Sports anime tend to focus on the themes of friendship, teamwork, determination and bravery. With these themes, it is usually easy to get an audience engaged in the lives of the characters that the story follows. Sports anime is one of the most diverse genres of anime and it provides a great platform from which authors can tell a multifaceted story.
The crux of the physical action and drama often lies with the results of different matches that take place with teams or individuals, often competing in tournaments. Despite this, the best parts of sports anime tends to be the interesting character dynamics that often form between the main cast.
10 RUN WITH THE WIND: INTP
People with this personality trait often prefer to operate in small circles. They believe that too many people will only serve to unnecessarily drain their energy. So, instead, they focus their energy at the people close to themselves and they work hard to maintain their sense of peace. Whenever this sense of peace is threatened, these individuals tend to withdraw themselves and become far more aloof. Kakeru shows many of these traits and Run With The Wind provides interesting insight on how to help an INTP when they get like that.
9 BABY STEPS: ISTJ
Baby Steps follows the story of Eichirou Maruo as he begins to develop a love for tennis. At first, it was just another hobby but, after a couple of life changing experiences, the once shy Eichirou begins to blossom into a more confident and assertive version of himself. Eichirou displays many characteristics of an ISTJ, such as his logical way of analyzing the situations he finds himself. Eichirou tends to also be very observant and focus on the here and now, which tends to be a characteristic of people with the ISTJ personality type.
8 EYESHIELD 21: ESTJ
ESTJ is a personality type that is often reflective of great stability and structure. In the plot of the story, this structure is represented by the established football system. The script is practically set before the start of each tournament. Eyeshield must go up against tough teams and by beating them, he takes down the established order as he goes along. Many of the teams in the series tend to be rigid and highly structured, which tends to happen when you leave too many ESTJ in one place. Eyeshield 21 provides an interesting avenue for challenging an established structure, which makes it an interesting series for ESTJ's.
7 CAPTAIN TSUBASA: ESTJ
Tsubasa Ozora is a quintessential captain. He's a great leader who will give his all to bring home victory for his teammates. Tsubasa is a kind, considerate and determined footballer, who operates as a playmaker for his team. Without him, his team cannot score goals. Tsubasa has exceptional leadership skills and can always be counted on, owing to many of his ESTJ personality traits. People with this personality type oftentimes end up in leadership positions, which could go a long way to explaining Tsubasa role as team captain.
6 HAIKYUU: ESFP
Haikyuu is an anime featuring numerous teams with a feverish competitive spirit. It is not uncommon to see players risk bodily harm just to score a single point for their team. The matches often involve some of Japan's most talented young volleyballers, which means they are always an exciting spectacle to watch. This allows them to captivate the attention of the audience, much like performers. The players all have larger than life personalities which makes this possible and quite a few of the cast display behavior befitting of this personality type.
5 KUROKO NO BASKET: ENTP
Kuroko no Basket has a diverse cast of characters who all have their own goals and motives. Kuroko and Aomine are both reserved characters, but they both have complete different patterns of behaviors, despite sharing many character traits and a strong bond. This diversity in character type makes Kuroko an interesting anime for ENTP, as these people tend to be highly curious. The ever changing nature of Kuroko no Basket's cast should provide a myriad of questions that will surely keep the ENTP's busy mind occupied.
4 PRINCE OF TENNIS: INTP
Ryouma Echizen is a recent recruit of the Seishin Gakuen High School's Tennis Club. He joined the team as apart of his plan to eclipse the career of his legendary father. At Seishen, Ryouma discovers many talented plaers who push him towards greatness and, as he grows with them, they also grow with him, transforming them into a much more impressive team. Ryouma is a reserved character who primarily prefers to stay by himself, where he tends to logically analyze situations before acting, which is a common trait for INTP's.
3 AIR GEAR: ISFP
ISFP is a personality type characterized by a burning passion to concentrate on the current moment in time. Persons with this personality greatly appreciate the present day and, as such, they have a tendency to live every day as it comes. They are often kind-natured and pay great attention to their surroundings, which allows them to help the people closest to them whenever they're in need. Additionally, these people tend to act before they think. These traits can all be identified in Air Gear's protagonist, Itsuki Minami, which should make for an interesting watch.
2 MEGALO BOX: INTP
Megalo Box follows the story of Junk Dog as he goes from a no-name, small-time competitor to standing on the stage of Megalonia, the biggest boxing event in the world. Joe is a cunning man who likes to keep his cards close to his chest. Much like an INTP, Joe tends to spend an excessive amount of time with himself at the cost of those close to him. Additionally, Joe also displays a highly intuitive side, which is another staple behavior of those with this personality type.
1 HAJIME NO IPPO: ENFP
Ippo is a true warrior who never backs down, no matter how daunting the prospects of victory. Through constantly honing his skills, Ippo was able to turn himself into one of the best boxers around. With every victory, his fighting spirit continued to grow until he developed an indomitable will. People with an ENFP type personality often make superb leaders, who guide others through their actions and charisma.