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By Shantae.
As some of you may know, Haikyuu is currently an extremely popular sports anime, with season 4 just around the corner and the manga finishing, the hype around Haikyuu is at an all-time high. Now don't get me wrong, it definitely does deserve the amount of hype it receives, but it is not the only sports anime that exists.
I also think that people sleep heavily on sports anime as a whole, but that's a conversation for another day.
Here are my top 5 sports anime that are just as good and even better than Haikyuu.
Prince of stride
Firstly, we have an sports anime about stride (similar to running but just a little more complicated) called the Prince of Stride - sometimes known as Prince of Stride Alternative. It’s short and sweet, being only 12 episodes long, and has a manga for those who would prefer to read it.
It is about three new students to Honan Academy who want to win the End of Summer stride tournament. It's extremely interesting right from the get-go, with a great mix of comedy and tense competition moments as well. Another plus is that it does not seem to be shounen or shoujo oriented, so it’s just a general sports anime, despite the fact that most of the team are boys. I give it a 7/10.
Free!
This anime is about high school students who used to be in the same swim club outside of school, and they decide to start a swim club in their high school (Iwatobi High School) and aim for nationals, all while rekindling old relationships and making new ones.
I feel like this anime is underrated, particularly with male anime watchers, because it’s more of a slice of life themed sports anime, rather shounen or just a general one. However, do not let this put you off because you’re seriously missing out. The competitions will have you feeling tense and constantly being on the edge of your seat. The slice of life aspect of it also gives you a background on the characters, so you get to know them outside of the sport. I give Free! a 7/10.
Kuroko no Basket
Another good anime that deserves the same level of hype as Haikyuu is a basketball anime called Kuroko’s Basketball (also known as Kuroko no Basket/Basuke). It has 3 seasons with 3 movies summarizing the main games, alongside another movie with different events. It also has a manga for people who would like to read it.
The main plot of the anime is the Seirin High School basketball team aiming to win the national competition, while actively trying defeat highly talented players in the process.
You would think that this anime would be more popular with the amount of people that watch basketball, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It has a great mix of comedy and tense competition moments. The games were well presented, because you literally cannot tell who is going to win until the very last moments. This makes the episodes ten times more interesting, you just can’t stop watching. Although this anime is heavily shounen influenced, its completely worth the watch. I give this a 9/10.
Run with the wind
This is an anime about running (specifically long distance) called Run with the Wind (also known as Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuite Iru). It’s another short anime, being only 23 episodes long, but it has a novel, manga and even a live adaptation.
The main plot is about a student who tricks other students into starting up the Kansei University running club again, and they aim to compete in win the Hakone Ekiden Marathon.
I think this anime is not as well-known as it should be, despite being so beautifully written and animated. It has one of best representations of character growth, and you can see how the team running completely impacts the students’ lives in the good ways and bad ways, along with friendships beings formed as well, therefore making it more slice of life themed.
Additionally, this anime is quite realistic, which you can find out for yourself when you watch it. Overall I give it an 8/10.
Ace of Diamond
Finally we have an anime about baseball called Ace of Diamond - also known as Diamond no Ace or Daiya no Ace. It currently has 3 seasons, each one being at least 50 episodes, and an ongoing manga.
To summarize, it’s about the baseball team of Seidou High School aiming to get the chance to compete in the summer nationals.
This anime is ridiculously underrated in my opinion. It has the perfect amount of comedy and tense game moments. It’s again quite realistic, you can see the obstacles that the characters face, and dilemmas which impact the team as a whole. Your emotions will be on an all-time high, there’s no escape really. It’s also a lot slower paced than the other anime I’ve listed so far, which is why everything is in so much more detail. You get to know the characters outside of baseball. With this currently being my favorite anime of all time, I’m completely inclined to give it 10/10.
So that concludes the end of this post - the top 5 sports anime that deserve the same level of hype (if not more) as Haikyuu. Disclaimer: All views stated are my own but please let us know on our social media accounts (Twitter or Instagram) your own thoughts.
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