Recently, the anime landscape has seen a rise in popularity within the sports genre. With some of the most notable shows like Haikyuu!!, Blue Lock, Aoashi, Yuri!!! on Ice, and many more attracting both anime fans for the storyline and sports enthusiasts for the accurate representation. You can check out Top Sports Anime to watch if you’d like to know more of such anime with detailed information.
In this article, we will focus on one such sport that Japan is already known for, but are these shows as good as the other sports anime that have stolen the spotlight? The only way to find out is to check out these Top 10 Baseball anime for you to watch.
Here’s a top 10 list of baseball anime for you if you’re a sports fan.
10) Major
- Episodes: (Season 1)Â 26
-
Status: Finished Airing
-
Studios: Studio Hibari
-
Genre: Sports
-
Theme: Team Sports
Gorou Honda is a young boy who loves baseball and looks up to his father, Shigeharu. Gorou dreams of becoming a professional baseball player like his dad. Shigeharu, despite facing challenges like his wife’s passing and being on the second-string team Blue Ocean, finds motivation in his son’s admiration to keep pushing forward.
9) Tayamayo: The Baseball Girls
- Episodes: 12
- Status: Finished Airing
- Studios: Studio A-CAT
- Genre: Sports
- Theme:Â School, Team Sports
Yomi Takeda and Tamaki Yamazaki have been passionate about baseball since childhood. They would play catch together whenever they could, and during these games, Yomi realized she had a natural talent for throwing the ball in a seemingly magical way. Despite being separated soon after, the girls made a promise to continue playing baseball together even as they grew older. Now, in order to fulfill their promise, they reunite once again.
8) Moshidora
- Episodes: 10
- Status: Finished Airing
- Studios: Production I.G
- Genre: Drama, Sports
- Theme:Â Team Sports
Minami becomes the team manager for her high school baseball team when she learns that her best friend Yuuki is hospitalized and unable to continue in that role. Wanting to support the team in Yuuki’s absence, Minami sets out to find a book on managing a baseball team, hoping to fill in for her friend and contribute to the team’s success.
7) Princess Nine
- Episodes:Â 26
-
Status: Finished Airing
-
Studios: Phoenix Entertainment
-
Theme:Â Team Sports
Keiko Himuro, the Chairwoman of Kisuragi School, forms an all-girl baseball team with Ryo Hayakawa as the leader. Ryo is the daughter of the legendary pitcher. Their aim is to show that girls can compete at the same level as boys, with their ultimate goal being to play at Koshien Stadium, a prestigious opportunity reserved for the top teams.
6) Little Busters
- Episodes: 26
- Status: Finished Airing
- Studios: J.C Staff
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Supernatural
- Theme:Â School
Not exactly an entirely baseball focused anime, but if you’d be interested in a supernatural school themed anime portraying high school kids with little reference to baseball, you may want to try this out. Kyousuke decides to re-ignite the Little Busters by forming a baseball team as it will be his last school year with them. They have a problem though: there aren’t enough members! The tables have turned, for it is now Riki’s turn to reach out and recruit new friends into the Little Busters, just like Kyousuke had once done for him.
5) Big Windup!
- Episodes: (season 1) 25
- Status: Finished Airing
- Studios: A-1 Pictures
- Genre: Sports
- Theme:Â Team sports
Ren Mihashi was the ace of his middle school’s baseball team, but due to his poor pitching, they could never win. Constant losses eventually lead to his teammates bullying him and reached the point where his teammates no longer tried to win, causing Mihashi to graduate with little self-esteem. As a result, Mihashi decides to go to a high school in a different prefecture where he has no intention of playing baseball. Unfortunately, upon his arrival at Nishiura High, he is dragged into joining their new team as the starting pitcher.
4) Touch
- Episodes: 101
- Status: Finished Airing
- Studios: Group TAC
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Sports
- Theme:Â Love Polygon, School, Team sports
Another anime in the list where the main focus is more like a love polygon than fully focused in the sports aspect. The story centers around three characters—UesugiKazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he’s talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya.
3) Cross Game
- Episodes:Â 50
- Status:Â Finished Airing
-
Studios: SynergySP
-
Genres: Drama, Romance, Sports
-
Themes: School, Team Sports
Kou Kitamura and Aoba Tsukishima often clash, despite their families being close friends and business partners. Kou, the only child of a sports shop owner, has never had a passion for baseball. However, he has developed impressive batting skills from frequent visits to the Tsukishima family’s local baseball batting center. In contrast, Aoba is passionate about baseball and excels as a star player, particularly in pitching.
2) Battery
- Episodes:Â 11
- Status:Â Finished Airing
- Studios:Â Zero-G
- Genres: Drama, Sports
- Theme: Team Sports
In baseball, the battery is the relationship between the pitcher and the catcher. Takumi is in need of a catcher able to keep up with his pitches. His worries are soon put to rest after meeting Gou Nagakura. As his fan and fellow student, Gou is eager to prove that he is not a simple braggart, but rather a player skillful enough to catch Takumi’s pitches. Amid struggling to form a “battery” with Gou, Takumi comes into conflict with his new teammates due to his irreverent personality but grapples to find the true joy of the sport under his grandfather’s guidance.
- Episodes: (season 1)Â 75
- Status:Â Finished Airing
- Studios: Production I.G, Madhouse
- Genre:Â Sports
- Theme: Team Sports
Eijun Sawamura’s last middle school game ends in disappointment with a stray pitch. Determined to excel in high school, he and his teammates set their sights on the national tournament. However, his plans shift when scouted by Tokyo’s prestigious Seidou High School for his unique pitching style. Eijun, is now eager to improve and become his team’s ace.
New domains besides Shonen Anime are now dominating the anime landscape
It’s quite evident that the dominance of shonen anime is being challenged. An example of this change would be when the Blue Lock manga surpassed One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen to claim the top spot in manga sales. Moreover, it’s not just action-packed series that are making waves. Newer shows like Frieren is also climbing to top positions, which differs itself from the typical shonen formula. Maybe in the near future, we will be able to see more of such diverse styles in the anime industry.