155 reviews in this genre
by Yuugo Kobayashi
Aoashi follows Ashito Aoi, a rough-edged talented soccer player from a rural town who is scouted into a prestigious Tokyo youth academy. The series is about learning what modern soccer actually is — and whether raw talent is enough to survive the education.
by Shinji Kawaguchi
Monkey Turn follows Hasegawa Kouji, a young man who enters the world of competitive motorboat racing (kyotei) — Japan's unique professional boat racing sport — and fights to master the dangerous, technical, and thrilling 'monkey turn' technique.
by Tsukasa Oshima
Shoot! follows Toshihiko Tanaka, who joins a high school soccer team to fulfill the dying wish of his childhood friend — and finds himself in a sport he barely knows, at a club that was legendary before it collapsed, trying to rebuild something worth the promise he made.
by Takao Yaguchi
Sanpei the Fisherman follows Sanpei Mihara, a fishing-obsessed boy in rural Akita who travels Japan pursuing the perfect catch — learning about fish, rivers, and people along the way in one of manga's great nature-and-sport series.
by Masahito Soda
A review of Capeta, the motorsports manga about a boy from a poor family who discovers his natural racing talent and fights his way toward Formula One.
by Shin'ichi Ishizuka
Gaku: Minna no Yama follows Habu Gaku, a volunteer mountain rescue worker in the Japanese Alps, and the climbers he saves — or tries to save — as he demonstrates the specific combination of skill, knowledge, and relentless positivity that his work requires.
by Wataru Watanabe
Yu's review of Yowamushi Pedal — an anime otaku who rides his mama-chari to Akihabara every week is discovered by competitive cyclists who realize he has elite climbing ability without knowing it.
by Shinji Morisue (story) / Hiroyuki Kikuta (art)
Gamba! Fly High follows Takeru Fujimaki, a boy with extraordinary natural talent who joins a gymnastics club and discovers that natural ability, without discipline and the right people around you, is not enough to reach the Olympics.
by Shiro
Yama no Susume follows Aoi Yukimura, a shy girl who rediscovers her childhood love of mountain climbing through a friend's encouragement — a hiking manga that takes both the mountains and its protagonist's anxiety seriously.
by Takashi Hashiguchi
Yu's review of Yakitate!! Japan — Kazuma Azuma has supernatural hands warm enough to activate yeast perfectly, and his dream is to create a national bread for Japan; the series applies shonen battle manga structure to competitive bread-baking with completely committed absurdist comedy.
by Naoki Urasawa
Yu's review of Yawara! — Yawara Inokuma is the granddaughter of a legendary judo master who has trained her since childhood to be a world champion; she has extraordinary talent and absolutely no desire to compete; what follows is her journey toward the Barcelona Olympics despite her own resistance.
by Akio Chiba
Captain follows Tatsuya Taniguchi, an ordinary middle school baseball player who becomes team captain after transferring to a powerhouse program — a series about the weight of responsibility when you are not the most talented person in the room.
by Shinji Mizushima
Dokaben follows Taro Yamada, a massive catcher at Meikun High School, through the team's rise from obscurity to national competition — the definitive high school baseball manga of the 1970s.
by Yuu Koyama
Ganbare Genki follows Horiguchi Genki, a boy who grows up training to become a boxer — carrying his late father's unfulfilled dream and his own fierce determination across a childhood and adolescence defined by the sport.
by Tetsuya Chiba
Ore wa Teppei follows Teppei, a wild boy raised in the mountains who comes to the city and discovers judo — a story about raw talent meeting structured discipline, and what happens when someone who has never been constrained learns to choose constraint.
by Akio Chiba
Play Ball follows Koichi Tani, a key player from Captain, into high school at Sumiya High — a sequel that shifts perspective and asks what happens to the supporting cast after the captain's era ends.
by Masami Kurumada
Ring ni Kakero follows Ryuji Takane and his sister Kiku through a boxing journey that begins in realism and evolves into one of manga's most spectacular supernatural combat series — the bridge between sports manga and the battle shonen that followed.
by Daisuke Higuchi
Yu's review of Whistle! — Sho Kazamatsuri was cut from his elite school's soccer team for lacking talent; he transfers to a school where he can actually play and works relentlessly to become a real player; the series follows his growth from the team's weakest member to something more.
by Satoru Nii
Yu's review of Wind Breaker — Haruka Sakura transfers to Furin High School because of its reputation as the toughest school in the area; he discovers the students there protect their town, not terrorize it, and that strength has a different purpose than he thought.
by Satoshi Ikezawa
Circuit Wolf follows Hayato Fuji, a teenage street racer who enters the world of professional motorsport — a manga that sparked Japan's sports car boom of the late 1970s and turned a generation onto the real cars it depicted.
by Makoto Kobayashi
Judo Club Story follows Sanshiro Fujimaki, a high school freshman who joins the judo club by mistake and discovers — against his will and better judgment — that he is genuinely good at judo.
by Nobuhiro Sakata (story) / Kosai Oshima (art)
Kaze no Daichi follows Koichi Iino, a self-taught golfer working as a caddy who rises through professional golf — a manga that treats golf with more psychological seriousness than almost any other sports manga treats its subject.
by Shoji Gatoh (Story) / Kengo Matsumoto (Art)
Yu's review of Wanna Be the Strongest in the World! — Sakura Hagiwara is a member of the idol group Sweet Diva; after an altercation with a professional wrestler, she decides to enter women's professional wrestling herself; the series follows her training and career through the sport she is entirely unprepared for.
by Tomo Takeuchi
Yu's review of Welcome to the Ballroom — Tatara Fujita has no goals and no passions until he stumbles into a ballroom dance studio, sees what competitive dance actually looks like, and decides this is the thing he has been missing.
by Shinji Mizushima
Dai Koshien is Shinji Mizushima's crossover event — a tournament manga bringing together protagonists from Dokaben and his other baseball series in a grand national high school tournament that functions as both continuation and celebration.
by Tatsuya Hiruta
Kotaro Makaritoru follows Kotaro Shindo, a karate expert at a Japanese high school whose combination of martial prowess, persistent cheerfulness, and complete obliviousness to normal social rules makes every school day into an event.
by Satoru Ozawa
Submarine 707 follows the crew of a Japanese Self-Defense Force submarine as they engage in underwater warfare against an enemy threatening international shipping — one of the first manga to treat submarine combat with genuine technical authenticity.
by Mitsuru Adachi
Yu's review of Touch — Tatsuya and Kazuya Uesugi are twins; Kazuya is the talented baseball player; Tatsuya pretends not to care about anything; Minami is the girl next door who has loved baseball and the twins her whole life; what happens between them changed Japanese sports manga permanently.
by Kotoko Ayano / Ayano Yamane
Yu's review of Tsurune — Minato Narumiya was an archer until target panic (a release disorder) ended his ability to compete; in high school, he joins the kyudo club and works through his anxiety with a new coach and teammates, trying to find the clean release again.
by Ikki Kajiwara / Noboru Kawasaki
Kyojin no Hoshi follows Hyuma Hoshi, whose father — a former baseball player who never achieved his dream — has raised him from childhood to be a star pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants, through training that borders on abuse and produces a player who may be the greatest — at tremendous personal cost.
by Shinji Mizushima
Otoko Doahou Koshien follows Goemon Harimoto, a wild pitcher who joins a struggling high school baseball team with one goal — to reach the Koshien tournament — through a combination of raw talent, complete stubbornness, and an utter refusal to change his approach regardless of opposition.
by Fujiko Fujio A
Pro Golfer Saru follows Sarugami Mitsuru, a young boy raised in the mountains who has developed an almost supernatural golf ability — and who enters the professional golf world with a combination of wild talent and complete ignorance of its conventions.
by Masanori Morita
Rookies follows Koichi Kawato, a young teacher transferred to Futakotamagawa High School who discovers a baseball club suspended after a violent incident — and decides, against all institutional advice, to coach them back to the Koshien.
by Ikki Kajiwara / Ko Inoue
Samurai Giants follows Bangai Ban, a wild, untrained pitcher from rural Japan who joins the Yomiuri Giants and develops an extraordinary but physically destructive pitch — competing at the highest level while his arm deteriorates from the very technique that makes him exceptional.
by Kouji Seo
Yu's review of Suzuka — Yamato Akitsuki moves to Tokyo to live at his aunt's apartment complex and immediately falls for his neighbor Suzuka Asahina, a high school track prodigy who is completely closed off emotionally; the series is a romantic sports manga about the difficulty of loving someone who isn't ready to be loved.
by Moare Ohta
Yu's review of Teppu — Natsuo Ishido is a natural athlete who has won everything she has tried without effort and resents every second of it; when she meets a girl who fights MMA with genuine passion despite not being naturally gifted, Natsuo joins an MMA gym to find out what it means to want something.
by Ikki Kajiwara / Naoki Tsuji
Tiger Mask follows Naoto Date, a professional wrestler trained by a criminal organization to be a heel — the villain of the ring — who defects from the organization and becomes a hero, knowing that the organization will send increasingly dangerous opponents to punish his betrayal.
by Shinji Mizushima
Absan follows Kageura 'Absan' Kazuyoshi, a professional baseball player for the Fukuoka Hawks who is famous for two things: his devastating home run power and his equally devastating appetite for sake — a manga about a career player who was never the ace but stayed longer than anyone.
by Norihiro Nakajima / Masao Kuroda
Astro Kyudan follows a team of nine baseball players — each possessing superhuman abilities and each willing to die for the game — who challenge Japan's strongest team in a baseball match that escalates far beyond anything the sport was designed to contain.
by Shinji Mizushima
Dokaben Super Stars is the professional baseball continuation of the legendary Dokaben series, following Taro Yamada and his teammates as they move from high school heroes to professional players on the same team — and discovering that the professional game is a different kind of challenge from anything their high school careers prepared them for.
by Machio
A comprehensive review of Slow Loop — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Co Moroboshi
Yu's review of Softenni — five high school girls join the soft tennis club in a comedy that uses sports as an excuse for increasingly absurd situations; honest about being more comedy than sports, but the tennis sequences are handled with genuine care.
by Hisaichi Ishii
Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! is Hisaichi Ishii's newspaper 4-koma comedy featuring a parody version of real Seibu Lions player Koji Tabuchi — gentle, self-deprecating, perpetually optimistic baseball humor that ran for years and turned Tabuchi into a beloved cultural figure beyond his actual batting average.
by Sumika Yamamoto
Ace wo Nerae! follows Hiromi Oka, an ordinary beginner tennis player at a prestigious school who comes under the intense coaching of the young and demanding Coach Munakata — a shojo sports manga about the relationship between dedication and excellence, and the cost of being pushed to your actual limit.
by Asano Rin
Yu's review of Scorching Ping Pong Girls — Agari Kamiya is the best player at her middle school ping pong club until Tsumujikaze Koyori transfers in and shows her what it looks like when someone plays with pure, overwhelming love for the sport.
by Takehiko Inoue
Yu's review of Slam Dunk — a delinquent who has never played basketball joins the school team to impress a girl, and discovers that he might actually be a natural genius at the game.
by Masahito Soda
Subaru follows Subaru Miyamoto, a young dancer with extraordinary natural talent for ballet — raised after her mother's death by her older brother, trained by demanding teachers, and driven by an internal compulsion to dance that nothing, including injury and loss, can fully extinguish.
by Shinji Mizushima
Dokaben Pro Yakyuhen continues the story of Yamada Taro and his friends from their legendary high school careers into professional baseball — where the opponents are veterans, the stakes are different, and the idealism of youth confronts the mechanics of a business.
by Hiroshi Motomiya
Dotsuitare follows a young man from Osaka who enters professional boxing with raw talent and a fighting spirit that predates any training — a gritty, direct boxing manga from Hiroshi Motomiya whose title translates roughly as 'Hit him!' in Osaka dialect.
by Shinji Mizushima
Kyudo-kun follows Kyudo Narao, a young pitcher from Osaka with natural talent and a deep connection to the game through his father — a baseball story about inheritance, pressure, and what it means to throw yourself completely into what you love.
by Yuuki Iinuma
A comprehensive review of Robot x Laserbeam — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Ritz Kobayashi
Yu's review of Saki — a high school girl named Saki Miyanaga has an uncanny ability to always score exactly zero in mahjong, and when a mahjong club recruits her, the national high school mahjong tournament becomes the backdrop for increasingly supernatural competitive drama.
by Takao Yaguchi
Tsuri Kichi Sanpei follows Sanpei Mihara, a fishing-obsessed boy from rural Japan whose passion for the sport takes him to rivers and lakes across the country — a long-running celebration of fishing, rural life, and the particular kind of patience that comes from watching water.
by Shinji Mizushima
Yakyuukyo no Uta follows an aging pitcher for a fictional Tokyo team as he fights to stay in the game, but the series is best remembered for introducing Yuki Mikami — Japan's first fictional female professional baseball pitcher — into a sport that had never imagined her.
by Naoko Takeuchi
Cherry Project follows Asuka Kuramochi, a determined young figure skater who dreams of competing at the international level, mentored by a handsome and skilled male figure skater — Naoko Takeuchi's early shojo work before she created Sailor Moon.
by Haruichi Furudate
Haikyuu!! follows Hinata Shoyo, a volleyball-obsessed boy who is short for the sport, and his journey from disastrous first tournament through the complete arc of high school volleyball with the Karasuno High team — one of the most celebrated sports manga of its generation.
by Katsuhito Kawai
Obi wo Gyutto ne! follows a group of friends who form a judo club at their new high school — a sports manga that balanced competitive judo with genuine friendship and romantic comedy across 30 volumes.
by Natsuko Houchi
Ore-tachi no Field follows Sho Kamiya from youth soccer through professional football — a realistic soccer manga that traced the J-League era from its inception and followed its protagonist through the complete arc from child enthusiast to professional player.
by Sagu Aoyama / Tinkle
Yu's review of Ro-Kyu-Bu! — high school basketball player Subaru Hasegawa is suspended from his team and takes up coaching an elementary school girls' basketball team to pass the time; the team is talented and determined, and Subaru discovers he cares more about coaching than expected.
by Nihonbashi Yoko
Shojo Fight follows Neri Oishi, a girl with exceptional volleyball ability who carries the shadow of her older sister — a psychologically complex sports manga that ran in Young Magazine and refused the conventional shonen sports template.
by Atsushi Kagurazaka
A review of Taisho Baseball Girls, the historical manga about a group of girls who form a baseball team in 1920s Japan to challenge a boy who dismissed women's abilities.
by Takeshi Konomi
Yu's review of The Prince of Tennis — a tennis prodigy returns from America at age twelve and joins his middle school tennis team, where his special techniques and mysterious potential turn the Japanese junior tennis world upside down.
by Takehiko Inoue
A comprehensive review of Over the Top — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Taiyou Matsumoto
Yu's review of Ping Pong — two high school table tennis players, one a prodigy who loves the game and one who hates to lose, move toward a tournament while the manga asks what it means to devote yourself to something.
by Makoto Kobayashi
1-2 no Sanshiro follows Sanshiro Higashi, a tough but earnest high schooler who falls into amateur wrestling and pro wrestling alongside his best friends — a Weekly Shonen Magazine sports comedy whose 1980s vintage made it a defining work of the era.
by Osamu Ishiwata
B.B. is Osamu Ishiwata's 31-volume boxing classic from Weekly Shonen Sunday — the rise of Ryo, a boxer whose journey from amateur through professional ranks was told with unusual psychological depth for the genre's era.
by Daisuke Nishikawa
Five is Daisuke Nishikawa's basketball manga from Weekly Shonen Champion — a more subdued, character-driven approach to high school basketball than Slam Dunk's spectacle, with a five-player team whose dynamics were the actual subject.
by Akira Sakuma
Haruka 17 follows Haruka, a high school girl pursuing an idol career — Akira Sakuma's Big Comic Spirits drama that showed the industry's mechanics with the same seriousness sports manga show their sports.
by Mio Murao
JaJa is Mio Murao's motorcycle manga following Ena, a young woman whose passion for vintage motorcycles takes her into restoration, racing, and the broader culture of motorcycle enthusiasts — 17 volumes of detailed, loving treatment of bike culture.
by Jiro Taniguchi
Kamigami no Itadaki is Jiro Taniguchi's 5-volume adaptation of Baku Yumemakura's mountaineering novel — Fukamachi, a journalist following the trail of a possibly-found camera that may prove George Mallory reached Everest's summit in 1924, with a Japanese alpinist's parallel obsession driving the story.
by Shinobu Kaitani
A comprehensive review of One Outs — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Rumiko Takahashi
Yu's review of One Pound Gospel — Kōsaku Hatanaka is a genuinely talented featherweight boxer with one catastrophic flaw: he can't stop eating, constantly missing weight for his fights; Sister Angela, a young nun, becomes his most unlikely source of encouragement; Rumiko Takahashi's compact boxing comedy with a warm central relationship.
by Tsuyoshi Yasuda
Over Drive is Tsuyoshi Yasuda's 17-volume cycling manga from Weekly Shonen Magazine — Mikoto Shinozaki's transformation from frail beginner into competitive racer through his high school cycling club.
by Toshimitsu Matsubara
Rikudo follows Riku Akama, a boy whose abusive father destroyed his body and life — until boxing becomes the unlikely path through which he tries to reclaim something. A 22-volume Young Jump series whose darkness exceeded almost all boxing manga before it.
by Masami Kurumada
Ring ni Kakero 2 is Masami Kurumada's sequel to his 1977 boxing classic — the next generation of Kurumada's punch-as-cosmic-force boxing universe across 26 volumes of operatic Super Jump action.
by Mitsuru Soda
Shakariki! follows Teru Nojima, a high school cyclist whose obsession with climbing — going up, faster, harder, with everything he has — defines his approach to the sport. Mitsuru Soda's 18-volume cycling classic that helped establish the genre in shonen manga.
by Sho Naruto
Wataru ga Pyun! follows Wataru Aizawa, a baseball prodigy whose impossible speed — both running and pitching — defines his rise through Japanese baseball — a 53-volume Monthly Shonen Jump epic that ran for over 20 years.
by Shō Futamata
A comprehensive review of Nanbaka — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Takeshi Konomi
Yu's review of New Prince of Tennis — the sequel to The Prince of Tennis; Ryoma Echizen and Japan's top middle school tennis players are invited to a U-17 national training camp where the high school players are even more powerful and the tennis becomes increasingly divorced from physical reality; the sequel escalates the original's supernatural sports to maximum extremes.
by Norio Sakurai
Yu's review of Mitsudomoe — Yabe Satoshi is a new teacher at an elementary school; his class contains the Marui triplets: Mitsuba, who is manipulative and vain; Futaba, who is incredibly strong and fixated on the physical; and Hitoha, who is terrifying to everyone around her for reasons she doesn't fully understand; the series follows his attempts to manage a classroom that manages him instead.
by Mitsuru Adachi
Yu's review of Mix — set in the same world as Touch, following the Tachibana brothers (stepsiblings by a blended family) as they pursue Koshien at the same high school where the legendary Uesugi brothers once played; Adachi's most recent long-form baseball manga.
by Asato Shinonome
Yu's review of Megalo Box — in a future where boxing is enhanced by mechanical exoskeletons, an undocumented fighter called Junk Dog challenges Megalonia, the world championship tournament; manga adaptation of the 50th anniversary Ashita no Joe project about a fighter with nothing to lose.
by Shuichi Shigeno
A comprehensive review of MF Ghost — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Horumarin
Yu's review of Medabots — Ikki Tenryo competes in Robattle tournaments using his Medabot Metabee, a customizable robot built from medal-powered parts; the manga that launched the Medabots franchise is a tight competitive action series structured around robot customization and tournament battles.
by Takuya Mitsuda
Yu's review of Major 2nd — Daigo Shigeno is the son of Goro Shigeno, the baseball legend from the original Major series; Daigo lacks his father's exceptional talent and must find his own relationship with baseball; a sports manga about the difficulty of living in a great person's shadow.
by Takuya Mitsuda
Yu's review of Major — Goro Honda is the son of a professional baseball player; when loss defines his childhood, baseball becomes how he carries his father forward; the series follows Goro from little league through professional baseball across 78 volumes, one of the longest complete sports manga stories ever told.
by Haruhisa Nakata
Yu's review of Levius/est — the sequel to Levius; Levius Cromwell continues competing in Mechanical Martial Arts as the sport's underground and political dimensions become unavoidable; Nakata expands the world-building and deepens the character work while maintaining the exceptional European-influenced art style.
by Haruhisa Nakata
A comprehensive review of Levius — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
Yu's review of Kuroko's Basketball: Extra Game — the sequel to Kuroko's Basketball follows the Generation of Miracles as they face Jabberwock, an American street basketball team, in an exhibition that becomes genuinely dangerous; the reunion story for the main series cast.
by Hiroaki Igano
Yu's review of Knight in the Area (Area no Kishi) — Kakeru Aizawa is a timid soccer boy who manages his school's soccer team while his older brother Suguru is a genuine prodigy; after a life-changing accident, Kakeru discovers that the potential his brother always believed in was real; a long-running soccer manga with genuine emotional stakes and technical depth.
by Amyuu
Yu's review of Kono Oto Tomare! — Chika Kudou joins the nearly-disbanded koto club to honor his grandfather's legacy; the club recruits unlikely members and works toward national competition; a music sports manga that treats competitive traditional instrument performance with the same structure as competitive athletics.
by Daichi Sorayomi
A comprehensive review of Keijo!!!!!!!! — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Homura Kawamoto / Toru Naomura
Yu's review of Kakegurui — Hyakkaou Private Academy determines student hierarchy through gambling; transfer student Yumeko Jabami arrives and reveals she is not playing for money or status but for the pure pleasure of risking everything, which systematically dismantles everyone who thought they were in control.
by Mitsuru Adachi
A comprehensive review of Katsu! — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Yabako Sandrovich (Story) / MAAM (Art)
Yu's review of How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? — Hibiki Sakura, a high school gyaru worried about weight gain, joins a gym with the intention of losing some pounds; she finds the gym populated by muscle-obsessed regulars, a personal trainer with suspiciously good looks and suspicious enthusiasm, and a fellow student who turns out to be a serious competitive bodybuilder; the series is structured around actual exercise instruction embedded in comedy.
by Yoichi Takahashi
Yu's review of Hungry Heart Wild Striker — Kyōsuke Kanou is a soccer prodigy who quit the sport because of his older brother's overwhelming talent; when he joins a struggling team and meets a dedicated coach, he rediscovers his hunger for the game; a return to pure soccer manga from the Captain Tsubasa creator.
by Kawada
Yu's review of Hinomaru Sumo — Ushio Hinomaru is smaller than the minimum size requirement for professional sumo but is the most gifted sumo wrestler anyone has seen; he joins his high school sumo club and aims for the title of Yokozuna through sheer talent and complete refusal to accept limits.
by Kouji Mori
Yu's review of Holyland — bullied loner Yuu Kamishiro teaches himself boxing from a book to defend himself on the streets; he finds something he is good at, and the street fighting he enters to survive becomes a world he cannot leave.
by Nyoijizai
Yu's review of Harukana Receive — Haruka Oozora arrives in Okinawa to live with her cousin Kanata; Kanata played beach volleyball until she stopped; Haruka, tall and athletic and enthusiastic, convinces her to play again; they train to compete in the beach volleyball circuit.
by Yumi Hotta / Takeshi Obata
Yu's review of Hikaru no Go — Hikaru Shindo discovers a haunted Go board inhabited by the spirit of a Heian-era master; the spirit possesses him during games; Hikaru gradually discovers his own passion for Go and his desire to surpass the ghost that started everything.
by Kosuke Hamada
Yu's review of Hanebado! — Ayano Hanesaki is a badminton prodigy whose mother abandoned her to pursue professional coaching; her rediscovery of badminton and her psychological transformation across the series makes this the most psychologically complex badminton manga ever published.
by Naoki Urasawa
Yu's review of Happy! — Umino Miyuki had no interest in tennis until her brother Yuuichi's gambling debt threatened the entire family; to pay it off she must reach the top of the professional tennis circuit; Naoki Urasawa's tennis manga about a woman who becomes a professional athlete not out of passion but out of necessity.
by Haruichi Furudate
Yu's review of Haikyu!! — 45 volumes of the best sports manga ever made. You don't need to know volleyball. You don't need to like sports. You just need to care about people trying with everything they have.
by George Morikawa
Yu's review of Hajime no Ippo — a bullied high school boy is saved by a professional boxer, discovers he has a natural gift for the sport, and begins the long road to becoming a champion.
by Ryousuke Ryuura
Yu's review of Girls und Panzer — in a world where operating tanks in competitive combat is a traditional martial art for girls (called Sensha-do), Miho Nishizumi transfers to Ooarai Girls High School and finds the school has restarted its long-dormant Sensha-do club; she must lead a team using tanks from a dozen different nations against schools with much stronger programs.
by Masaya Tsunamoto / Tsujitomo
Yu's review of Giant Killing — Takeshi Tatsumi, a player who disappeared from Japanese professional soccer and became a legend coaching a small English team, is hired to rescue East Tokyo United from the bottom of the J-League; a soccer management drama that treats the tactical and human sides of sports organization with equal seriousness.
by Shizuru Seino
Yu's review of Girl Got Game (Power!) — Kyo Aizawa's father enrolled her as a boy in an all-boys school to fulfill his basketball dreams for her; forced to room with the team's ace player Chiharu, she tries to maintain her disguise while genuine basketball ability and complicated feelings complicate everything.
by Riichiro Inagaki (story) / Yusuke Murata (art)
Yu's review of Eyeshield 21 — a timid errand boy discovers he has the fastest legs at his school, gets press-ganged onto the American football team, and must become a running back without anyone discovering who he is.
by Naoshi Arakawa
Yu's review of Farewell My Dear Cramer — Nozomi Onda is an exceptional midfielder who has been playing with boys because the girls' teams cannot keep up with her; in high school she joins Warabi Seiwa's struggling girls' soccer team alongside other talented players who had nowhere to go.
by Hiroki Yagami
Yu's review of Dear Boys (published in English as Hoop Days) — Aikawa Kazuhiko transfers to a high school whose basketball team has fallen to near-dissolution; his exceptional skill and his genuine investment in team rebuilding revive the program; a basketball manga with above-average character depth and technical depiction of the sport.
by Yuji Terajima
Yu's review of Diamond no Ace — a pitcher with a wild but powerful pitch transfers to a prestigious baseball high school and works toward becoming the team's ace in one of manga's most detailed baseball series.
by George Asakura
Yu's review of Dance Dance Danseur — Jumpei Murao has loved ballet since childhood but has been hiding it under a tough-guy persona since his father died; when he encounters a serious ballet student, he chooses to pursue his love of dance against everything that makes it hard for a teenage boy to do so.
by Yuji Kurokami
Yu's review of Days — Tsukushi Tsukamoto has no athletic ability, no soccer experience, and no particular physical gifts; his only quality is an absolute refusal to give up; through sheer determination he joins a competitive high school soccer team and begins a years-long process of becoming genuinely capable.
by KAITO
Yu's review of Cross Manage — Takasugi Misora was a champion lacrosse player until injury ended his career; he reluctantly becomes manager of his school's girls lacrosse team; a sports manga about the strategic and supportive role of management, the rehabilitation of someone who lost their path, and what it means to contribute from behind the scenes.
by Mitsuba Takanashi
Yu's review of Crimson Hero — Nobara Sumiyoshi is the eldest daughter of a traditional Japanese restaurant family and is expected to take over; she chooses volleyball instead, is cut off by her family, and must rebuild her life around the sport she loves while fighting to get her school's girls' volleyball club taken seriously.
by Mitsuru Adachi
Yu's review of Cross Game — a boy who grew up next door to four sisters loses one of them when they are children, and grows up playing baseball while carrying what she meant to him.
by Yoichi Takahashi
Yu's review of Captain Tsubasa — the manga credited with creating Japan's soccer boom, following prodigy Tsubasa Ozora from elementary school to the world stage.
by Yuki Suetsugu
Yu's review of Chihayafuru — Chihaya Ayase discovered competitive karuta as a child; she builds a karuta club in high school and pursues the title of Queen while her teammates pursue their own reasons for playing; the series is as much about the poem in the card game as about the competition.
by Hajime Musashi
Yu's review of Burning Kabaddi — Tatsuya Yoigoshi was a soccer prodigy who burned out and swore off sports; he discovers kabaddi, the ancient South Asian contact sport where one player holds their breath and raids the opposing team, and is drawn back into competition by the sport's pure physical ferocity.
by Takehiko Inoue
A comprehensive review of Buzzer Beater — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Atsuko Asano
Yu's review of Big Windup! — a pitcher with severe anxiety and compulsive apologizing joins a new high school team and learns what it means to trust the players behind him.
by Muneyuki Kaneshiro (story) / Yusuke Nomura (art)
Yu's review of Blue Lock — after Japan's World Cup failure, the Football Association recruits 300 top high school strikers and puts them in an experimental program where only one will emerge as the best striker in Japan.
by Yuji Shiozaki
Yu's review of Battle Club — Mokichi Utagawa joins a high school wrestling club that turns out to be far more chaotic than expected; the series mixes genuine wrestling technique with sports comedy and a cast of increasingly unusual members; a wrestling manga that takes the sport seriously while surrounding it with absurdist humor.
by Takao Aoki
Yu's review of Beyblade — Tyson Granger and his team compete in spinning top tournaments with Beyblades that have bit-beasts, spiritual creatures living in the tops; the manga that launched the global Beyblade franchise is a compact competitive action series for younger readers.
by Mimana Orimoto
Yu's review of Bakuon!! — Hane Sakura notices a girl on a motorcycle during her commute and is immediately drawn to two-wheel transportation; she joins her school's motorcycle club, acquires a vintage bike, and enters a world of very specific brand loyalties, riding culture, and the peculiar freedom of motorcycle riding; a comedy manga about motorcycle enthusiasm with genuine affection for its subject.
by Masahiro Totsuka / Aguri Igarashi
A comprehensive review of Bamboo Blade — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Hikaru Katsuki
Yu's review of Baby Steps — Eiichiro Maruo is a straight-A student who takes perfect notes about everything; when he joins a tennis club, he applies the same systematic analysis to the sport and discovers that data and discipline can compete with natural talent.
by Keisuke Itagaki
Yu's review of Baki — Baki Hanma trains obsessively with one goal: to defeat his father Yujiro, who is called the Strongest Creature on Earth; the series stages increasingly extreme martial arts matches between specialists in different styles and escalates the violence far beyond conventional sports manga limits.
by Yugo Kobayashi
Yu's review of Ao Ashi — Ashito Aoi is recruited to the FC Tokyo youth academy with a rare gift: he can see every player on the field simultaneously. But his coach already knows he is not a striker. The best soccer manga in English.
by Asao Takamori / Tetsuya Chiba
Yu's review of Ashita no Joe — Joe Yabuki grows up in the slums of postwar Tokyo, is discovered by a washed-up trainer, and becomes a boxer; the series follows him to the title fight while asking what a life spent burning completely is worth.
by Hiroki Endo
Yu's review of All-Rounder Meguru — Meguru Takayanagi trains in shooto, a Japanese form of MMA, attempting to turn professional; a technically detailed and emotionally serious sports manga about mixed martial arts that treats the sport and its practitioners with genuine respect.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Angelic Layer — Misaki Suzuhara discovers Angelic Layer, a competition game involving small battle dolls called Angels controlled by the player's mind and movement; she creates her own Angel and enters the tournament circuit; a compact CLAMP sports manga that connects the competition arc to a personal family story.
by Nobuyuki Fukumoto
Yu's review of Akagi — a 13-year-old named Shigeru Akagi stumbles into a mahjong den one rainy night and demonstrates a preternatural understanding of the game; the story follows his rise through the underground mahjong world where the stakes are money, blood, and life.
by Shiori Amase
Yu's review of All Out!! — Gion Kenji is tiny and furious; Iwashimizu Sumiaki is enormous and afraid of his own strength; they both join the Kanagawa high school rugby club and discover that rugby is the sport that specifically needs both of them.
by Yuji Terajima
A comprehensive review of Ace of Diamond — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Takeshi Hinata
A comprehensive review of Ahiru no Sora — plot, characters, art style, and whether it's worth reading.
by Kyoko Ariyoshi
A girl from Hokkaido fights to become a world-class ballerina in the manga that defined ballet shojo.
by Iketani Rikaco
A review of Ten Dance, the BL manga about two competitive ballroom dancers — one Latin, one Standard — who partner up for ten dance competition and fall for each other.
by Sumika Yamamoto
An ordinary girl is plucked from her tennis club to train under a brutal coach in the manga that built sports shojo.
by Mitsuru Adachi
A review of H2, Mitsuru Adachi's masterful baseball manga about two rival friends, one girl, and the dreams they chase across high school seasons.
by Mitsuru Adachi
A review of Nine by Mitsuru Adachi — the 1978 baseball manga that established his signature style of interweaving sports and romance, a precursor to Touch and H2.
by Chikako Urano
A review of Attack No. 1 — the 1968 volleyball manga that launched the sports shoujo genre and captured a Japan electrified by women's volleyball at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
by Mitsuru Adachi
A review of Mix: Meisei Story, Mitsuru Adachi's return to baseball manga set in the same world as Touch — quiet, funny, and deeply good.
by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
A review of Kuroko's Basketball — the Shonen Jump sports manga about a nearly invisible player who was the phantom sixth member of the legendary Generation of Miracles team.
by Nango Yusuke
A review of Battle Studies, the manga about a high school student attending PL Gakuen — Japan's most famous and demanding baseball high school — where the training methods are intense and the comedy is real.
by Tetsuyuki Asakawa
A boxer with a glass jaw decides to keep fighting anyway — and discovers the cost of refusing to quit.
by KyoAni (original), Kōji Ōji (manga)
A review of the Free! manga adaptation of the KyoAni swimming anime about competitive swimmers reconnecting after a falling-out.
by Tenya Yabuno
A review of Inazuma Eleven, the manga adaptation of the football RPG game where soccer moves have elemental powers and alien invasions are stopped through the beautiful game.
by Mikoto Amagi
A review of Forget Me Not Battery, the Weekly Shonen Jump baseball manga about a pitcher who was once the best in the country but has lost all memory of his baseball years.
by Mitsurou Kubo (story and manga)
A review of the Yuri!!! on ICE manga — the figure skating sports manga accompanying the landmark anime about a Japanese skater and his Russian coach.
by Yayoi Ogawa (original), Nao Hinachi (manga)
A review of Skate-Leading Stars, the anime companion manga about a figure skater who transitions from individual to synchronized skating.
by Yongseok Jo
A review of Windbreaker — the Korean cycling manhwa about a delinquent-looking teen who finds purpose and belonging through competitive cycling.
by Baek Hye-Kyung
A review of Bring It On!, the Korean manhwa about a tomboyish girl who joins the school baseball team and falls for the ace pitcher.
by Taku Sakamoto
A review of Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun, the football comedy manga about a nationally talented striker who is also an extreme germaphobe.
by Takehiko Inoue
A review of Real — Takehiko Inoue's adult basketball manga about wheelchair basketball players and the full weight of living with disability, grief, and athletic ambition.