Slam Dunk 🏀 Informal Book Club & Appreciation Thread

Japanese Language Book Clubs
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Welcome to the Slam Dunk :basketball: Informal Book Club & Appreciation Thread

Slam Dunk is one of the greatest manga of all time and has been highly influential in Japan and around the world. Why is it so well loved? The characters are solid, the stunning art delivers a sense of motion, alongside an excellent balance of comedic timing and character development. The premise, what happens when a young thug pretends to like basketball to impress a girl, provides a stage for struggles anyone can relate to. It’s not just an underdog sports story, or a romantic comedy, or an action comic. It delves into the heart of the characters and their motivations on, and off, the court.

Synopsis (some volume 1 spoilers)

Hanamichi Sakuragi, a young thug 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.

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This is the home thread for all discussions Slam Dunk. So far mitrac and prath are exploring the manga, and we’d like to share the resources we gathered to read Volume 1, with the hope that is useful for others. And if anyone would like to catch up / join us - we’re starting Volume 2 soon!

Join us, or start a thread discussing the anime or film and we’ll link to it here (see links below). Be mindful that some people will be new to the series, so use spoiler tags, especially when discussing later events and anything to do with the 2022 film, which takes place after the manga series.

:closed_book: Manga :open_book:

Natively: Level 23

Where to buy

No ebook available, so I’ve put in extra effort track down more links for physical copies. Read the note on editions before buying.

Editions - details

There are three editions:

  • Original 31 volumes Tankoubon (marked ジャンプコミックス ). This is a pretty standard size budget manga volume.
  • 24 volume Kanzenban (完全) (special edition) - the first chapter includes a handful of color spreads and it’s nicer overall. It’s about 33% larger (furigana way easier to read). It’s costlier but for that you get the better paper, bigger size, and a couple more chapters per volume.
  • 20 volume Shinsouban 新装再編版 - With even more chapters per volume.
    • Pros: May be easier to find in some cases, redrawn covers by the author, volumes split up by plot points and matches
    • Cons: Paper a little thinner than standard manga, covers and volume length differ from original, longer volumes may be intimidating
    • See the full review for this edition here

Left/top (smaller): Tankoubon, Right/bottom (head shot): Kanzenban
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Physical copy (Tankoubon edition): Amazon, Manga Republic (used/new), Verasia (EU), Kinokuniya (USA)

Physical copy (Kanzenban edition): Amazon, CDJapan, Manga Republic (used/new), Verasia (EU)

Threads

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 11
Volume 12
… [request additions, we’ll add them as we go]

Resources

:clapper: Anime & Movie :film_strip:

Threads on request
If there is interest to discuss these, make a thread and I’ll link it here!

:basketball_man:t5: Polls :basketball_man:t5:

Join the club :loudspeaker:
  • I am interested in Slam Dunk
  • I have read Slam Dunk
  • I am currently reading Slam Dunk
  • I have watched / am watching the anime
  • I have watched the 2022 film
  • I got lost
0 voters
Meet and Greet :microphone: チュース!!!
  • I love basketball
  • I have shot a free throw before
  • I have collected / traded basketball cards before
  • I have never played basketball in my life
  • What is a slam dunk?
  • Can you kick the ball?
0 voters

Are you interested in joining the discussion as future readers join? Set the thread status to Watching below!

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RAHHHHHHHH SLAM DUNK MENTIONED :speaking_head:

I’m so happy you guys put this together, thank you so much! I am currently reading Slam Dunk, the last chapter I read was 98, so not quite halfway through yet
(The rest of the post is just kind of a ramble of my history with the manga and how I am enjoying it. No one is obligated to read all this lol)

My Pride and Joy :')

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I have the 新装再編版, all the volumes are a mix of some new and some used that I picked up on a trip to Japan!

I have really really really been enjoying it!! Whenever I read a volume it goes really fast, but I have to hold back from reading the next right away because I know I’ll be so sad when I finish it :'))
My favorite characters are Sakuragi and Kogure!! They’re kind of complete opposites, but I love them haha. But really I love how all the characters are written, I love the comedy (in all its stupid glory), I love how exciting matches can get, I love that its a more realistic sports manga, and I love it more with each volume I read hehe.

I’m definitely not good by any means, but I also enjoy playing basketball! Usually just practicing by myself, but anytime I play it makes me want to read slam dunk, and vice-versa :joy:

Since I’m still on my first read through I don’t think I’ll go back and fully reread the volumes, but I might skim back through and comment on my favorite parts or whatever! And I’ll be watching the threads and willing to (try my best to) answer any questions! Hopefully no one will mind my Slam Dunk rants too much :sweat_smile: I’ll also continue reading the spot I’m at, but you guys will probably catch up depending on how fast you’re reading through them!

That’s all for now, looking forward to discussing with everyone!! Thanks again @mitrac & @prath for starting this up! It was a very nice surprise to see hehe

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@mitrac wanted to see so here it is, the used 完全版 set I picked up last year. Excited to get started reading it!

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Nice!! It looks awesome

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Amazing photos of the full set in two different editions :heart_eyes: thanks @TheNerdyNova and @josephsl !!! So glad you both found the thread!

@TheNerdyNova you’re the first person I know with the 新装再編版 edition, do you recommend it? If you write a couple sentences about the size and paper quality etc I’ll put it in the home post!

Do you want a thread for the chapters you’re on? I could put that up. It might be just you since you’re so far ahead but we’ll catch up eventually!

Edit: oh yeah, and I meant to call this out:

:joy: I totally know what you mean and it’s what surprised me most about this manga. I love your rant, it makes me even more excited to keep going!

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Ahhhh, I CANNOT wait to get to the matches!!! I love them so much. I’ve never read a sports manga before, so I can’t wait to experience that thrill and excitement. The only other sports manga I’ve read (in English) was Baby Steps, which was also pretty fun.

Hearing everyone else’s thoughts and rants is exactly why we wanted to create a thread, so please go ahead! I’m so excited to ask questions as well hehe

Love the pics!! Can’t wait to have you join us :sparkles:

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I’ve watched around 20-30 episodes of this anime.

Even though all they do is play basketball, they actually don’t use a lot of basketball terminology in the dialogue (besides the basic ones like shoot, rebound, free throw etc…).

Compared to your average NBA video on youtube, tons more NBA/basketball terminology used here:

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that’s fun, now that is a genre of Japanese youtube I haven’t seen posted yet. It’s oddly calming to watch his analysis, I wonder if I only get the gist because of all the English basketball loanwords, lol.

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Yeah I like the set! I personally didn’t notice the pages being thin until I saw your main post. Flipping back through them I think they are a little thinner than standard physical manga, but definitely not too noticeable (at least to me haha).

Page Photos (Vol 1 images)

Here are some photos I happened to take when reading through vol 1. Some places are more noticeable than others that you can see through the page a bit, but I have found the same thing with other physical manga. Maybe that will help give an idea tho.

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Other than that, I can also see the large volumes being intimidating for some. As you can probably tell from the full set picture, some are actually small and others are HUGE. But the thing I really like about it that I didn’t realize until a bit in, is that the spots it starts and stops at are very natural. It’s broken up more by plot points and specific matches than by a certain page count. For example the last volume I read, volume 7, was big because it was one long match (see picture below, or not if you don’t want spoilers on upcoming teams)

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In the top right you can see whats in that volume, in this case the 湘北vs翔陽 match
But yeah, I can see how some people would dislike that, but since I’m already hooked I very much enjoy it being broke out by match/etc.

Another thing I like about this particular set is the beautiful cover illustrations!! Inoue redrew them for this set in like 2018 or something? And they’re BEAUTIFUL (Covers in the photo below) For me I also found this edition more available and easier to get my hands on. It might be different for others, and some probably prefer the original covers as well. But that’s why I went with this set :))

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All of that junk put shortly:

新装再編版 20 Volume Set
Pros: May be easier to find in some cases, redrawn covers by the author, volumes split up by plot points and matches
Cons: Paper a little thinner than standard manga, covers and volume length differ from original, longer volumes may be intimidating

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Oooh, I kind of would, only if you don’t mind!! I know that’s probably a lot of extra work. (Only if you don’t mind) threads for 11 & 12 would be nice! But I probably won’t start reading my next volume for another week or so, so really whenever is fine

Ooh thanks for these videos, I’m gonna check them out!

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Amazing review, I’m so glad you put in all that detail! I’ll update that this weekend in the main post. Maybe I’ll buy one at my next natural break of the Kanzenban and create a hybrid collection

I made myself a template, so it’s really not! Can you let me know which chapters are in those volumes?

I have way more comments - but will have to respond later - am in a bit of a rush this morning!

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Thank you!!
Vol 11: Chapter 90-98
Vol 12: Chapter 99-107

Also, those are the standard/original numbering, so no worries about it getting mixed up

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This thread has convinced me to give the series a try! I have some bandwidth next to the running book clubs and I’m curious for such a famous series.

I could find the first two Shinsouban volumes in Japanese second hand, from a local seller. They should arrive next week. That will keep me busy for a while and should be enough to decide if I want to splurge for the full set.

Thanks for taking this initiative, looking forward to dive in with you all. Play ball! (or is that a baseball term? :man_shrugging: :frowning_with_open_mouth:)

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Happy cake day! :cake:

Yayy that sounds awesome. Let us know what you think of the first volume after you read it. We’re always up for a conversation about it!

Super exited to hear your thoughts and read along with you!

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Thanks so much for all the images - those covers especially are amazing. I’m updating the home post description now and I’ll link to that post!

Oh I see, thanks! Actually I wasn’t going to worry about it much and set it up for the chapters in your edition if you wanted! But actually, that was really nice that you looked them up - it will be more consistent and then people can track them on Natively easier. I’ve got a pocket of time now so I’ll set those up now.

cool, welcome to the club! I’m looking forward to the discussion, too.

Actually it’s been so long since I played both with an announcer, I’m not sure. But I suspect it’s just baseball… hmmm… but I don’t remember what is said for basketball. Sounds like something we should figure out :smile:

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@TheNerdyNova Vol 11 and Vol 12 threads are up!! I might not follow them until I get there, so if there is an issue - give me a shout here and I can update the threads easily :slight_smile:

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Thank you so much!!

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