#TheAgenda: Slam Dunk
Fred is someone I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know online. His passion for Slam Dunk is what got me into it, so who better to write about it? After reading this, I was convinced of how brilliant he is. Show him some birthday love today (@Sxkuragi).
Most people that know me know that basketball and anime/manga are two of my passions and, to no surprise, a basketball manga sounds like something I’d like. Yet, to call Slam Dunk a simple basketball manga would be selling it short massively - this series influenced an entire generation of basketball fans in Japan. It has many references to the NBA and streetwear culture and has an unparalleled legacy even 24 years after its end. Slam Dunk is a series that I hold very close to me and I’d be doing a great disservice if I didn’t try to share it with others. With the NBA season beginning again and recently finishing my reread of this series, I thought I’d try and share just how much it means to me. While articulating that isn’t going to be easy I hope you stick around and get a glimpse of just why I love this manga
Written by Takehiko Inoue, Slam Dunk is a basketball manga that begins at Shohoku High School - freshman Sakuragi Hanamichi is getting rejected by a girl for the record 50th time in the last 3 years, with his crush stating that she instead likes a player from the basketball team. With fiery red hair that matches his hot temper, Sakuragi becomes frustrated at his rejection and begins to direct his anger towards any and all things basketball-related, proclaiming his disdain for the sport. This all changes when he sets his eyes upon Haruko Akagi, his ideal type of girl who also happens to love basketball, which now means Sakuragi of course loves the sport. Noticing Sakuragi’s innate talent for basketball (6’3, athletic and a naturally high jumping ability), Haruko believes he can be the saviour of the basketball team and lead them to the National Championships. Despite being a novice, Sakuragi has convinced himself to be a basketball ‘genius’ better than everyone else and is determined to become the greatest basketball player in order to win over Haruko’s heart. As if things would be that easy though, as while Sakuragi has his eyes on Haruko she instead has her eyes on Rukawa Kaede, a freshman basketball ace with all the talent and abilities to become a future basketball star yet barely notices Haruko, setting the foundation for a love triangle and ensuing rivalry between Sakuragi and Rukawa.
Rukawa & Sakuragi
Sakuragi starts off clueless about basketball with his stubborn, bullheaded nature often causing him to get easily frustrated and find himself in trouble as all he wants is to prove himself to everyone. Yet at the same time these qualities, and Haruko as his motivation, makes him relentless as he continues to push himself to get better; albeit for what could be considered selfish reasons.
Takenori Akagi, the captain, center of the basketball team, and Haruko’s older brother, acknowledges this and sees Sakuragi’s potential; allowing him to join the team. While Sakuragi, Akagi and Rukawa make up the core of the team they’re also later joined by Miyagi Ryota, an undersized 2nd year point-guard, and Mitsui Hisashi, a 3rd year former MVP shooting-guard-turned-delinquent-turned-basketball-player once again. Thus, Shohoku’s main core is fully assembled and the road to Nationals now seems ever more likely.
What follows next is an amalgamation of love, growth, and beauty as Sakuragi goes from hating basketball and playing for selfish reasons, to authentically loving the game with everything he has. With each match he’s constantly growing, shocking those around him with glimpses of his potential (as well as his crazy antics) and becomes a key player to Shohoku’s success. While it’s easy to write off Sakuragi as nothing more than a fool pretending to play basketball, we can’t help but root for him and his success - even if you know nothing about basketball you’re just like Sakuragi, learning the sport and its rules as the series progresses and getting better just like him.
As much as Slam Dunk is Sakuragi’s story, the role each of the other core characters play in the story can’t go unmentioned. Despite Sakuragi striking a rivalry with Rukawa, the difference between them couldn’t be more apparent. Considered to be the ace of the team with natural talent, scoring and athletic abilities, Rukawa is already amongst the best high school players in Japan, even as a rookie. Based off of Michael Jordan, Rukawa’s hot temper, cold and insensitive personality coupled with his ambition to become the best high school player in Japan often makes him seem selfish, similarly to how Jordan was criticized as being too selfish early in his career and overly intimidating.
Miyagi, just like Sakuragi, has also been hopelessly in love, though his record of 10 rejections pales in comparison to Sakuragi’s 50. This similarity is what allows the two of them to bond as Miyagi also has his eye on a girl, Ayako, the team manager. Despite being only 5’6, Miyagi considers himself to be the best point guard amongst his peers, playing to prove himself as such and win over Ayako.
Before he and Akagi joined Shohoku, Mitsui was a MVP and expected to play as such once he came to the team. After meeting Akagi and realising he was no longer the lone best player on his team his pride takes a hit. In an attempt to prove himself, he ends up injuring his knee and taking a break from basketball for a year and a half and becomes a delinquent in the process. After initially attempting to terrorise the basketball team, he realises his mistakes and rejoins the team, accepting his new role.
As a senior captain of the basketball team, Akagi had never made it to the Nationals in all of his time at Shohoku. Similar to Sakuragi, he started out having raw talent (his character is based off of Patrick Ewing) but lacked the fundamentals necessary to truly excel at the game. Yet even as his skills grew over the years he still found himself unable to get past the stronger teams in his region. With no other supporting teammates to lean on, he shoulders the burden of the entire team. Only now that he has Sakuragi, Rukawa, Miyagi, and Mitsui around him can he fully place his trust in reliable teammates and elevate the entire team as its leader.
Akagi & Sakuragi
Witnessing the internal conflicts within each character, their own personal goals, and how they all unify under the singular goal of winning the Nationals are the fundamental aspects that make Slam Dunk so phenomenal. If you’re still skeptical about reading the series, just know that everything I’ve already mentioned is illustrated beautifully by Inoue’s art - as someone who plays and watches basketball it’s clear to me that Inoue has studied the intricacies of the fundamentals down to the finest details. Not a single panel is wasted as you read through the series and even though you’re glancing at still images, Inoue’s art makes sure you’re witnessing poetry in motion.
Even after its end, Slam Dunk’s impact is still felt throughout Japan - between 1990 (when the series first started serializing) and 1996 (when it ended), the competitive population of basketball in Japan grew from around 5.5 million people to around 6.4 million. While the globalization of the NBA during this time is likely also a key factor in this, the fact that Slam Dunk came straight out of Japan is proof of it being a driving force. Additionally, in 2006 Inoue established the ‘Slam Dunk Scholarship’ program, granting a scholarship to an American prep school for a 17/18 year old Japanese student. In 2010 Inoue also received special acknowledgement from the Japanese Basketball Association (basically the NBA of Japan) for his role in helping to popularise basketball in Japan. As of today the series has sold over 126 million copies worldwide, making it one of the 10 best selling manga of all time.
Slam Dunk is one of my all-time favourite manga and I don’t think simply writing about it can truly encapsulate its greatness (though I tried my best). That being said, I hope I was at least able to convince you to give it a chance.
