhouse teams.
It is one of the most loved manga and anime ever, and the 2022 film The First Slam Dunk brought a whole new generation in.
4. Ping Pong the Animation (2014)
2014 · TV series · 11 episodes · Tatsunoko Production
Two childhood friends, one table, and what it means to have talent.
Smile is quiet and gifted, Peco is loud and lazy. The show follows them and their rivals through high school table tennis, asking what you owe your gift and who you are when you lose.
Masaaki Yuasa's rough, wild style looks like nothing else in sports anime. Eleven episodes, not one wasted.
5. Blue Lock (2022)
2022 · TV series · 24 episodes · 8-bit
Japan locks up 300 strikers to create the world's most selfish goal scorer.
After Japan loses at the World Cup, the football union creates Blue Lock, a prison-like training facility where 300 young strikers fight for one place. Isagi Yoichi must discover what makes him a striker.
It is football as a battle royale, intense and ridiculous in the best way.
If you want a long journey with a big heart, Hajime no Ippo. If you want team spirit at its best, Haikyu!!. If you want something completely different, Ping Pong the Animation.
How we ranked: drawn from the sports anime fans name most often across the major community rankings, then ordered by Anime Crush.