da Ask MDL, maggio 18, 2019
20

The sports genre is like no other. It teaches us to recognize strengths and protect weaknesses of not just ourselves, but also of team members, and then seize the advantage through this knowledge. The unique nature of shared purpose and shared experience in sports creates a special bond among teammates. Sports inspire us to push ourselves, stretch our limits, and then break free to reach new levels of excellence. They imbue us with a visceral sense of achievement and excitement that comes not only from the joy of teamwork and companionship but also from the appreciation of the discipline and persistence needed for victory. In this spirit, here are some sports dramas and movies we hope you will enjoy.


Honestly, I had a hard time with this one, not because sports is a hard topic, but because I wanted to not include the standard Buzzer Beat and Pride which is everyone's go-to for a Sports Japanese Drama. They are great but I wanna shine the spotlight on a few others.


So you have less than a year to live..what do you do?  Hang with your buddies, drink beer, and play baseball.  Oh and drink beer : )

Every joke you can think of about the men's tumbling team is addressed in this comedy sports drama.  And yes friendship conquers all.

Part 1 of an amazing movie series about Karuta, a Japanese poem card game. All three movies are a must see.

GP: Ninomiya

Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination

Bonus:

Dramas: Buzzer Beat, Pride, 1 Pound no Fukuin, Akagi, Kakegurui, Regatta, ROOKIES.

Movies: Ashita No Joe, Kisarazu Cat's Eye: World Series, Kisarazu Cats Eye: Nihon Series, The Vancouver Asahi, Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku, Chihayafuru: Tsunagu, Kimi ni Sasageru Emblem, Life: Tears in Heaven, Marathon, ROOKIES: Graduation, Ping Pong, Sanshiro SugataTori Girl.

Taiga: Idaten (13/47)



Nothing brings people closer together like a common interest. For Christian (Patrick Garcia), Zach (John Prats), Sputnik (CJ Ramos), and the rest of their friends, they share a love for rollerblading.

Will a loser like Meng and the team of "losers" she formed to be able to win the game called Patintero? As they train, they discover there may be more at stake for them than just winning or losing.


A story about cousins who were the top basketball player and coach. Will they use magic to win the match for their barangay?


Female daughter determined to fight for their family’s honour, their boxing gym and win for her father’s attention on the ring.

Bonus:

Movies: Go Johnny Go, Dobol Dribol, Shoot That Ball, Thelma, TisayForever My Love.



 In this drama based on basketball (and somewhat on the anime Slam Dunk), a Taiwanese national team basketballer's world, Duan Chen Feng, consists of his 2 greatest loves: basketball and his girlfriend, Xiao Xi. They find their perfect world shattered, however, when on the day of his most important match, Duan Chen Feng has an accident on his way to the competition and paralyzes Angel, who just happens to be the sister of Iceman, his biggest opponent since they were young. To shoulder his responsibility, Chen Feng leaves school and his basketball so that he can take care of Angel.

 After watching a high jump competition on TV, Lu Rui Xi was so inspired by a jumper named Zuo Yi Quan that she decides to transfer to his school, which happened to be an all-boys school; therefore, she disguises herself as a boy to get accepted. At the school, Rui Xi befriends Jin Xiu Yi. One day during a friendly soccer match, Rui Xi is knocked unconscious by Xiu Yi. Quan carries her to the infirmary and realizes that Rui Xi is, in fact, a girl! However, Quan keeps her identity a secret. At the same time, Xiu Yi starts to question his own sexual orientation when he finds himself having feelings towards Rui Xi.

Qiu Zi Xuan was an excellent volleyball player in the past, but he had to give up on his dreams due to his injuries, but he still participates in the volleyball-related training, arranges and helps them to get into training, watching them improve.
During the training, he meets a guy, Xia Yu Hao, a guy with a really bad temper who gets easily infuriated with people that make him angry, but he strives to acquire what he persistently wants to achieve.
Zi Xuan thinks he's the one who can reach his dream instead of him. He hopes that Yu Hao can achieve what he couldn't in the past.

Guilty Pleasure 


In a school where academic reigns supreme and sports are relegated to a dusty corner of the campus, Li Ying vows to revive the basketball team by volunteering to be the head coach. Her first member is Yuan Da Ying, a country boy who is passionate for basketball but has no skill. Their recruitment goes into high gear when Dong Fang Xiang, a legendary basketball player, transfers to their school.





Bonus: 

Dramas: Bull Fighting, Fighting Spirit, The Legend of Speed, Baseball Love Affair, The Champion, Play Ball, Basketball Tribe, High 5 Basketball, Swimming Battle, See You in Time, Campus Heroes.

Movies: Kano, 10,000 milesKung Fu Dunk.




Waii is the most popular member and captain of the Ocean College swimming club. He has a difficult relationship with his father who is also the team’s coach. Apo is the latest swimmer to join the club and Waii’s new roommate.





















Boo, a student whose grades aren't promising, comes from a strict family. However, he has a hidden problem. Boo has been suffering from depression for a long time, which resulted in self-harm. Moreover, he doesn't eat or sleeps well. One day, he decides to commit suicide, but his plan was thwarted by a group of skaters, led by Simon and Fern, who influenced him to join their group of friends. Can Boo overcome depression and all his fears?









Gym, an autistic teenager who was often bullied by his peers, decides to join the badminton team with his cousin Dong. However, Gym plays better than Dong, as Gym is able to control the dynamics of the game, leading to Dong's displeasure. With the help of Dong and Gym's widowed moms, are the two able to conquer all their fears and weaknesses to succeed in the badminton court? And what does the future hold for Gym and Dong's relationship?








Guilty Pleasure


Theppanya High School has an underdog volleyball team that reached the final round of Thailand's biggest competition last year but eventually lost to old champion St. Sebastian High. From the disappointment, the team makes a promise to return and win this year. However, Singha, the ace of the team, left for St. Sebastian, making Puen, the new captain of the team, very angry and even more determined to win the championship. The new coach Win then finds a replacement in freshman Than, but the guy has troubles of his own.

Bonus: 

Dramas: Project S The Series: Shoot! I Love You, Peen Pha Kwa Love.

Movies: Water Boyy The Movie.



The story focuses on the friendships and love lives of four friends. All four are avid cyclists and they have entered a cycling competition; their toughest yet which will test their friendship. This movie features breathtaking visual scenery and very realistic cycling sequences.





































World champion snooker player Yau Yat Kiu takes everyone by surprise when he suddenly retires from the snooker world. This comes as a huge disappointment to his daughter Yau Ka Kan, who has always wanted to follow in his footsteps. She feels bewildered too, for although Kiu pretends he does not care about the sport anymore, he has set up a series of challenge matches on the snooker table in his restaurant. His real purpose is that he is waiting for someone he feels is worth taking on as a protege. Kiu comes to know Kan Tze Him by chance. Noticing his flair for snooker, Kiu decides to teach Tze Him all he knows about the game. Later, Kan manages to persuade her father into taking her on as a student as well.

















After a biking holiday in Yunnan province, China, Lin Siqi, the son of a wealthy businessman, returns to Beijing and bumps into an old friend, Chen. Meanwhile, Hong Kong taxi driver Ching Fai, aka "Scumbag Fai", a former boxer and ex-con with gambling debts, flees to neighbouring Macau and gets a menial job at the gym of old friend Tai Sui. Meanwhile, Siqi has washed up, penniless, in Macau with his father, who has lost the will to live after being bankrupted by a stock-market collapse. Finding work as a manual labourer, Siqi decides to enter the forthcoming Golden Rumble MMA Championship, which has a purse of HK$2 million. With some experience in taekwondo, he enrolls at the same gym where Ching Fai happens to work. Ching Fai agrees to help Siqi with his MMA training, even though the championship is only 10 weeks away. However, Ching Fai, despite being 48, also harbours a secret desire to compete for the prize money which he so desperately needs.
Guilty Pleasure


A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage.









































Bonus: 

Dramas: Young Charioteers.

Movies: Full Strike, Weeds on Fire, Lost in Wrestling.



 A young swimmer tries to stage a comeback three years after a scandal.
Tang Yi Bai is a former champion swimmer who was wrongfully accused of doping that derailed his competitive career three years ago.
At the competition between South and North Physical Education College, Yi Bai meets rookie sports reporter Yun Duo, who is assigned to cover the competition but has a fear of water due to a near-drowning incident in her past. Yun Duo also happens to rent a room in Yi Bai’s family home, and the two become good friends.
Can Yun Duo encourages Yi Bai to prove his innocence in his past scandal and regain his swimming glory?


10 years ago in the town of An Yang, the origin of Yuan Wu Dao martial arts, world champion Qu Xiang Nan was accused of doping and his prestigious title was stripped. He became a disgrace to the town and tarnished their name in the arts of Yuan Wu Dao. The story of Tornado Girl is set in the present and revolves around his adopted daughter and student Qi Bai Cao in her journey of becoming a true Yuan Wu Dao martial artist, fighting her way to the top and reclaiming her Teacher's innocence. Along the way, she encounters friends such as her stoic and selfless Yuan Wu Dao senior Ruo Bai, the warm and caring but mysteriously secluded medic Yu Chu Yuan, and the flirtatious, playful Fang Ting Hao with a hidden agenda. Together they learn, grow, compete, find love and fight for their dreams.


"Campus Basketball," tells the high school students Yan Yufeng, Xiang Jie and Gao who love basketball.
The original Big Three, from the school team to the high school league championship, watched them put the basketball and its passion and blood and algebra, geometric problems, English words into the mind. Concentrate all feelings in a high-five, all the blood, all expectations, all the love of basketball, and all the pursuit, persistence or abandonment of dreams. There have been contradictions, setbacks, failures, and finally harvested friendships and growth.


Guilty Pleasure 


Long Ma is a tennis prodigy who garnered 4 successive victories at the American Junior Tennis Tournament. Like his father, former professional tennis player Long Zheng Nan, Long Ma possesses both top-notch skills and deep passion for the sport. Upon returning to his homeland, he attends the distinguished Youth Academy and quickly secures a spot as a regular member of its famous tennis club after beating out numerous upperclassmen. With each match towards their ultimate goal of winning the nationwide Junior Tennis Championships, Long Ma and his teammates grow as players and as friends.

Bonus: 

Dramas: The Whirlwind Girl 2, The Prince of Tennis 2, Sweet Combat, Mr Swimmer, Fast Track Love, A Race Course, Go! Goal! Fighting!, Boy Hood, Lightning, Speed, Take Your Mark, Take Your Mark: Season 2, Basketball Fever, World At Your Feet, Flip in Summer.

TBA Dramas: The Prince of Tennis (2019), Chasing Ball, Hey Pro My Mountain Girl, Dive.

Movies: Heart of IceFunny Soccer.


Just Dance

 “Dance Sports Girls” is based on the documentary of the same name and will tell the story of girls in Geoje Girl’s Vocational High School, who dream different dreams while preparing to get a job in a shipyard where restructuring recently started. Although their grades are low, their efforts in trying to be better dancers are unlimited. 




Kim Yeong Ho is a personal trainer for Hollywood stars. Even though he comes from wealthy family background, he suffered a devastating injury during his childhood days. Now, he overcomes his problems with living a healthy lifestyle. Kang Joo Eun is a 33-year-old lawyer who was once the beauty of her school, nicknamed "Daegu's Venus". Over the years, she has become overweight and unhealthy.
Kang Joo Eun meets Kim Yeong Ho, who agrees to be her personal trainer to help her get healthier.

A volleyball coach and his players aim for success during which they develop stronger bond and friendship for each other as well as teamwork. This youthful story shows sportsmanship and heart-thumping romance.




Guilty Pleasure 


Bok Joo is a weightlifter who is pursuing her dream of winning the gold medal but she then finds romance for the first time in her life. The characters within this drama are elite athletes in weightlifting, swimming and rhythmic gymnastics who work hard to reach their goals in life. It covers their coming-of-age stories and relationships through hectic life.

Bonus: 

Dramas: Thumping Spike 2, Short, To The Beautiful You, Holy Land, Birdie Buddy, Heading to the Ground, Basketball, Triple, Running Gu, Punch, Strike Love, Prison Playbook, Fight For My Way, High School King of Savvy, Operation Proposal.

Movies: As One, My Annoying Brother, No Breathing, Run Off, Marathon, Glove, Take OffPunch.


What are your favourite dramas/movies?

Did we miss any gem?

Please leave a comment below!

Until next time!