The never-ending race to see who has the best manga or anime in the community goes unbroken! Finding the best from a wide library of different genres is nearly impossible and requires a lot of effort. However, a Japanese television show has made this process much easier by asking fans to name their best sports manga of all time.
Almost every sports manga has been adapted into an anime, and the manga industry is full of them. From the legendary manga series Slam Dunk to the most recent addition to the list Blue Lock, each of these series is full of mind-blowing events and passionate characters that will capture the interest of every manga reader. However, selecting the best sports anime or manga from among them seems to be a challenging task!
On Sunday, Junk Sports, a Fuji Television Network, aired a special program featuring all of the industry’s popular sports comics. According to the program’s poll, 1384 active students from top sports universities were handed a questionnaire. The students chose the “Strongest Sports Manga Of All Time” from a pool of 2100 total works, and the results are available here.
#20 “Dokaben” by Shinji Mizushima
#19 “Baby Steps” by Hikaru Katsuki
#18 “Prince of Tennis” by Takeshi Konomi
#17 “The Knight of the Area” by Kaya Tsukiyama
#16 “Battle Studies” by Nakibokuro
#15 “Giant Killing” by Tsujitomo
#14 “Hajime no Ippo” by George Morikawa
#13 “Be Blues!” by Motoyuki Tanaka
#12 “Yowamushi Pedal” by Wataru Watanabe
#11 “Ahiru no Sora” by Takeshi Hinat
#10 “Days” by Tsuyoshi Yasuda
#9 “Captain Tsubasa” by Yōichi Takahashi
#8 “Inazuma Eleven” by Tenya Yabuno
#7 “Blue Lock” by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura.
#6 “Ao Ashi” by Yūgo Kobayashi
#5 “Ace of Diamond” by Yuji Terajima
#4 “Kuroko’s Basketball” by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
#3 “Major” by Takuya Mitsuda
#2 “Slam Dunk” by Takehiko Inoue
#1 “Haikyu!!” by Haruichi Furudate
‘Strongest Sports Manga Ranking’ Top 30 in Junk Sports TV Show from Fuji TV.
— Shonen Jump News – Unofficial (@WSJ_manga) August 21, 2022
From a pool of 2100 total works, series were voted by 1384 students from prestigious Sports Universities. pic.twitter.com/zIR5XHN3LC
The ranking was compiled based on answers from students who take pride in their love of sports manga. Many renowned Japanese athletes, including Seina Irie, who won the first-ever gold medal in women’s boxing at the Tokyo Olympics, and Yuji Nishida, the Japanese national team’s ace attacker, have commented on the effect these works have had on their professional careers.
