What Am I Watching - Slam Dunk

Synopsis - Hanamichi Sakuragi is a very unpopular guy. He's been dumped fifty times, and he's a total outcast due to his height. As a matter of fact, his distinguishable red hair may have something to do with it. However, things start to look up for Sakuragi, as a girl by the name of Haruko Akagi, actually takes interest in him! She asks him if he enjoys Basketball, and the rest is history.. Essentially this is about a delinquent who is determined to be the best at a sport he knows nothing about to impress a girl he really cares about.

Review - Yet another lengthy show that everyone raved about. I am a very open-minded admirer of Japanese animation, and I am willing to watch any genre (except lolicon vore) as long as it's good. Funny thing about the sports genre is that, contrary to popular belief, you don't need to be a fan of said sport to like the show. I hate golf, but Dan-Doh was an awesome show. I can understand why Ace No Narae (Aim for the Ace!) is such a classic, and no matter how much I try, I cannot get into the real thing. Baseball is an absolute chore to watch for me, yet Touch keeps me reading the manga. So, with that said, the sports genre, while it has an amazing track record, is surprisingly not the type of genre that I jump up and watch. I normally need to be in A) the right mood, or B) bored. Considering I got a fansub of Slam Dunk recently, I figured, "Why the hell not?" and watched it.

The plot of the series is actually well-written. It doesn't just go with a simple template for a sports title, instead, they look to build characters you otherwise wouldn't have cared about, and opponents you'd probably hate. I don't know if I worded it correctly, but this show's plot just has that extra zing to it.

That zing is the characters. They are all fantastic. I love Hanamichi's brashness. He is such a cocky asshole, but for some reason, I don't want to see him lose (WCW-era Chris Jericho much?). Akagi and Rukawa are more professional, obviously, with Akagi being the Jamie Carragher of the team, telling the team what to do, and using his overall experience to whip these scrawny punks into shape, and Rukawa, well, being Rukawa. I'm never into these sully types, who look like they'd fit straight into a Twilight movie, but with Hanamichi, that is where Rukawa is at his best. They make for an entertaining combo.

Hanamichi with Ryota

I also like Hanamichi/Rukawa's biggest fans, Haruko Akagi and Hanamichi's delinquent friends. Haruko is one of the general few heroines if you will, that I geniunely feel wants to help both protagonists. Yes, she loves Rukawa, but her friendship with Hanamichi is very cute, because she sees great potential in the guy, and in fact, is attracted (not like that) by his social attitude. It makes for nice viewing, and it makes the sidelines just as interesting as the actual game going on. His friends (I have no idea what their names are. Comments would be helpful!) are awesome. Sure, they mocked him when he got dumped for an astonishing 50th time, but who wouldn't, right? The beauty of it all is that how much they taunt him, if Hanamichi is in trouble, they'll be the first ones to take offense. They go to his games just to root for him, and in my opinion, these guys don't quite get the credit that they deserve. Essentially, they are the Ataru Moroboshi's friends in Urusei Yatsura, albeit they're deserving of credit for completely different reasons!

The music itself is down to personal preference. I really like classic J-rock/pop acts like Boowy, Chage & Aska, and B'z, so I felt right at home with the synths and all that jazz. As a matter of fact, when I mention this song, it gets in my head. It sounds like it'd come from something of Karate Kid-esque fame, and if you don't get inspired by that...

Unlike Cha Cha, I believe that the strength lies in the great detail in the art. Maybe it was because I was watching Captain Tsubasa before it, but I was loving the many shadows and depth that was displayed in the muscles and the facial expressions. 

Though I watched the first 15 episodes subbed, I watched the rest of it dubbed. Both were just fine, in my opinion, but some points need to be made. The team captain sounded awesome in Japanese, but I just couldn't take him seriously in English. He had that "I'm-a-big-guy-and-I-sound-like-a-dufus" kind of voice, and that wasn't exactly what I was expecting from a guy who is one of the most honorable (maybe  a stretch) guys on the show. I know I will be hated for this, but the engrish dialogue in the intermission is  really lame. (If you can hold ball in a hand, you'll be great basketbarr prayer~!) Why they didn't fix this problem when it was licensed, I have no clue...except one. It's so bad, it's entertaining. In that sense, I guess it works?

So overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Slam Dunk, and look to finish the 101 episode length. The characters are infectious and fun from the get-go. I honestly cannot see Hanamichi and Rukawa ever getting along, but it is a shonen series, and a sports one at that. They will work together, whether they like it or not. But the struggles it will take to get them there is going to be funnest part. Even if you *hate* basketball, the characters, the animation, and the engrish will keep you wanting more.

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Story - 9

Characters - 9.5

Content - 9.5

Animation - 8 (for its time though, it was deserving of a higher grade)

Music - 8.5

Overall - 9

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