The world of sports is a major source of entertainment and has influenced stories, games, and more around the world. Sports anime is a small yet sizable part of the anime landscape that always manages to deliver exciting and exhilarating moments on par with the most action-packed battle shonen series.
2012 was not a very big year for sports anime, but there is still a couple of landmark sports series that debuted that year. Those series turned ten in 2022, so it's a good time to take a look back and remember some of these now-classic sports shows.
5 Teekyu
The Kameido High School's tennis club is only comprised of four girls, of which only one, new member Yuri Oshimoto, actually knows how to play. The other three, despite being older and senior members of the club, don't seem interested in playing tennis at all and spend all their time having bizarre conversations and getting into absurd situations. Teekyu follows these four girls as they do nothing except play a proper game of tennis.
Teekyu is rather unique for a sports series, as instead of focusing on high-stakes competition and inspiring goals, it focuses on the comedy created by its quirky and logic-defying characters. This short series with 2-minute episodes actually became quite popular, running for 9 seasons after its debut in 2012. It's a fun, niche series to check out, especially since it's quite different from what the sports genre usually offers.
4 Victory Kickoff!!
Sho Oota is a sixth-grade soccer player with massive ambitions in the sport. However, his team was forced to disband, leaving him unable to play. After a chance meeting with a new friend and an amazing female soccer pro, Sho heads out to start looking for new members to start another team.
Victory Kickoff!! is a rather unique sports anime as it features a team with both male and female characters, a rarity since most sports tend to separate teams by gender. This series sort of ran under the radar when it debuted in 2012, possibly because it was targeted towards younger audiences, with many of the main characters being in elementary school instead of middle school or high school like most sports anime. Despite this, Victory Kickoff!! is a very fun sports series that any fan of soccer should be able to enjoy.
3 Knight In The Area
Kakeru Aizawa had always believed his brother Suguru would become one of Japan's greatest soccer players, being a genius that was able to make Japan's U-15 national team. Meanwhile, Kakeru has his own ambitions of greatness but holds back unconsciously due to a traumatic incident in his youth. However, an unforeseen accident takes Suguru away far too soon, leaving Kakeru behind. With his brother's heart transplanted into him, Kakeru decides to start playing soccer again in order to achieve everything his brother couldn't.
Knight in the Area is a soccer series with a focus on interpersonal drama. Kakeru's struggles to match up to his brother Suguru and make up for his absence on the school's soccer team is a noble effort and watching him grow into his own strengths and become someone different from his brother. The soccer action is also quite good, even if it might feel a little too orthodox for a shonen anime.
2 The Prince Of Tennis II
Ryoma Echizen and the other Seishun members return after having conquered the National Championships in order to join the U-17 High School Representatives Selection Camp, despite being middle schoolers. The camp is a grueling training regimen meant to build up the players for the U-17 World Cup, and Ryoma and his friends, former rivals, and enemies will have to up their game if they want to last.
The Prince of Tennis is one of the biggest sports anime franchises out there, and The Prince of Tennis II is its continuation. The Prince of Tennis did a lot to popularize the concept of sports anime, and fans of that series are sure to enjoy the second series as well, as it is simply more of the same. This series is still ongoing, with a new season having aired as recently as this year.
1 Kuroko's Basketball
In the world of Japanese high school basketball, the Teiko Middle School team was famous for being completely unbeatable. Their five most incredible players became known as the "Generation of Miracles," who each sported incredible abilities that brought the team to victory. Unbeknownst to many, however, is the existence of a phantom sixth man: Tetsuya Kuroko, a short young man with an even smaller presence. Having separated from his former allies, Kuroko aims to achieve victory with his new team at Seirin High School.
Kuroko's Basketball is easily one of the most popular sports anime out there and is still quite beloved to this day. Its battle-shonen-like approach to basketball, complete with supernatural abilities and inhuman powers, made it stand out and appeal to those who normally wouldn't spare a glance at sports series. With incredibly exciting basketball games and an incredible selection of fun and quirky characters, Kuroko's Basketball is easily the best sports anime to come out of 2012.