Entertaining and yet close to realistic football anime is a rarity. That and the wonderful execution of Hungry Heart makes it a top-notch anime. The story of an aloof, oh-so normal Kysouke, his apparent passion for football (even though he tries hard in the beginning to hide it) and the eventual turn-around in his attitude towards everything in his life is the story of Hungry Heart.
Fellow team-mates like Sakai, Rodrigo et all are spectacularly shown. Thus the focus is not entirely on Kyosuke. His genius elder brother Sousuke is another vital character in the series, even if he does not appear regularly.Last, but definitely not the least is Sujiwaki Miki! The girl who studies AND plays hard! Some of her conversations with Kyosuke are just brilliant!
The music is top-notch, opening theme and in-anime. Same can be said about the animation quality.If you have even a slight interest in anime and you watch sports (any sport), this anime is for you. Trust me you won't regret it.
I give it a 4.5/5. (show less)

I don't usually get into sports anime, but this one was recommended to me and I agreed to watch the first three episodes just to check it out. I found myself unable to put it down and ended up watching the whole series in less than 3 days.

The story is one of the most amazing works I have ever seen. I found myself tearing up at several points, as well as at the end.

The dialogue is masterfully done, it really made the whole anime as good as it is.

The animation is very good, and unlike other series with excellent stories and dialogues, but bad animation that can bring the whole thing down, this one kept a high standard of quality. (show less)