Sports Manga, Ranked (12/30/2020)

 By completing Eyeshield 21 today*, I've finally reached 100 completed manga logged on MAL!

To celebrate me having literally no life, I'm going to start to rank random manga that I've read, based off of different categories. For example, because my 100th completed manga on MAL was a sports manga, I'm going to rank all the sports manga I've read so far, and show which ones I'd recommend, as well as provide a short review of each manga. I'll also add my ranking (out of 5) at the bottom for a tl;dr. If you want to see my ranking system explained, go to my MAL profile at myanimelist.net/profile/wolfang135. I'm also only going to include traditional sports manga in this particular list, so something like God of Bath won't count.


Hinomaruzumou: 3.5/5

An essential sports manga. I thought it was a bit average at first, but it definitely starts to get better in the middle. It gets really good after the time skip too, which is around right in the middle of the series. It's pretty hype, and it even got me to start watching a bit of sumo wrestling. It explains sumo wrestling really well, with all the rules and customs and whatnot, which I appreciate. Also some unexpected random romance towards the end, which is actually done pretty well.


Haikyuu!! (3/5)

I both like and hate Haikyuu, mostly because I actually play volleyball. There is so much that is done well, but there is also so much that isn't as well, and those parts really bother me. Essential rules of volleyball such as rotations, serve receive, and base defense aren't explained at all, and random characters will be in random places that they shouldn't logically be. However, despite a lot of its problems, I do have to admit that it is a very good sports manga. The characters are all unique and fun to be around, and each team has their own identity, which I liked. The beginning can be a bit slow, but I enjoyed reading it all the way through.


Slam Dunk: 3/5, 8/10 on MAL

Slam Dunk is a classic. I think it can be seen as the gold standard for sports manga. The art is gorgeous (it's drawn by Takehiko Inoue, who is regarded as one of the best artists manga has to offer), and it can be super hype, but the manga isn't flawless. I didn't like the open ended ending, and there are some characters that aren't fully explored. Something to note however is that my opinion might be a bit biased because I already knew most of the story from watching the anime as a little kid.


Eyeshield 21: 2.5/5, 8/10 on MAL

Eyeshield 21. What a weird manga. It's decent, I guess, but there is some random racism that is pretty weird to just sit through. There is a black dude named Panther who is super overpowered just because he is black, and all the people from America are randomly super racist, which is a kind of funny in it's own way. I didn't really like a lot of the characters in the manga, such as Hiruma, but overall the manga is decent, although I think the other sports manga on this list are all better. The art is pretty good, but I personally think it is slightly overrated. (not to say that its below average or anything, it's just not top top tier for me)




*this blog post was started on 12/11/2020




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