Slam Dunk Volume 18 cover image

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Shohoku Prefecture High School basketball team wants to be the best, but do the players have the dedication and discipline it takes to be the best?  Takenori Akagi, captain and starting center, dreams of making it to the finals of Nationals, but this is his last shot at a championship because he is a senior.  The team has received an injection of youth from some hotshot freshmen, like superstar Kaede Rukawa and basketball novice, Hanamichi Sakuragi, but each is a problem child in his own way.

Slam Dunk, Vol. 18 (entitled The Feeling of Falling) opens early in the Prefectural Tournament game between Shohoku and Ryonan High School, which has an early lead in the game.  Shohoku’s Coach Anzai is in the hospital after collapsing, and Akagi is suffering from an injured ankle.  Now doubting his effectiveness, Akagi has allowed himself to be dominated by Ryonan’s massive big man, Uozumi.  Meanwhile, Sakuragi is about to find out just how much of a phenom Ryonan’s Fukuda is.

THE LOWDOWN:  Reading Slam Dunk is similar to watching a NCAA or NBA basketball game.  I get just as excited seeing a Shohoku player throw it down as I do seeing my favorite players on my favorite teams throwing it down (Laker-rama, dude!).  I resent Shohoku’s opponents when they make an awesome move to the hoop for a basket (and 1) as much as I resent players on teams I hate making on awesome move to the basket (I won’t dignify them).

Of course, Slam Dunk is the creation of Takehiko Inoue, one of the best manga-ka ever and also one of the world’s preeminent comic book creators, and this is one of the works with which he built his glorious reputation.  So it goes without saying that this is a must-read for those who appreciate this medium.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for a great sports manga will find that in Slam Dunk, which will also entertain teens and older readers.

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