There are rarely any sports drama's that catch attention of the audience. Sports are not always a favorite theme when it comes to watching dramas. So, whenever I find drama related to sports I enjoy, after all it's hard not to fall in love with it. A running theme in South Asian sports drama tells the tale, but Japanese dramas take a leap in this genre, and are more about the sport than about the story.
Below given are the Top 10 Japanese dramas.
1. Akagi (2015)
Akagi is a Japanese drama based on Mahjong (usually played by four people, a game of strategy, luck, and skill), Life or Death, and Death Game. It aired on 17th July 2015. Starring Tsugawa Masahiko as Washizu Iwao and Hongo Kanata as Akagi Shigeru.
Young and white-haired, Shigeru Akagi is an accomplished mahjong player. During one summer in 1965, he finds himself facing the fearsome King of Darkness, Washizu Iwao. He has amassed extremely wealth and power on the orders of Yasuoka, a rogue detective who was close to his soul. Mahjong with special rules called Washizu Mahjong played under the watchful eye of the observer, Ogi Takeshi, a leader of Inada gumi's henchmen. With Akagi's fresh blood at stake, and Washizu's fortune at risk, this is a life or death struggle.
2. Fake Motion: King Of Ping Pong (2020)
It is a Japanese youth drama based on table tennis. It aired on 9th April 2020. Starring Sana Hayato as Takasugi Ritsu, Furukawa Tsuyoshi as Katsura Kotaro and Kitamura Takumi as Matsukage Hisashi.
High school table tennis teams in East Tokyo follow a ranking system. Since Shibuya High School is consistently dominant, the players are obnoxiously arrogant. Ebisu High School players challenge Shibuya High School to a duel one day, but they ultimately lose. As a result, Ebisu High ranked at the bottom. A half-year later, the table tennis captain of Ebisu High approaches Ritsu to persuade him to rejoin the squad. Eventually, they plan to dethrone Shibuya High and climb the ranks.
3. Cheer Dan (2018)
It is a Japanese drama based on Cheerleading. It aired on 13th July 2018. Starring Tsuchiya Tao as Fujitani Wakaba, Ishii Anna as Kiryuu Shiori, Sakuma Yui as Sakurazawa Asako, and Odagiri Joe as Urushido Taro.
Wakaba is a second-grade student at a high school in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. While Wakaba was a child, she admired the cheerleaders from Fukui Chuo High School in Fukui Prefecture. Despite her dreams, she enrolled at another high school instead of thinking it would be impossible for her to join the JETS. She meets a transfer student from Tokyo, and she proposes cheer dance to her. With the support of their friends, they formed an elite cheer team.
4. Yowamushi Pedal (2016)
It is a Japanese drama based on bicycle racing. It aired on 26th August 2016. Starring Ogoe Yuki as Onoda Sakamichi, Fukazawa Taiga as Naruko Shokichi, Kimura Tatsunari as Imaizumi Shunsuke, Gomoto Naoya as Shingo Kinjo, Tomotsune Yuuki as Tadokoro Jin, and Baba Ryoma as Makishima Yuusuke.
The student at Sōhoku High School is Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku. Because he likes anime and games so much, he rides his commuter bike 90 kilometres (about 60 miles) after school to visit the Akihabara shopping district in Tokyo. His school offers a cycling team that allows Onoda to participate in a competitive sport. When he joins the team, his life is forever changed.
5. Baby Steps (2016)
In 2014, Hikaru Katsuki wrote and illustrated an anime adaptation before the Japanese drama adaptation aired. Baby Steps aired on 22nd July 2016. Starring Matsuoka Koudai as Maruo Eiichiro and Matsushima Shota as Egawa Takuma.
Eiichiro is a young boy with a superior ability to think logically, who excels in his studies. The one thing this high school student is not very good at is sports. Natsu, a beautiful tennis player with a passion for the game, is a schoolmate he meets who changes this. She one day borrowed Eiichirou's academic notes. Eiichiro takes a detour to the tennis court where Natsu is practising because he treasures his study materials. His involvement in tennis began with this experience. He eventually decides to take tennis seriously, utilizing his strength - his brain - to make up for his lack of athletic ability.
6. Buzzer Beat (2009)
Buzzer Beat portrays the relationship between two individuals who have vastly different backgrounds. It aired on 13th July 2009. Starring Kitagawa Keiko as Shirakawa Riko and Yamashita Tomohisa as Kamiya Naoki.
As a basketball player for JC ARCS, Naoki is undeniably talented, but he suffers from performance anxiety when he's under pressure. While Riko, a young graduate violinist, is trying to find her place in the classical music scene. The drama follows Naoki's struggle to become a basketball prodigy and Riko's quest to become a violinist. As the story unfolds, the two meet and begin to fall in love.
7. Rookies (2008)
It is a comedy and a touchy Japanese drama that proves the power of a good teacher that can change people's lives. It aired on 19th April 2008. Starring Ichihara Hayato as Aniya Keiichi, Sato Ryuta as Kawato Koichi, Shirota Yu as Shinjo Kei, Nakao Akiyoshi as Sekikawa Shuta, Takaoka Sousuke as Wakana Tomochika, Sato Takeru as Okada Yuya, Igarashi Shunji as Yufune Tetsuro, Koide Keisuke as Mikoshiba Toru, Kawamura Yosuke as Hiyama Kiyooki, Onoue Hiroyuki as Imaoka Shinobu, and Kiritani Kenta as Hiratsuka Taira.
The show revolves around Koichi Kawato, a new Japanese teacher at Futakotamagawa High School, whose baseball team, made up of thugs and bullies, has been barred from all school activities for sparking a riot during an official match. The newly hired teacher discovers that the other club members are mainly interested in women, smoking, and doing nothing positive until they realize with Kawato's help, that baseball is what they genuinely like. Kawato also teaches students to pursue their aspirations, and for them, reaching the national high school tournament finals in Koshien (Hyogo prefecture) is one of those dreams.
8. Attack No.1 (2005)
It is a Japanese drama based on volleyball. It aired on 21st April 2005. Starring Ueto Aya as Ayuhara Kozue, Nakamura Shunsuke as Hongo Shinsuke, and Sakai Ayana as Hayakawa Midori.
Kozue Ayuhara, a happy and upbeat high school student, focuses her full attention on her school's volleyball squad. Extremely rigorous workouts devised by strict head coach Daigo Inokuma, known as one of Japan's most notorious national trainers, highly intense matches against the toughest top players, friendships, and rivalries among teammates with strong personalities. But the secret plan of Inokuma is to create a team that would be unbeatable.
9. Golden Bowl (2002)
It is a Japanese drama based on bowling. It aired on 1st April 2002. Starring Kuroki Hitomi as Sakura Hitomi and Kaneshiro Takeshi as Akutagawa Shu.
To be a good bowler, you must focus and concentrate, maintain good posture, and release the ball well. Shu Akutagawa's favourite haunt is the Golden Bowl, which is rundown and small but is quite functional. He relieves his daily stress by playing bowling regularly at the local bowling alley. The rumble of the bowl, the crackle of the pins falling, and the crash of the pins in the bowl is everything he loves. At the Golden Bowl, an older, beautiful woman named Hitomi - who shares the same name as Shu's old flame - appears, and things begin to heat up as Shu joins forces with her to compete against some pro bowlers. How likely is it for Shu to have the same luck with Hitomi as he has with the pins?
10. Ace Wo Nerae (2004)
It is a Japanese drama based on a popular manga from the 1970s written by Sumika Yamamoto. It aired on 15th January 2004. Starring Ueto Aya as Oka Hiromi and Uchino Seiyuu as Munataka Jin.
At Nishi High School, Oka Hiromi is mesmerized by the beauty, loveliness, and strength of Reiko Ryuzaki, a local starlet in the sport of female tennis. She joins the tennis team to emulate her idol. A passionate story of friendship and rivalry begins. Despite being a greenhorn at tennis, Hiromi manages to catch the attention of Munakata Jin, who recognizes her talent and accepts the offer to coach the school's tennis team.
