As with all animation, anime itself is not a genre, but a medium for storytelling. So within all the animation that is produced in Japan we find very diverse story tunes and for all audiences. If you want romance, you have it, and also sword and sorcery… and also sports stories, Sure.
Manga and anime about sports have become one of the star genres thanks to a good number of legendary series that have kept us on our toes during endless matches and heart-stopping competitions.
So with these sports stories the term “spokon“, a word composed of “sport” which means “sport” in English, and “kondo”, which means something like sportsmanship in “Japanese”. Since the end of the 20th century this genre has gained traction and has been giving us more and more spectacular series, and luckily we can enjoy them in streaming.
We are missing some historical ones like ‘Captain Tsubasa’ and ‘Slam Dunk’, which for now we do not have available on platforms, but in the meantime here are several anime of the spokon genre full of emotion and a lot of sportsmanship.
‘Haikyuu!!’
Undoubtedly one of the most popular anime in recent years, and which has also given a new life to the sports genre. When Shōyo Hinata He watches a volleyball game as a child, becomes completely obsessed with the sport, and joins his school’s club. The problem comes because he is the only member and until the third year new members do not join, but they already have the necessary equipment to start competing.
‘Ping Pong: The Animation’
Although ping pong may not seem like an exciting sport at first depending on who you ask, ‘Ping Pong: The Animation’ keeps you glued to the screen. The story revolves around Peco and Smile, two childhood friends who now compete in the Katase Institute’s table tennis club.
With a very peculiar and dynamic graphic style, it is one of the best anime we have seen in the last decade.
‘Yuri!!! on ICE’
With ‘Yuri!!! on ICE’ we jumped right into the field of ice skating. Yuri Katsuki has thrown in the towel as a professional figure skater after a crushing loss, but when one of his training routines is leaked online, he attracts the attention of his former idol, Victor Nikiforov. Since then, Victor decides to become his coach and take him to the top of the competition.
‘Ace of Diamonds’
A classic of sports manga, and that finally premiered its anime series in 2013. Then came the sequel series, so we have a very long and exciting anime for baseball lovers.
Eijun Sawamura is a baseball pitcher with a very unusual style, whose life changes when he is offered a sports scholarship and the opportunity to compete in national games. When he discovers that the veterans of the school team will have to retire if they don’t win one last tournament, Sawagura decides to join them to get them out of the rut they’re in.
‘Kuroko no basket’
Basketball has also given its good anime moments, and without a doubt ‘Kuroko no basket’ is one of the best examples and one that still resonates with his fans.
The Teiko High School basketball team is made up of five prodigies who have won the championship three years in a row. No one knows that there was actually a “ghost sixth player”, TTsuya Kurokowho along with his new partner Kagami-taiga sets out to lead his new school team to the top.
‘Eyeshield 21’
‘Eyeshield 21’ is the story of sena kobayakawawho is often bullied by his peers and has managed to learn to run very fast to escape from them.
Thanks to his speed, he starts playing in the Deimon high school football team, but to avoid attracting the attention of other students, he hides his identity with a helmet with a visor.
‘Hinomaru Sumo’
This anime about sumo has several unexpected twists that you would not expect from a series about this sport. Hinomaru Ushio dreams of becoming a sumo professional despite falling short of the minimum height required.but he believes that if he becomes the best on his school team, the professional committee will allow him to compete.
When thugs take over the high school dojo, Hinomaru challenges his leader to become the strongest sumo in the school.
‘BlueLock’
One of the most anticipated premieres of the fall anime season, and that balances its good doses of sports history with thriller elements.
After a disastrous World Cup, the Japanese soccer team decides to change its strategy and signs on as coach Ego Jinpachi, who has a plan to create model players. His training regimen is known as “Blue Lock”, and is designed to create the best goal scorer in the world.
‘Run with the Wind’
It first emerged as a novel, which was later adapted into a manga, live-action movie, and also an anime series, and ‘Run with the Wind‘ has fallen in love with thousands of fans in all formats.
Haji is a university student who is trying to train an athletics team to participate in the Hakone Ekiden marathon, one of the most important university courses in Japan. This is how he recruits Kakerua former high school track star, though the two turn out to be the only ones on the team with any track experience.
‘Tsurune’
Minato Narumiya He stopped practicing archery after an incident at a tournament, but when he reunites with his childhood friends at high school, Seiya Takehaya and Ryōhei Yamanouch convince him to give arrows a new chance.
At first he refuses, but An encounter with a very mysterious man at the training ground ends up intriguing Minato enough to join his high school team..
‘Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting!’
‘Hajime no Ippo’ is undoubtedly one of the legendary manga of the spokon genre, and that has surely inspired more than one to start practicing boxing, and with ‘Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting’ we can see the beginnings of the story.
Ippo Makunouchi He is a very shy boy who has always worked in the family business and has never had time to have friends or play sports. When some boys from his school try to beat him up, a famous boxer saves him from the beating and takes him to his gym to recover. Watching some videos of Myke Tyson fighting, Ippo decides that he wants to become a professional boxer and find out what it feels like to be strong.