The sports anime genre covers almost every kind of sport there ever existed. From race car driving, ping pong, ice-skating, swimming; there exists a plethora of anime on the same. One of the consistent things in sports anime that you see is the spirit of sportsmanship. What is a sports anime without it, after all?

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Other noticeable qualities in a sports anime are engagement with the audience, thrill, and motivation. If an anime excels in all of these, it is deemed to be inspirational. However if an anime lacks any of these, it becomes the least inspirational. Here's our list for the 10 of those.

10 PRO GOLFER SARU (1985-1988)

Based on a Japanese manga by Fujiko Fujio, Pro Golfer Saru is the tale of a monkey/boy. He's cross between a monkey and a boy and he must beat every odd to become a pro golfer. The antagonist, Mr. X, and his shadow golf organization seek to create problems for Saru at every step.

Pro Golfer Saru is a typical grainy 80s Japanimation and is more of a fantasy tale than a sports anime. It doesn't serve any inspirational purpose, whatsoever.

9 AKAKICHI NO ELEVEN (1970-1971)

Made in the 70s, Akakichi No Eleven tells the tale of  Shinsei High School soccer coach, an Olympian, Teppei Matsuki. The anime is based on a manga by Ikki Kajiwara. Whilst Matsuki may be a difficult coach, he's definitely met his match with the star-student Shingi Tamai. Initially, Shingi stays away from Matsuki's antics to form a club of his own. But as any standard anime trope would have it, they work out their differences and eventually work together.

The visuals are understandably not that appealing given that the anime was made in the 70s, but it fails to impress on account of coach Teppei Matsuki's worked-up attitude. Overall, it makes for a very good sappy fest, but not an inspirational anime.

8 ASHITA TENKI NI NAARE (1984-1985)

What can be said about this anime, the visuals alone scare the bejesus out of you? Ashita Tenki Ni Naare is the tale of a young golfer Taro. It was originally serialized in a Weekly Shonen Magazine.

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This is the story of Taro: a stout food addict who is obsessed with golf. For an anime about golf, it's not clear why so much importance has been placed on body image. Anywho, Taro discards everything in the sole pursuit of golf. The anime focuses more on Taro's appearance than the importance of the game. It tries to prove that even unhealthy boys can succeed in golf! Yeah, do not seek this one out for inspirational sports anime.

7 ONE POUND GOSPEL (1988)

Again with the body image, One Pound Gospel tells the tale of a young boxer Hatanaka Kosaku. Kosaku can barely focus on his game because food is his main distraction. Touted as a pro boxer, shouldn't fitness be his first priority before the game?  As Sister Angela, a nun, decides to help Kosaku out, he uses the game to get to her.

Whilst it is fine for a sports anime to focus on body image, what's odd here is the sheer importance placed on food and romance. One Pound Gospel is more of a romantic tale between Angela and Kosaku than an inspirational sports anime.

6 GINBAN KALEIDOSCOPE (2005)

Consider a figure skater being possessed by a stunt pilot, and that's Ginban Kaleidoscope for you. No, really - that's the plot.

Tazusa Sakurano fails at the Olympics by literally knocking herself out of the game. When she returns to Japan, she begins to hear voices in her head. Turns out, Tazusa is possessed by Pete Pumps, a pilot who died the very same moment she passed out in Olympics. Together both of them must improve Tazusa's game.

While the anime isn't as bad as others on the list, it isn't an inspirational sports anime either. It is the element of comedy that resonates well with the audiences' than ice-skating.

5 CHOU SUPERCAR GATTIGER (1977-1978)

Created by Hitoshi Chiaki, Chou Supercar Gattiger tells the bizarre tale of five race car drivers who combine their vehicles to form a  Gattiger. In case you didn't know, a Gattiger is a high powered vehicle that works on solar energy.

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Professor Kabuki, the man behind the creation of the Gattiger fears for his life. He reveals that a criminal from the Demon Empire wants to monopolize Gattiger. Soon after he is murdered, his son Joe must avenge his father's death. He travels far and wide by competing in races to solve the Gattiger scandal.  In hindsight, we're not sure why this is even considered to be a sports anime when it is dominated by sci-fi action and drama!

4 PRINCE OF STRIDE: ALTERNATIVE (2016)

Let's just pretend that Prince of Stride: Alternative never happened. This anime talks about stride; an extreme sport that combines elements of running, relay and parkour.  A couple of first-year students at Honan Academy are obsessed with the sport.  As Takeru Fujiwara and Nana Sakurai aim to restart the Stride club in their school, they are joined by Riku Yagami.

Prince of Stride: Alternative was a big let-down. The plot could have done wonders, even with sports as bizarre as Stride. Sadly, the character pacing makes it hard to get familiarized with the show. It's least inspirational because it focuses less on the sport more on random high-schoolers. At best, it is a slice of life anime with a weird make-believe sport in the background.

3 TAISHOU YAKYUU MUSUME (2009)

Taishou Yakyuu Musume is particularly bland for a sports anime. It is the year 1925, the Taisho period in Japan. A sexist baseball player chooses to discourage a 14-year-old girl from playing the sport. Akiko, the girl in question, decides to make a challenge out of this sexist slur and starts her own baseball team.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume is an interesting story that's barely capitalized upon, leaving a lot of untapped potential in its wake. If lousy baseball is your motivational shot, please oh please, watch this one.

2 BUZZER BEATER (2005)

Buzzer Beater tells the tale of Hideyoshi, a homeless boy living in the near future who wants to excel at basketball. But here's the catch: Hideyoshi lives in a time where basketball is dominated by aliens. Determined to change that, he enters the Space League with an all-human team. It's not clear how he manages to train the team and qualify for the league. The most inspirational aspect has been cut right out of the anime.

The aliens are particularly badly animated, every time they speak, their lips look funny. Because it is basketball, you'd expect better camera work at crucial angels. Though there are instances of CGI and 3D but other than that it just special camera work. So to summarize, Buzzer Beater is an inter-galactic sports anime. If you would want to watch a generic basketball anime with an unusual storyline, Buzzer Beater offers some potential.

Either that you could just watch Space Jam.

1 MOSHIDORA (2011)

The drama co-efficient in Moshidora runs higher than the sports side of things. Minami joins her high-school baseball team as a manager, to fill in for her best friend. She buys Peter Drucker's management book to help with her new job. And she ends up applying the same principles to the baseball team.

Moshidora focuses so heavily on the management book more than the sport itself. Sure, baseball or any professional team is run on well-established management principles. But Peter Drucker's book is an odd choice; it's a textbook for corporations, not high school baseball teams. At most, Moshidora is a strange yet well-marketed commercial for Peter's book.

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