Ao no Hako

Similar romance vibes with the sport aspect, both aim to become professional tennis players 

Both animes are focused on sports and romance. The MCs are both kinda dumb, but also charismatic. They have to grow up in a lot of aspects. The main heroine have different personalities (Suzuka is more of a tsundere), but they're both the ace of their sports. The MCs also have a childhood friend who's in love with them. But anyways, Suzuka is one of my favorite animes. Watching an anime that reminds me of Suzuka that much is really nice.  

Touch is one of the best selling manga of all time and at one point was the most popular anime series ever. It has a very clear and obvious influence on Ao no Hako. Both series are a mix of slice of life and sports, with a heavy romantic subtext and emphasis on characters who are childhood friends. Both series are also similarly cross demographic between shounen and shoujo. Though where the two differ is that Touch has more of a core focus it settles on a love triangle, with an underlying bit of tragedy to the series, and special attention given to the relationship of the two brothers. I feel like these two have so much in common that a lot of fans of one could easily enjoy the other pretty easily, though Touch is a bit more of a slow burn and might take some adjustment from someone used to watching shows in bite sized seasons. read more