Anime & Manga Review: Slam Dunk

February 22, 2012
Posted by DaBrenz

Hey everyone! It’s DaBrenz back here with a review! Sorry I’ve been MIA the past few weeks. Life’s been a real rush and I really appreciate having a chance to start anew! ;) Haven’t you ever felt like you needed to start afresh, to be a whole new you, a better you?? Well, that’s what happens to Hanamichi Sakuragi when basketball is introduced into his life!

That’s right! Introducing, "Slam Dunk!!"

Author: Inoue Takehiko
Artist: Inoue Takehiko

Intimidatingly tall, good-for-nothing delinquent Sakuragi is introduced to basketball in Shohoku High School after having getting rejected for the 50th time. Undecided about what he should do at first, he finally decides to excel in basketball so as to catch the attention of the apple of his eye, Haruko Akagi, as she is a great fan of basketball.


However, he finds himself overshadowed by star player and small forward Kaede Rukawa (who is, ironically, the person of Haruko’s affections)!! Suave, tall, cool Rukawa seems to be better at everything (girls, skills, talent) which drives Sakuragi crazy!!

Aided by the team’s captain and center, (and also Haruka’s older brother) Takenori Akagi, Sakuragi can finally unleash the true potential pertaining to basketball lying within him.

Now, as a basketballer myself, let me introduce to you the five basic positions in basketball:

Point Guard: Basically the “controller” of the game, usually the shortest person or the person who can handle and pass the ball best.

Shooting Guard: He/She is the one who will try to crank up the team’s score by shooting, usually one of the faster players.


Small Forward: This role is usually for the most versatile of players, able to play part of all the other roles. This person is the “Wild Card” in Uno, he or she fills in and makes up for the others when needed.

Power Forward: This role is rather similar to that of a Center’s.

Center: This role is usually reserved for the tallest and strongest of players, who have to score and defend the area nearest to the basket.

As other characters with equally interesting backstories are introduced one by one, life at Shohoku High School’s basketball team gets interesting, the chance for a ranking in the nationals increase with the team hyped up!

Each character in the story plays a pivotal role in the game that is Basketball, and Inoue Takehiko has especially included the rules of the game as the series progresses, making Slam Dunk understandable to everyone of all ages, regardless of experience and exposure to basketball!

Slam Dunk received special commendations from the Japan Basketball Association for helping to make basketball in Japan much more popular than it was then, in 1990.



With 278 chapters, Slam Dunk is complete and can be found on many manga platforms like MangaFox and MangaReader. Slam Dunk also has an anime (though I have yet to watch it)!!! The art may not be as fantastic as compared to the art you see in manga nowadays. However, considering the fact that it was published over a decade ago, (and it still remains well known today!) it rather proves to be quality in terms of content!

Slam Dunk is a story about friendship, passion, sportsmanship and love in multiple forms. It is about trust, building new beginnings, learning, sharing and the joys of basketball.

Give Slam Dunk a try today, who knows, maybe you’ll find yourself chatting up with that cute basketball hunk you’ve always wanted to talk to, or, maybe you yourself will be the one on court shooting hoops. 

Knock yourselves out!
DaBrenz ☺
Edited by FayeA
Next review: Ningen? Youkai? Hanyou????