Sep 25, 2020
Slam Dunk is one of the best selling manga in the history of Japan and one of the best rated manga on MAL (actually in the sports manga department it occupies the 1st place). Going into it I had absolutely no idea that the series I expected to be just a nice, enjoyable read would become one of my all-time favourite series of all time.
Story 10
First and foremost, we are introduced to the world of Slam Dunk through the character of Sakuragi Hanamichi (more on him later) in a very surprising way. Instead of our main character having a long-term goal/dream to achieve, we
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are introduced to a red-haired delinquent with no passions or career prospects whatsoever. He quickly gets noticed by a girl from another class and is encouraged to join the basketball club, which he does in order to impress the girl. Personally I found it quite original compared to other shounen anime/manga even after so many years as in most of them It's all about those young people who have big dreams/passions since they can remember and following them on the way of achieving their goals, but that's not really the case in Slam Dunk. Here, it's all about the main character finding his passion. It is a slightly different take on the topic. Many people in this time and age have difficulty in finding any interests and the topic that this manga covers stays relevant even after over 15 years.
Now, let's get to the meat and potatoes and talk about the pacing of Slam Dunk which is by far superb. This is one of the few manga series where you actually can't really predict what will occure in the future, because you basicaly never know if a certain match will last 10, 20 or 50 chapters, which makes the whole story a lot more engageing to watch. Moreover, you can get through chapters pretty quickly and there never really was a part of the story that felt overwhelming or boring to me.
Lastly, let's just mention the final match and the ending to the entire series and it was... Wow. Last couple chapters made me feel more hyped than I've ever been reading a series and the emotional value that comes with it is honestly brilliant. The best part is that until the very last chapter you have no clue who will win the match.
All in all, story-telling in Slam Dunk is as perfect as it can get with a sports manga.
Characters 9
It's time to talk about my boy - Sakuragi Hanamichi who is most likely the best choice for the protagonist of this story. During the very first chapter he is presented to us as an extremely unlucky man who got rejected by 50 girls during middle school and has no other interests besides girls and fighting. However, during his junior year of high school he turns over a new leaf and joins the basketball club; at first, it is just to impress a girl he likes however, as time goes on he starts getting more invested in the sport and slowly falls in love with it. Personally I find it extremely appealing as I was able to fall in love with basketball and get much more engaged in main character's dream and development than any other shounen protagonist before that. What is more, he is a type of a funny-dummy boy which really helps in dialogue-heavy scenes as it results in a better flow of the series and more enjoynment from it.
Having that covered, let's focus on the rest of the main team. The basic squad is all around extremely solid with every character having some kind of a barrier to overcome and a unique quirk to combine with that. Now the substitute players mostly weren't explored that much (aside from a bit from Kogure aka Megane-kun), but personally it didn't bother me that much.
Now in regards of the players from other teams I strongly believe that the author did a good job however, not a perfect one. As different matches go on, we get a further look at different character's ambitions and pasts which makes all the matches even more exciting. But at the same time I don't feel like I grew personally attached to any of the players. For example, there was this short match between 2 enemy teams and it is by far by least favourite part of the series (even though it is still solid) as I just wasn't as invested as when watching Sakuragi and Co. play.
Nevertheless, the main character's development is brilliant and the rest of the characters is very solid as well. (Also Anzai-sensei is an absolute legend both in the story and in everybody's heart)
Art 9
Inoue-sensei is well-known for his extremely realistic art-style, majorly due to Vagabond and Slam Dunk. Now I have to say that I am not a person who values the art of a certain story as much as story-writing and character progression yet, it still matters nonetheless. A magnificent job was done to deliver the story in a way that is nice to look at, interesting to follow and easy to understand. With extremely good paneling and a fine proportion between text and drawings Inoue-sensei is able to pull you into this world from the get go. It definietly shines the brightest during matches as the author is able to go all-out with variety of fast-paced action sequences.
Even though it is not necessarly my favourite art-style of all time it is definietly one of the best and even compared to most of the modern manga it still stands out greatly.
Enjoynment 10
The last thing I wanted to touch upon in my review as we are coming to a close is whether you need to like/be interested in basketball (or any sport) in order to enjoy Slam Dunk properly and the answer is a big fat no. Every now and then we are informed about different techniques and strategies that make games much easier to understand and enjoyable to the utmost.
As you could possibly see I enjoyed Slam Dunk immensely and there is no way I am not giving it a 10 out of 10.
Overall 9,5≈10
Slam Dunk is a series I consider to be an absolute classic and also the best sports manga I've read up to date. It is a truly beautiful story about a boy who finds something that he loves. It may be a true inspiration for every teenager and I would gladly recommend it whether you are a fan of sports or not.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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