Takehiko Inoue at Manga Village
Views / June 30, 2012

While we here at Manga Village do enjoy Takehiko Inoue, it seems his shonen title Slam Dunk has been our favorite. Starting with volume 1, Katherine Farmar had reservations at first, but had this to say about it: Slam Dunk pokes fun at Hanamichi relentlessly, but it is at its core a solid and very well-done example of the genre rather than a subversion of it. Hanamichi’s error is not in reaching for the top but in expecting to get there without working for it Justin Colussy-Estes read volume 4, and though he thought he didn’t like it at first, another reading and some thought brought him to this conclusion: But in Slam Dunk, Inoue turns that on its head: he puts manga in a basketball context. Understand this, Inoue isn’t interested in telling the same stories found in every shonen manga for the last thirty years. No, he’s interested in basketball Matthew Rozier is in agreement with Justin after reading volume 5, when he says it’s basketball that really sells the series, and the art really helps it: Despite being still images, they exude such a sense of vivacity that it almost feels like being at an actual game….