Sports anime have been popular in Japan for decades, with North American fans starting to catch up in the last few years. Fan-favorite Haikyu!! and many other sports anime series offer uplifting and inspirational stories about underdogs who want to climb to the top.
Plenty of series attempt to showcase a realistic portrayal of the sport, and the tough road to success in competitive sports. Others --not so much... and others don’t even try for a realistic viewpoint. It’s anime, after all. Here’s a look at some of the faux pas and outright fails when it comes to staying within the rules of the game.
10 Iwa Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls Back Clipping Fail
Iwa Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls is relatively realistic in its depiction of indoor rock climbing as a sport. The story focuses on Konomi Kasahara, a gamer girl who is an avid rock climber.
The trailer for the anime, however, shows a girl climbing a wall with the rope clipped on to her back. It's called, not surprisingly, "back clipping" and it's a major error that can lead to disaster. If the climber falls and depends on the rope, it may unclip in that situation.
9 The Prince Of Tennis Allows Illegal Moves
At first, Prince of Tennis fools many newcomers into thinking it’s a reality-based sports anime. It doesn’t take too long, though, before that impression wears off. Some of the special moves the players try – like the Boomerang Snake, or Cyclone Smash-Ryoma – are more or less based on actual tennis plays, but the series stretches the limits of physics.
While the official rule books of Wimbledon may not mention monsters specifically, it’s probably safe to assume that summoning anyone else to help out with a match is a no-no.
8 Ginban Kaleidoscope Changes The Olympic Rules
In Ginban Kaleidoscope, a 16-year-old skater competes for the Olympics to represent Japan. It begins with her falling during a key competition and is complicated by the ghost of a Canadian pilot, but it's essentially about skater Tazusa Sakurano's journey to the top – or so she hopes.
Along the way, there are rivals and that's where the realism ends. Countries can select more than one skater to represent them in the competition – which would take away the rivalry that forms a major part of the anime series.
7 Eyeshield 21 Doesn’t Aim For Realism
Sena, a Japanese student who can run fast, is recruited into the American-style football team of Deimon High by the captain of the team. It may be unfair to expect any ties to real American football and its rules.
To begin with, Sena is given the non-existent position of "team secretary", with an eye shield to conceal his identity. The refereeing in the games is questionable, and sometimes non-existent, especially for players like Gaou of Hakushu, who seems to get away with everything.
6 Real Cyclists Only Wish It Was Like Yowamushi Pedal
In real life, cycling is a gruelling sport. It’s no surprise the anime makes it more exciting to watch. Sakamichi Onoda is persuaded to join his school's competitive cycling team, and he shows some amazing talent, like passing over 100 other cyclists during a race after he fell.
Other moves that stretch realism, cycling rules, and the laws of physics are the specialty human bullet train attack, among others. There may be no specific rule against it, but it seems like being able to sense the wind would constitute an unfair advantage.
5 Inazuma Eleven Gets A Yellow Card For Irregular Moves
The rules and techniques of soccer typically don’t include moves with names like God Hand, Fist of Justice, Omega the Hsubsti, the Hammer of Wrath, and Fireball Knuckle. It does add a hilarious layer of fun to Inazuma Eleven, though.
It's also not unusual for players to use Ki moves – which come from Dragon Ball Z. Real-life soccer officials may not have thought of including kicking the ball too high up in the sky, or allowing three players to kick it all at once in the rule books, but in Inazuma Eleven, it’s just another moment in the game.
4 The Local Rules Are Stretched In Dan Doh!
Dandoh is just a kid who hits a flyball that smashes the principal’s potted plants. Instead of punishment, the principal introduces him to golf, and they eventually enter a tournament together. Dandoh is nearly disqualified from the tournament when he putts with a driver after his putter is destroyed.
The official explains it to him as a “local rule” – but in reality, local rules don’t govern things like the choice of clubs. It may not be realistic, but it adds a little tension and humor to the story.
3 Kuroko No Basket Introduce Superhuman Power Levels To The Game
The NBA probably doesn’t have a specific rule against the use of lasers in a game, but there is certainly a limit on what can officially make it to the court while in play – namely, players, ball and referees.
Lasers represent just one of the anime-style additions to the game of basketball audiences love about Kuroko no Basket. The players have special abilities, and the rules are bent around them, including power levels, and those special powers always seem to win the day.
2 Basquash! Basketball With Mechas
The whole premise of Basquash! is an over-the-top expansion of basketball that includes playing with giant robots. NBA officials never thought of putting that rule in their books, but extra help on the courts is no doubt against standard basketball regulations.
Set in the future, the sport is called BFB or Big Foot Basketball, and the story revolves around Dan, a boy who begins as an enemy of the sport and ends up a star. It aired in 2009 but remains fairly popular even now.
1 Captain Tsubasa’s Referees (And Others) Need A Lesson In The Rules
There have been several anime series based on the long-running Captain Tsubasa manga. In Captain Tsubasa ~ Road to 2002, the focus was on an unfair referee, but looking at the whole series, the reffing is pathetic at best.
Coaches regularly urge their players to break the legs of their opponents, and vicious hits are ignored or get a yellow card at best. Other details are more nitpicky. Hyuga, for example, plays with his sleeves rolled up an infraction of the rules that would get him in trouble in real life.