“Slam Dunk” vol. 10 showcases the prefectural tournament semi-finals as Shohoku High School must take on the tallest team, Shoyo High School. Can Shohoku High School find a way to counter Team Shoyo’s heigh advantage? Find out in volume 10 of Takehiko Inoue’s hit manga series “Slam Dunk”!
© 1999-2009 Takehiko Inoue and I.T. Planning, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Slam Dunk Vol. 10
STORY AND ART BY: Takehiko Inoue (井上 雄彦)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga
RATED: T for Older Teen
RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2010
Shohoku advances to the final four in their prefecture, but the team they will face next, Shoyo, boasts one of the tallest squads around. Hoping to capitalize on his uncanny rebounding skills, Coach Anzai places Sakuragi in the starting five, but the Shohoku boys struggle against their opponents’ marked height advantage. Miyagi’s speed and Rukawa’s finesse help their team chip away at Shoyo’s lead, but with Akagi being outplayed at center, a Shohoku victory is looking less likely by the minute.
So far, Shohoku have proven that they are not a team to take advantage of. Winning several of their first few games in the prefectural tournament, Shohoku High School has now made it to the semi-finals and this time they take on Shoyo High School, a dominant team that has beaten many thanks to their size.
And now, Shohoku High School must find a way to counter Shoyo High School’s height advantage, but how will they do it?
Find out in “Slam Dunk” Vol. 10!
What is “Slam Dunk”?
I can easily remember the popularity of “Slam Dunk” during the early ’90s. Despite being here in America, I would venture to the local Tower Records or travel to Japan Town and head to the Japanese bookstore to pick up the latest Shonen Jump magazine and watching the anime series.
Granted, I came into “Slam Dunk” several years late but I recognized how popular the manga and anime series was, especially the music and sure enough “Slam Dunk” was one of the first anime soundtracks (on cassette) that I had purchased. For me, it was quite intriguing because the sports that I have watched from Japan and manga and anime being based from those sports are typically baseball, soccer or tennis. You just don’t think about basketball but sure enough, “Slam Dunk” captured the essence of high school basketball and the excitement of team dynamics, offense/defense and squaring off against a rival team.
But this is what Takehiko Inoue is known for. A mangaka who is a basketball fan, his manga series is considered iconic in the fact that many kids in Japan played basketball and became interested in the sport because of “Slam Dunk”. In fact, the series was not just popular in Japan but also throughout Asia. The manga sold over 100 million copies in Japan between 1990-1996, earning a Shogakukan Manga Award in 2005 and in 2007, the series received the distinction as “Japan’s Favorite Manga”.
Inoue would eventually follow up with “Buzzer Beater” in 1997 (which he collaborated with ESPN) which was a more farfetched story about basketball ala intergalactic competition. Followed by a samurai manga story titled “Vagabond” in 1998 and back to a basketball manga with “Real” in 2001 (based on people with disabilities in wheelchairs who compete in basketball), so Inoue has a pretty strong following for his works.
And his hits series “Slam Dunk” has been released ala manga in America courtesy of Viz Media.
“Slam Dunk” revolves around a cocky and rough street punk named Hanamichi Sakuragi who is a first-year student at Shohoku High School. He had to be a tough kid growing up. Often teased for his red hair, Hanamichi and his friends would be part of a gang that grouped together to fight other gangs and to show that they are not afraid of no one. And for the tall Sakuragi, he has shown his power in defeating other people in fights.
But there is another side of Hanamichi Sakuragi and that is the fact that he has been rejected by 50 girls in junior high school and now that he’s in high school, #50 tells him that her heart is for Oda who plays for the basketball team.
One day he meets Haruko Akagi, also a first-year student and is the sister of Takenori Akagi, a third-year student and the team captain of Shohoku High School’s basketball team. She also happens to have a crush on star athlete, Kaeda Rukawa, a basketball player that many girls at the high school have fallen for. And because of that, a rivalry between he and Rukawa is instantly created and Hanamichi always feels he must one-up Rukawa (despite Rukawa being a phenom high school basketball player in Japan).
And now Hanamichi Sakuragi wants to prove that he can also be a very good basketball player. And while he doesn’t know the fundamentals of the game, he shows his aptitude of learning quickly.
So, to prove his worth in front of Haruko, Hanamichi joins the Shohoku basketball team which includes Kiyota, Maki, Hisashi Mitsui, Ryota Miyagi and their team manager, Ayako.
In volume 10, the group have now made it into the semifinals but the team feels very stressed because their matchup is against the dominant Shoyo High School, a team that is better than Sendoh and has been dominant because of their height advantage. Also, they are led by third year Kenji Fujima, a star athlete but also doubling as the coach of Shoyo High School.
And immediately, Shoyo High School shows their dominance thanks to their height advantage. But what if Shohoku High School can find a way to use Hanamichi’s dominance as a rebounder. Will it help them defeat Shoyo High School?
If you love basketball, you will love “Slam Dunk”.
The continuing story of a brute named Hanamichi who has his issues finding a girlfriend (or any girl to like him), but has fallen for Haruko Akagi, the sister of Shohoku High’s Takenori Akagi, the team captain of the basketball team. But knowing that she loves basketball and likes star player Kaede Rukawa. So, Hanamichi is determined in proving to her that he can excel in basketball but also hopefully winning her heart.
But because of Hanamichi’s lack of manners and basketball knowledge, he has gone through training to learn the fundamentals and from Team Captain Akagi and others on the team, he has learned to sharpen his offense and defense slowly. But most recently, learning the importance of rebounding but trying his best not to foul out (a major problem that Hanamichi has yet to figure out).
In volume 10, the intensity of basketball and the strategy is the main focal point for “Slam Dunk” as the Prefectural Tournament has now reached the semi-finals.
For this volume, we get to see Shohoku High School playing against Shoyo High School, a team known for its players height advantage. While height is an advantage, Shohoku must find a way to counter it and to beat Shoyo, they must work as a team.
Once again, Takehiko Inoue’s artwork is simply wonderful. His illustrations have always been a highlight for me and I was always amazed of how he captured movements, the offensive and defensive stances to how the players penetrate the perimeter and score. But what I enjoyed about this latest volume is showing Hanamichi’s progression as a player. While he has learned the game quickly, he is still learning the fundamentals and finds himself worried because he fouls out of a game too quickly. So, it’ll be interesting to see how he improves from this latest challenge.
As for the manga, the detail of Inoue’s artwork is just wonderful, the action, the sweat, the emotions are captured amazingly well on each page.
Overall, “Slam Dunk” is an enjoyable manga series that is not just for basketball fans but for those who want a manga series that captures the spirit of basketball, competition, the strategy involved in the sport but a captivating storyline with cool characters that makes this series worth recommending!
And in volume 10, the semi-finals are Shohoku High’s most difficult matchup yet!
Love basketball and manga? Takehiko Inoue’s “Slam Dunk” vol. 10 is highly recommended!