Japanese Fans Name ‘Kuroko's Basketball,' ‘Slam Dunk,' And ‘Haikyuu!' As Top 3 Most Inspiring Sports Anime

It would seem that the stereotypical recluse Otaku would shudder at the thought of playing for an organized sports team.

Watching a sports anime or reading a sports manga however is practically a requirement.

This is perhaps why Japanese polling website Charapedia was able to poll 10,000 of its readers about what they considered to be the most inspiring sports anime/manga series were. The top 3 according to that poll were "Kuroko's Basketball," "Slam Dunk," and "Haikyuu!"

If it seems unbelievable that "Kuroko's Basketball" was ranked number one by fans, one need only to read some of the North American reviews of the anime series on Crunchyroll:

"The combination of visually interesting characters, smooth animation and totally intense, compelling basketball is really what makes KnB so fantastic. I'm always left shocked with each 'power' unveiling," wrote Stridersix.

"I started watching the anime from the first episode and can't wait for the 3rd season to start today! I myself play basketball and this show drives me to always become better at the sport and drive myself to my limits, it's the reason why I gave the sport a try and now I'm a monster at it," said B4le12.

"It took me that extra bit of willpower to start this anime, but once I clicked play on that first episode, I could not stop. Within a few episodes, I could feel the adrenaline pumping and my heart rate rising," explained Jeeesss.

Crunchyroll released the report on the full top 20 list of "most inspiring" anime which included not only popular fan-service swimming anime "Free!" ranked number 6, but also currently airing cycling anime "Yowamushi Pedal" ranked number To clarify, "Slam Dunk" was ranked second, and the volleyball anime "Haikyuu!" was ranked third.

Fans looking for more sports anime can check out this fan generated Reddit thread where fans recommend sports anime along with the sport they depict. It would appear that if you need inspiration (sports or not), a sports anime can get you motivated.

Tags
anime
Japan
world news
kuroko's basketball
Haikyuu!
slam dunk
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