Sports Anime/Manga with female lead

[murdoch]

We all know sports anime/manga is ruled by boys, I can enjoy them to an extent, but most of the time, especially with how negligent they can be towards female characters, I get sick of it (sadly, most shounen sports manga are guilty of this).

So, I'm looking for sports anime/manga that focus on the girls for a change, something like Teppu and Dance, Subaru. Of the two, I prefer Dance, Subaru, with its focus on the psychology of the characters and the fact that the MC is clearly shown to work her ass off, almost to a violent extent.

Also, not a fan of moe. So please do keep that in mind.

Thanks!

[kitten320]

Chihayafuru - while the sport is cards, series are quiet intense and entertainig and main heroine works her ass off all the time.

Didn't watch it yet but I heard about Saki.

There is an old Judo anime, I think it is called Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl. Didn't watch it myself yet either.

That's all I can think of.

[Kurohane]

Wanna be the Strongest in The World

[Kirito]

I don't know if you're seen this, but why don't you give Taishou Yakyuu Musume a shot? It's an anime series that's set in the 1920's where a group of girls form a baseball team to prove to the boys their age that they can be competitive and good at sports, and display equal ground between the two sexes.

[SeijiSensei]

In the game category along with Chihayafuru is 2007's Shion no Ou about a 12/13-yo girl who wants to become a professional Shougi ("Japanese chess") player. The story of her development runs in parallel with an investigation into the brutal murder of her parents when she was four.

I'll also recommend Cross Game even though the lead is a boy. The main female character is a neighbor girl who, like Kou, loves to pitch baseball. There are segments of the story that focus entirely on Aoba and her struggles to be taken seriously as a female baseball player.

[kitten320]

Ah, just remembered. There is Bamboo Blade!

[murdoch]

Thank you guys!

I've read the synopsis for Chihayafuru, how is the lead MC portrayed though? I don't really read shoujo most of the time due to how characters are portrayed.

I'll check out Yawara (since it's by Urasawa) and Shion no Ou seems interesting. Cross Game I've already read some time ago, and while I loved it, I'm not really sure it's what I'm looking for right now. Taisho Yakyuu Musume I'll try as well since I'm a sucker for settings in the Taishou-era, not a fan of the character designs though.

[SeijiSensei]

Chihaya is entirely captivated by karuta. She has some "tomboy" features, though not in the usual physical sense. While there is an underlying romantic triangle throughout the show, it's hardly the focus of attention. The first season has some parallels to Hikaru no Go where Chihaya first organizes a high-school karuta team, then decides to pursue the goal of becoming the top female player in Japan (the "Queen"). The second season focuses more on karuta itself, with some discussion of the strategies involved. The latter half of the season largely follows the progression of Chihaya and her fellow Misuzawa students as they play in the national high-school tournament.

If you're asking whether Chihaya is very "girly," the answer is no. Her older sister, who is a model, plays the girly role, though she doesn't appear very often. The other female member of the team is a bit more girly, but not in a traditional way either.

[kitten320]

Chihaya only care about Karuta and friends, romance is none existent in her world. She trains every day and tries to motivate others. She aims for the top yet she fights fair.

The stronger the opponent, the more she wants to play against them.

She is a real sport type person.

[xxanimefan4_ever]

battle athletes victory and kaleido star. enjoy! they're both lotsa fun to watch. kaleido star is technically not a sport... it's sorta sporty. it came to mind anyhoo. for battle athletes victory give it a couple eps to see if you like it rather than judging based on 1 ep. it gets really good

[Guardian Enzo]

Chihaya is a female shounen male lead in a shoujo (nominally) manga, really. Judging by what you say you're looking for I don't think you can go wrong there.

[Chiibi]

Have you seen Princess Nine? It's an older show...but looks to be exactly what you're looking for.

[murdoch]

I've read the first few chapters of Chihayafuru and it is entertaining. But I'm just wondering if Chihaya will be less a "shoujo/shounen" heroine but more of a flawed, complex character? Just to cite examples, the two series I mentioned in my first post (Teppu and Dance, Subaru) have both flawed (sometimes even to the point of realistic unlikeability, moreso with Subaru) MCs. I'm asking so I could set my expectations down a notch, heh.

Yawara is a fun read, though nothing like Urasawa's other serious works obviously. I'm surprised I actually got to read 15 chapters in one seating. It's not really anything special, but I have a soft-spot for martial arts manga (ala Teppu and All-Rounder Meguru), so let's see if my interest will wane or not.

I watched Kaleido Star years ago and fell in love with it. It was such fun and the circus-setting was a bonus; I also liked the fact that the show really showed Sora's hardships to get where she is.

Princess Nine looks interesting, and deliciously retro. Seen some good reviews too, and I am a huge fan of Mochizuki Tomomi's I Can Hear the Sea. Will check it out soon.

Shion No Ou I'll check soon.

Thanks for the reccs! Keep 'em coming!

[kitten320]

The only real flaw with Chihaya is that she is Karuta centered that she is ignorant to most of the other things happening around her. Like for example Taichi's feelings for her. Or that she does not act lady like and mostly does what she wants, a bit of an egoist.

I didn't read manga, but not big fan of artwork there. Anime is really well animated. I actually have hard time picturing manga giving so much tension and excitement as anime did for me.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by murdoch

So, I'm looking for sports anime/manga that focus on the girls for a change, something like Teppu and Dance, Subaru.

I have to thank you for starting this thread! I had completely forgotten how much I loved Teppu. Just caught up with it and started reading Subaru, too. Looking forward to trying some of the other titles mentioned.

Only rec I could think of was Kaleido Star, but I see you've got that covered.

[ninryu]

You should try Ice Revolution, I found it quite good.

[SeijiSensei]

I'm going to violate all your directives and suggest something entirely off-the-wall, AKB0048, the spin-off anime based on the AKB48 idol singing group. I mention it only because it has a lot of the dynamics of sports animes as the girls train to advance from understudies to star performers. It is set in a far future where space travel is widespread, but many human-occupied planets are ruled by a government that forbids entertainment. Japan experienced similar censorship during the 1840's under the Tenpou Reforms.

Crunchyroll has season two at the top of the page; scroll down for the, better in my view, first season.

[murdoch]

Originally Posted by Dagger

I have to thank you for starting this thread! I had completely forgotten how much I loved Teppu. Just caught up with it and started reading Subaru, too. Looking forward to trying some of the other titles mentioned.

Hope you like it! Though admittedly, Subaru herself isn't easy to like; she's flawed though never glorified.

You should try Ice Revolution, I found it quite good.

I read this about a year ago and loved it. Sad it was discontinued. I normally find the typical sports-focused series boring, but was surprised to find this really fun.

I'm going to violate all your directives and suggest something entirely off-the-wall, AKB0048, the spin-off anime based on the AKB48 idol singing group. I mention it only because it has a lot of the dynamics of sports animes as the girls train to advance from understudies to star performers. It is set in a far future where space travel is widespread, but many human-occupied planets are ruled by a government that forbids entertainment. Japan experienced similar censorship during the 1840's under the Tenpou Reforms.

To be honest, AKB0048 is the last thing I ever want to check out based on pictures alone, but you make it sound so very interesting. And lo, and behold, I loved the first episode. Although I find the character designs anachronistic with the setting (still wished they used a more muted color scheme for the girls), I loved how down-to-earth the characters, particularly Nagisa, are. Art direction was beautiful too.

Will definitely watch the rest of the series. Thanks!!

[SeijiSensei]

You're welcome! I was a bit uncertain when I wrote that recommendation for obvious reasons, but I'm glad to see it hit the spot.

I especially admired Takashima Daisuke's direction of the battle sequence in episode one. It is so kinetic and so well-timed with the music. It won't displace episode one of Seirei no Moribito from the top of my list of best first episodes, but it's up there.

[AnimeFangirl]

Air Master is one of my top guilty pleasures. It's not very good, but somehow I keep coming back to it.