Rebound, Volume 1

Harlem Beat #12

by Yuriko Nishiyama, K. Lee

The continuing adventures of Nate Torres, a teenager who always thought of himself as a quitter--until he entered the world of street basketball. Ever since he drained his first shot, he's been focused on being the best player he can be. His efforts have been rewarded and his team is poised to compete in Japan's National Basketball Championship.

Genres: Manga, Sports, Graphic Novels Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really like the graphics or the ending.

This book tells the story of a young “street ball” basketball team who has proved themselves to be very successful players. Because of this, they head to the championship. There they get into a major conflict with another team, who unfortunately they are playing against in the first round. The two teams go head to head in a dunking contest and eventually play one another to determine who the best is.

A middle school boy who likes basketball and loves comics would truly enjoy this novel. Although, the book does follow a story line, it focuses mainly on the different aspects of basketball (such as dunking contest). Unfortunately, I found the way Magna novels are written (right to left) to be difficult to follow. Also the graphics in this novel were not very exciting because they were all black and white. However, reading the book from back to front was a nice change.

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I successfully finished my first manga novel. I am surprised that it is a basketball story! Who knew that manga included sports fiction? Not me until today. Nate Torres and his high school basketball team, Johnan, won the Tokyo championship. Now they are on their way to Sapporo to play again in the National Championships. They hope to avoid a repeat of last year's first round loss, but this year they have to get past Kyan Marine Industry--a team full of tough players who don't mind playing rough. Oh yeah, there might even be a few girls to provide a distraction. I thought this was a fun story once I got the hang of reading from right to left. It might even bring in new fans (of sports stories) to graphic novels.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if it's because I've never read sports manga or because this is actually book 12 in a series (which I was unaware of at the time) but I really enjoyed this book. The story was fun and the art/layouts were great. I loved the appropriately dramatic slamdunk contest (one character sums it up by saying that the slamdunk is the ultimate in self-expression) and the funky hairstyles rocked by the Okinawan players, not to mention little references like the antagonist wearing Air Worm shoes. Definitely will continue reading and seek out the earlier Harlem Beat volumes.

[Cammym · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't say I loved this book. Maybe I just wasn't interested in the topic, or maybe the whole read-back-to-front thing, but I don't think so. I didn't like the way it was written and illustrated. The characters would switch back and forth from very detailed, realistic-looking to more simplistic, "cartoony"-looking. It made it difficult to keep the characters straight. Also, this was a new series that was based off of another series, with the same characters, so I felt like I had started watching a movie in the middle. In addition, there were funny little asides and commercial-like comments that I found distracting. I don't know if all Manga graphic novels are like this or not. I will have to try reading some more to find out.

Good for kids who love Manga, basketball, graphic novels.

Graphic Novel, Manga, Basketball.

[yence · Rating 3 out of 5]

ini harlem beat tp tittlenya bahasa inggris???...

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this series. If you love sports manga as much as I do then this series is totally for you.