Sports anime have consistently dominated the attention of fans, which can be seen in the steady influx of sports anime over the past few years. However, even the most hardcore fans of the genre will admit the inherent sexism in sports anime – women are relegated to (if they’re lucky) being expendable side characters who often play managers or love interests to the boys in the anime.
They never play any significant role and are often forgotten towards the end of the anime. Fans who are tired of seeing such sexist tropes and would rather prefer seeing sports anime where women dominate on-screen can have a look at 10 sports anime with an all-female cast.
10 Kandagawa Jet Girls: A Sports Anime Where Girls Do Jet Racing
Described as the world’s most intense water sport, Jet Racing is all the rage in Tokyo’s Asakusa Girls' High School. Rin Namiki is a transfer student who's lucky enough to find someone like her at the school, a girl named Misa Aoi.
The duo finds itself against the highly competitive girls from the Musashino Girls' High School, forcing Rin to create her school’s very first Jet Racing club. Misa is her first recruit, and she only needs 2 more girls to show the girls from Musashino who the real boss is!
9 TAMAYOMI: The Baseball Girls: A Sports Anime Where Girls Play Baseball
Despite being an exceptional pitcher, Yomi Takeda did not get very far in baseball. She quit baseball, but as luck would have it, she was reunited with her childhood friend Tamaki Yamazaki, who shared her passion for the sport.
Meeting her lights a fire within Yomi, who decides to take up pitching once again. They create a baseball team for their school, but will that be enough to fulfill Yomi’s dream of reaching the nationals?
8 Good-bye, Cramer: A Sports Anime Where Girls Play Soccer
Despite having a passion for soccer, junior high student Sumire Suou is unable to make much of it. However, her “rival” Midori Soshizaki gives her an irresistible offer – to join her high school soccer team.
After an excited Suou agrees, Midori promises she’ll never let her be alone again. This anime is set to air in the month of April, and its prequel Sayonara Watashi no Cramer Movie: First Touch is a standalone series that features Suou’s life in junior high.
7 Umamusume: Pretty Derby: A Sports Anime Where Horse Girls Compete In Races
Being born as a horse girl in a world full of horses is a rare feat. The best of the best girls get enrolled at the prestigious Tokyo's Tracen Academy, where their futures as idols and racers are pretty much a given.
New girl Special Week wants to become the best horse girl there is and decides that becoming part of the school’s race track is her fastest ticket to fame.
6 Cinderella Nine: A Sports Anime Where Girls Play Baseball
This sports anime was adapted from a mobile game, where the player plays the game from their perspective. It’s the same in the anime, where everything keeps happening from the viewers’ points of view.
The player (aka the viewer) is never given a name or any self-defining identity, except for the fact that they used to be a senior league baseball ace that stopped playing due to an injury. However, after enrolling in a new school, they are encouraged by Tsubasa Arihara to become their baseball team’s manager, with her eyes on the Koshiennationals.
5 Hanebado!: A Sports Anime Where Girls Play Badminton
After she lost at the nationals, Nagisa Aragaki's sense of shame made her lose her passion for badminton. She starts taking out her frustration on the badminton club members, who quit one by one.
However, the new coach Kentarou adds a new girl to the team – the same girl who defeated Nagisa at the nationals! Soon enough Nagisa learns that like her, Ayano battles with self-doubt constantly. So, how will they manage to play at the nationals again?
4 Keijo!!!!!!!!: A Sports Anime Where Girls Knock Off Their Opponents On Water
Keijo is a sport that has taken Japan by storm. It has one simple rule: all its participants (girls only) have to knock their opponents off their feet by using their butts and breasts, only. However, there is a catch: all of this must be done on top of floating platforms in a pool!
Nozomi Kaminashi is a gifted gymnast who soon makes waves in the world of Keijo. However, since the sport is filled with athletes even better than her, she wonders if she can truly make it to the top.
3 Harukana Receive: A Sports Anime Where Girls Play Beach Volleyball
One day, Haruka Oozora finds a group of girls playing beach volleyball. She’s invited to play with them and she soon realizes she quite enjoys the sport. One of the girls, Narumi Tooi, explains how she was unable to move forward professionally after her partner backed out.
Haruka decides to help Narumi, but the clock is ticking. The Junior Tournament is only a few weeks away, and Haruka knows nothing about the sport!
2 Iwa Kakeru!: Sport Climbing Girls: A Sports Anime Where Girls Climb Walls
Konomi Kasahara always loved puzzles, but decided to opt for a more physical activity to keep herself busy. A chance encounter with a giant rock climbing wall in her school’s stadium piques her interest.
She soon realizes that she can put her puzzle-solving ability to use in this sport, so she instantly joins the Hanamiya Climbing Team, with the hopes of her passion finally amounting to something in her life.
1 How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift?: A Sports Anime Where Girls Do Bodybuilding
With her ever-increasing weight, Hibiki Sakura decides to join the Silverman Gym. What she doesn’t know is that the gym is full of famous athletes and bodybuilders! There she meets a unique group of individuals, making her life at the gym all the more colorful.
This anime has more of a slice-of-life feel to it and features different competitions and challenges in different episodes.