We don’t do manga series in our recommendations here, just anime. However, that doesn’t mean that anime fans don’t want to lie in bed and read a few good chapters quietly before bed. Instead of branching out into manga recommendations, we’re going to give you a few good ones that you can look into. So if you want to read some good sports manga or are just some sort of anime hipster that wants to be all “I read the manga before it was cool and animated,” then check out these sports manga recommendations below.

Real

Tomomi Nomiya was once the captain of his basketball team, but after ruining a girl’s life in a traffic accident, he turned into a delinquent. He drops out of high school in order to help her where he meets a former sprinter in a wheelchair named Kiyoharu. Kiyoharu challenges him to a game of basketball and completely crushes Tomomi, an encounter that inspires him to not let go of his love for basketball so easily.

Subaru

Instead of playing and making friends like a normal girl, Subaru spends most of her time with her dying twin brother who is gradually losing his memory. In order to make him remember her, she talks and dances for him. Eventually, one of her few friends encourages her to join ballet classes that make her fall in love with dancing.

Kenshin

In hopes of becoming a top class whaler, Uto Yujiro crosses the sea to Alaska. However, his destiny in life is changed forever when he meets a powerful boxer named Jim.

Crimson Hero

Nobara Sumiyoshi is a volleyball player and has ambitions to make it to the big time. However, she just can’t seem to have any good luck in the highly competitive world of high school volleyball.

The Climber

Transferring to a new school, Mori is rather solitary in nature. However, if classmates convince him to scale the school building, which he does. After an exhilaration climb, he has awakened a new passion in life – the sport of rock climbing.

Harlem Beat

Nate Torres is a baller with big dreams. However, after failing to make his school’s basketball team, he doesn’t let his passion for basketball die. Instead, he takes it to the one place there is left for it – the streets.

Rikudou

After his father’s death, a former-boxer now Yakuza taught Riku how to throw a punch. Later, when his mother’s drug dealer tried to assault him, he used a punch that ended up taking the man’s life. Now marked as a killer, he evades even more trouble. This leads him back to that same former boxer in search of more skill to defend himself and eventually the world of pro-boxing.

Rookies

Kawato is the new Japanese teacher and baseball coach at Futagotamaga High School, a place with a reputation for delinquency. Even the baseball team has been barred from professional competition for a year after causing a brawl. Even though the suspension has been lifted, the only members still on the baseball team are only interested in women and leisure. However, Kawato inspires them with a new goal of reaching the Koushien, but these out of shape players have a long road ahead of them.

Teppuu

Ishidou Natsuo is good at every sport she tries, and as such, she is constantly bored by the lack of challenge. However, one day she is invited by a chipper girl to join her martial arts club. Annoyed by her, she accepts on the pretext to beat her up, but things don’t go exactly as planned. Turns out this may be one sport that can best Natsuo.

All Rounder Meguru

Meguru and Takashi are two childhood friends that haven’t seen each other in years, but are reunited at a mixed martial arts contest. While Meguru only does MMA for the fun of it, Takashi has professional dreams in the realm of MMA. While they have different reasons for fighting, they are united by their love of mixed martial arts.

Rough

Although Kiesuke Yamato and Ninomiya Ami both share a love of swimming, they come from two rival confectionery shop owning families. While their families fight about who crafted an owl-shaped cake first, Kiesuke shows promise as a freestyle swimmer and Ami is an excellent young diver.

RRR

Although Rikitaro has rockstar dreams, at 27, those dreams are becoming less and less likely. In one final shot, he is told he needs to get in better shape to sell albums. This leads him to a boxing gym where he catches the eye of a retired boxer who believes that he can make Rikitaro into a legendary fighter.

Smash!

Shouta and Miwa share a love of badminton. Miwa tries to convince Shouta to go to the same badminton school as her, as she is also in love with him, but Shouta, dense as ever, says he just plays for fun. Yet, his outlook on badminton changes drastically after a fateful encounter with a mute girl.

Our Field of Dreams

Takasugi Kazuya is the son of a Japan League soccer player. He has dreams of some day playing in the league with his father. This dream of soccer stardom takes him all over the world as he aims for the top.

King Golf

In Teirin High School, you are either a thug or an elite sports player. Sousuke Youki is a thug known for his fighting skills, but one day, after being ignored by a prodigy golf player, he follows him and ends up being recruited by the thuggish golf coach.

Do you know any more good sports manga series that don’t have anime series for manga fans to get into? Let them know in the comments section below.