The world has been taken over by anime since COVID-19 shut the world down in 2020. I was one of those people who started watching anime during quarantine because there was nothing else I felt like watching. So, I finally decided to give in to my friends, who were big fans of anime before the pandemic, and watched my first anime.
Unlike what you might think because of the title, a sports anime was not the first one I ever watched. The first anime I ever watched was “My Hero Academia,” and since then I have watched well over 100 anime and even read some manga as well.
In that sample size I have come to enjoy one type of anime and manga above all others, and that is the sports genre.
Some people might be turned away from watching sports anime for a variety of reasons from not liking sports in general to perhaps not being interested in them because they do not know how that particular sport works.
One of the things I love most about sports anime is that the creators take into account that many, perhaps even a large majority of their readers, have no clue how the sport works.
Because of that they take their time, especially at the start of the series, to teach the audience about the sport by having it explained to characters.
It does not matter if you know nothing about basketball, baseball, boxing or volleyball, you will be able to learn as you read so that way you are not lost in the story.
The stories in sports anime are some of my favorites. What makes the stories in sports anime so different than in other series is that they are very character driven.
A lot of these stories center around a team, usually a high school team, trying to make nationals. This probably does not mean much on the surface for American audiences, but Japanese audiences understand why that alone can be the basis for a story.
To understand how nationals in Japan works, let’s take the concept of high school football in the states. Instead of having a 10-game regular season, each state hosts a massive tournament that every team participates in. And when I say every team, I mean every team. It does not matter if it’s a massive 5-A powerhouse or some random 1-A school from the middle of nowhere. They are all thrown into the tournament with randomly selected opponents.
If a team somehow manages to survive this single elimination massacre of schools, they then have to go play another, national tournament against the winners of the 49 other state tournaments. All this when a single loss at the very beginning could end a season in an instant.
All that is just the back drop to the characters. Both their relationships with others on their team and their own personal journey of growth in their discipline.
While there is a focus on the protagonist of the story, there is just as much focus on the growth of the team they are on. Every side character is just as important as the main one, especially in team sports. We, the audience, over the course of the series get to see each individual go on different journeys and improve their skills in different ways.
The best example of this journey of growth and relationship can be found in by far one of the most popular and well recognized sports anime, “Haikyuu!!”
The story of “Haikyuu!!” follows the story of Shōyō Hinata and the Karasuno High volleyball team. Specifically its focus is on the relationship between Hinata and his teammate and rival, Tobio Kageyama.
In very simplistic terms, Hinata’s journey is about him trying to become the best volleyball player he can be, the “Ace” of his team. This is despite his extremely small stature in a sport that rewards height. Over the course of the story, his goal shifts and changes as he grows and faces walls.
Kageyama is different from Hinata. Kageyama is considered a genius at the setter position, talent overflowing from him. Yet he struggles with relationships, demanding much from his teammates, expecting him to match his pace. This issue forces him to attend Karasuno as none of the powerhouse schools would want him.
Both these characters play off each other throughout the story and continually clash with and push one another to improve.
That is a constant theme throughout most sports manga, the willingness to push yourself and improve, to find a rival and compete and through this become a better person as well.
One of my favorite rivalries, and my third favorite sports manga, comes from “Slam Dunk.” In it we follow protagonist Hanamichi Sakuragi, and his journey as a basketball player.
Hanamichi is one of the classic Japanese punks, complete with a bright red pompadour. He is loud, boisterous, temperamental and all-around a pretty annoying guy to most characters. He gets into basketball because he becomes interested in a girl named Haruko Akagi.
Hanamichi’s drive to actually play and become good at basketball comes from his naturally gifted rival Kaede Rukawa. Rukawa is a scoring machine and, similar to Kageyama, plays the game almost alone, believing he can carry the team.
The audience gets to learn everything about basketball as it is explained, step-by-step, to Hanamichi as he knows nothing about the sport, not even how to dribble. Over the course of the story, he grows to truly become invested into the sport, throwing his entire being into it.
A fun fact about it too, it began publication in the ‘90s and the main team, Shohoku, is based off the Chicago Bulls of that time, with Hanamichi drawing many parallels to Dennis Rodman.
While I could go on and on about the different manga and really dig into character journeys and philosophies explored in all these manga, I will not. Mainly because I have already gone over my word limit for this. Instead I will leave you with a couple of suggestions for you to watch or read.
“Ace of the Diamond” is a baseball anime that follows pitcher Eijun Sawamura, though there are arguments that the true protagonist is Kazuya Miyuki. It is my favorite series, and I have reread it more times than I care to admit.
“Aoashi” is a series about Ashito Aoi and his journey to becoming a pro player through the elite youth team of Tokyo City Esperion FC. It is an incredible story with excellent side characters, with an exploration of what it means to lose yourself while trying to become the best.
The final suggestion is “Hajime no Ippo.” Unlike the others, it is a boxing anime. This is about protagonist Ippo Makunouichi quest to find out what it means to be the strongest. You can not come away from this anime without feeling motivated to improve yourself in some way.
At the end of the day, that is what sports manga can do. It can give you that push you need to start your own journey of self-improvement.