The quest for good sports anime

An off-hand comment by Nova how he boycotts sports anime reminded me about this: I had pretty poor record with it. Not that I boycott it strictly like Nova, but I never was enthusiastic about it and neglected the genre. It is high time for the neglect to be rectified. The recent failure of Yowamushi Pedal did nothing to dissuade me. However, identifying worthy candidates is a challenge. I heard good things about Ookiku Furikabutte, but it's associated with thematic concerns. One-outs was nasty, dropped after some 4 or 5 episodes. The otherwise most excellent Chihayafuru failed on characters. I wish Attack Number One was easily available, but I don't think it saw an R1 release. Besides, honestly, I prefer the break of the century anime to moldy classics. Currently I'm pinning sports hopes on Suzuka.

BTW, I already received the suggestion of Ginban Kaleidoscope from Nova's trollolo co-blogger, JTFish (quoted in full from ANN because this):

Plot Summary: 16-year old Sakurano Tazusa is a Japanese figure ice-skater who considers herself to be worth $10 billion in beauty. While executing her moves in the Women's Figure Skating Grand Prix, she stumbled and landed badly, hence resulting in her loss in the competition. At the same time, in the same city, a Canadian youth by the name of Pete Pumps was performing an air stunt when his plane crashes and he dies. Tazusa starts to hear a strange voices and realises that the Canadian ghost now resides in her body. After futile attempts to get rid of Pete, Tazusa decides to get accustomed to his presence and in the meantime, improve on her techniques in order to get selected for the Olympics.

Thanks, man. I know we can count on you.

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