Slam Dunk, Vol. 22 (22)

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If you love basketball, you will love “Slam Dunk”!For volume 22, Takehiko Inoue has created is a “breather” volume after the long Prefectural Tournament, focusing on characters and team dynamics outside of competition. As volume 23 will begin the National Tournament, for this volume, Inoue concentrates on the primary characters, Hanamichi, Takenori and Kaede. Three talented basketball players but they are going to need to get better or push themselves to be better than their competition and with the National Tournament, many teams have fought their way to get into the tournament and these teams are the best in the country.For Kaede’s story, it was an interesting story of players who think they are very good in their country, that they need to move to the United States to be even better. But Coach Anzai knows that Japan and America are in different leagues and to play in America, is difficult. He experienced it once with another player of his and through this story, we learn the tragic tale of a dream to make it in America that doesn’t go all that well.While Takenori Akagi’s story is straight-forward, as he is being scouted by a university, in previous volumes, we already know his mind is only on the National Tournament for now.Which leaves us to Hanamichi, the darkhorse of the team because no one knows what to expect from him. While he is known for running his mouth and being cocky, Hanamichi has one advantage and that is his will-power but most importantly, what takes others months to learn, Hanamichi subjects himself to intense training, to the point that he learns very quickly. And in this case, his latest challenge is to learn how to shoot far from the net. No dunking, just shooting and learning about his form and practicing.There is also another storyline which many Western readers will understand and that is for athletes to keep up their GPA and in this case, what happens when a few of the basketball players of Shohoku are not doing so well and fail a class?So, with “Slam Dunk”, this one will be a fascinating volume. Plus a much longer read as this latest volume is focused more on story rather than competition. So no pages of just graphics and a single word bubble, there are several storylines featured in vol. 22.As for the manga series, Takehiko Inoue’s illustrations have always been a highlight for me and I was always amazed of how he captured movements of basketball. With this volume, much more exploration of characters shopping, studying or training in basketball. Character designs are well-done and it’s great to see the female characters featured in this volume as well.Overall, “Slam Dunk” is an enjoyable manga series and if you are a basketball fan, “Slam Dunk” is a no-brainer… Definitely recommended!

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