Since first airing in 2014, the Haikyuu!! anime has drawn in fans worldwide for many reasons. The story has diverse teams and athletes with unique personalities and skills, helping to make the series memorable among the crowd of sports anime.

While Haikyuu!! has been a blueprint for many sports stories that have followed, it has also taken inspiration from anime that came before it. Here are a few sports anime Haikyuu!! fans are sure to enjoy after following Hinata and his team.

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Kuroko's Basketball

Vorpal Swords: Kise, Murasakibara, Kuroko, Akashi, Aomine, Kagami, and Midorima from Kuroko's Basketball: LAST GAME.

Known as the "Generation of Miracles," Teiko Middle School had a legendary basketball team that went undefeated. However, this team had a secret "Phantom Sixth Man" whose presence went undetected, yet he still impacted their dynamic. After junior high, however, the Teiko team broke up and went their separate ways in high school.

Enter Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya, freshmen at Seirin High. They strive to be the best in Japan but to achieve their goals, they must defeat the former members of the Generation of Miracles -- who happen to be Kuroko's old teammates. Though the plot is similar to Haikyuu!! with teams that want to be number one in their country, Kuroko's Basketball has its own unique attributes that separate from its volleyball counterpart. In fact, series creator Tadatoshi Fujimaki helped Haruichi Furudate, the author of Haikyuu!!, draw attacking poses and sweat for his own beloved manga.

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Sk8 The Infinity (Skateboarding)

Sk8 the infinity

Kyan Reki is a high schooler who's passionate about skateboarding and works on building new ones during the day. At night he heads to "S," an illegal and dangerous underground skate race. Other skating legends come to compete, including Shadow, Joe and Cherry Blossom.

Meanwhile, Reki's classmate Langa is a half-Japanese, half-Canadian exchange student with no experience in skateboarding. When Reki and Langa run into trouble at S, the latter has to skate as part of a bet. Sk8 the Infinity features the same friendly rivalry seen in Haikyuu!!, but without the team aspect. Fans of sports anime will definitely enjoy Sk8's intense competition and unique personalities.

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Salaryman's Club (Badminton)

Salaryman's Club main cast

Being a salaryman isn't easy for Salaryman's Club protagonist Shiratori Mikoto, especially as he's starting at a new company. This company, Sunlight Beverage, has a badminton team full of interesting players whom Mikoto doesn't quite get along with. He also has to play on a doubles team with his coworker, Miyazumi Tatsuru, if he wants to play on the team, which Mikoto isn't thrilled about either.

Mikoto shares similarities to Haikyuu!! deuteragonist Kageyama Tobio. Both were considered prodigies at their sport and therefore developed an arrogant attitude. Joining a new team humbled them, helped refine their skill, and built bonds with their teammates that they were previously reluctant to form.

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Burning Kabaddi (Soccer)

Yoigoshi from Burning Kabaddi.

Kabaddi is a contact sport in which players on teams of seven take turns trying to tag members on the opposite team without being captured. For ex-soccer player Yoigoshi Tatsuya, the game's rules seem ridiculous. After being pestered by one of Noukin High School's kabaddi players, he reluctantly gives the sport a try.

Like Haikyuu!! and Salaryman's Club, Burning Kabaddi features another arrogant prodigy. Unlike Kageyama, however, Yoigoshi quit soccer to pick up a new sport. Kabaddi is a unique sport that doesn't get a lot of recognition, but the intense matches are full of twists and sudden plays that can immediately turn the tide for a team.

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Free! (Swimming)

The cast of Free!.

As a kid, Nanase Haruka swam relays for his elementary school team with his best friends Matsuoka Rin, Tachibana Makoto and Hazuki Nagisa. The group went their separate ways only to reunite in high school, except Rin has changed; he attends a different school and declares himself Haru's rival.

Haru, Makoto and Nagisa try to put together a swim team for Iwatobi High School, but they lack a fourth member to compete in relays. Free initially aired in 2013, and Haikyuu!! took inspiration from this swimming anime. The team dynamic in both anime shows the concept of unity in a team. Much like Free, Haikyuu!! also showcases competition between old friends turned into rivals.