Some spoilers ahead for those who haven't gotten far with the manga/anime...

As most of us know, Sakuragi's father is likely >!deceased!<. At least, we never see him in person in the main story, and only in a flashback where he had (IIRC) a heart attack, and Sakuragi wasn't able to get him to the hospital in time. Mother also seems out of the picture, though I personally think she's been out of the picture a long time, perhaps even before Sakuragi was old enough to have memories. (I say this because in one of the really early chapters in the manga, he was shown happily singing a song about mothers. Not something I imagine a kid who actively misses his mum does)

But if the dad's dead and the mum's out of the picture too, how is Sakuragi getting by as a 15 year old? I very much doubt he's allowed to live on his own, though I'm not familiar with Japanese laws. tagging u/FntnDstrct who seems to know far more than me.

Long way of saying that Sakuragi seems to be depicted like he's on his own in the manga, but I don't see how that could be permitted. Keen to hear all the fan theories out there!

Disclaimer: so I watched the anime, picked up the manga from where the series ended, and watched the movie so if I missed this answer, my bad.

The reason the players went to Shohoku according to the anime: Mitsui = Anzai Miyagi = Anzai Rukawa = it was close to his house Sakuragi = speculative but maybe the only school to accept his due to his entrance exam scores, to join his friends, or another loophole that allowed him to go (going to High school in Japan is not compulsory, and students usually take entrance exams for the schools they want to go to.) Akagi = ???? Kogure = probably because Akagi went

Akagi since Elementary school had the ambition of winning the national championship in Basketball. Junior high school is district based so it makes sense that he would be unlucky to go to a shitty team. He seems to always have had the reputation to be a great player on shite teams tracking back all the way from his Junior high school when his team crashed out early. I believe this is the same tournament when a young Mitsui won the MVP title and was highly sought after.

Now I think it would have made complete sense if coach Anzai watched some of the early games to see any diamonds in the rough and extend an invitation to Akagi, but during the first Shohoku practice, Anzai didn’t seem to know who Akagi was. He only said that he had potential. Akagi also doesn’t seem to know who Anzai was so his college reputation doesn’t seem to be a factor. Also, I think Akagi in the flashback was clumsy mainly due to him “growing” into his height rather than him being bad or “raw”.

Akagi is a also a very capable student and I’m sure he would have scored well on any school’s entrance exam and walk on whether it be the University affiliated Kainan, Shoyo, Ryonan, or even Takezato (the other top 4 team), but he chose Shohoku which seemed to have little pedigree in at least Basketball. I’m sure Akagi would know which schools have a good Basketball program since he seems to know that Sannoh is the best team and he wants to beat them. Later in the manga, he was berated by his teammate that Shohoku sucks and Akagi sucks which is why neither Shoyo nor Kainan wanted him. I can believe that based on the Junior high school tournament, but he is a tall, strong player which could benefit most teams since the average height is fairly short in Japan during the 90’s.

Let’s say Akagi wants to stay in Kanagawa and not commute to neighboring prefectures, where could he fit? Also, it’s not stated that he had the ego to want to be an automatic starter from his first year, but he’s confident in his abilities so I’m sure he wants to play. I also think he could be patient if the top teams have top centers at least in his first year so he can start from at least year 2. Who he is competing with up in current timeline of the series:

Takezato (unknown) = he would probably start at least from year 2. Kainan (Takasago) = similar in Appearance, Akagi has the advantage in intimidation and power, but maybe slower. I think Akagi takes the starting role during his 3rd year at the latest. Shoyo (Hanagata) = Akagi struggled against him in their match, but Akagi adds a lot of aggression and power that Shoyo lacks and the Kevin McHale esque Hanagata could really thrive as a power forward. I think Akagi can take the center role from his 3rd year at the latest. Ryonan (Uozumi) = this one is tricky. Uozumi seems to have come from nowhere and started playing from High School. Akagi is the better player but you can’t ignore that Uozumi height. They could theoretically play together, but with the emergence of Fukuda at PF, you bench one of the two. Akagi probably wins this battle from year 2 at the latest, but I think it creates issues for all 3 years.

In conclusion, I think Shohoku was objectively the wrong choice if he wanted to win the National title, but of course, the series wouldn’t be what it is without him so I’m glad he’s there. I apologize for this being so long, but I just haven’t seen anything that addresses this. Let me know if there is an answer or what you think.

Even tho he not canon i wish he could’ve played with Shohoku, life’s unfair man😔

I remember there was an announcement earlier in the year about a future collectors edition to be released in the US. I haven't been following it too closely but it's been a while and I hadn't heard anything new.

Does anyone by chance know if / when the collectors edition will be released? Or did they scrap it?

Does anyone know why Miyagi Ryota is practically the protagonist of the film? The film is practically focused on his past and at the end he is playing in the United States. Something happened, like the original voice actor died, the person or player he was based on died and was honored in this film. Can anyone answer this question for me?

SD is a series that stays relevant regardless of age. Here's a poll to capture the demographics of our community and to celebrate fans of every vintage.

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Does somebody know when real chapter 100 is supposed to come out? (not soon I suppose since the 99 just came out)

Recently, someone shared a fun little post that spills the tea on Sendoh's background. For context, the source mentioned in the Tumblr post is an American associate of Inoue's, who had first met him in 2007 when Inoue was in New York to paint the Vagabond mural. They've since stayed in touch and have met up again.

Some highlights from the Tumblr post:

• According to source/Inoue, the reason Sendoh is partial to fishing is "because his grandfather had introduced it to him, they would fish together from a young age, and his grandfather would give him life advice while they fish together. His grandfather passed away shortly after he moved from Tokyo so part of it is so he can honor him in away."

• Sendoh has few friends in his life, if any. While he does like his teammates and others around him, he feels he can’t “truly be himself” and has to put up a calm and collected front, even though that is not always him.

• [The source] said Inoue worded it as “Part of why Sendoh doesn't have many friends because he feels that most people automatically have an idea or standard of who he is in their heads, and he feels the need to be that person, despite the fact they don’t know him. He feels that if he shares who he actually is, he ends up letting them down.”

There's quite a bit on Sendoh's family background too. Link to the Tumblr post for those interested here.

Though the source is hard to verify (and probably prefers to keep his anonymity), personally as a big Sendoh fan and an SD fan starved of new info, I always find these tidbits interesting. There's also a lot in the post that jives with what we've discussed in the past about Sendoh (in this earlier post).

Make of it what you will!

Was checking GKids site today for news of the Collector's Edition and saw that The First Slam Dunk 4K Blu-ray is available for pre-order.

お知らせが遅くなってしまいました。

今発売中のヤンジャン最新号にリアル99話33pが掲載されております。

扉はこんな感じの戸川です。

(隣ページにスラムダンク 奨学金の告知が出てますね。)

Sorry for the late notice.

Chapter 99, page 33 of Real is published in the latest issue of Shonen Jump, on sale now.

Togawa looks like this on the cover.

(The Slam Dunk scholarship announcement is on the next page.)

Link to Inoue's Instagram post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DC-UV3ozR7-/?igsh=MXh3MHhxMDBpbDg2Yw==

Man, out of all 4 Slam Dunk's OVAs, this one made me cry. Ichiro has dreamed of entering Shohoku because he wanted to win the National Champioship with Rukawa but because of his injury, he couldn't do it anymore. I just loved how Rukawa challenged him in this game, unleashing all his power for the last game of his life, Sakuragi being so supportive and made sure that Ichiro gets to score so he can beat his Rukawa senpai (and Sakuragi deadass head butted him lol!) Miyagi, Koguro, Mitsui and Akagi acknowleding that Ichiro cant be a junior high with that kind of speed and talent. And I literally cried when Rukawa gave Ichiro his jersey. Slam Dunk OVA 4, you are so dear to me.

I dont know why I cant upload the video here 🥲

I'm watching the anime and I'm almost giving up because of this game, almost 20 episodes for a 40 minute game where everything always goes wrong for shohoku, it's too difficult to watch.

I don't even get upset, it's tedious and tiring, as well as irritating because every episode something will appear that will complicate shohoku and you'll be like "more of this now".

Of course I won't give up, it was a deliberate exaggeration, just like the number of episodes over which the duel lasts. And I want to make it clear that I love Slam Dunk, I love Sakuragi and I intend to read the manga, this is just a criticism of this part of the anime.

In this chapter, everyone was talking about the other players but Sendoh was focused on Sakuragi.

I have been looking to buy the manga for a while now but I heard people saying that slam dunk was getting a deluxe edition next year. I think that was fake though as no one else is talking about a deluxe hardcover for it.

I was reading Takehiko Inoue's interview in one magazine(?) article and based fron the rough translation, he was asked which of the SD characters are in the US to play basketball. Inoue said it's the three popular player, Sakuragi, Rukawa and Sawakita. But its soo funny when Inoue said that Sakuragi only went to the US because Rukawa told him that he'll play in the US.

No matter how much they annoy each other, Rukawa and Sakuragi remain inseparable, bound by a connection neither can live without."

Saw this on facebook 🤣🤣🤣

Does anyone else love this song like I do? I have no clue what they’re saying, I listen to it almost every day.

I LOVE IT!

Sekai ga Oma uma ne waaaaaa….

I tried watching it numerous times but I always end up wanting to watch Slam Dunk. So I tried watching it again this month, and guess what, I ended up finishing Slam Dunk anime and re-reading the manga now LOL.

It was just too dramatic for me, at least the first few episodes.

Would Sakuragi look good in an Afro? And which hairstyle do you think would suit him?

After reading (& completing) all three of vagabond, real , and slam dunk I have noticed that in all three there are very very distinct facial similarities between

• musashi
• togawa
• sakuragi (when drawn properly)

This is obviously down to inoues drawing style but it’d be really cool if they were all related in some way