As you know, I'm a sucker for sports anime and manga! I find them exciting to read and watch as if I'm drowning in adrenaline. I enjoy the energy every time. And yes, I don't limit myself to a single sport. :)

Recently, I've been following some new sports manga on the Manga Plus app which I think have really great potential for a future anime version.

Today, I'm going to introduce three of them. Two of which, I've been following for weeks, but the other one I just discovered a few days ago. They don't have a lot of chapters yet, but I must say, they impressed me a lot.

For now, I'll just make a short introduction and my impression so far, but I'll make a more detailed review on them in the future when they have more chapters and/or when they're made into anime as well. Hopefully! :)
Let's start!

All photos are screenshots from Manga Plus...

RUGBY RUMBLE

The high school rugby in Japan struggles from imbalance in power after members of the Japan under-15 rugby team called the "Perfect Squad" swept the world cup. Majority of the Perfect Squad members joined their home prefecture rugby teams, so schools without any rugby player from their squad have given up hope of victory, including Rikuzen High School's Rugby Club.

Although they continued training, they use a more laid-back approach in doing so. This was until a first year student Kinzan Yamada entered their school and started playing with them. He's a total newbie, but is oozing with potential due to his instinctual way of living.

He literally lived in a remote area deep in the forest before entering high school.

So far, this manga has 38 chapters, but I was already captivated after reading the first couple chapters. The characters are all so intruigingly unique and the MC is so wild that it's refreshing to see him do a variety of things (not only rugby) for the first time. He's brusque but way too innocent. The gap is a total "moe".

Get Away, Matsumoto! -100 Days Escape-

Matsumoto who used to be a three-time champion in the All-Japan Intercollegiate Road Cycling Championships is now spending his everyday life doing bike deliveries in order to pay the bills. When he was actively competing, he was involved (more like set-up) in an incident which made him lost his chance of ever competing again.

When he was about to give up doing bike deliveries and think more about his future, he encountered a huge incident. He was accused of killing someone. Of course, it's a set-up and the person behind it told him to try and escape for 100 days. There were some rules set (so just check them out).

If he's able to survive the 100 day challenge, the person who framed him would tell the truth behind the murder and would even give him the chance to compete again.

This is something that I'd really love to see animated. It's effin' hilarious to read. The challenges he encountered every day is so amusing. It's already packed with excitement despite it just having 10 chapters so far.

It sure is different from other cycling anime and manga... because he doesn't just cycle to win, but he cycles to survive. I can't wait for the next chapter!!!

Strikeout Pitch

The Baseball Slasher --- it's a moniker that the in infamous mystery person got from several high school baseball players met. It's said that when you practice at night, a mysterious pitcher would come and challenge you to a match.

There's no catch though, because the mystery pitcher just disappears after the challenge.

One day Soha Public High School's captain, Heita, heard of this incident and deciphered that the Baseball Slasher was actually from their school, so he cooperated with their cleanup hitter and catcher, Yoji, to bait him.

When the identity of the baseball slasher was finally revealed, they played by his rules and invited him to join their team. There's a problem though, the said slasher can only pitch three pitches max in a day.

This is quite different from the baseball manga I've read so far. It actually just started this month, so there are still three chapters so far, but I'm already loving it.

The characters have unique personalities and the MC is enveloped with mystery. And ohh... the art style is so beautiful! I can't say much about the story yet, but so far, it piqued my interest.

I wonder how a strong pitcher who could only throw three times a day would pan out. We'll see...


Thanks for reading this post. :) It's still too early to recommend them, but I'm seeing great potential in these sports manga... will update you with them someday!

See you around! :)