Haikyuu is a sports anime like no other. It’s a show that combines comedy, drama, and action into a beautiful package that makes you laugh, cry, and cheer. It’s the perfect show for sports fans who love a good story, and the best anime to watch if you want to learn how to play sports.But what if you want to see more of the sports anime that inspired Haikyuu? Well, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of the Best Anime Shows Similar to Haikyuu.
These are great shows that are just as entertaining, if not more so than the original Haikyuu.
In sports anime, there are two types of characters – the ones who play and the ones who watch.For example, in Haikyuu, the hero of the story is a high school volleyball player who is constantly underestimated. But he’s got great reflexes and a natural ability to hit the ball.As a result, he rises from a lower-ranked team to the top of his school.
And in Haikyuu, the hero is a high school track and field athlete who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But he has an incredible desire to be the best, even if it means sacrificing everything else in his life.
In the end, both characters become the top of their fields, but the story of Haikyuu is about the underdog who overcomes all the odds.
17. Kuroko’s Basketball
Kuroko’s Basketball (Kuroko no Basket) is one of the popular Shonen sports anime about Basketball. The basketball team of Teikou Junior High School has been winning the Basketball Championship for the last three years thanks to the five top players who are each a champion on their own and are popularly known as ‘The Generation of Miracles’. Post-graduation all these five move to different schools and now consider each as rivals.
Tetsuya Kuroko is a former member of the legendary team also known as ‘Phantom Sixth Man’, now joins Seirin High School Upon meeting Taiga Kagami, Kuroko decides to help him become the greatest Japanese basketball player by becoming his shadow and challenging the other members of ‘The Generation of Miracles’.
Both Kuroko no Basket and Haikyuu are sports anime with a bunch of colorful characters and amazing players with awesome game skills. If you are looking for another popular sports anime similar to Haikyuu, Kuroko no Basket is a must-watch.
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16. Ace Of Diamond
Ace of Diamond (Diamond no Ace) is a popular Shonen anime that follows the story of Eijun Sawamura. After losing the final game in middle school Sawamura and his teammates promise to reach the national Baseball tournament once they are in high school. However to his surprise Eijun receives an invitation from Seidou High School one of Tokyo’s prestigious schools for baseball for his unusual pitching style.
Unlike middle school, Sawamura is now surrounded by many talented players and he now struggles to find a place in the team’s starting roster. He now has to compete with a fellow first-year Satoru Furuya who is known for his breakneck pace balls to become the team’s ace. Seidou baseball team is now aiming to be Japan’s best, facing other formidable teams.
Both Haikyuu and Ace of Diamond focuses on teamwork among the players, passion for the game, struggle within, and the developments in the characters with each challenge.
15. Big Windup!
Big Windup and Haikyuu are both great animes to watch if you’re a baseball fan. They both have very strong characters and are great examples of how sports can improve your life.
14. My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia (Boku no Hero Akademia) is one of the recent popular anime in a shonen field that is funny, action-driven, and is amazingly animated. The world of Boku no Hero is filled with 80% of people with “quirks”, a superpower that is different for each individual. The hero of the series Izuku Midoriya is one among the remaining 20% of people with no powers.
Midoriya’s only dream from a very young age is to become a hero like his favorite superhero ‘All Might’ and help the people. It leaves him devastated when the doctors tell him that he can not manifest quirk, his dreams of becoming a hero slowly fade away.
However, fate soon makes him meet with his Idol All Might and inherits the quirks of him under strange circumstances. With his newfound super power, Midoriya enters the prestigious UA High School famous for the superhero training program and along with friends learns what it means to be a hero.
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13. Free!
This is a great anime for anyone looking for a challenging, but not impossible, sports drama. It’s about four high school friends who form a swim club to compete against other high school swim clubs. The story is told through a series of vignettes as each member of the club trains for the upcoming tournament. There are plenty of challenges along the way, but the friends overcome them all and come out victorious.
12. Baby Steps
In the time-strapped life of a diligent and methodical honor student, Eiichirou Maruo is an anomaly. Concerned about his health because he doesn’t exercise enough, this freshman joins Southern Tennis Club after seeing their flyer on campus.
The first impression of the tennis club is not all sports and training. He meets Natsu Takasaki, a girl who, more than just a talented player, loves to play and aims for professional status. The monotonous days of Eiichirou come to an end as he becomes fascinated with the game. Although his life is oriented towards studying, it seems that playing tennis has a more profound impact on him than originally thought. As he trained and studied, his skills gradually improved until they were on par with the pros!
11. Yowamushi Pedal
Sakamichi Onoda, a cheerful and otaku who is eager to make friends at his new school, but when he finds out the anime club has been disbanded. He decides that it’s up to him on revitalizing this club by finding students willing to join. Without any luck, Onoda decides to make a round trip to Akihabara on his old and bulky city bicycle. He’s been completing this weekly 90-kilometer ride since fourth grade.
Onoda’s first foray into the world of high school bicycle racing began when he met fellow first-year student Shunsuke Imaizumi: a determined cyclist who is using the school’s steep incline for practice. Surprised by Onoda’s ability to climb the hill with his specific type of bicycle, Imaizumi challenges him to a race. The stakes? If he wins, then it means joining the anime club!
With many of the same themes as Haikyuu!!, Yowamushi Pedal is another anime that shows great character development.
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10. Giant Killing
Giant Killing follows the ups and downs of the fictional soccer team ETU (East Tokyo United), which is very much down on its luck. As the series opens they’ve lost their last five matches, after a long period of shoddy performances, and are languishing at the bottom of their league. Their fans have nigh on abandoned them and even the kids in their own youth academy think they suck. They are without a sponsor and are currently scraping along on money from the local municipality – clear signs that they could fold if things don’t change soon. In fact, they haven’t done really well since the days of their star player, Takeshi Tatsumi.
Slam Dunk follows Hanamichi Sakuragi, infamous for his temper, massive height, and fire-red hair, as he enrolls in Shohoku High School to finally get a girlfriend. His notoriety precedes him, though, as he’s avoided by most of the students at school. “I hate basketball,” Hanamichi thought to himself. “And I need a girlfriend.”
9. Slam Dunk
Haruko Akagi approaches Hanamichi without any knowledge of his troublemaking ways and asks him if he likes basketball. Unable to resist her, he lies quickly, blurting out a fervent affirmative as she leads him off for an impromptu show-and-tell in the gymnasium where she asks, “if you can do a slam dunk.” In one clumsy attempt to impress Haruko with his inhuman physical capabilities–he jumps too far and slams his head straight into the backboard. Haruko informs the basketball team’s captain of Hanamichi’s inhuman physical capabilities, and he slowly finds himself drawn into the camaraderie and competitiveness of the sport and eventually becomes a player in the Shohoku High School team.
8. Prince of Tennis
The Prince of Tennis has dropped the first look at its brand new anime! Takeshi Konomi’s The Prince of Tennis is currently in the midst of celebrating its 20th Anniversary and has been having a pretty significant anime return through the last couple of years as well.
7. Chihayafuru
Chihayafuru is an anime adaptation of the manga with the same name written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu. It’s based on the manga by the same name, which won the second Manga Taishou award and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shoujo category.
6. Run with the Wind
Former Sendai High School ace runner Kakeru Kurahara moves to Chikusei-sou, an old apartment building with some shady residents. He’s the only resident who runs in Kansei University’s Track Club. His goal is to participate in Hakone Ekiden, a prestigious Japanese marathon relay race between universities. Unfortunately, all the residents are novices who haven’t trained for the race at all. Can he train them and help them realize their dreams?
5. All Out!
Rugby is a sport where anybody can be a star, even if they are short. The rules are simple: one player has to carry the ball past the goalposts across the field while avoiding the other team, who are allowed to use all their force to knock the enemy down. However, the player can pass to a teammate behind them or kick the ball before they are tackled. Unlike other sports, the game continues even when the person holding the ball is taken down.
Kenji Gion is a short but feisty high school freshman at Kanagawa High School. Right after the school’s opening ceremony, he meets the tall and timid Sumiaki Iwashimizu, and the two of them get an invitation to observe the rugby club.
When Gion watches the match, he realizes that even though big and tall guys have an advantage, there are positions for people of all shapes and sizes. Immediately convinced that he has found a sport he can excel at despite his short stature, he signs up, though Iwashimizu declines. Gion is unable to accept Iwashimizu’s excuses and drags him back into the sport. Their training becomes intense as they aim to become the champions of Hanazono, the national high school rugby championships.
4. Ping Pong the Animation
Ping Pong is an anime based on the real-life story of two boys who became ping pong powerhouses in Japan. It’s a fun and inspiring story about two friends who have been playing ping pong together for years and how they overcome all odds to become Japan’s ping pong powerhouses.
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3. Welcome to the Ballroom
Tatara Fujita is just your average shy middle school student. He has no plan for the future, and he’s managed to get by without any confrontations because of his avoidance skills and ability to blend in with crowds. But one day, a group of bullies harass him into giving them money or else they’ll beat him up. Luckily, Tatara gets saved from that situation by Kaname Sengoku.
Welcome to the Ballroom, where graceful dancers glide across polished floors in perfect synchronicity. This anime is a must-watch for anyone who loves Haikyuu!! It’s made by the same animation studio, Production I.G., so of course, it has an amazing soundtrack, awesome scenes, stunning animation, and the same character dynamics and character growth we get in Haikyuu!!!
2. Yowamushi Pedal
This book is about a boy who joins a high school cycling team and begins to excel at racing. It’s based on the true story of a young man named Satoshi Tajima who was inspired by the manga and anime series “Yowamushi Pedal”.
1. Ahiru no Sora
Ahiru no Sora is a must-watch anime like Haikyuu that are lighthearted sports dramas with always hardworking main characters. The program focuses on the players who lack height but make up for their shortcomings with skills, and it’s worth watching because Ahiru no Sora offers a unique perspective combined with an amazing character arc.
