[REVIEW] Slam Dunk

[iBreaker]

Slam Dunk

 

I would like to take this chance and discuss with everyone about a phenomal series I just finished watching which is none other than Slam Dunk. First of all, and before I start my personal review on the series I think it's necessary for me to tell you how I started watching this series in the first place.

Some of months ago, I randomly saw a thread on Anime News Network where 10,000 Fans Pick What Sports Anime Influenced Them the Most on a poll. And that is where I fist saw the series for the first time. As an anime sports fan myself I wanted to know more about this anime/manga series in the first place. And so after learning that this series was serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump, was over 100 episodes and started on 1990 I was even more moved and intrigued to explore the surroundings of this sports franchise (as I am in love with the old style animation etc.).

To give you guys a better demonstration of Slam Dunk I decided to review some of the most moving aspects of the show which are "friendship", "effort", "determination", "willpower", "change for a meaningful life" and many others. Let's start off with some basic info though:

 

Taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Slam Dunk (Japanese: スラムダンク Hepburn: Suramu Danku?) is a sports-themed manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1990 to 1996, with the chapters collected into 31 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. It was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which has been broadcast worldwide, enjoying much popularity particularly in Japan, several other Asian countries and Europe. As of 2012, Slam Dunk had sold 120 million copies in Japan alone, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. Inoue later used basketball as a central theme in two subsequent manga titles: Buzzer Beater and Real. In 2010, Inoue received special commendations from the Japan Basketball Association for helping popularize basketball in Japan.

 

Plot

 

Hanamichi Sakuragi is a delinquent outcast and member of a gang. Sakuragi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them 50 times. In his first year at Shohoku High School, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she is not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out. 

Haruko Akagi, who recognizes Sakuragi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Sakuragi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the 50th girl rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her. Later on, Sakuragi realizes that his love for the sport equals that of his crush on Haruko. Kaede Rukawa — Sakuragi's bitter rival (both in basketball and because Haruko has a crush, albeit a one-sided one, on Rukawa), the star rookie and a "girl magnet" — joins the team at the same time. Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi, a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi's dream of making Shohoku the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan.

 

Manga/Anime

 

The manga was originally published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from issue 40 of 1990 until issue 27 of 1996 spanning 276 chapters and 31 volumes. While the anime, consisting of 101 episodes and 4 movies, was produced by the TV Asahi terrestrial television network and Toei Animation and directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa. It was first aired on TV Asahi from October 16, 1993 to March 23, 1996.

 

Production

 

Inoue became inspired to make Slam Dunk as he liked basketball since his high school years. After Inoue started Slam Dunk, he became surprised while receiving letters from readers that they started playing the sport due to the manga. His editor even told him "basketball was a taboo in this world." Due to these letters, Inoue decided he wanted to draw better basketball games in the series. With the series, Inoue wanted to demonstrate the feelings from an athlete such as their thoughts when they win, lose or improve at their sport. When he started making Vagabond, he noted that when he was doing Slam Dunk he had a simpler perspective on life as he focused more in victories and success.

 

With the series, Inoue wants the readers to feel achievements as well as love for the sport. Thinking that his success as a manga artist being largely due to basketball, Inoue organized a Slam Dunk Scholarship for Japanese students as he wanted to give back to the sport by increasing its popularity in Japan. However, when asked about the response from readers to basketball, Inoue commented that although Slam Dunk is technically a basketball manga, its story could have been done with other sports such as soccer. He also added that the artwork for the manga was very typical and mangalike in comparison to his newer works such as Real. His experiences with basketball also influenced the story from Slam Dunk: as a youth Inoue started playing basketball to be popular with the girls, but later became interested with the sport in and of itself. This was mirrored in the character of Hanamichi Sakuragi, who starts playing basketball to be popular with the girl he likes, to later become truly fond of the game.

 

Reception

 

The collected volumes of Slam Dunk sold over 100 million copies by 2004, and over 118 million by 2012. The title had more than 120 million copies sold by 2013 and is Weekly Shōnen Jump‍ '​s fifth best-selling manga series. In 1994, it received the 40th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga. Until it was broken in 2002, volumes 21 through 23 of Slam Dunk held the record for initial printing of a manga at 2.5 million copies. The imprint version of Slam Dunk: 10 Days After was popular, having initially ranked 6th and then 15th in Oricon's weekly ranking of manga. The English translation of the series was listed as one of the best comics of 2008 by Publishers Weekly. Similarly, the Young Adult Library Services Association named the first volume one of its "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" in early 2009.

 

The success of Slam Dunk is cited as an influence in the increased popularity of basketball among the Japanese youth during the 1990s. The Slam Dunk Scholarship program was created in 2006 by Inoue and Shueisha. The winning 17- to 18-year-old recipient receives a fully paid academic and athletic scholarship to a university-preparatory school in America if they pass the school's admission interview. In 2010, Inoue received special commendations from the Japan Basketball Association for helping popularize basketball in Japan and the scholarship program. In a poll of close to 79,000 Japanese fans for the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006, Slam Dunk was voted the #1 manga of all time. In the Japanese government's 2009 Media Arts 100 Poll of the public's favorite works of art of all time, Slam Dunk took first place in the manga division. In a survey from Oricon in 2009, it was ranked first as the manga that fans wanted to be turned into a live-action film.

 

The anime adaptation has also been very popular in Japan. In TV Asahi's 2005 Top 100 Anime survey of multiple age groups, Slam Dunk ranked as the 8th most popular anime. In another poll from TV Asash.

 

Review

 

1) One of this show's greatest (if not the greatest) aspects are the characters themselves. They are described as realistic and slice of life people and designed to resemble the "true things" as much as possible (except on the comedy scenes which define a huge portal of the show). Meaning no cute huge eyes, thin boy/girl bodies, small lips, crazy color and shape anime hair (except the protagonist xD) which make the characters look ever more real and not confine them on the Japanese culture and ideals only, but expand them on a multi-country section. Of course this makes a lot of sense considering the fact that this show was created around the time where anime was increasing its popularity and expanding its drawing and style preferences. Anyway, these characters are dealt with everyday decisions and problems just like we are. The most interesting part of it though would be how they deal with them and what solutions do they seek.

 

Let's start with the main protagonist. Hanamichi Sakuragi is just your average first-year high school problematic deliquent who can't find any true meaning or purpose in life so he just starts getting into fights with other groups and waits for the days to just pass. All of this changes when he meets a girl from school named Haruko Akagi (his love interest) who convinces him to join the Basketball team because of his great height (1.88 m is a bit too tall for a 1st year student, but hey, almost all of the characters of the show are drawn extremely tall to resemble real life Basketball players) and his amazing athletic abilities. Because of his love for Haruko and as a self proclaiming "Tensai" (="Genius"), Hanamichi decides to enter the team, but it doesn't start off too well for him cause of his small temper and the fact that he is a complete amateur to the game and isn't even aware of its most basics of basics of basics of basics (xP you get the idea. Seriously, your grandma is more aware of the game than Hanamichi). And that is exactly what I admired of Hanamichi, the fact that he doesn't start off as an amazing basketball player with Super Saiyan-like moves and rays and enerygy blasts and Zone-transformations and Emperor Eyes shit like Kuroko no Basket (Yeah, I've seen KnB and I have to say that I'm really disappointed of this show after waching SD. I'll get to that part later though.) BUT, after 3 months of training he starts showing off some amazing skills and abilities that make him imporove even more and surpass everyone's expectations. His motivation from playing only for Haruko's shake changes to love for the game which make him concentrate even more on the later games and less on the surroundings. You can definitely "evolve" yourself as you see Hanamichi proccessing on the series. Also, his background story will make a lot of you cry! :'( Anyway, you'll see that there is not possible for anyone not to sympathize with this amazing person who finds his true purpose which is none other than to be the best on the thing he loves more which is of course Basketball.

 

Although I would love to talk more about a lot of characters I'm afraid it will take too long. Just remember that many of the pros than Hanamichi possess apply to most of the characters of this show and that's what excites me even more. It's rare for a show to contain many likeable characters with different opinions and ideals, but this show succeeds in that.

 

2) The music and the animation are truly beatiful and breath-taking. Drawn and developed in a wonderful '90 style animation and art, the music will also most definitely make you remember a really nostalgic and unique era. The battle themes are making the games even more intense and there are also some really dark and sad themes that can really connect to the story. So it's not an exaggeration to sate that the art and animation of this show can really amaze even the most modern anime loving fans. It is also important to note that the voice actors have done an amazing job to apply to their roles as much realistic and true as they can possibly be. Personally, I'll never forget this scene near the end of the video cause it made me realize just how much we can change our lives to be meaningful and find the right path one day.

 

3) Let's not forget that this show contains 2 of the most memorable anime quotes. More specifically, from Mitsui and Anzai-sensei that is to love Basketball and never give up on the game till the very end. Those words can definitely give so much inspiration to new generations and many people out there that wanted to have a purpose in life!

 

4) And, one of this show's most amazing aspects is the balance between comedy and drama. Seriously, this show has such a high class comedy that can certainly make you enjoy all of the episodes (you have got to love those chibi expressions which compose about 95% of the funny parts of the series). And the dramatic past and background of many characters will cerainly make you familiarize with them. So even though the story and the character development will most cerainly not disappoint you, one tiny flaw would be (imo of course) the slow pacing of the most imporant games. Once again, I believe that it will not bother most as the slow paced episodes will provide enjoyment through its hilarious comedy, more background flashbacks for the characters and amazing basketball scenes. The same thing also applies for the filler episodes considering the fact that I haven't seen any boring or disappointing one. Also, note that the original story of the movies introduce new characters and plots that can all connect to the main story.

 

5) Finally, I believe, and I want other people to see this, that Slam Dunk is a much higher class series than Kuroko no Basket. Please don't get me wrong, I'm also a fan of the latter, but after watching this phenomenal '90 version I can say without a doubt that SD tries to explore every bit of development that applies to all the characters, make them face real life problems like daily fights and find solutions that will make them grow as better people and not try to win the audience with the flashy new animation and energy like fights like KnB did. For me KnB would be a second class sports anime for people who want and love futuristic-unreal adjustements to the game.

 

 

Personal Ratings:

 

Animation: 8/10

Art: 9/10

Music: 10/10 

Story: 9/10 

Overall: 9.5/10 (A+)

 

So once again I would like to thank everyone who spent some of your time to give this review a chance. I just wanted to share my thoughts and opinions for this unique series and try to pursuade more people to give it a go and support this amazing franchise that will continue to exist for decades to come. Also, I cross my fingers and pray for this series to have have a remake/reboot or a coninuation one day in the future cause let's be honest, the sports loving fans continue to increass rapidly by the day and classic series like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon and HxH already had ones so why not Slam Dunk! HOPE YOU ENJOYED! THANKS!

 

                                                                                                                

Edited August 28, 2015 by Imagine Breaker