Slam Dunk, Vol. 14 (14)

In Volume 14 of “Slam Dunk”, it’s tournament time and Shohoku takes on Kainan High School which feature two prodigy basketball rookies, Kenji Fujima and Shinichi Maki. It’s the second half of the tournament and Shohoku is in the lad by two points. The problem is that Shohoku captain Takenori Akagi is injured but with his persistence and determination to make it to the finals for the tournament, he will do all he can to help his team, even if he is in pain and injured.But by the second half, Kainan High School’s rookies turn up the heat and are now ahead in points. Shohoku High School’s coach needs to come up with a new game plan in order to make sure his team will win the match.JUDGMENT CALL:If you love basketball, you will love “Slam Dunk”. Takehiko Inoue is known for stretching a game for several volumes and in this case, volume 14 focuses on the third quarter up to the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. His pages capture the emotion of basketball from Akagi playing in pain, the team drenching in sweat or in awe of Kainan High’s rookie prodigies to the crowd who are literally biting their nails as they support their two teams during the final half.This latest volume is all-basketball, with just a few short pages of learning about Akagi’s determination of wanting to win this matchup, there are no non-basketball stories in this volume, it’s straight up all action and gameplay between the two basketball teams.With that being said, reading this volume will go quickly because it’s more illustration versus dialogue but if you appreciate basketball and Takehiko Inoue’s work, you know that this style works and the efficacy of competition of competitive high school basketball is captured amazingly well.His illustrations have always been a highlight for me and I was always amazed of how he captured movements, the offensive and defensive stances to how the players penetrate the perimeter and score. He also doesn’t step back when it comes to capturing the players during competition. He fully includes detail of profuse sweating and the fatigue a player goes through from start to finish.Overall, “Slam Dunk” is an enjoyable manga series and I can’t wait to see who wins between Shohoku vs. Kainan High School in vol. 15!

Amazing

英語に慣れる良い教材です。私は、スラムダンクが大好きで、全巻日本語バージョンを暗記するくらい読んだので、絵柄とアルファベットを見ただけで、英単語がわからなくても意味がわかっていたので、英語取得にとてもよい教材でした。このコミックで覚えた英単語は多いです。ただ、安西先生を日本語では「オヤジ」と言っているのに、英語で「OLD MAN」は少し、桜木と安西先生の距離が日本語版より離れているようで、嫌でした。それ以外は特にはないです。よって、星４つとします。