Slam Dunk

Hanamichi Sakuragi, infamous for his temper, massive height, and fire-red hair, enrolls in Shohoku High, hoping to finally get a girlfriend and break his record of being rejected 50 consecutive times in middle school. His notoriety precedes him, however, leading to him being avoided by most students. Soon, after certain events, Hanamichi is left with two unwavering thoughts: "I hate basketball," and "I desperately need a girlfriend."

One day, a girl named Haruko Akagi approaches him without any knowledge of his troublemaking ways and asks him if he likes basketball. Hanamichi immediately falls head over heels in love with her, blurting out a fervent affirmative. She then leads him to the gymnasium, where she asks him if he can do a slam dunk. In an attempt to impress Haruko, he makes the leap, but overshoots, instead slamming his head straight into the blackboard. When Haruko informs the basketball team's captain of Hanamichi's near-inhuman physical capabilities, he slowly finds himself drawn into the camaraderie and competition of the sport he had previously held resentment for.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Sakuragi, Hanamichi Main

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Mitsui, Hisashi Main

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Miyagi, Ryouta Main

Shioya, Yoku Japanese

Rukawa, Kaede Main

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

Akagi, Takenori Main

Yanada, Kiyoyuki Japanese

Sendou, Akira Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Mito, Youhei Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Anzai, Mitsuyoshi Supporting

Nishimura, Tomomichi Japanese

Akagi, Haruko Supporting

Hiramatsu, Akiko Japanese

Ayako Supporting

Hara, Eriko Japanese

Nishizawa, Nobutaka Director

Kakudou, Hiroyuki Episode Director, Storyboard

Takenouchi, Kazuhisa Episode Director, Storyboard

Shimizu, Junji Episode Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Dec 15, 2007

ChrisVarick

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by ChrisVarick (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jan 7, 2009

Cruzle

Mixed Feelings

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

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Cruzle (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Nov 7, 2025

KeiYukio

Not Recommended

I'll start at the beginning: the manga for Slam Dunk is one of my all time favs. Every single page of Slam Dunk manga hits me with emotion, the art is breathtaking, the story hits my little heart back then and my lil ol' heart now. So when I discovered the anime adaptation, I was equal parts excited and scared. Could it live up to what the manga that I read multiple times as a kid?

Unfortunately, the anime falls short ;( and so I gave it a 4. Because yes: it has its moments. But as a standalone anime experience, I don’t feel it delivered.

What ... I like is the characters from the manga shine through in many scenes and you feel the potential. Knowing the source material gives you context and emotional moments, you know where things are going, and when certain big moments hit you can feel the emotions that the manga wants you to feel and it's on the screen. For older anime from 1993-1996 the fact that it even exists is a plus, you can see the era, you can feel the style of the time.

So why I don't like this at all? The Pace, The show draaaaaaaaaaaaags. One example: the arc around Mitsui’s return and his 3-point shooting story, it takes multiple episodes to cover what in the manga is tighter and more easier to digest. Like the Mitsui's plot where he rejoined the team and quit his punk gang is so much better if it isn't moving at a turtle's pace.

The animation and direction often feel dated even for its time. Some emotional high points in the manga don’t quite get the same impact here. The art is solid, but it misses the punch of the manga for me.

And man the dragging episodes, because of filler or just slower story beats, I found myself waiting for things to move, which reduces the emotional impact that the manga created so effortlessly. And because I love the manga so deeply, the anime carries the weight of that expectation. I tried to evaluate it on its own merits, but it kept falling short of what I envisioned.

I don’t blame anyone for this, it’s a product of its era. The early 90s animation methods, pacing norms of the time like Naruto, Bleach etc, and perhaps Toei’s production constraints all factor in. For me as a viewer coming in with high hopes, it didn’t click in the way I hoped.

If you come into Slam Dunk having loved the manga, be prepared to have some frustrations. If you’re new to it and see it purely as a 90s sports anime, you’ll likely enjoy parts of it, but the pacing and impact won’t match modern sports anime standards or the emotional intensity of the source material. It’s interesting, it has heart to it, but it falls short for me.

Would I recommend it?
Yes, but watch it with awareness of the context (old era, slower pace) and with the manga as your reference. If you go in thinking “The Manga is so goddamn cool, I can't wait to see that Shohoku vs Shoyo fight Imma get liiiit” you might feel disappointed. If you go in with “let’s see a 90s basketball anime” you might find things to like. For me, though: as an anime on its own, it didn’t quite land.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by KeiYukio (9)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Best of 1970-1999 Catch-up

by aifukola

22 Entries · 14 Restacks

Aluminum Christmas Trees

by stefanoiulli1999

50 Entries · 15 Restacks

Weekly Shōnen Jump Anime Part 3

by AcidTyphoon

49 Entries · 16 Restacks

Manga 'Slam Dunk' Gets New Anime Film Adaptation

Toei Animation opened an official website for a new anime film for Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk manga on Thursday. Inoue serialized the basketball manga in Weekly...read more

Jan 6, 2021 10:00 PM by Vindstot | Discuss (58 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for May

Here are the North American Anime & Manga releases for May 2015 Week 1: May 5th - 11th Anime Releases Astro Boy (2003) Complete Series Denki-gai Collectors'...read more

May 5, 2015 12:04 PM by Snow | Discuss (14 comments)

	Poll: Slam Dunk Episode 59 Discussion jacobpaige - Jun 9, 2010	48 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» 4 hours ago
	Poll: Slam Dunk Episode 52 Discussion Jawaese - Aug 1, 2011	7 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Nov 26, 1:44 AM
	Poll: Slam Dunk Episode 49 Discussion Jawaese - Jul 31, 2011	8 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Nov 24, 8:21 AM
	Poll: Slam Dunk Episode 48 Discussion Jawaese - Jul 31, 2011	11 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Nov 24, 6:34 AM
	Poll: Slam Dunk Episode 47 Discussion Jawaese - Jul 31, 2011	14 replies	by WilliamMinerva20 »» Nov 24, 2:03 AM

Top 10 Cool Anime Characters of All Time

In our previous posts, we have listed down the hot, sexy, and cute anime characters. But this time around, we bring you a list of the coolest anime characters of all time!

by Ai_Sakura

308,916 views

CollectionCute GirlsCute Guys

Top 15 Best and Worst Fat Anime Characters

Anime is full of skinny, beautiful people, but once in a while a series offers a break from the usual. Discover what happens when an anime throws in a fat character.

by Littoface

601,386 views

CollectionAnalysisCharacter AnalysisEditorial