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Premiering the story of the Shohoku Prefectural High School basketball team, and their newest star player, Sakuragi Hanmichi, who's also the newest freshman delinquent! A novice on the court, and in love, Sakuragi learns to master the game and will play to bring the national championship to Shohoku and true love to his heart.

189 pages, Paperback/Manga

First published August 7, 1991

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312 people want to read

About the author

Takehiko Inoue

316 books1,573 followers
Takehiko Inoue (井上雄彦) is a Japanese manga artist, best known for Slam Dunk and Vagabond.

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5 stars
1,125 (58%)
4 stars
586 (30%)
3 stars
182 (9%)
2 stars
19 (<1%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
Profile Image for Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎.
1,322 reviews190 followers
July 13, 2022
Sakuragi's impatience to be on the court is so chaotic that it's too hilarious. He keeps on pestering Coach Anzai about when he's stepping in, brewing trouble with the Ryonan team. Until Coach Anzai finally asked him to warm up that he got suddenly nervous. And when Akagi got injured and he's up to take his place, he lost it. With Rukawa's help though, the beast in him is about to come out!

I totally forgot that sports manga usually takes up lots of volume in one tournament. Developing characters, and the game itself. I'd be lying if I say this wasn't exhausting—I feel like I'm running around, dribbling the ball with them too lol.
Profile Image for Diz.
1,866 reviews139 followers
April 30, 2023
This series always makes me laugh. Sakuragi finally gets to play in a game. It doesn't go well at first, but in this volume, the game is just getting started.
Profile Image for Kesa.
580 reviews62 followers
March 19, 2021
Dou Ahou.
The best volume yet! Loving Slam Dunk. Reading it at the perfect time of my life.
Profile Image for aamna.
324 reviews9 followers
December 6, 2024
I love how chaotic and unserious the characters are 😭
Profile Image for &#x1f987;.
10 reviews
November 16, 2018
I love Sakuragi i love him so much he is so funny i want him in my life 😭😂💛💛💛🔥🔥🔥
Profile Image for Siia Semenova.
141 reviews9 followers
April 8, 2019
3,5/5 actually
Большую часть тома хотелось хорошенько врезать гг. А вот несколько моментов с второстепенными персонажами были круты.
50 reviews3 followers
May 30, 2018
Finally the match of Shouhoku and Ryounan started. I was so excited that which high school won this match. Both high schools were too similar. It means that both captain, Uozumi and Akagi are rival and also Rukkawa and Akira Sendou. However the main character in this manga Sakuragi did not come on this match. At last he came on and he active in this game, block, assist, rebound and so on. Can you imagine that he come on this game in spite of an amateur. I really wonder that he can score in this game.
Profile Image for Julie (Let's Read Good Books).
1,737 reviews486 followers
June 16, 2018
4 stars

Hanamichi needs to chill the heck out. Poking the opposing coach in the rear? Really? Gross!

Lots of great action, and the Shohoku team is desperately trying to make a come back - with Hanamichi at center. What?!
Profile Image for Tammy.
377 reviews6 followers
December 23, 2023
I don’t know how a basketball match can be so addictive, but it’s fab! I love this manga series so much and I am not a sporty person in the slightest!
139 reviews1 follower
April 2, 2023
Finally Sendoh! <3

The game is very exciting, can’t wait to read the next volume.
Profile Image for Ry Guy.
8 reviews
January 20, 2025
The practice match is fire. Wish it showed the rest of the team’s strengths tho. Oh well.
Profile Image for Rinda Rinda.
67 reviews4 followers
June 25, 2007
okay... so im giving this whole series 5 stars, not for it's literary content (it is manga afterall!) but for the nostalgia it brings me and its humor.

i read this whole series as it was being published back in the early-mid 90s, when i was in junior high and high school. I read the korean translation as it was a huge hit in korea at the time. i remember going to the local bookstore every two months for the new copy. the lady at the bookstore always saved one for me.

during my last trip back home to korea, i tried to bring back the whole set (i forced my parents not to throw them away) but couldnt fit it in my luggage. i only brought back books 1-3 and read them all in one evening. mom is supposed to mail the rest to me and i'm eagerly waiting for them.

im not sure if this series is translated in english and honestly, im not sure if it would translate well (lost in translation goes both ways) but i really enjoyed this series as a kid and so far books 1-3 have held up for me and i cant wait to re-read all 35 books.
Profile Image for kelly.
430 reviews34 followers
January 24, 2025
5 ✨ chaos chaos basketball and more chaos
Profile Image for Brandon.
2,845 reviews39 followers
July 11, 2020
The match between Ryonan and Shohoku begins, and Sakuragi can't wait to get in the game and show off how much he's learned! Except he's not in the game. He's on the bench. Shohoku is saving their "secret weapon" Sakuragi for when he's needed most (at least, that's what they tell him), while the rest of the team tries to best one of the strongest teams in the region. Ryonan is like Shohoku but better, with more experience and better teamwork. They've got their own big and strong version of Akagi, their skilled prodigy like Rukawa, and much better communication. Sakuragi has to watch patiently from the sidelines as Shohoku trails Ryonan, wondering when he'll be allowed to come in and save them from defeat.

This volume puts Sakuragi on the bench and makes him more comic relief than anything else. It also has a lot more action- this is the first proper basketball game in the series and it's full of some big action splash pages and silent scenes where no one talks they just play the game. Takehiko Inoue made the smart choice to feature a game without Sakuragi as a good way to introduce yourself to the sport. The players on both Shohoku and Ryonan are playing properly, following the rules, and with Sakuragi on the bench others will explain some of the core concepts and rules of basketball to him (also explaining it to readers who might be reading Slam Dunk but aren't familiar with basketball as a sport). The Shohoku team set a standard of what you think basketball should or will be played like, setting you up to see how much change he will bring when Sakuragi eventually steps out onto the court.

There's a sore spot to Volume 4 that it features Akagi and Rukawa more prominently than the three previous, as we're not too aware of who they are by now. We don't know what's driving them in particular, or what their own personality flaws are (though we start to see these come out during the game). But they've become the big movers of the plot and without prior development it's hard to get engaged in the game. It still looks spectacular, Inoue is a fantastic mangaka at depicting action and the flow of the game, but it's not as compelling as some of the practicing in previous volumes where the readers are already invested in Sakuragi and want to see him succeed. Instead readers spend most of the volume like Sakuragi himself, just waiting for our favourite redhead to finally come in and step up.
5,870 reviews146 followers
April 3, 2019
Slam Dunk, Vol. 4 continues where the previous tankōbon left off and contains the next nine chapters (27–35) of the on-going manga series.

The match between Shohoku and Ryonan High Schools starts, with the latter taking the upper hand thanks to its ace, second year player Akira Sendoh, and the center, captain Jun Uozumi, who manage to shut down Kaede Rukawa and Takenori Akagi, respectively. Nevertheless, Rukawa and Akagi are able to eliminate Ryonan's lead.

Meanwhile, Hanamichi Sakuragi continues pestering Mitsuyoshi Anzai, the coach, to let him enter the game, but he is tied to a chair as a result of bothering the Ryonan coach, Moichi Taoka, and attempting to spy on the Ryonan team.

During the second half Uozumi accidentally elbows Akagi, which allows Sakuragi to be substituted in. Nervous about playing in his first match, Sakuragi makes several mistakes until finally Rukawa kicks him out of the game in an attempt to calm him down. Uozumi then learns from Hikoichi Aida that Sakuragi once defeated Akagi and wants to see if it is true. As Uozumi prepares to shoot, Sakuragi blocks his shot.

This tankōbon is written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue. For the most part, I really liked the direction of the narrative. The first game that Hanamichi Sakuragi participated in was structured and written rather well. Hanamichi Sakuragi was obviously nervous in his first match, but it seems by the end of the tankōbon, he might have found his groove.

All in all, Slam Dunk, Vol. 4 is a wonderful continuation to a series that seems intriguing and I cannot wait to read more.
69 reviews1 follower
Read
January 16, 2022
Slam Dunk Volume 5Slam Dunk, Vol. 6Slam Dunk, Tome 7
I read volumes 4, 5, and 7 of the slam dunk series on a manual copy, and skipped volume 6 as I watched the animated version of the series. I thought that the author (Takehiko Inoue) did a great job building up the tension of the last minutes of their first match against Ryonan. Every point seemed to have changed the game drastically, and the tension rose in my body as I read through the manga. Although they didn't win in the end, I thought that this would be a great start in their career and that the loss was actually a good thing in the end. I am very excited to read the following books left in the series and the ending of the series aswell.
Profile Image for Aritra  Dasgupta.
527 reviews12 followers
May 23, 2021
Sakuragi is so funny. I had problems at first with how Akagi is constantly called a gorilla, which felt so racist. But the more I read on, it feels less and less offensive. Firstly, there a lot of characters other than him with the big lips "african features" and besides Akagi is always portrayed as this strong dedicated player and is such a strong character, I will chalk this up to blindness on the part of Inoue. Especially because he has none of the stereotypes and Sakuragi constantly calls other people apes and monkeys too, indiscriminately(I feel like it but strangely the one example that comes to mind is again a guy with thick lips). Plus it still feels like a dumb racist mfker going on against experienced far stronger people so I'm laughing at Sakuragi's pointless enthusiasm. Anyway, I like this series a lot. I feel like there hasn't been a breaking emotional point yet but it's still so good and I laugh out so much at this, I'm just itching to give it 5 stars.
578 reviews1 follower
December 23, 2021
The story really heats up at the end of Volume 3 as Sakuragi begs for a place on the team, continuing into Volume 4, 5, and 6 (which I still haven’t read!!!). In this volume, we see the pre-season “friendly” game between Ryonan get more intense, with the main character Sakuragi finally getting a chance to play on the court, finally putting his newfound skills into action. Now, he’s walking the talk, as he fills in for the injured captain. At first, he is in such a panic that his tunnel vision prevents him from capitalizing on his playing time, but eventually, with some prodding (kicking) by his rival, Sakuragi is able to focus, using his athletic ability to surprise the coach of last year’s quarterfinalist team Ryonan.

Will Sakuragi’s athletic ability, passion, and strength, and his continued belief that he is his team’s “secret weapon” be enough to handle the size of Ryonan’s center Uozumi?
30 reviews1 follower
Read
April 3, 2025
Slam Dunk, Vol. 5 Slam Dunk, Vol. 6
Volumes 4-6 of Slam Dunk is where Hanamichi Sakuragi starts to realize basketball might be more than just a way to impress a girl. Hes still a trouble maker, loud, overconfident, and constantly butting heads with his rival Rukawa but you can see the game getting under his skin. Hes frustrated, struggling with the basics, but he will not give up. That mix of determination and cluelessness makes him impossible not to root for. The action is fast and the it has a good balance of comedy also. Takehiko’s art makes it feel alive. Its the kind of story that makes you fall in love or interested in with the sport even if you have never played the sport.
17 reviews1 follower
October 30, 2025
This volume covers Hanamichi's high school's friendly match against their biggest rival, Ryonan High School. I was excited to read which high school would win this match because the story was almost equal, with so much tension inside. I especially loved when ace Rukawa and captain Akagi go up against Ryonan's top players.

But of course, I enjoyed the most from the main character, Hanamichi Sakuragi, because he's so hilarious on the bench and court as well. When he finally plays and gets on the court, we can see that he's nervous but still manages to pull off an epic play that leaves everyone stunned. The mix of intense action and Sakuragi's comedy is what made this manga so much fun to read.

As a person who desires to start playing basketball seriously, it motivated me to play more because of how serious this manga is. All the plays and skills players show off basically taught me how to play the real game.
1,051 reviews9 followers
July 12, 2021
At the time of this review, I have read volumes 1-17 back-to-back. As always, I will try to only focus on the current review.

We continue with the Shohoku vs. Ryonan game. This reminds me of Blue Castle vs. Karasuno, especially with Ryonan's Sendoh. Sendoh's skill level and how he is talked about reminds me of Oikawa, but his attitude just now reminds me of someone else. I will talk about that someone else in volume 5. Sendoh sees Sakuragi's potential, which is just like what Oikawa did with Hinata. While you could say Hinata knew a little bit more than Sakuragi, Hinata still had a weak foundation when it came to the fundamentals. Yet, even Oikawa begrudgingly recognizes Hinata's potential. Sendoh recognizes Hinata's potential, but it has the tone of a different character.

Verdict: Volume 4 ends with a cliffhanger that will resolves itself in volume 5.
57 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2021
In the 4th volume of Slam Dunk, the long-awaited exhibition match between Ryonan and Shohoku begins. I personally was very surprised by the arrival of Ryonan because their team looked so grand, but I guess it is to be expected of a top-performing team. We get to see the star players Uozumi with his massive size and Sendoh play. The funniest moment was when Sakuragi was tied to a chair after bothering the opposing team's coach. Sakuragi also gets substituted into the game and gets to play, but he makes countless mistakes and is eventually kicked out. Near the end, he blocks Uozumis shot for an epic end to an intense volume with lots of basketball playing which made the volume very fun and readable.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews

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