Baseball, volleyball and even ping pong.
Many viewers are familiar with the genre of sports biopics and dramas.
But in Japan, stories about athletes are even more popular: half of the country's comic books are dedicated to various sports, and every year, TV series of the spokon genre appear on the screens – they tell about athletes and epic competitions.
1. Run with the Wind, 2018-2019
The Hakone Ekiden is a 10 stage relay race from Tokyo to Hakone. Only students from certain regions can participate, and the marathon is more popular in Japan than the Olympics.
Haiji, a senior philology major, dreams of participating and is willing to do anything to get to the starting line. For example, he can rekindle the spirit of athlete Kakeru, who became disillusioned with running after high school, and convince eight other participants to join the competition.
2. Blue Lock, 2022-...
The football team's recent poor performance in the World Cup has upset the Japan Football Association so much that they agree to Jinpachi Ego's extravagant plan. He proposes to gather 300 talented students from all over the country who play the striker position in a prison-like sports complex and select a world-class striker from among them.
Among the ambitious athletes is Yoichi Isagi, who seems to be not the most outstanding athlete, but who quickly learns in the spartan conditions of the Blue Lock project.
3. Ping Pong the Animation, 2014
The friends Peco and Smile are complete opposites: the first is capricious and loud, the second is methodical and calm. Both are talented in their own way at table tennis, but Smile can't beat his friend, even though he is obviously more gifted. An older coach, who also notices the boy's talent, decides to fix this.
Masaaki Yuasa masterfully shows how different characters find a solution to pressing problems and a way to self-realization in sports. However, this is not the reason why the series achieved cult status and the title of one of the best anime of the decade.
The visuals of Ping Pong allow you to immerse yourself in the inner world of the player. The frantic heartbeat and emotional leaps during the game are meant to convey the dramatically changing condition of players.
4. Haikyu!!, 2014-2020
One day, Shoyo Hinata saw a volleyball match on TV and was inspired to take up the sport professionally. The lack of experience did not stop him: he organized a volleyball club himself, which recruited the necessary number of participants to go to competitions.
And even the inevitable first defeat could not extinguish Hinata's desire to achieve the dream that inspired the rest of his teammates.
Like many successful stories about team sports, Haikyu!! forces intrigue and drama due to the dynamics of the relationships between athletes with different talents. They must find a common language both on and off the court.
5. Cross Game, 2009-2010
The Kitamura and Tsukishima families are very close: the former specializes in selling sports equipment, while the latter owns a cafe and a baseball center. Furthermore, Ko Kitamura and Wakaba Tsukishima were born on the same day, and are considered the perfect couple.
This causes a certain jealousy in young Aoba, who does not want to share her older sister with anyone, but her attitude towards Ko will change when Wakaba dies. Then the former enemies decide to make the deceased girl's dream come true: to participate in the school baseball competition.