7 Best Anime About Women’s Sports

From soccer to ice skating to volleyball, sports anime cover a diverse number of topics. However, they often feature all-male teams where women take on managerial or support roles without getting in on the action. Sports anime with female protagonists may not be the most common, but they deserve recognition for going against the genre’s standard and giving strong women a chance to flex their skills and muscles.

Like the ones about men’s sports, shows with all-women teams cover many topics; consequently, whether the games in these anime are familiar, underrated, or imaginary, they recognize women’s sports have often been overlooked and, more importantly, celebrate them. Let’s take a look at the best women’s sports anime.

Updated on August 30, 2024 by Mark Sammut: Girl sports anime do not get anywhere near as much mileage as the boys’ variant, which is a shame as the available series are generally decent. The Summer 2024 season has one show that fits the descriptor: Narenare: Cheer for You! The anime focuses on cheerleading, and it is mostly structured as a conventional sports story. While not quite ready to be ranked among the best of the best, it is worth watching.

The article has been updated with more information on each anime.

7 Taisho Baseball Girls

MyAnimeList: 7.34

• Japanese Title:Taishou Yakyuu Musume
• Release Date: July 3, 2009
• Studio: J.C.Staff
• Based On: Light Novel
• Creator: Atsushi Kagurazaka
• Streaming Service: HIDIVE

Taisho Baseball Girls takes place in 1925 after baseball had just been introduced to Japan. Even though Japan experienced many cultural and technological changes during that time, others still expected women to prioritize domestic affairs over education or hobbies. Sports were out of the question almost entirely.

After being confronted with traditional beliefs, two young girls decide to form a successful baseball team and prove women have potential outside housework. Due to the social norms of the time, many obstacles block them from their goal, but they are determined to play the sport against boys and come out victorious.

6 Keijo!!!!!!

MyAnimeList: 6.91

Keijo is a sport where women stand on a platform floating in the water and try to knock the other participants off using only their hips, bottoms, and breasts. The winner of each round receives a large cash prize, encouraging young women of all backgrounds to apply to a specialized training school for the sport.

As the latest school applicants fight it out on the water for a chance to pro, Keijo!!!!!! uses ample fanservice that contrasts the intensity of the matches, giving it more of a classic sports anime charm than it may seem to have at first to some viewers. As silly as the concept sounds on paper, the execution is pretty flawless, creating a series that has more to offer than just girls in bikinis.

5 Hanebado!

MyAnimeList: 6.84

• Release Date: July 2, 2018
• Studio: LIDENFILMS
• Based On: Manga
• Creator: Kōsuke Hamada
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll

Hanebado! is a badminton sports anime that follows Nagisa Aragaki’s rivalry with Ayano Hanesaki. When they first played against each other, Hanesaki seemed cruel, heartless, and unbeatable, convincing Aragaki that she must work harder at badminton. However, after Hanesaki joins Aragaki’s badminton team in high school, the two begin to share the same respect for each other as they have for the game.

While Hanebado! is a sports anime with many intense matches, it also gives its characters time to develop off-field and reaffirm their passion for the sport. The series gets surprisingly dark too, at least compared to other entries in the genre. In some ways, this is a psychological drama.

4 Iwa Kakeru! -Sport Climbing Girls-

MyAnimeList: 6.48

• Release Date: October 4, 2020
• Studio: Blade
• Based On: Manga
• Creator: Ryūdai Ishizaka
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll

Konomi Kasahara is a puzzle-game enthusiast who doesn’t know what club to join in high school until she comes across a climbing wall. Captivated by the idea of solving a climb, she joins the climbing club with no experience but plenty of motivation.

As Kasahara continues to climb and learn the shapes of the climbing wall, she becomes friends and rivals with the others climbing around her. However, what makes Iwa Kakeru! -Sport Climbing Girls- stand out is how it breaks down its characters’ thought processes to show the skill and speed needed to overcome obstacles in sports.

3 Girls Und Panzer

MyAnimeList: 7.52 (Season 1)

In Girls und Panzer, teams of five girls play a strategic war game with tanks called sensha-dō. Despite its apparent danger, the specialized tanks usually prevent most injuries, making the game safe enough that it is considered a sport even high schoolers can play. The series follows the commander of Panzer IV, Miho Nishizumi, because of her family’s long-standing history with the sport and challenging past experiences with sensha-dō. The sport is considered one that can help with low self-confidence, making Miho’s work in the Panzer IV helpful for those around her.

Girls und Panzer commits to a bizarre concept, delivering a surprisingly addictive and lengthy sports show that has produced multiple seasons and movies. At a glance, someone might assume this is a CGDCT anime that just happens to feature tanks; however, after a few episodes, that preconception should be completely disproved as this series is far more concerned with the “panzer” side of things.

2 Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story

MyAnimeList: 7.50 (Season 1)

In underground golf gambling circles, Eve is known as the “Rainbow Bullet” for her aggressive playstyle and ability to complete any hole in only three swings. She will accept any wager for the right price since she uses the money she earns to keep herself and her found family off of the streets. Things seem to be going well for Eve until she has her first loss to Aoi Amawashi, a talented young woman born into golf with a pure love for the sport.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story takes golf to the next level with its fast-paced matches that often go into absurdist territory, particularly during the first season. Eve and Aoi’s admiration for each other and rivalry serve as the story’s beating heart, but they are hardly the only great characters. Essentially a battle shonen revolving around golf, Birdie Wing is packed with larger-than-life characters with strong ideologies and “dark-ish” backstories.

1 Uma Musume: Pretty Derby

MyAnimeList: 7.30 (Season 1)

On the surface, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby sounds like it should be awful. Anime based on gacha games tend to be underwhelming, and most of them do not have stories revolving around horse girls who take part in derby races. Like, how could this possibly work? Yet, Uma Musume has produced three full seasons, an ONA spin-off, and a movie, and it is not done yet. Crucially, all of this content is GOOD. In fact, on occasion, Uma Musume can be downright great, with season 2 being particularly brilliant. This girls’ sports anime demonstrates there is no such thing as a bad concept, only bad execution.

Although certain characters stick around, Uma Musume promotes a new protagonist for each season, creating an ever-evolving universe that emphasizes the passage of time and the fact that all these girls know they have a very small window to achieve their goals. Uma Musume‘s animation is consistently good, and most episodes strike a balance between races, training, and even slice of life moments.