Basketball anime has always been a favorite genre for many fans, blending the excitement of the sport with an interesting plot and amazing characters. If you love basketball or just enjoy a good story, these anime offer thrilling games, intense matches, and character development that keep viewers hooked.
Whether you’re looking for action-packed matches or a shounen-like story about teamwork and perseverance, basketball anime always has something for everyone. In this article, we’ll explore the top five basketball anime that have captured the hearts of fans worldwide. Without further ado, let’s delve into the world of basketball anime.
5Buzzer Beater
Buzzer Beater is a 2005 sports anime adapted from the manga written and illustrated by Inoue Takehiro. The story’s setting takes place where basketball, a sport that used to be dominated by humans, is now being played by aliens. Hence, it is natural to expect that this anime isn’t a normal sports anime since it has a bit of an extraterrestrial touch to it.
The story follows the protagonist, Hideyoshi, who is a homeless man in New York. After he got drafted into a pro team of basketball players, his struggle started as he started to work hard in order to compete with the Space League, which consisted of extra-terrestrial beings who dominated basketball at the time.
While this anime has many amazing showdowns and might interest people who like characters who are the underdog, the quality of this anime isn’t all that great in comparison to other sports anime since it has a less serious and unrealistic approach toward basketball due to the underlying sci-fi themes.
4Basquash!
Basquash is a 2009 French-Japanese anime adapted from the manga written by Shoji Kawamori and Thomas Romain. This anime too, is quite similar to Buzzer Beater since it has some sci-fi themes that stray from the normal sports anime meta.
This story takes place in a world named “Earth Dash”, where humans exist as two factions: the advanced Lunar society and the struggling surface society. Despite this, the two commonly enjoy the sport of basketball and conduct a sport called the Big Foot Basketball (AKA Basquash), where players compete while riding mecha known as “Big Foot” in a massive arena. Hence, this is also a mecha anime.
The story follows Dan JD, who, along with his friends, follow their dreams while confronting powerful opponents to prove their worth in the world of Basquash. This is quite an interesting anime with unique elements. However, although better than Buzzer Beater, it still falls short compared to any regular sports anime.
3Ahiru no Sora
Ahiru no Sora is a regular old sports anime written and illustrated by Hinata Takeshi. The story follows the young and endearing main character, Sora Kurumatani, a high school boy with an undying love for basketball. He has only one obstacle, though: his below-average physique. Sora is much shorter and weaker than the average high school boy, making him unqualified to play basketball.
Despite his shortcomings, Sora can make up for his lack of height with his overwhelming talent and sense of basketball. On making a promise to his mother to win a high school basketball match, Sora joins Kuzuryu High School’s basketball team, a team filled with delinquents.
The story follows Sora trying to find his place in his new high school, while trying to shape up his rowdy teammates inorder to win himself a prize. This show is one of the best basketball anime there is and it truly emphasies on the value of hard work and determination.
2Kuroko’s Basketball
Kuroko’s Basketball is one of the most popular sports anime of all time which was adapted from the manga written and illustrated by Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
Kuroko’s Basketball is an interesting anime which follows Tetsuya Kuroko, a quiet and invisible player who was once part of a legendary team known as the Generation of Miracles. His goal is to beat the Generation of Miracles, who are now playing for different schools. Kuroko teams up with Taiga Kagami, a talented but hot-headed player, and together they aim to become the best team in Japan.
The anime features exciting basketball matches, a lot of rivalry, and character growth as the characters work together to achieve their goals. Anyone who has a genuine passion of basketball or sports in general would love this anime and would be kept on the edge of their seats throughout their watching experience.
1SLAM DUNK
Slam Dunk is a very popular 1993 sports anime, which was also adapted from the manga written by Inoue Takehiro, who also wrote Buzzer Beater. However, in comparison to Buzzer Beater, Slam Dunk can be regarded as a masterpiece.
This 101 episode long anime features Sakuragi Hanamichi, a delinquent student from Shohoku High School. Although he has a distaste towards basketball, an incident where a girl (who he had a crush on) asked him whether he liked basketball caused him to pick up the sport.
Understandably, this may not be reason enough for anyone to start this anime. Although our main character might have started playing basketball due to a girl, this trigger did cause him to realize his passion for the sport. The way he struggled to put himself on the top along with his teammates has carved itself on the sport anime genre, making it one of the best there is.
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