Slam Dunk is a thirty one volumes manga written and designed by the Japanese mangaka Takehiko Inoue, set in the world of japanese high school basketball.
The author is a great basketball fan himself that’s why he has dedicated two more of his works (“Buzzer Beater” and “Real”) to this sport.
But why would I want to talk about this manga now?
The answer is very simple, because it’s a strange phenomenon.
Anyhow let me tell you first what it is about.
The manga main protagonist is Hanamichi Sakuragi a bully who decides to enroll to the first year of the Shohoku high school a choice that will change his life.
At the beginning of this story the protagonist hate basketball because of a girl that he was in love with that left him for a basketball player.
Hanamichi Sakuragi is a character that makes a big impact, with his provocative orange hair and his violent hooligan like temper. He is a youngster without discipline and with almost zero reactivity, a teen perpetually rebounded by the girls his age. It is precisely this latter characteristic the heart of the beginning of this adventure.
Hanamichi meets Haruko Akagi, a freshman like him and a basket enthusiast. The girl, that later we'll discover is the sister of the basketball team captain, is impressed about the height and physical prowess of the protagonist and try to convince Sakuragi to join the basketball team.
Hanamichi falls for her and is willing to do anything for a little attention from her, therefore he accepts only to be able to conquer her.
Sakuragi is introduced to Shohoku basketball team and here he comes across Takenori Akagi the first obstacle for his plan.
Akagi is the team captain and currently the only prominent element of Shohoku. He weighs up Hanamichi’s potentials and allows him to join the team, but relegates him to the edges of the field to learn the basics as Sakuragi can’t shoot and he is obliged to repeat tedious though necessary exercises.
All this leads to the protagonist irritation and to make matters worse Kaede Rukawa arrives, Another promising freshman, however, already considered a star.
Sakuragi, soon discovers Haruko's infatuation with the newcomer and will develop a very strong and comic dualism towards Rukawa.
This makes Sakuragi even more irritated by his inability to enter the field and rival the newcomer and leads the protagonist to various battles with the gorilla “Akagi”.
From now on, the story accelerates and sees the slow move from one protagonist to a group, namely the Shohoku team. We will see the evolution of this team during their championship journey and we will discover the background of each component, old and new.
The story deals with the theme of sport and school life with a lot of humor.
The manga discuss a delicate topic but still very current as bullying in schools, but it does it with humor for examples by changing the style of the designs and making them super deformed, to highlight the childish behaviors of the protagonists.
Slam Dunk is one of the most famous manga in Japan and abroad. It’s so big in its homeland that it contributed very markedly to the spread and development of basketball culture in Japan.
Before breaking up let me add something more.
Slam dunk was serialized from 1990 to 1996 in the teen’s magazine Shonen Jump where also Saint Seiya and Captain Tsubasa debuted.
It’s considered by many to be one of the parents of the sports genre and one of the most beautiful stories of its kind.
Recently the manga has undergone a reprint in twenty volumes and has jumped back to the top of the rankings.
I hope i have tempt some of you to read the manga or watch the anime;
Thank you for the attention and see you soon.
