Slam Dunk is a shonen spokon manga and anime series created by Takehiko Inoue. It follows the story of Hanamichi Sakuragi, a troubled high school student who has been rejected by countless girls. However, when a girl encourages him to try basketball, he discovers a natural talent for the sport, which he had never played before. In an attempt to win over this girl, Haruko, he joins Shohoku High School's basketball team and ends up falling in love with the game.
The series blends comedy and sports action with occasional drama. Inoue demonstrates exceptional storytelling in depicting basketball games, showcasing high-quality artwork and a keen sense of when to focus on game details and when to speed up the narrative. Interestingly, some early scenes suggest that Inoue initially intended to take the series in the direction of athletic fantasies, allowing players—especially Sakuragi—to perform impossible feats. However, he ultimately chose a realistic style, with the only slightly exaggerated element being Sakuragi's incredible jumping ability, earning him the title "King of Rebounds."
Sakuragi's intra-team rival is Kaede Rukawa, a universally recognized prodigy who is cold and reserved—the complete opposite of Sakuragi—and doesn’t forgive those who wake him up. Their relationship is not friendly, though this is mostly due to Sakuragi constantly picking fights, as Rukawa garners Haruko’s attention. It takes many chapters before they (intentionally) pass the ball to each other.
The manga was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1990 to 1996, becoming a major success. It was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation, airing from 1993 to 1996. However, the anime's 101 episodes did not cover the final arc of the manga, the National High School Tournament. I read the entire manga and watched much of the anime, which includes considerable filler. The Spanish dub features René García, known as the voice of Vegeta, as the talented Sakuragi, delivering a stellar performance for both the character's serious and comedic moments.
In 2022, the movie The First Slam Dunk premiered, depicting the final game of the Nationals. It’s a pity that the anime wasn’t made with higher quality and without filler before the release of the movie to guide everyone to it, but so it goes. My only complaint about the movie is the omission of a few moments from the manga that I would have loved to see. These include Sakuragi's “I like it a lot” line to Haruko, referring to basketball, which in Japanese was briefly ambiguous as a confession of love; his rehabilitation after an injury while Rukawa is called up to the national team; Rukawa colliding with Sakuragi during a game but saying nothing despite the mistake ruining a great opportunity because he understood that rookies inevitably make errors; and the climactic moment where Sakuragi silently moves his lips in the movie. In the manga, the scene was silent before and after, silence broken only by Sakuragi's “The left hand is just for holding the ball.” Still, if I hadn’t read the manga, the movie would likely seem perfect... so let's say it was perfect, as you can't adapt everything into a single movie while retaining fluidity. The movie is a masterpiece.
The decision to focus on Ryota Miyagi—the only team member without a proper flashback to his past—was an excellent one. The movie provides a tragic backstory for him, interwoven seamlessly throughout the narrative.
Slam Dunk is a story about personal growth, teamwork, and the transformative power of sports. As a manga, it’s arguably the perfect spokon (though in anime, I’d give that title to the soccer-themed Hungry Heart: Wild Striker). The series ends at its peak, although there were certainly more stories to tell and perhaps one day Inoue will create or authorize a continuation. If that happens, it will surely be enjoyable, though unlikely to surpass the original, simply because the bar was set so high.
I translated my writing from Spanish with ChatGPT