Slam Dunk

Inoe's art comes to life with this amazing adaptation of Hanamichi's struggle to become the best basketball player. The character development, the plurality of emotions and the smooth, flowing storytelling will keep you at the edge of your seat. Watch this team climb from zero to zenith in the world of Japanese high school basketball.

"Light Hearted, Hilarious, and Enjoyable

This anime and Hajime No Ippo I think laid the groundwork for most future sports anime similar in vibes, themes, and music. The sounds and the music was well done it was upbeat and had this happy sort of vibe coming out of it which really matched with the anime. The visuals were nice and not that bad considering that Slam Dunk first came out in 1993 and it got better as the series went on. The story was good it had it's hiccups and bumps here and there but they had pretty good consistency for most of the 101 episodes. It started off slow in the beginning but picked it's pace up later on. I just hated how some matches would be short and span maybe 1 or 2 episodes and then others would be crazy long 6 to 7 episodes. They did a good representation of how basketball is played in real life but had some missing pieces of what makes basketball, basketball but it was still nicely shown. It had some annoying some typical school clichés but most of it was easy to ignore. Most of the characters were alright I think Akagi, Mitsui , Anzai were the most flushed out and well written out of all them. The ending was kind of a cliff hanger and left some unanswered questions. Also it felt a bit too comical at times especially during the matches. And even at times I preferred what happened outside the basketball court such as their everyday life.

Overall I think it was a respectable anime, even though It was alright in terms of story I enjoyed it very much. The best thing about it was the comedy and the progress you make with with Sakuragi in the basics of basketball and you learn more as the story advances. I felt like it had much more untapped potential such as adding family into the mix which would have made character dynamics more interesting and realistic, their backstories or how they grew up, and their daily life other than school and basketball. All this would have made the anime more realistic and more believable and we could have been even more connected with the characters.

Memorable: No Rewatchable: Quiet unlikely..

I am searching for the rest of the story for years

Many years after this anime finished,when asked why it was over at a imperfect end ,the author answered that the dream in youth are usually unideal.I can't stop worshiping him due to this poetic answer. Inoue has been one of the best cartoonist in Japan.As one of his master works,Slamdunk records his progress in drawing.At the beginning ,the picture is aesthetic ,looking like many anime now days such as 《Tennis no Ohjisama》,contrary to its realist style later.Being different from drawing style ,the story is interesting and melting from beginning to end.It's undoubtable that Slamdunk stands on the top of sports cartoon ,touching countless teenagers all over the word.When mentioning basketball player,we might think of Sakuragi instead of NBA players. Slamdunk tells a simple story.Basketball changes Sakuragi as he became a respectable basketball player from a dark guy along with his teammates.Most characters are individualistic in this anime and they also have many touched or interesting stories.Above all,slam dunk tells a story about a group of students's growing up in youth time.They are successful though they didn't become champion in that year because they beated themselves in the last game.Their teenage hood get a better view thanking to basketball club. It was ten years since I met this anime.Sakuragi's youth ended in a picture where he said that because I am a genius while my growing up never stop.I am still moved by this story and can get more and more from it.Slamdunk bring me into a world of basketball so I will never forget this anime.

It has been 21 years the first time I watched this amazing story and I still watch it (I am 35 at the moment).

To be honest, if you compare to modern equivalents for this sort of story, you may think flashback concept is not enough to constitute the story. Yet, the concept it self works really well and comedy factor is ridiculously fantastic. There is only one sour thing makes me sad which is not to see Sannoh match as in Manga.

I am extremely grateful for mangaka Takehiko Inoue for this story as well as the animation team and voice actors.