Upcoming tennis star Ryouma Echizen beats all the shortcomings and obstacles to overcome his road to ultimate achievement. This tennis anime tells us the story of overcoming barriers, starting from scraps, and gaining the destined target. Moreover, this anime is more than just a show; it is an adventure to explore—the journey to becoming the best from nothing.
This anime last aired on television more than 15 years ago. Still, it has a huge fan base that watches this show repeatedly. This anime has another community. This show gained so much popularity that the producer made films, dramas, musicals, and even published games on the PlayStation platform. Game developers have also used Prince of Tennis anime characters in several games.
Since this show is discontinued and there will be no new Prince of Tennis anime, the following animes should be the alternative to Prince of Tennis in 2022. You may consider them the Prince of Tennis 2 as they can mitigate your craving to watch this storyline.
1. Baby Steps (2014)
MAL Ratings: 7.81
Studios: Pierrot
Number of Episodes: 25
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
Baby Steps is an anime series that aired for two seasons. This anime series revolved around a teenage boy, Eiichirō Maruo. Here, you will also find the essence of starting from zero and achieving something significant. The sacrifice and hard work to gain something more prominent with a great storyline and well-constructed character will amaze you as the prince of tennis.
Synopsis
In the first season, the main protagonist, Eiichirō Maruo, is tired of his education-oriented life. His only break from this monotonous world is when he plays tennis. So he decides to invest more in it and enroll in a famous tennis club. The first season’s story will focus on this club and Eiichiro’s becoming a semi-pro.
In the second season, Eiichiro pursues his career in tennis and travels to Florida. His journey to America and coping with the new life there will be the main attractions here. Finally, you may have to watch this show to know what will happen to Eichiro in the Kanto Teenagers Tennis Championship.
2. Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup!)
MAL Ratings: 7.89
Studios: A-1 Pictures
Number of Episodes: 25
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
This anime is about baseball. It is the story of a failed middle school pitcher becoming a match-winning one. The main protagonist, Mihashi, never accepts failure and is accustomed to it. Besides the main anime series, this franchise published several mangas that circulated nearly 15 million copies.
Synopsis
Ren Mihashi was a pitcher on his school’s baseball team. He carried pretty poor skill, and his team never won a single match because of him. He accepted his fate. Soon, he finished middle school, and it was time for high school. He thought he would never engage in baseball again in high school due to his prior humiliation on the school baseball team.
But soon, he meets Takaya Abe, the high school baseball team pitcher. Then, the story will advance with their friendship and Mihashi becoming a great pitcher he could never consider in school.
3. Kuroko’s Basketball
MAL Ratings: 8.1
Studios: Production I.G.
Number of Episodes: 75
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
There is not a single sports manga fan who does not know about this anime. This is a whole universe of manga, Flim series, light novels, graphic novels, Nintendo games, and so on.
It is an inspirational story of a school basketball team participating as the underdog in the national championship. The rest of the story will fascinate you with a thrill that will catch your breath until the last episode.
Synopsis
Teikou Middle School is the leader in school basketball in Japan. They possessed five prodigies who earned them fame and influence in this tier. But another sixth one kept himself in his shadow and was behind these achievements. After completing middle school, they separated in their own way.
Now, the story will focus on Seirin High School. Their basketball team has recruited two new freshmen, Taiga Kagami and Tetsuya Kuroko. They are pretty different in their ability to play. Kagami has a passion for this sport and is quite capable in his athletic ability. However, Tetsuya is the opposite of him, having no patience or eagerness for this sport.
Soon, it will be revealed that Tetsuya is the sixth shadow man of the Teikou Middle School basketball team. Then you have to watch this spectacular series to know the rest.
4. Prince of Stride: Alternative
MAL Ratings: 6.91
Studios: Madhouse
Number of Episodes: 12
Source: Light Novel
Genres: Extreme Sports
“Stride” is a fictional sport that is very similar to parkour. Six people will compete in an extreme relay parkour race at an intense pace throughout the city, and that is “Stride.” This series is wholly focused on this fictional sport. You may get goosebumps while watching these exciting parkours and thrilling acrobatics of characters from this show.
Synopsis
End of Summer is the name of the prestigious stride competition among schools from eastern Japan. Honan Academy had a strong team but closed due to lacking members. Nana Sakurai, along with Takeru Fujiwara, wants to reopen their beloved stride club and wants to participate in this competition.
But to open this club again and participate at the end of summer, they must gather at least 6 members. But no one is interested in joining them. So now they must convince four more players to join the stride club and train them. From here, the main fun begins.
5. Free! Tennis Anime
MAL Ratings: 7.3
Studios: Kyoto Animation
Animation Do
Number of Episodes: 12 (Free!—Iwatobi Swim Club)
13 (Free! – Eternal Summer)
12 (Free! – Dive to the Future)
Source: Light Novel (High Speed!)
Genres: Sports
Swimming is the event in this sports anime. This anime also tells the story of four friends. Their alienation, mitigation, and thrilling competition will keep your concentration throughout the series. This series aired for another two seasons after the first one.
Synopsis
Haruka Nanase is the main protagonist here. He was very much into swimming and won a school tournament in relay swimming with three friends. Over time, they separated after elementary school.
After a while, Haruka was admitted to the same high school along with his friends Rin Matsuoka, Nagisa Hazuki, and Makoto Tachibana. He and Rin had an unwanted situation during their reunion. Later, they decided to form a swimming club in their high school without Rin. As a result, they need a fourth member to compete in relay swimming.
At this point, Rei Ryuugazaki made her entry into the club. You must watch this series to know how their friendship with Rin and the new club member will affect them.
6. Fighting Spirit
MAL Ratings: 8.75
Studios: Madhouse
Number of Episodes: 76
Source: Manga Magazine
Genres: Sports
It tells the story of a high school boy who grows interested in boxing and becomes the winner of many titles. This anime shows how a shy boy can change into someone who can beat his opponent in the boxing ring, as well as his fears and shortcomings.
Synopsis
Ippo Makunouchi is an orphan who lives with his mother. He helps his mother in her fishing boat rental business. He has less time to befriend his classmates and lacks socialization due to his laziness. This makes him an easy target to bully his classmates.
One day, a retired boxer, Mamoru Takamura, rescues him from violent bullying. He then goes to his gym and trains to be a professional boxer. Here starts the story of Ippo Makunouchi’s becoming the next boxing prodigy. He will face rivalry from other boxers, dirty politics, and hard work to overcome all barriers to his way to the final goal.
7. Dan Doh!!
MAL Ratings: 6.64
Studios: HoriPro
Tokyo Kids
Number of Episodes: 26
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
This anime makes us realize that our potential is not known to us. No one knows what they are capable of. It follows the story of a boy, Dan Doh, who travels to a sport he is unfamiliar with. All that matters is his unknown and locked capability of playing golf and his journey to unlock it. Here, you can also be fascinated by a story of true friendship and lots of humor.
Synopsis
Dan Doh was a regular kid playing baseball one evening. Suddenly, he swung his bat, and the ball hit the flower tub of his main house. He and his friend were frightened. With too much horror in his heart, he went up there and asked for the ball from the principal. He thought that he and his friend would be scolded.
But surprisingly, his principal was amazed and told him he had a hand in golf. From here, everything will change in Dan Doh’s life. Then, he took them to a local golf coach named Shinjō Mikiyasu. The coach reluctantly trained them, hoping his apprentice would overcome himself one day and achieve something he couldn’t earn in his lifetime. Something he cherished for his lifetime.
8. Ace Wo Nerae! (Aim for the Ace!)
MAL Ratings: 7.06
Studios: Tokyo Movie
Number of Episodes: 26
Source: Manga Magazine
Genres: Sports
Now, what comes on our list is a pretty old anime series. You can consider this a cult classic. It was aired in 1973 on MBS. This illustrates a girl who is determined to become a professional tennis player. At the same time, she is disturbed by her mental anxiety and unfulfilled love. Both Prince of Tenis and this series are similar in many aspects. You will also find it on Netflix, like The Prince of Tennis.
Synopsis
Hiromi Oka is a 15-year-old girl admitted to Nishi High School. On the first day of her high school life, she encounters the playing skills of her senior, Reika Ryuuzaki. Fascinated by that, she makes up her mind that she will take up tennis as her passion. But she can’t impress the head coach due to her poor skills.
As a result, she starts to train herself more intensely. With determination, hard work, and passion, she overcomes all tests and ranks on the school team. There, she faces more obstacles like strong opponents, rivalry, jealousy, and betrayal. But at last, she will overcome everything and conquer her arena.
9. Major S1 Tennis Anime
MAL Ratings: 8.22
Studios: Studio Hibari (Episodes 1–78)
SynergySP (Episode 79–154)
Number of Episodes: 154
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
Among all these recommendations, this anime has the most touching storyline. It is the story of a father who recently lost her wife, playing in a second-tier baseball league, and is not conventionally a successful personality. But his little son always adored him as an idol. This anime will teach you how a man can change in the most adverse position.
Synopsis
Gorou Honda is the son of the baseball player Shigeharu. Shigeharu is playing in the second-tier league of Japan. He has recently lost her wife and is not much of a successful player. However, Gorou is obsessed with his father and always idolizes him.
During the course time, Shigeharu receives an elbow injury. Since he was the team’s leading pitcher now, he had to abandon his position due to his injury. But while looking at his son’s face, he can not forfeit this sport. For this reason, he takes up his team’s batter position. A new challenge is open to him. He has to work arduously to start from the beginning.
On the other hand, his son Gorou Honda takes this as his motivation. The little kid engages in baseball training and participates in the Japanese Little League. Two separate Baseball players are on the way to their destiny.
10. Haikyuu!!
MAL Ratings: 8.45
Studios: Production I.G
Number of Episodes: 85
Source: Manga
Genres: Sports
Haikyuu is mainly similar to The Prince of Tennis, except this anime is based on Basketball. The main protagonist here is too short to be in the basketball game. Despite his short height, he determines that he will be a professional basketball player. This anime is full of suspense and twists. I hope that you will be energized for a single moment.
Synopsis
Shouyou Hinata’s day and night are Basketball. He has only one dream: to be a great Basketball player. As a matter of sorrow, he is too short to be a basketball player. Still, he managed to enter his middle school basketball team. In a tournament, his team faces a disastrous defeat and is tragically humiliated by Tobio Kageyama.
After a while, he entered Karasuno High School. A school that is quite famous for its basketball team. He thinks this school will be better for him to pursue a career in basketball. But on the first day of school, something entirely unexpected event happened. He discovers that Tobio Kageyama, as is his classmate, is also a freshman in this school.
From here, you can imagine that this anime will be suspenseful and humorous. Endless suspense, great humor, and eye-catching animation of playing are all about Haikyuu!!
Final Thought
This article recommends some anime to help you recall your sweet memory of watching The Prince of Tennis. We also include some soft tennis animes similar to The Prince of Anime. Besides, some anime from other sports will also mitigate your thirst for sporty suspense and thrill in anime.
The Prince of Tennis gained so much popularity that a film based on it was made in China. You can call it the prince of tennis Chinese. The Prince of Tennis character, Ryoma, is also too familiar with the sports anime genre. In recent times, you can find many characters designed based on Ryoma.
The Prince of Tennis Online has many community members and fan groups who want more anime like this. In this article, you will find the best recommendations for the best alternative to tennis. These anime will take your breath and attach your eyes to the screen until the final credit scene.
