We believe that sports anime have some of the greatest storytelling out of any existing medium, and you should be checking out some of them in 2025 if you have never watched any of them.
No matter if it’s high school sports, actual professional league sports, or some obscure sport that is highly popular in Japan, the topic meshes really well with anime and manga.
So, in the list below, we have compiled some of the greatest sports anime to watch in 2025.
The best Sports Anime of all time
Here is a list of some of the greatest sports anime that you should be watching today:
Haikyu!!
We couldn’t have made a list about some of the greatest sports anime without mentioning Haikyu!! So we decided to kick things right off with it. This anime is probably one of the most celebrated sports media surrounding Volleyball that one can opt to watch in 2025
Haikyu!! is written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate and was published in the legendary Weekly Shounen Jump manga magazine. But it actually reached worldwide fame when the anime produced by Production I.G. was released.
The plot of Haikyu!! follows a first-year high schooler named Shoyo Hinata who is obsessed with Volleyball and joins the school that was on National TV once upon a time.
Slam Dunk
Following up on one of the greatest sports anime released recently, with one of the greatest sports anime of the 90s. Slam Dunk is a show that we have often talked about in our other lists.
The original manga was created by Takehiko Inoue, the author of works such as Vagabond and Real. But Slam Dunk still stands the test of time, as it was the media that single-handedly popularized the sport of basketball in Japan.
Slam Dunk story follows a delinquent high schooler named Hanamichi Sakuragi, who joins the basketball team in order to impress the girl he likes, but actually ends up falling in love with the game, and the rest is history.
Captain Tsubasa
Captain Tsubasa is easily one of the most prevalent sports anime ever. Whenever anyone uses the words ‘football’ and ‘anime’ in the same sentence, this is the anime that always appears on everyone’s mind.
The manga was written and illustrated by Yoichi Takahashi and follows the story of Tsubasa Oozora and his love for the game of football.
Captain Tsubasa was the sports media that invented a lot of the tropes for future sports anime such as plot lines surrounding competition, friendship and rivalries. It influenced a lot of real-world footballers as well.
This is why Captain Tsubasa is one of the greatest sports anime we would recommend people to watch in 2025.
Hajime no Ippo
Hajime no Ippo is one of the greatest and longest-running sports anime, with a manga that is still being serialized. A new season for the anime was just announced for 2025, which makes this a perfect time to include the series in our list.
The anime follows the story of Ippo Makunouchi, a young high schooler who helps his mother run a fishing charter family business. He often gets bullied, but one fateful day, he is saved by a pro boxer who introduces him to the sport and changes his life forever.
Hajime no Ippo is a must-watch sports anime anytime, regardless of which year. It will always be one of our top recommendations for an anime that strongly portrays themes of personal growth and perseverance.
Ping Pong The Animation
It is very unfortunate that Ping Pong The Animation is a show that gets undermined by fans of anime due to its art style, which can be a turn-off for many. But it is undoubtedly one of the greatest sports anime one can watch in 2025
Ping Pong The Animation has some amazing creatives who worked behind it. The original source material was written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto, who is a well-revered manga artist, and the animated adaptation was directed by the legendary Masaaki Yuasa.
The plot follows a few high school boys who try and compete in a national-level table tennis tournament. What makes Ping Pong The Animation unique and highly recommendable is the sport itself; there aren’t many anime out there that tell a story with Ping Pong.
Cross Game
Cross Game is a baseball anime, and there will be more shows about that sport mentioned on this list. That’s because baseball, just like football, is very popular in Japan. Cross Game is a product of that popularity, but a damn good one.
Cross Game was originally a manga written by Mitsuru Adachi, a manga artist who is well known for his works surrounding high schoolers and teenage romance. Surprisingly, this one isn’t the only work of his that tells a story around those themes and involves baseball.
But Cross Game is the one that stands out as it perfectly encapsulates the sport and creates a story around it with a cast of amazing characters involved in a heart-warming drama. It is one of the greatest sports anime one can watch in 2025.
Chihayafuru
Chihayafuru is an anime about a Hyakunin Isshu Karuta, which is a long-running competitive sport about a Japanese card game, and is something that many people will not be familiar with around the world. But it still gets a spot on this list for being a really good anime.
The story centers around a girl named Chihaya Ayase, who meets a Karuta player named Arata Wataya, who believes that Chihaya has latent talent for the sport. The story follows her into high school, where she decides to become the best Kurata player.
Chihayafuru may not be one of the greatest sports anime ever, but it is without a doubt a really good anime that deals with a lesser-known sport, and some really good characters, which you can watch in 2025.
Initial D
It can be argued that Initial D is not really about a legal sport, but we aren’t here to judge things by the law. We are here to recommend some of the greatest sports anime to watch in 2025, and something as iconic as Initial D is definitely an anime you should watch.
If you have been on the internet long enough, you have definitely come across clips of Initial D or at least heard its iconic music getting used in memes. Regardless of that fact, Initial D is a really good anime about Japanese Street racing.
It follows Takumi Fujiwara, who rides a Toyota AE86 and helps out in his father’s business of tofu delivery service. Unknown to many, Takumi Fujiwara is a damn good driver, and when people find out about it, things get interesting.
Major
Who could’ve guessed that we were going to put another baseball anime on this list? Major had to be mentioned because it is one of the few that deserves a spot, as it is incredibly popular among the sports anime fandom.
Major is considered one of the greatest baseball anime ever, and one that you can certainly check out in 2025.
It is a long-running anime series with a sequel titled Major 2nd and even an anime film that was released in 2008. The story follows the story of Goro Honda, who is the son of a professional baseball pitcher, and it inspires him to get good at the sport.
Major is one of the few anime that follows through the whole career life of its protagonist’s tryst with baseball, till the retirement, and a happy ending.
Giant Killing
Giant Killing is an anime about the sport of football. This should be nothing new, but this one is unique for its plot. Giant Killing is one of the greatest sports anime that focuses on the team coach and tells a thrilling story.
The manga was originally written by Masaya Tsunamoto and illustrated by Tsujitomo; later it was adapted for television as an anime by Studio Deen.
Giant Killing follows the East Tokyo United football team, which has not been performing well in the major league, with fans abandoning support, things looked dire for the team.
Enter Takeshi Tatsumi, a genius football coach was one of the best players in the country in his younger days. Although he had to leave the field early in his career, he has proven himself as an incredible manager for an amateur English league team.
The story deals with Tatsumi making it his goal to squish the stronger teams and bring East Tokyo United to the front, thus the anime gets its title as ‘Giant Killing’.
