'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
As far as sports anime go, Slam Dunk is considered one of the greatest of all time alongside classics like Captain Tsubasa and Attack No. 1. Though it is odd that a basketball anime, of all things, would be popular in Japan, Slam Dunk has gained more recognition than many others for its influence on the youth.
From being the inspiration for scholarships to showing the importance of teamwork, Slam Dunk has quite a history. One would be very curious to ask why this is. Fans have been wondering what exactly is it that makes Slam Dunk such a cult classic anime that it finally got a movie screening overseas this year.
Disclaimer: This article will contain Slam Dunk spoilers. Any opinions therein are likewise considered exclusive to the author.
Slam Dunk's popularity, explored and dissected
Part 1: A classic underdog story
A staple of many sports media, especially sports anime, is the underdog story. Underdog stories usually involve people in competitions that they are the least likely to win or succeed and have all kinds of obstacles come in their way. This could be anything from a superior rival team, a cheating team, or even a referee that is on the bad guy's payroll, among others.
Many of these tropes show up in Slam Dunk with several players having tempers that mess up the team play, having sprained ankles, and even playing half-blind. It's likewise worth noting that it subverts the trope of the underhanded rivals since the rest of the main team at Shohoku High School are all delinquents.
This usually means they all have fiery tempers, and the entire idea of Slam Dunk is to help the kids mature and achieve what they want to do. In particular, the main character Hanamichi Sakuragi is a former gang leader attempting to score with a girl by joining the team. However, he soon starts to love the sport and his team as it goes along.
The rest of the team are aloof determinators and basketball junkies like Kaede Rukaewa who learn to be less cold. It also has Captain Takenori Akagi who keeps everyone sane but has harsh training methods, and point guard Ryota Miyagi who always loses his temper. There is also Hisashi Mitsui who becomes a gang member from aggravating a bad leg injury.
Part 2: Production and fan reaction
Basketball in Japan wasn't considered a big sport back when Slam Dunk was written but the author Takehiko Inoue had loved it since high school. In fact, Inoue's story has actually been compared more to a self-insert piece. He too tried playing basketball to be popular with girls but discovered a deep love of the game.
He was likewise told by one of his editors that basketball was practically considered a taboo subject. Inoue wrote that Slam Dunk is universal even though it's technically about basketball. He also wrote that he wanted to really get into athletes' feelings and thoughts when they win, lose, or improve on the sport.
The results were wildly successful, as fan mail poured in with love for the manga and the sport. The manga actually increased the popularity of basketball in Japan, in a similar vein to how Attack No. 1 and Captain Tsubasa did to volleyball and soccer respectively.
Not only did kids enjoy it, but everyone was encouraged to take up the sport. A lot of organizations, including the Japan Basketball Association, credit Slam Dunk for ushering in an explosion of basketball in Japan. Additionally, the story is marked as a slice-of-life narrative before becoming a full sports manga later on.
Part 3: The impact
Sales figures from the manga's entire run have it currently named the seventh highest-grossing manga. With 170 million copies in circulation, it sits just below Naruto. Its movie equivalent, The First Slam Dunk, sits at number 5 among the highest-grossing Japanese films worldwide. It even beats out the recently released One Piece: Red film.
In fact, Inoue received special attention from the Japan Basketball Association in 2010 for helping create the Slam Dunk scholarship program. It aids young athletes in getting fully paid academic and athletic scholarships to preparatory schools in America if they pass the school's admission interview.
The manga caused an instant explosion in many people wanting to play basketball, from kids to adults. The amount of depth and detail locked into the manga, and later the anime really solidified this for many people via the explanations of the game throughout Slam Dunk.
In addition to this, what made the series popular was the depth of the story. It's not just hidden via slice-of-life shenanigans, though the basketball taking a backseat to the character development absolutely helped. Everyone on the team has their own character arc, and even if they lose to their ultimate rivals in nationals they do go on to bigger and better things.
Part 4: The Inspiration
The explosion of popularity is thanks to a lot of the shot-for-shot references Inoue used.
For instance, the Olympic gold medal-winning performance of the original 1992 "Dream Team" was used to replicate iconic basketball shots in the manga. For those unaware, the "Dream Team" consisted of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing.
The story itself is very much a class story that's key to a lot of different sports stories: the main characters all come from "low-level" families from the suburbs. That's usually a huge staple of sports stories and the key to the underdog story: coming from nothing and having to defy every odd and obstacle.
All the characters' designs and personalities clearly echo different players. For instance, Sakuragi was originally based on Charles Barkley but many fans got Dennis Rodman vibes from him due to their flashy and loud personality and parallel development as players. Akagi resembles Patrick Ewing in physique, playstyle, and career, being all business.
These could go on forever, but there are other inspirations like certain moments throughout the show that basketball fans have seen earlier. This includes the moment when Sakuragi accidentally throws the ball to an opponent which is an echo of Isiah Thomas' inadvertent pass to opponent Larry Bird in 1987. The shootout between the Rukawa and Sendoh schools was likewise a reference to Game 7 of the 1988 NBA playoffs.
To put this in as simply as can be made. Slam Dunk's popularity is very vast and incredibly complicated. It's not just a really great sports anime about basketball, it's the boon that basketball needed to take hold in Japan. The series has helped multiple people, including professionals Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe, get into basketball.
The series has so many layers to it, it's staggering to think about. If any readers should have anything that wasn't covered in the article, please list it in the comments.
