Even though one may think of Baseball as an all American sport, Japan has such a lot of passion for the sport and over time has introduced a whole lot of new styles, techniques and of course, fans of the sport! Check out these amazing and gripping baseball anime - all the sport anime series to watch to enjoy all the fun of the matches, the intensity of the conflict and the way it brings a whole community together! In terms of baseball anime, there are so many classics to enjoy, that I bet you haven't discovered yet, but there are a lot of modern greats out there too. You can even find OVAs of other popular anime like Detective Conan or One Piece where the characters play ball.
1. Ace of Diamond
Possibly the number one pick for baseball anime! With a stray pitch that completely missed the batter, Eijun Sawamura loses his final middle school baseball game. Frustrated by this defeat, Eijun and his teammates vow to reach the national tournament once they are in high school. But everything changes when a scout unexpectedly invites him to Tokyo's prestigious Seidou High School after seeing the potential in his unusual pitching style. Encouraged by his teammates, Eijun accepts the offer, ready to improve his skills and play at a much more competitive level of baseball. This series not only has a good plot with a focus on the game, but the great animation to back it up. If baseball is your thing, then Ace of Diamond is really one of those “best of the best” anime series. Unfortunately, for fans of this part of the sports anime genre, they have likely already seen it!
2. Big Windup
There's nothing quite as good as those anime series focused on an impressive player finding their mojo and discover their true power, it's just so satisfying to watch! Big Windup is all about a baseball player getting his groove back after being on a bad team. You will find yourself rooting for main character Ren Mihashi from the word go, you get to experience their confidence struggles and the main character becomes so endearing that it is an anime not just reserved for sports fans, but will appeal to and be enjoyed by everyone, all age groups too!
3. One Outs
The story begins when Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$460,000) for every point he gives up. This anime is not baseball in the traditional sense, but it instead combines high stakes gambling with the sport. You win big. You lose big. As such, the anime involves a lot of strategy and intensity and puts a lot of pressure on the part of the main character - and explores how they deal with that.
4. Captain
Captain is quite an old school anime from 80’s, but is definitely one to watch and enjoy! It follows one particular team and explores how it grows over a generation. It's such a cool coming of age anime in the sport genre, we follow the team through their ups and downs and through the eyes of more than one captain and get attached to every character in the process! A really comforting and charming watch and so much fun, you just want to be part of the team or form your own!
5. Battery
Time to practice your swings because we’re about to hit a curve ball, boys. This anime follows a prestigious school pitcher who moves to a backwater town and joins a less skilled team. It is more of a personal story with a main focus on growing up gay and the ways in which society responds to it, with a backdrop of the beautiful game. Perhaps it can be considered that the baseball elements of this show are merely in service to the substance of its themes and messages, however, the elements of the sport are woven in beautifully and provide the most fulfilling backdrop. This is baseball anime, but so much more. There is a lot to love about this intense and gripping drama of an anime and it will surprise you. It shows a lot of the sport, but there are a lot of personality clashes between characters that prevent an easy bond. You can also check out this super in depth review of Battery anime here!
6. Major
This is an incredibly iconic baseball anime series to watch and enjoy! It's all about baseball through and through with this anime, through a really cute father and son lens. Gorou Honda, a little boy obsessed with baseball, has always admired his father, Shigeharu. Wishing to follow in his father's footsteps, Gorou dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. In turn, his son's starry-eyed admiration encourages Shigeharu to keep persevering. Unfortunately, an elbow injury forces Shigeharu off the team, and he falls into despair. However, after an offhand joke from his childhood friend, Shigeharu reevaluates his choices and decides to keep playing, leaving behind his prime position as pitcher and taking up the bat. Now motivated more than ever, Gorou works hard to carve his way in the Japanese Little League. Like Ace of Diamond, Major is one of those iconic baseball series. This multi generational sports story is charming and gripping in every way. You follow a kid who plays Little League while his Dad is a Major Leaguer, and you follow that kid all the way to his own Major League career!
7. Touch
This series is considered a classic to sports anime fans because it has a lot of the classic tropes you like in anime anime. It follows the struggles - personal, romantic, and sport-oriented of twins who may or may not like their childhood friend. It definitely is a story about the game, but it is also very much a dramatic story about their lives as well.
8. Cross Game
This romantic sports anime is such a charming and riveting twist on an awesome baseball anime. The main focus is on the game, with the romantic interests as a sub plot to spice up the anime! The personal and romantic interests between the characters are so complicated - our main characters, a guy and a girl, are firm rivals - which is always good for a baseball anime! They carry completely different approaches and to make matters more complicated, the guy loves the girl’s older sister. The show explores how they bond through baseball, the sport revealing the cracks and fractures between the characters.
9. Taisho Baseball Girls
Set in 1925, when a local player arrogantly states that girls should become housewives instead of going to school, teenage firebrands Koume and Akiko respond by forming their own baseball team. It's shocking. It's scandalous. And yet, in a nation in which almost anything seems suddenly possible, it may just be the start of something greater than any nine girls can imagine.
This is the anime version of “A League of Their Own,” without that awkward Tom Hank’s peeing scene. Joking aside, it really is a lot like that movie. The show follows girls playing baseball during a time when girls did not play baseball and even may not have really been expected to even go to school. It starts with rebellion but is filled with struggle and love of the sport, everything we love to see in an anime about baseball!
10. Dokaben
When we say old school anime, Dokaben is old school. It actually hails from the 70’s, so is a living piece of history right there! It is an underrated gem as was never big in the West, but it such a great series to wrap yourself in if you love baseball. It celebrates the fun of the sport and has a more comical animation style and definitely a more comical plot, there is a lot of humour to enjoy and is a more laidback take on the sport, which is so refreshing in a world full of super high intensity sport anime series! It's a really chill and laidback, easy to get in to anime to gain a whole new appreciation for the art that is baseball.
11. Gurazeni
An anime about professional baseball in Japan, this anime sports series is a refreshing twist on a baseball anime, it is so unique in many ways and is a must watch if you are looking for a good baseball anime with a good plot! This is the story of Natsunosuke Honda, a pro baseball player - a relief pitcher who has been playing pro in a team called Spiders for 8 years. The team operates as a highly-stratified society, where the player's performance determines his annual salary. Natsunosuke is one of the highest paid players in the game. He measures how good players are by how much money they make, and he intends to be on top and stay there. Instead of sabotaging his teammates, he challenges them so that they can both grow. It’s a lot of silliness, but it is a nice and refreshing watch and endless amounts of fun.
12. Song of Baseball Enthusiasts
Initially created by the same author as Dokaben, Song of Baseball Enthusiasts takes a more serious route. Like Dokaben, this was also a series big in Japan and likely led to a little more acceptance of women playing baseball in school.
13. H2
A baseball anime that is a little alternative, as it operates from the perception of baseball players reigning supreme over soccer/football players, whom it portrays as monsters! It is a really quirky and endlessly entertaining coming of age anime, with baseball taking the main stage, but awkward romantic interests to complicate things! Get ready for unrequited love, character development and lots and lots of baseball. You will love this if you fell in love with the series Cross Game - the same person created both H2 and Cross Game series!
14. Shippu! Iron Leaguer
This is a kind of sci fi take on your traditional baseball! Let's bring robots in to the game and follow the Iron League: a place where teams of robots, under individual "owners", play various sports and duke it out in tournaments. It's a game of dirty tactics and strategy to win and is such a cool anime all round, with some really interesting and in depth characters!
15. Moshidora
This series takes a look at high school baseball from a lens few have taken before, a look at management and behind the scenes! Teams typically have a manager that helps keep things organized and schools see it as a way to get practical business education. While this is less about actually playing, it does showcase a lot of the team dynamics and work that goes into a high school team and is strategy packed and super gripping and entertaining!
16. Play Ball
An anime that celebrates one's true calling to baseball! After fracturing a finger in a junior high school game, Takao Taniguchi finds himself unable to play baseball. After entering Sumitani High School, he is constantly watching the baseball club even though he is unable to play. He catches the eye of the captain of the soccer club, and while he still has lingering hopes of joining the baseball club, he decides to join the soccer club.
While he's a complete beginner, Taniguchi developed a strong spirit of hard work while in junior high school and his new teammates begin to see his potential. While he focuses all of his energy on soccer, he is unable to forget his youthful zeal for baseball and he begins umpiring baseball games in secret, his love of the game constantly calling him back to the sport.
17. Miracle Giants Doumu-kun
A touching baseball anime that follows a multigenerational love of the sport! It's a tale that never gets old, a kid continuing his father's legacy in playing baseball and utilising the skills and teachings he has inherited along the way, growing stronger and better and overcoming unique challenges! This is a really cool anime to watch if you adore sport anime and baseball anime series.
18. Star of the Giants
An amazing history lesson encapsulated in this anime, plus a unique look at the origins of baseball anime! This series was made in 1968 and was the first sports manga ever to be adapted to anime. It is a lot of seriousness, but it shows the sport in post-War Japan and deals with those unique problems and provides an amazing insight. Don't miss this one!
19. Home Run Kanta
An old school anime with a really great plot, we follow a boy called Kanta, who is obsessed with baseball but is forced to play it only in secret from his mother, as she has forbidden him from playing out of fear he will obtain a fatal injury like his father. The only thing is that Kenta is incredibly talented, the sport literally runs in his veins, and hiding it from his mother adds some fun levity.
I hope you liked this list comprised of the main or big baseball anime series, definitely let me know in the comments if you have any hidden gem baseball anime to recommend, I would love to include it on this list and mention your name in thanks! Also definitely check out Best Anime Girls with Glasses, Best Gay Bara Manga Series, Best Volleyball Anime Shows, Best Ecchi Romance Anime Shows!
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