10 Best Sports Anime of All Time: First Place Isn’t As Obvious As It Seems

Japanese anime has an incredible variety of genres, themes, and settings, from romance to horror to science fiction. The plots can take place in a regular school or in space, and even in other worlds. In addition, sports anime are extremely popular.

Japan is very fond of football and baseball, but also of boxing and racing sports. It is because of the Japanese great love for sports that there are anime about all these activities. We have collected the 10 best sports anime of all time. Can you guess which sport came in first?

Why are sports anime so popular not only in Japan, but among fans all over the world? Perhaps a big part of it is the inspiring stories they tell. As a rule, the plot of such anime is based on a very simple formula: a weak player really wants to become stronger. He has the motivation to develop himself, improve his skills and definitely become better.

Moreover, in such anime, the personalities of the characters are often revealed: the heroes necessarily develop, learn new things, work as a team and unite for a common goal. Even the most selfish individualists eventually go through an arc and re-evaluate their priorities and values.

It is the physical and moral development of the characters that allows the viewer to penetrate the story, to genuinely care about the heroes and to feel a real surge of inspiration and strength for their heroic deeds and achievements. There are many stories on social media about how sports anime have inspired people to take up sports or return to an abandoned hobby. Who knows, maybe after watching the best sports anime you will want to change your life for the better in some way.