What are your favorites in the genre?
My own current favorites are Run with the Wind and Aoashi. Would love to discover more like that.
Ping pong is the one of the only anime’s I’ve ever seen. It’s pretty good.
Yuri on Ice. People who haven’t watched it tend to only know that it’s gay, which it is, but it’s also just an incredible sports anime because a) it’s very true to life in the way the sport and training for it works and b) the protagonist’s opponents are portrayed as actual sports competitors instead of as villains - by the end, you almost don’t care who wins because you want all of them to win. Also the competitions felt extremely tense and exciting to watch. Also they really crank up the animation budget for important competition scenes.
The first 3 episodes are hard to get through - way too awkward to watch - but after that it becomes an incredible show, imo.
This is a great show, I really enjoyed it too. I wasn’t really interested in skating beforehand, but ended up very invested in both the relationship and the competition by the end.
Blue lock is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I do echo everyone else here saying haikyuu though!
Yawara! - a judo manga / anime by Naoki Urasawa (better known for Monster and 20th Century Boys)
Chihayafuru.
Haikyuu!, Slam Dunk, and the Prince of Tennis are all amazing!
I loved Hajime no Ippo, a long series but an amazing comedy and drama sports anime.
