Slam Dunk Volume 1 by Takehiko Inoue
Hanamichi Sakuragi has just moved up to high school. He leaves behind a long list of romantic rejections. He also brings his hot-headed attitudes (he is a red-head), sometimes losing his temper and headbutting fellow students he finds annoying. In high school, a girl named Haruko likes the looks of him. He thinks she's cute. The only problem is she is totally into basketball and thinks that Sakuragi will be a great player for the school's team. Sakuragi is in good shape but doesn't play athletics. And the last girl he was interested in turned him down for a guy on the basketball team! He tries out for the team, doing anything and everything (including polishing the court floor) in order to get on the team. Sakuragi thinks the team captain is a gorilla and has a bit of a disrespectful attitude...until he learns that the captain is Haruko's big brother.
The story follows a familiar problem--having a hard time fitting in at high school. Sakuragi is a little bit unlikeable as he has trouble managing his temper and dealing with his classmates. The humor is fairly good and the high school drama is well done, so I will try some more of this series.
Recommended.
Slam Dunk Volume 2 by Takehiko Inoue
High school freshman Hanamichi Sakuragi faces a new challenge to his basketball ambitions. He wants to join the team to impress cute girl Haruko but team captain (and Haruko's brother) Takenori is more interested in the new first year talent and potential star Kaede Rukawa. Haruko has her eye on Rukawa. Sakuragi would like nothing more than Rukawa to lose to Takenori. Also, he'd like to play on the first-years-versus-starters game that will pit Rukawa against Takenori. If that was not enough drama, the head of the school's judo team tries to recruit Sakuragi. He's very persistent and also thinks the judo team will win nationals before the basketball team.
It's another exciting outing for Sakuragi. The manga acknowledges Sakuragi's personal problems and shortcomings in a light-hearted style that makes this fun to read. The drama feels a bit exaggerated though that's typical in manga (and often in good storytelling).
Recommended.
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