Slam Dunk

You know that feeling when you don't really want to watch something but when you start doing it, amazingly, you have lots of fun? Well I do because that is what Slam Dunk is doing to me. It is about this basketball team in Shohoku highschool and its main character, Sakuragi, who tries to complete himself as a basketball player and gain the love of a girl, named Haruko. Sounds cheesy but, believe me, it is nothing you have experienced before.

Now, from the first few episodes, you can obviously see that this anime, which received huge acclaim at its time, has a clear goal to ... spread the popularity of basketball in a country where basketball was almost non existent. For true fans of this game, who are hoping to see some great moves in this series, a disappointment awaits. The problem is that Japanese studio emphasized areas of basketball which aren't necessarily the most important and beautiful. For those true fans, it would be like watching a "learn-how-to-read" video when you're 20 years old. From this side, the anime looks really outdated.

However, what amazed me the most, was that the jokes were not outdated at all. If you don't like the basketball scenes, watch it as a comedy and, trust me, you won't be disappointed. Through time, you get used to the characters and even start enjoy their stories. We've all movies about American high school teams who MADE it. This was something new for me and I did not give up on it. Love, basketball, friendship, competition and lots of laughs - this is what you can expect (and should receive) from Slam Dunk.

I can say this easily: there will be basketball fans who will hate Slam Dunk and there will be non-basketball fans who will love this anime. Just give it a try and if you'll have fun a few times - it was already worth it.

This anime has almost everything. Action, comedy, tragedy, romantic tensions, manly moments, etc. The cast is pretty huge and when possible, each character or group gets their chance to shine. A great percentage of the characters each contribute something to the advancement of the story and/or get their moment in the sun so. It doesn’t have to be Sakuragi, or the rest of the Shohoku team. Even Sakuragi’s gang gets their chance to do something every now and then.

But what really touches me about this story is how strong the relationships develop. Especially the loyalty of Sakuragi’s gang and how far they go in ... their support that he gets to be part of the basketball team. Even though Sakuragi and his friends may not have the best brains, they make up for it with their hearts and this anime has a big amount of it. I know a lot of people are put off by the concept of sports anime, but I think people need to give this one a chance. The story moves at a very moderate pace and I found the characters to be very relatable and realistically portrays the culture of high school sports in Japan.

Even though Sakuragi starts basketball to impress a girl, it is fun to see how he progresses and you really start to cheer for him like he was your friend that started something. Even though he was gifted with the perfect genetics for the sport, he still has to learn from the beginning and some of his struggles are just juvenile to those that at least know the basics of basketball, but you really feel his passion at the right moments and hope that he lives up to his fullest potential.

Then you get to see the other characters not just on Shokou, but on the other team as well and how they also have their dreams and work just as hard to make them come true. There are no bad guys and everybody is relatable in their own way and each have something to prove.

Earlier I mentioned the realistic aspects of Japanese school sports culture. In Japan, many high schools are known for their sports team and some kids are recruited to a school based on their athletic ability. This is most especially true in baseball where the Koushien, the high school world series, is a very big deal in Japan. I liked how they touched this from the coach of Ryonan High School. It is true that some students join a school to join a team that is coached by this particular person and I really like how they touch that.

I really like the character design in this. Though it is a little difficult to transition from how Inoue-sensei did it in the manga, the anime works in its own that it just has this artistic distinction that still carries on today. I found the design to be very diverse and expresses many atmospheres within the story and between the characters. It can be very realistic looking, or very cartoony. Some characters have the generic anime design like Haruko, or look more realistic like her brother, nick named Gori, Gorilla for short.

In a way, Sendo’s design in the anime kind of bothered me. He didn’t really look like a high school student by making his eyes more rectangular. In the original manga, his eyes were more circular and I thought the design there he looked more appropriately like a teenager and I will sort of address this issue coming across as older as he looks a bit later. However, the anime addresses at times about characters who look older than they look at times like Maki and at times Akagi.

I really like how the anatomy of the players accurately reflect what a basketball player looks like. A slim-muscular like build meant for speed and high cardio. Of course naturally bigger players play center and very early, it shows that a certain percentage of centers and taller players like Shaq, Dwight Howard, and Wilt Chamberlain aren’t the best at free throws.

The basketball games may bring the intensity of lets say a 1990s NBA game, but it is pretty fun to watch and in certain moments, the anime will explain the fundamentals of basketball for people who have no familiarity with the sport. At least the games are not anything like the games in Prince of Tennis where their abilities equate to killing the dinosaurs. So don’t expect any silly shit like that. Inoue-sensei referenced a lot of NBA pictures from magazines and the form that the characters show in their lay ups and slam dunks is just at that high level.

Rukawa feels like Michael Jordan to me while Sakuragi is a lot like Rodman and Miyagi is like Mogsuy Bouggues.

But I heard that some time ago, Inoue-sensei got in trouble for referencing very specific pictures and was in some copyright dispute over that which I think is stupid. Anybody who does art knows that artists reference al the time.

The resolution and contrast will look a little grainy and rough, but I don’t mind it. I think it suits the delinquent and manliness of this series very well as opposed to looking it as outdated.

The first opening theme alone, Kimi Ga Suki Da To Sakebitai just qualifies for a 10/10 in the sound department. It just brings this energy and intensity that accurately reflects the nature of the series about wanting to impress a girl and also doing your best. You can feel you’re one with the flow with the drum beats and the guitar licks. It’s a song we can all relate to. I feel if people make a list of top anime songs and does not list Kimi Ga Suki da to Sakebitai, they are not a true anime fan (and the only other songs I can say this for are Pegasus Fantasy from Saint Seiya and Heart of the Sword from Rurouni Kenshin). It is just so wonderful to listen to.

Whenever you watch a high school basketball game in Japan, you are most likely to hear this song in the opening ceremony. Most times I have went to one, I would always hear this song and it shows how much Slam Dunk has had on basketball in Japan. The other theme songs also bring the same qualities that reflect the nature of the series.

Another reason for my 10/10 is just for Midorikawa Hikaru alone as the voice of Rukawa. He’s one of the best seiyuus of all time for crying out loud. He is very good at playing all kinds of characters from the enthusiastic Michael from Marmalade Boy, the romantic Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi, the dark killer of Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, and this time the anti-social Rukawa. He can play just about anybody. Sakuragi is played by another top name from the 90s, Kusao Takashi, the voice of Trunks from Dragon Ball Z. His voice is really more rough and scratchy. Even though as Future Trunks he sounded aggressive, he still had something of a soft voice. Along with the rough and scratchniess, at times it is appropriately comedic. In a way, it works in a well-rounded sense when necessary.

Another seiyuu I happened to enjoy was the voice of Tanaka Hideyuki as Kogure, or Megane-kun to Sakuragi. In case you don’t know, he’s the Japanese voice of Otacon and Huey from Metal Gear Solid. The design of the character has a physicality and look just like the Emmerich’s and I thought the voice just fit perfectly and I feel it was this performance paved the way for such a legendary role.

As previously stated, I sort of had an issue with Sendo coming across feeling older than a teenager, I feel that also had to do with Ohtsuka Hochuu, the voice of Jiraiya from Naruto as his seiyuu. His voice is really easy to recognize if you are familiar with that particular role, but I guess his jokey and relaxed nature does bring a youthfulness to it in some ways. Sendo does have a sense of humor and I feel in some ways, his voice does reflect that. Then again, it doesn’t go into the extremes like in his performance as Chibodee in G Gundam where he calls Domon Japanese and Saisaishi Chinese and I just like the way he pronunciates it. The cast and music just go on and on and I feel for music lovers and seiyuu buffs, that alone makes Slam Dunk worth watching.

Well, I know a good number of people on the internet are not fond of sports anime, but there is a reason why it has appeal, at least in Japan. Joining a sports club while still a student is really a big deal while it really isn’t too much of a big deal in America where us American tend to feel that sports if for douche bag jocks or whatever. Japanese schools, especially at the jr high level, encourage it more often because they feel it prepares people for society in some ways such as learning about team work, understanding senpai/kouhai relations, having a goal and working for it, having fun and hard work. To Japanese people, seeing that, they can relate to their own youth or what is going on in their lives if they are still students.

To me, the opening song was just enough and it brought me back to the days of the 90s and how I loved the players of that era.

But when watching, you will see Sakuragi grow. At times you will laugh at his stupidity and at times you will feel sorry for him. The series shows every aspect of what he goes through and you will see him grow. You will also see how his relationships with his teammates grow. He may be full of himself, but when the going gets tough, he will work hard and pull through. It’s an anime that shows that everybody has the potential at something. Some may be natural, some may need to work harder than others, but when you put your mind to it, all things are possible.

Anyway, my big issue was that it ends where it only had 2 games left from the manga. The anime already introduced characters and yet it ends without solving those issues. It is as big as a travesty as the jinchu arc from Rurouni Kenshin not being animated. But the anime ending works in a way where you see Sakuragi grow individually but the manga shows how Sakuragi develops to the point on why the team needs him. I say after watching the anime, read the remaining manga.

Slam Dunk is one of those classics of sports anime. You always hear about it and wonder if it actually is the best thing since sliced bread. Well, it isn't. But it is funny and entertaining and worthwhile if you have the patience for it.

Imagine GTO in high school and determined to learn how to play basketball to get closer to the girl he has a crush on -- tah-dah, Slam Dunk! The story has the expected sort of "learn a skill, show a skill" repetitive story line common to a lot of sports and shounen animes, but it's punched up ... by a little delinquency, a little reformation, and a tiny bit of one-sided romance. The one real downside to the story is the occasional trips into a DBZ/Naruto-esque timefreeze: sometimes one basketball game takes, like, 3 episodes and you wonder how it's possible that only 2 minutes anime-time have gone by in the last 20 real-time. ;)

The art is a little rough sometimes, kind of typical for the time period. There's a lot of panning across stills and repetitive looks at the same image. It can be a little annoying, but I kept on reminding myself when it was made (1993-1996!) and I got over it. The one thing that I noticed the most was probably the fact that the key on their court looks different from a real key in a NBA or Olympic court, but I decided to stop thinking about it a few episodes in.

The character of the main character is what makes the whole thing entertaining, I think. He is brash, tactless, rough and stupid -- and, for some odd reason, really funny. Even when he gets on my nerves, he does something random and ridiculous and retarded, and it just ends up cracking me up. He's always calling himself a genius (when he doesn't know how to do anything) and laughing in this obnoxious, cocky manner and making awful mistakes, but he's somehow loveable anyway and you end up rooting for him because he's just that charismatic. The thing that's really nice about him is just how flawed he is... he's got natural athleticism, but he's far from being a natural on the basketball court and he's loyal, strong, and dedicated, but he's also impatient and hot-tempered and loud. And he's really nicely backed up by a team of interesting, diverse guys who each (eventually) get their time in the limelight and each have their own personal struggles to overcome while striving to work together as a team.

Overall, I enjoyed watching Slam Dunk -- despite the really slow pacing of some of the actual games. It's funny in that rough, delinquent way that will be familiar to people who've seen Hajime no Ippo and Great Teacher Onizuka. If you're an American basketball-purist, you might have some issues with the show, but if you're just looking for a fun, classic shounen about some rough-and-tumble guys... you've found what you're looking for.

Slam Dunk is considered a pioneer of sports anime. All from its witty jokes to its inspiring speeches, it’s a masterpiece from the 90s. It teaches many valuable morals of life such as establishing strong bonds with each other, and to never give up. It’s an anime that’s been a part of my childhood, and I knew from its first episode that it would be hilarious.

[Story]
The plot was centered on our self-centered protagonist Sakuragi Hanamichi, a 189cm tall, 16 year old, delinquent who hates basketball. And in order to impress a girl, he attempts to play the sport, fails miserably at it, and even ... managed to pants the opponent who was the captain of the basketball team as well as the girl’s older brother. But even after all that, he still somehow managed to get on the basketball team.

The anime itself is mainly set in the Shohoku High School. It’s the home to the Shohoku basketball team, a team that isn’t considered a threat in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan. Mainly due to its lack of skilled players, the team is really a one man team, consisting of the team captain Akagi Takenori, or Gorilla as Sakuragi likes to call him. But with the new year rolling in several new players joined the team including the superstar first year Rukawa Kaede, and our protagonist the self-proclaimed genius Sakuragi Hanamichi. The entire story pretty much revolves around the idea of making it to the nationals, since it’s been the dream of the 3rd years on the team.

Now that I mention it, dreams, and goals of all the characters really play a huge role in the anime. It’s been the major reason for a lot of the determination, passion, and character development in the show. I love this aspect because I find it relatable since in real life we all have dreams of our own, and it inspires us to work hard to achieve them. It’s also this aspect of the show that makes it one of the best slices of life animes ever.

[Characters]
The anime focuses in on a huge cast of characters, not only the Shohoku basketball team but also players from other teams as well as Sakuragi’s troupe of nutjobs. Now having a large cast of characters can be a definite problem if not done right, but Slam Dunk takes its characters and uses them to its full potential. All the characters possess intricate, diverse, and likeable personalities. But the most important reason I love this anime was the immense amount of character development the characters portrayed. When the Sakuragi first debuted, I can’t say I enjoyed his character a lot because he seemed like a really arrogant, and selfish person, but by the end of the anime, he learned how to rely on his teammates, and treat them with respect, and because of that he became one of my all-time favorite characters in anime.

Something I realized after doing some research was that the characters in the anime were actually based on real life basketball players in the 90s. Which is really cool because if you know basketball players, and watch the anime, you'll begin to figure out which character is which player in real life.

[Art]
Now for the biggest gripe people would probably have about this anime, I’m not sure about others, but I tend to hate outdated art styles, and if I hadn’t seen it when I was younger I probably would’ve never watched the show. The show was made in the mid-90s, so it’s typical 90’s art style, if you’ve watched other shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion you would probably be familiar with it. It’s usually a bit rugged, and rough since the art was hand drawn. And the character designs aren’t what we’re used to today, they actually look more lifelike. But it turned out to be not as much of a problem as it seems when I rewatched it, because you get used to the art after a couple of episodes. But if you seriously have major problems with watching animes with old art this might be a problem for you.

[Sound]
This show has the most amazing OP and EDs ever, they're old school Japanese pop music. They are absolutely excellent, they go along with the show so well, and complements the feel of sports. I've read some of the other Slam Dunk reviews and I think they deserve a lot more recognition that they're given. The BGM were pretty compatible with the anime, I'd really like to comment more about it but to be honest there wasn't much of it. Compared to modern sports animes Slam Dunk pretty much has a very little amount of BGM, but you'd hardly notice it since it has tons of sound effects.

[Overall]
Overall though, Slam Dunk is amazing, no matter if you're watching it back in the 90s or right now. The art style might be a bit rusty but the amazing story and characters definitely make up for it. And if the thought of watching a sports anime turns you off, then watch it for the comedy, I'm sure you'd enjoy it anyways. I'd throughly enjoyed re watching the series recently and it seems just as amazing as it was 10 years ago, it's truly a masterpiece, a masterpiece that inspires people for decades to go out and play some basketball.

Slam dunk is, in my opinion, the best anime i've seen.

Story
The story is a typical anime sports plot, a central character (hanamichi) who starts hating basketball but due to his love interest get's into the school's team and starst loving it. The difference from other anime is that it gives you a better point of view in what respects effort will make you the best. In most anime the central character makes a great effort and ends up being the greatest player in the world in no time, instead slam dunk shows you that you are not the only one practising, everyone else does so ... too. (I would have liked to explain more but it would turn into a spoiler).

Art
typical 90's anime art. I liked it and the characters express a lot.

Sound
Good I think, I don't know much about sound. the first opening is really great and is in concordance with the series feel.

Character
This is what makes this anime great, you just have to love every character. I've never felt so close to any anime character than to hanamichi. I mean, I felt like i could actually touch him. Also all of them make you feel their emotions. I've even cryed though it's generally a comedy.

Enjoyment
If you don't enjoy this anime.... then mm go watch one you'll enjoy, and have fun, but I think you'll enjoy it.

Slam Dunk! Is a sports comedy anime telling a story of a school basketball team and a newcomer Sakuragi Hanamichi, who basicly joins the club just to get the attention of a girl after being dumped by girls way too many times in the past. And as you might guess, Sakuragi then truly gets interested in basketball after hard training and finding himself - what a surprise - a rival in both basketball and girl attention aspects. The story itself is pretty decent, maybe a bit too predictable though. The animation and sounds (music, voice actors etc.) in this anime is average, considering the fact ... that this anime has seen plenty of years already. The characters are pretty much ok too but I found them a bit dull and simple in the long run. There should have been more depth to characters fit in 101 episodes in my opinion.

Slam Dunk! Was a huge disappointment to me since I heard alot of people complimenting the manga. Now don't get me wrong, Slam Dunk! is funny, atleast for the first 30 episodes. After that is just keeps on going way too repetitive and slow and to be blunt I think this anime has like 60 episodes too many. Personally I almost had to force myself to watch the last 20-or-so episodes just out of the custom not wanting to leave anime half watched.

So if you are looking for a good sports comedy anime you should start with Hajime no Ippo or Prince of Tennis instead. That atleast is my opinion of the matter. If you are looking for an anime that you can watch you left eye closed and maybe even skip a few episodes here and there and still know where the plot's going then go with Slam Dunk!

-C

This anime is straight 10 in every aspects for me. I had watched first time when I was 6 six years old with its limited episodes on TV. Slam Dunk is the reason why I started playing basketball and loved that sport so much. It increases popularity of basket not only in Japan but in other countries.

The story is evolved around our tensai basketball player Hanamichi Sakuragi. At the beginning he is person who hates basketball a lot (I do not want to give its reason because of spoilers, you will figure it out at the very beginning of the serie). But that attitude ... was changed when he met with Haruko. Through the whole serie it is amazing to see how he develops from a punk to a decent basketball player. Anime gives that feeling splendidly. It is like something inside you is developing with every improvement he made. It can be emotionally or mentally.

Characters have also strong position in here. Their background and goals were given to viewers very well as well as introduction of some of them. Also their relationships are unbreakable.

In art based it really looks old school and I like it so much. So much 90s are all over it. The most lovable thing is funny appearance of their faces in some situations. It fits to the characters perfectly. I wacthed a lot anime, Slam Dunk makes this situation simply awesome.


All in all Slam Dunk is my first anime that I watched. It was the start of everything for me. And it will be always in my hearth as my first and the best anime.

Instead of writing a paragraph of review, I will basically list all the good things I thought abou tthis show:

STORY:

The story is very well presented. Instead of focusing solely on basketball, it also shows the lives of the characters; character development will develop during major story arcs and not through filler episodes. Speaking of fillers, unlike other animes wher fillers are usually unwanted, in Slam Dunk fillers are very fun to watch.

SOUND/MUSIC:

The soundtrack is great, the music somehow makes the show come alive. From comedic situations to high tense action, the music delivers.

... CHARACTERS:

The characters are especially unique in this anime why? Because they continue to develop throughout he story.

OVERALL:

This anime is the perfect casual anime for anyone who wants to take a break from mind-boggling shows like Death Note or action-focused animes like Bleach or Dragonball (DBZ can be debated :P).

I have watch this anime since forever, I started watching it when I was a kid, forgot what age I was, I started obsessed with it. I try to join the basketball team in my school but I didn't get chosen. Then, after years, I started watching it again when I'm in high school, and obsessed with it again. I felt like watching it for the first time, and it was exciting because I couldn't remember much. But after that, I started download the anime and it has been my source of enjoyment. That is how I am obsessed with this anime.

But, still there ... are things that bothered me. Especially with the art, I mean its outdated. I sometime can't stand it because I want more visual graphics because now it's 2016. My eyes gets sore when I see that kind of quality. But the manga is good art though.

The BGM is really my taste. The sound and especially the intro has been embedded in my heart. I recognize it when they play one of the Slam Dunk BGM in Running Man Korea. Haha, think I not notice it?! The guitar riff is cool and they fit really well with Slam Dunk. I really wanted to give the guys credit for the BGM.

The character is funny, even when they are serious. Slam Dunk is one of a few that can stand out each of the character perfectly and realistically. Start with our hero, Sakuragi Hanamichi, he's a newbie in basketball, and his main reason to join in is because of a girl, but slowly in the story, he started to like the game. As the story goes on, Sakuragi started improved his game little by little and end up shocking the whole nation. Maybe. But Takehiko Inoue really making his character stick to a more realistic improvement. There is really not much to expect to see Sakuragi being skillful but his athletic ability and power will certainly shock the viewer as well as the character in the story.Although I really wanted to see Sakuragi improve much better but... the story only show the 3 months of Sakuragi joining the basketball, so to say 3 months playing can't make a person skill improve much.

Overall, the anime is fine as hell. There are a lot of character who are skillful but I am not going to spoil it.Just watch the story and enjoy it as it is.

One of my favourite animes since I was around 7 years old. It's hilarious, has the perfect amount of drama, comedy, suspense and action (in it's own rights). Always love re-watching and re-re-watching episodes whenever I'm bored.
The main character, Sakuragi Hanamichi always seems to bring my spirits up as a basketball player and also makes me laugh with his comedic features.
His attitude and his drive to become better and overcome his weaknesses is also rather inspiring.
Overall a brilliant anime, one of my favourite. Though what I hated was that Inoue-sensei didn't continue and left us hanging right before the Inter-high... really frustrated. ... I hope they continue and come up with something soon with better animation quality.

I'm a little biased, this is my favorite anime/manga of all time. And as it turns out, not just mine. Slam Dunk has been voted as being Japan's favorite manga of all time. Takehiko Inoue is also one of the most revered and acknowledged mangaka ever. Following Slam Dunk, he has created several other masterpieces, namely Vagabond which I haven't read yet. But apparently it has received some very distinguished awards. But regarding Slam Dunk, it's not like Kuroko where the characters are dramatized by the color of their hair, by special abilities only relevant in sci fi. It's a lot more realistic, and the ... emphasis is a lot more on the story and the blending of characters. It is one of my life's saddest truths that the anime does not finish the story of the manga. And the ending of the manga is bittersweet in that it's the greatest possible ending imaginable, but it might leave you begging for more as well. That's genius. I still remember to this day, reading the final chapters of the manga where the anime left off, and it's definitely the greatest story I've ever read, with the greatest art of any mangaka in regards to the drawings of the emotions, the panel distribution, taking advantage of the anticipation from one page to another. There's been nothing like it. And that's evidenced by the fact that Slam Dunk has sold over 120 million copies, being a sports manga! That's unprecedented.

Slam Dunk, the first thing it'd tell me is Basketball! :) i've been playing bball for sometime now, and this anime was out just before i was born:)

Story - Very good story even though there are some parts i dislike :) especially when some people are soo dumb and couldn't figure things out!

Art and Sound - ofcause this anime is very old, the only thing i'd say is, compare to the anime's being made nowadays, this anime's art level isn't at the top, but however, some fighting scenes used in this are still ''classic'' :)

Character - i must say, the characters from this anime ... is very good, especially hanamichi (sry if i spelt him wrong :)), he's a very funny character, i'll give you that :)

Enjoyment - i pretty much enjoyed 99% of this anime, :) i watched this ZELION TIMES :) cuz it was soo enjoyable :)

Overall - I love this anime soo much :) but nowadays, with all the new animes out such as Vampire Knight, Nabari no Ou, Bleach/Naruto, Code Geass R2, PoT NT, i dunno, much more :), i dont really have alot of time to come back to this enjoyable anime, i just ocationally watch the ending of this anime :) because its fun... anyway, this anime have alot of funny parts :) and is a very good anime to watch. i only wished they could carry on the inter-high tournament :( sadly they only had manga for that :(

thanks for reading :) this is based on my experience and is my 1st review :)

For a anime to be called Slam Dunk one of the most flashy, epic, move that blows away anyone watching, to then be so tedious and incomplete that I would have dropped it from the start.

Slam Dunk is jammed pack full of flat characters that make the same boring jokes and overall just annoy you the longer you watch. Making it all seem nothing is changing. If that weren’t enough recap and flashbacks are a constant occurrence too. Man what does this anime got going for it?

Not only is the general story a snooze to live with but so is the protagonist Sakuragi. ... He is the character that really can grind your gears, whether its when he get angry fast, using his loud mouth to get in trouble, being dense, embarrassing himself, or having a inferiority complex, he is a nuisance at best. Whenever he is on screen you just kinda feel pity for him but maybe in reality it’s just you slowly losing brain cells having to watch the mess that is Sakuragi.

Other characters like Rukawa also get old as well but they are usually the exceptions as the rest of the main cast are generally respectable and inspiring. The same can be said for the side characters like Sendou, Youhei, and the coach, they fit their roles and do it well.

Venturing onto animation and art it’s what to expect for its time. It’s solid and was probably insane for its time and even now it does the service proudly. But definitely not for the haters of old art styles or old anime in general. I mean the the show walks at a snail pace, how else could they pad up 101 episodes and not even finish it!

Anyway, Slam Dunk is a like a bag of questionable trail mix. Some parts pretty great, full of suspense and cool showdowns, but the other vast majority seems fishy or at least off in some way, leaving you feeling unsatisfied when they don’t finish off the story. All you can do then is look back at those so called epic moments and then realize that they were just slow action moments that squeeze your soul out.

The best sport shounen anime. The first time i find anime without ECCHI STUFF, OPPAI, YAOI, AND MORE SEX OR DIRTY STORYLINE,. THE BEST ANIME EVER. The comedy is not hard to make us laughing. The story is simple, but we find many twist. Each episode show how a hero born from zero. The art stile is old and mature.

The background song while Sakuragi do rebound will always ringing in your head.
The character have go through great development in every episodes. I do believe this anime will be popularize basketball much more all over asia. The only way to enjoy this anime is believing ... that "the best thing from falling is there will be only one choice: getting up.

I am in really good mood to watch one more Sport genre Anime-Series

I have watched most baseball anime, then tennis, soccer.

After watching Diamond No Ace and Haikyuu! I had two more recommendations kuroko no basket and Slam Dunk.

Slamdunk being highly rated and oldest of them it looked more interesting than kuroko no Basket


There is no team work in this sport. Especially Hanamichi didn't even put the effort to learn the basic rules and calls himself genius with loud mouth... a waste of space in the court if i would say.
...
His rival Rukawa plays his own plays .. doesn't matter if its team member or opponent he will steal the ball and score it.

The matched and pre-matches are too draggy and unnecessary drama!!

I could bear 30 episodes but 31-33 opened my eyes and I could watch anymore

Slam Dunk is probably one of the most beautiful sports anime I have ever come acrossed. It is one of those animes that will be forever be memorable once you have watched it.

For those looking to understand basketball, this is the anime for you.
For those who are just looking for a good laugh, this is it.
And for those who just want to be moved, I greatly recommend this anime and it's a thriller.

Though, it may seem like just another typical sports anime at first, it is not. Slam Dunk is one of the few animes out there that can actually make ... the viewers cry, laugh, and fall in love with not one but all of its characters-- not because of their extremely good looks or their perfectly good charm(though that wouldn't hurt) but though their individuality, friendship, teamwork, passion, and determination to reach a team goal.

UPS:
- Simple fun characters with realistic goals!
- Creative and memorable comedy
- Suspense that could make you heart actually pound
- Moving. very moving.
- great audio great illustrations

DOWNS:
- The anime ended quite differently from the manga. The manga, obviously, being the one with the better end.
- It's a little outdated.

Slam dunk is one of the anime which is pretty well known. In my opinion this anime is over hyped with no content to support it. First the story, the story in itself feels a little dull. I said dull because in over hundered episode the story could have been amazing. I will not spoil the story, but trust me this anime have a little content for a 101 episode anime. The matches are long ( episode wise), smallest match I ever seen in this anime was 5 episode long. You feel bored in half way through the anime. The character development feels well paced ... and character are good. The characters helps put the comedy element to the story.

In the end, the story feels stretched, but it feels a little good because of the character in the story. I would refer this anime if you have nothing to do and want to pass time.

The manga and anime started the basketball trend in Japan during the 90s and i decided to see how good it was. This was my first sports anime and I didn't expect much from it. Knowing that it was from Toei also didn't help much. But after the first three episodes, I was hooked for the ride. The characters were the thing that made me like the anime and also learned some nice basketball terminology along the way. The journey itself was filled with pretty intense matches and twists. It teaches some pretty valuable lessons that you can use in your life. Not to spoil ... more, but after you finish it you should definitely start the manga because the anime doesn't cover the entire story.
If you like basketball, then this is for you. If not the characters will hook you up for the ride to come. You won't regret it!

To me, Slam Dunk was one of the anime I used to watch as a kid on AXN. It is about the national Shohoku basketball team developing their relationships as well as their fitness levels. This anime says that basketball really comes in all sorts of tricks and I like the way how they dribble the ball and throw the ball into the net. The net gives the score.

I loved the ending theme song "I have my eyes for you" by Maki Ohguro, one of the famous rock singers. The art was well done even though it was made in 1992.

They say that ... being a basketball player, you need to be muscular, physically fit and tall, not only that you also need to be more accurate in throwing the ball. These things come in hand to hand. The basketball players battled their way to being the best basketball team in every school. I liked how they learn as a team and how they develop as a team. They develop strategies to win the game. But sometimes strategies will not always work as sometimes things can backfire.

However, I feel that some characters are quite annoying like Sakuragi. He is arrogant who thinks he is always a genius in basketball, which results in him playing poorly and miss goals. However, as time goes by, he develops as a character. To me, I feel attached to the characters just to a degree.

The characters really didn't impress me that much.

Haruko is Sakuragi's love interest. However, the chemistry or connection wasn't that great.

As long as they condense the anime into shorter episodes then I would have a higher chance to like or dislike an anime.

However, Slam Dunk once an epic series in the 1990's, now is no longer epic. You can say the animation is outdated. But then again, it is a matter on the test of time.

I neither like nor hate this anime. I just have a mixed opinion. 6/10

So please, respect my opinion, okay?

Now I love slam dunk, but I hated the anime. The manga was so hype, so exciting, how could the anime be anything but amazing. Sadly, there were some problems with I had with the anime that ruined it for me.

Having read the manga I have to say that the story was quite cliché, but honestly I enjoyed it immensely. Also you have to remember that Slam Dunk came way before the wave of sports anime that popularised the genre. I found our first year hero, Sakuragi Hanamichi, to be a likeable character, but that might just be because I’m a sucker for delinquents. He ... exhibits absurdly fast growth rates in typical Shonen fashion, but he’s a self-proclaimed tensai so my opinion doesn't matter. The other characters get their screen time, but I really can’t be bothered talking about them all individually. Just note that they’re your rowdy second years and disciplined third years. The show stays true to the genre when you realise the team was dogshit before the year our hero joins, and the third years only have one last year left before they graduate and are determined to make the most of it. Whilst I actually enjoyed the building of the team as well as watching Sakuragi’s growth for the most part, the thing that really killed that anime for me was the sluggish ass pacing. To demonstrate this 25 episodes in and their team had only played in one game of ball. It was at this point that I lost patience with it and decided that no amount of eventual baddassery could justify watching anymore and dropped it.

Another problem I had with Dunk was its, frankly, outdated art and animation. While I thought the manga had excellent art, I could not say the same thing about the anime. I had once believed that I didn’t mind crappy art as I had watched stuff like Ping Pong the Animation (AMAZING) and had no problem with it at all. But once I realised that I had to sit through ONE HUNDRED episodes of what my 8 year old cousin could have drawn, it got very tedious after about 20 episodes. The sound was not anything notable either. The opening sucked and I don’t even remember the ending. Nothing notable from the BGM either.

While I gave it ticks for having solid characters and story, it was let down by its crappy adaptation into what we got. Dang. The manga was so good but sadly the anime does not even come close IMO. It was too old, to slow and too ugly for me to get into. Maybe if I had not first read the manga, I might have been more patient with it and stuck with it for longer. But it would not be something i would recommend to someone looking for a great series to start. My recommendation would be reading it over watching it.