Top 10 Anime About Hard-Working Students
Published on October 28, 2021
Can watching anime actually motivate you to work hard in life? Surprisingly, the answer is yes! Unlike what many think, anime serves as an excellent motivator for the viewers. By allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the show, the characters' traits often end up being imitated.
The impression they left and the result of their work motivate fans to work hard towards a goal. In this article, we will list 10 anime about hard-working students that will inspire you to do the same.
10. Run With the Wind
- Number of seasons: 1
- Year: 2018
- Watch it here: Netflix, Crunchyroll, HIDIVE
While the desire to pursue and achieve one's goals may be seen throughout anime, it is excellently depicted in the sports genre.
Run with the Wind is an anime based on running. The plot centers on Kakeru, a former track runner whose bleak life takes a turn when he meets Haiji Kiyose, a university student. Haiji convinces Kakeru to join the Kansei University Track Club after being impressed by his running form and agility.
Haiji's ambition is to compete in the Hakone Ekiden, one of Japan's most prestigious collegiate marathon relay competitions. What could possibly go wrong now that the first hiccup in his plan has been resolved thanks to Kakeru's participation? The eight other students in the track club, it turns out, are complete beginners and lack enthusiasm for the sport. With only a few months till the deadline, achieving this elusive goal is no easy task.
Run with the Wind has one of the most brilliant narratives in sports anime. Every character is given equal attention, and conflicts are naturally built up and resolved. The spectator can connect with Kakeru's and other characters' deep motives and vulnerabilities due to this. Furthermore, all of the characters feel like actual students with real-life difficulties, which makes seeing them work hard and achieve their goals all the more fulfilling and inspirational.
9. Silver Spoon
- Number of seasons: 2
- Year: 2013
- Watch it here: AnimeLab, Funimation
Silver Spoon is a wonderful anime that illustrates the challenges of adjusting to a new environment and pushing oneself beyond one's comfort zone. Every student strives to work hard and achieve their goals and have a fulfilling school experience.
The series centers on Yuugo Hachiken, a hard-working and studious boy who wishes to live apart from his family. As a result, he enrolls in Ooezo Agricultural High School, a boarding school in the Hokkaido countryside, at the start of the new academic year.
While Hachiken initially believed that his natural ability to study would help him thrive at this university, he is immediately disproved. Here, he is forced to mix and compete with talented peers who have spent their whole lives on farms and discover the hardships that come with farm life. Hachiken will have to work hard to find a place amongst those who are already accustomed to the harsh agricultural environment.
8. A Place Further Than the Universe
- Number of seasons: 1
- Year: 2018
- Watch it here: NetflixÂ
A Place Further Than the Universe is a delightful anime that chronicles the intriguing journey of four hard-working students in quest of something extraordinary. Mari, Hinata, and Yuzuki, all of whom have lofty aspirations and ambitions of their own, are inspired by Shirase's desire to find her mother in a location far beyond the world itself: Antarctica.
The show has a sense of adventure that is uncommon in anime. It is wonderful to see the girls face problems and overcome them while also learning from their hardships from the beginning to the end. The characters constantly experience something new and memorable that will profoundly affect them in the future.
Watching these four students taking their youth in their hands and deciding to work hard towards their dreams is awe-inspiring.
7. Haikyuu!!
- Number of seasons: 4
- Year: 2014
- Watch it here: Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, AnimeLab
Hinata witnesses the "Little Giant" in action and aspires to follow in his footsteps. Despite his small height, he dedicates himself to volleyball and revitalizes the club at his middle school. The newly created team even makes it to a competition, but Tobio Kageyama mercilessly defeats them. Hinata joins Karasuno High School's volleyball team, vowing to beat Kageyama, only to discover that his sworn foe has become his teammate.
What makes Haikyuu!! so exciting to watch is how well every character is developed, including Hinata. They all have their own goals and work hard to achieve them, and there are no easy solutions for achieving their goals since the protagonists are novice volleyball players who are far from the finest in the world. There are no unexplainable wins here; instead, we get a well-crafted plot in which everyone progressively works toward their goal.
6. ReLife
- Number of seasons: 1
- Year: 2016
- Watch it here: CrunchyrollÂ
ReLife follows 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki, a hopeless guy who quits his first job and hops around from place to place. When he meets Ryou Yoake, a member of the ReLife Research Institute, his average existence takes a sharp turn. With the use of a strange medication, the latter provides Arata the chance to alter his life for the better.
After consuming it, Arata wakes up the next day to discover that he has reverted to the appearance of a 17-year-old. He is now a participant in a one-year experiment in which he must attend high school as a transfer student. While Arata initially believes it will be a piece of cake due to his life experience, he is proven horribly wrong as he can't keep pace with the new school rules that have cropped up over the years.
Arata's efforts to adjust to his frenetic new lifestyle as a student and avoid making the same mistakes as before is chronicled in ReLIFE.
5. Code Geass
- Number of seasons: 2
- Year: 2006
- Watch it here: Netflix, Hulu, Funimation, Crunchyroll
Code Geass is an original anime made by studio Sunrise that is set in an alternate reality where Britain has conquered the rest of America. The plot follows Lelouch Lamperouge, the Empire's eleventh prince, who develops hate for the emperor of Britannia and the imperial bureaucracy as a whole.
After meeting a strange young lady named C.C., Lelouch obtains the Geass power, which allows him to force anybody to do whatever he wants. Now, of course, with this newfound power, what does Lelouch plan to do? Conquer the world, that’s what.
While the story may appear to be a touch predictable at times, there are enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Code Geass is one such anime where the hard work of Lelouch leads to the conquering of the world, or well, something similar. It is a must-watch for fans of mecha, politics, complicated ideologies, and unexpected plot twists.
4. My Hero Academia
- Number of seasons: 5
- Year: 2016
- Watch it here: Crunchyroll, Netflix, AnimeLab, Funimation, Hulu
Another massively popular modern behemoth, My Hero Academia, is one of the best anime about hard-working students.
The plot revolves around Midoriya Izuku, a quirkless child who desires to be a hero. Despite his lack of abilities, Izuku refuses to give up on his ambition and sets his eyes on UA High, an elite hero training academy.
Midoriya's life takes a drastic turn following a fortuitous encounter with All Might, the number one hero. He undergoes rigorous training, works harder than ever, and inherits All Might's might upon discovering that his dream is not a dead end. With his newfound powers, Izuku enrolls at his preferred school and begins working hard in order to become the greatest hero in the My Hero Academia universe.
3. Jujutsu Kaisen
- Number of seasons: 1
- Year: 2020
- Watch it here: Crunchyroll, Netflix
It's no wonder that Jujutsu Kaisen has taken the anime world by storm, owing to its fantastic animation and unique take on the genre. The series has grown to become one of the most popular anime franchises on the planet, and many consider it to be one of the finest shounen anime of this generation.
Yuuji Itadori is a young boy who spends his days either in the clubroom or at the hospital with his ailing grandfather. However, after coming into contact with a cursed artifact, he is thrust into the realm of Curses. Worse, Yuuji's life is continually endangered after swallowing a finger belonging to the demon Sukuna Ryoumen, the "King of Curses."
Itadori enrolls at the Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School and begins his journey as a Jujutsu sorcerer, determined to alleviate the pain of those affected by the Curses.
Jujutsu Kaisen has become a huge hit, with practically every episode leaving viewers wanting more. With a fantastic plot, hard-working students, stunning visuals, and epic powers, it is a must-watch.
2. Bakuman
Bakuman needs to be included in a list like this; there's no way around it.
Moritaka Mashiro is a 14-year-old student who aspires to be a mangaka like his uncle Tarou Kawaguchi. But when tragedy strikes, he abandons his goal and decides to pursue a career as a salaryman instead. However, fate has other plans. One day, Moritaka has a fortuitous meeting with Akito Takagi, the school's top student and aspiring writer, transforming his life forever.
Moritaka and Takagi are now trying to create manga together, with the goal of having an anime debut within four years. Moritaka's objective is to get an anime adaptation made so that Miho Azuki, the girl he has a crush on, may voice-act in it. Takagi, on the other hand, despite abandoning the "mainstream" path, aspires to be wealthy and renowned.
Both the primary and secondary characters move independently and according to their own desires. This makes the characters extraordinarily human and shows the lengths a person will go to fulfill their goals. Seeing these hard-working students achieve their dreams will definitely leave the audience crying happy tears.
1. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
- Number of seasons: 2
- Year: 2019
- Watch it here: Funimation, Netflix, Crunchyroll, Hulu
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War follows the story of Kaguya Shinomiya, the heir of one of Japan’s wealthiest families and vice-president of her high school’s student council, and Miyuki Shirogane, the school’s over-achieving president who is from the working class.
The two student council leaders are clearly head over heels for each other, but both are too proud to admit it. Believing that the first one to confess love would be on the losing end, the two play a series of increasingly complicated mind games in order to force the other to admit their feelings first.
The President, Miyuki Shirogane, is a diligent student who, despite his humble beginnings, made it to the top of his class through hard work and perseverance. Miyuki holds himself in high regard and works tirelessly to preserve his perfect image. He is a textbook workaholic, enjoying his part-time job and often putting his own health at risk for the sake of his work. Kaguya Shinomiya, on the other hand, is a typical average oujou-sama. However, the pressure of succeeding in her father's business while excelling in academics often leads to her working hard all the time.
The Kaguya-sama: Love Is War anime is full of hard-working students, including interesting side characters like Chika Fujiwara, who is full of energy, and Yu Ishigami, who is quiet but dedicated to the council.