Sports anime are a minority but don’t worry, some of them feature cycling and bicycles. Japan is considered a biking nation and many anime feature it as a secondary element.
This listicle will show what’s out there and what are the best anime about cycling. Rankings are strictly based on our opinions.
Table of Contents
8. 48X61
48×61 is a short movie made by the famous director Rintaro, the same creator of such masterpieces as Astro Boy and Metropolis.
The story deals with the eternal rivalry on the road between the two professional cyclists Rintaro and Katsuhiro, along with all the appropriate background events to accompany it.
Animated by the renowned animation studio Madhouse, this 6-minute short will know how to enrapture you despite its short running time.
7. Hill Climb Girl
Hill Climb Girl is a short film that is part of the Animator Expo project, conceived by none other than Hideaki Anno, one of the leading figures in Japanese animation.
This project consists of the creation of 30 shorts of various types to give new animators or animation studios a way to get noticed or emerge.
The plot is simple, consisting simply of a girl and a boy having a bicycle race up a hill.
6. Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club
An anime centered on women’s cycling, which in defiance of expectations does not focus on the competitive side but casts it more on a slice-of-life side.
The story is about Hiromi Maiharu, a girl who recently moved to attend high school in a beautiful mountain town with a breathtaking view.
The girl, who has not ridden a bicycle since she was a child, decides to pedal to school anyway. On the way, she bumps into Tomoe Akitsuki, a girl who will help her improve in this activity.
Stunning scenery, bicycles, and believable relationships between character are the selling points of this anime.
5. Long Riders!
Another very light anime, combining within it cycling elements of a comic and slice-of-life nature.
The story follows the events of Ami Kurata, an ordinary college student in her first year. One day she happens to see a person speeding on a bike, and decides she wants one.
The girl thus ends up getting into cycling and road racing and forms a cycling team called Fortuna with four other female college colleagues.
A light and funny anime without too much pretension, with the interactions between the girls in the club very funny and realistic.
4. Idaten Jump
An anime based on a Kodomo manga, that is, aimed at a children’s audience with even educational themes within it. Idaten Jump is enjoyable for anyone, the original target audience doesn’t matter at all.
Sho Yamamoto is a boy with a passion for mountain biking who has always practiced together with his friends Makoto and Takeru in the X-Zone, a place created especially for him by his father.
One day he is challenged by Team Shark Tooth, with this very zone as the victor at stake. During the competition, however, Sho’s team was surrounded by a strange smoke that transports them to a new world, also called the X-Zone.
Their adventure inside this strange world and the quest to get out by collecting the twelve emblems will be the pivotal theme of this adventure.
3. Summer in Andalusia – Andarushia no Natsu
A series of a movie and a one-episode OAV focused entirely on cycling and the lives of the athletes.
The protagonist of the story is Pepe, one of the cyclists who is ordered along with a companion to break away to attract attention and liven up a boring race.
This shot by Pepe will give rise to a series of thoughts and reflections, thanks in part to the wonderful location.
An anime that will captivate and excite you even if you aren’t a fan of the sport, with excellent animation and a very interesting introspective glimpse.
2. OverDrive
An anime that shows us the rise of a professional cyclist to his participation in the coveted Tour de France, as we will see in the flash forward that opens the series.
The athlete in question is Mikoto, who despite having never played any sport before decides to join his school’s cycling team following the suggestion of the girl he is in love with.
Thus begins his rise until we rejoin the initial flash forward.
A must-see anime to savor the birth of a legend to the climax of his career, making us become attached to the character and inevitably end up rooting for him, hoping he wins the race.
1. Yowamushi Pedal
A middle ground between a slice of life and competitiveness. Yowamushi Pedal was released in 2013 and consists of 38 episodes.
Otaku Sakamichi Onoda has just enrolled in high school and would like to join the anime club. Ever since he was a young boy, Onoda has ridden his Mamachari, a bulky bicycle used mainly for short rides, play, or daily chores.
Doing so he developed a talent, getting noticed by the members of the cycling club, who want him in their club at all costs.
An excellent vision that combines slice-of-life school themes with racing and competitiveness within cycling, is very interesting and engaging.
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