Even confrontations?

[Timdog]

I'm looking for a series where the main character/group gets into battles of some sort (sports, martial arts, etc.) where his opponents are mostly evenly matched and most of his confrontations are very close. Also, he doesn't win by pulling something out of his ass or through a stupid circumstance but instead through good tactics or something.

I do like the ones where the main character/group comes from behind but I'm getting a little sick of those. Or where the main character is overpowered. My favorite moments in competition are when things are very close and you never know what might happen.

Also, if the main character(or team/group) could LOSE occasionally, that would be good.

Examples of what I don't want:
Hajime no Ippo (don't get me wrong, this is my favorite anime)
TTGL (tied with ippo for favorite anime)

I have a fairly good example from Initial D, but it also has some problems:

Spoiler for Initial D 4th stage spoiler:

The last battle when Takumi battles God Hand was good because they were both very, very good but the BS way Takumi won isn't what I'm looking for. If he won (or gasp, lost) just because he ended up driving slightly better or figured out a way to beat the guy.

Also, not ones where the main character/group gets the shit beat out of them and then eventually wins through some random tactic. It should be an even fight and the main character somehow does end up winning by figuring out a new tactic or something.

I know this post is already too long and contorted, but one last thing I'd also be interested in is a series where the main character/group has different types of encounters so it's not predictable: sometimes they're very overpowered, sometimes they come from behind, sometimes it's really close.

[Deus ex Digital Boy]

I think your best bet will be the gambling series, Akagi and Kaiji. Akagi is more intelligent and tactical, but it's all mahjong which makes it hard to understand. Kaiji is a gambling anime where the games are made up and explained so it's easier to follow. Both are amazing series with some of the most tense and tactical confrontations you'll ever seee in anime. Start with Kaiji, I promise you won't be disappointed.

[GreatTeacherKen]

I suppose Rurouni Kenshin TV series and the manga might qualify. In the early episodes and chapters, main character Kenshin, with a few exceptions, wins most of his fights easily. However that starts to change around the Kyoto arc which in the anime starts episode 28 where the main character, Kenshin starts consistently fighting opponents that are closer to his level.

[FLCL]

i was going to mention initial d then saw your example

and c'mon keisuke vs god hand was more like it...

as for a recommendation Macross Plus, basically COMPLETELY even

[Timdog]

Originally Posted by Deus ex Digital Boy

I think your best bet will be the gambling series, Akagi and Kaiji. Akagi is more intelligent and tactical, but it's all mahjong which makes it hard to understand. Kaiji is a gambling anime where the games are made up and explained so it's easier to follow. Both are amazing series with some of the most tense and tactical confrontations you'll ever seee in anime. Start with Kaiji, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Seen Kaiji already, it was very good though I didn't like the ending that much and sometimes things seemed a bit too drawn out but the matches were definitely pretty even. I would try akagi, but I've already had the rules of Mahjong explained to me and was utterly confused so might have to skip that one.

[Rab]

Originally Posted by Timdog

Seen Kaiji already, it was very good though I didn't like the ending that much and sometimes things seemed a bit too drawn out but the matches were definitely pretty even. I would try akagi, but I've already had the rules of Mahjong explained to me and was utterly confused so might have to skip that one.

Baki the Grappler I'd say. Plus Grappler Baki: Maximum Tournament is exactly what you are gunning for.

[cerrian]

Oddly enough Gundam 08th MS Team came to mind. It's probably because of its realistic portrayal of warfare...well as close to realistic as you can get with mecha.

Hikaru no Go is probably a perfect match for you.

[Kafriel]

Reborn! is kinda like that, the main character is always the loser-type and just barely wins his fights...although the fights don't start till ep.40 and...well, it takes a good amount of tolerance to get there.

[Timdog]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

Reborn! is kinda like that, the main character is always the loser-type and just barely wins his fights...although the fights don't start till ep.40 and...well, it takes a good amount of tolerance to get there.

Errrr... that's what I don't want.

[Kafriel]

You COULD start from episode 20-ish and skip to the future arc after the Xanxus arc, it's not like you'd be missing out on much...

[Saleh]

People in Legend Of Galactic Heroes uses tactics instead of numbers to win battles. You will like it.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Hikaru no Go

Hikaru Shindou is just a normal 12 year old boy but, one day, as he was rumaging through his grandfather's things to see if he could find something to sell, he discovered an old Go board. A ghostly apparation appeared out of the board and told Hikaru a sad story: The spirit's name is Sai Fujiwara, a Go instructor to the Emperor a thousand years ago. However, he fell into an archrival's trap and was accused of cheating, and thus banished from the palace. Deprived of his reason to live, Sai commited suicide by drowning himself. Now, his restless spirit haunts the Go board, until he could find a way to achieve the "Divine Move" — by possessing potential Go prodigies like Hikaru.

Well, that's the gist of the story, but this 75-episode series (not counting its substandard OAV sequel) involved a lot more than just the teacher-student relationship between Sai and Hikaru. Through countless I-Go games and multiple competitions, both master and apprentice eventually came to learn an important lesson: To achieve divine mastery (referred to literally as the "Hand of God" in the anime), one needed to play against a worthy rival.

And, in Hikaru's case, that rival turned out to be his childhood friend, Akira Touya, the gifted son of Japan's I-Go grandmaster. Suffice to say that, by the end of the anime, it's hard to tell who is the superior player: both are equally matched. An ancient boardgame usually played by geriatric geezers never appeared so exciting as it did during this popular hit, which reportedly managed to revive youth interest in the game a few years back.

Give it try — you might enjoy it. And, if you find the character designs familiar, that shouldn't be surprising — they were based on the manga drawn by Takeshi Obata, the same artist who drew Death Note.

Spoiler for scenes from Ep73 and 74: