Name: Miyagi Ryota
A.k.a.: Lightning, Shorty, Ryo-chin
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 59 kg
Birthday: July 31
Age: 16 - 17
Highschool:
Shohoku HighschoolJersey Number: 7
Position: Point Guard
Year: High School 2nd Year
Classroom Number: 1
Grade: 2nd
Shoes Brand: Converse
Grade: Not Good!
Voice actor: Yoku Shioya
Family and background:
There is not much known about Miyagi's background. He might have siblings, but we can't be sure. He joined the basketball team for his love for the game in the first place. But soon it seems that he is also playing for the love of his life Ayako, the team manager. Although Ryonan's coach asked him to join the Ryonan Basketball Team, Miyagi chose for Shohoku because of Anzai. Miyagi is a problem kid, he gets into fights a lot and got himself beaten up. He was also the one who beat Mitsui up, but he had to pay the price of staying in the hospital for some time.
Special abilities:
Miyagi is quite short, but he has the greatest speed of all players mentioned in Slam Dunk. He has a great dribble and combined with his speed he's able to tear up the opponent's defense and deliver excellent (no-look) passes to the free team mate. He's also able to get a score at his own powers and his steals are just marvelous. Miyagi is a good point guard with a great sight on the game, he's also able to find his team mates without looking for them. He's the strategist of the team, and thanks to this role and his own skills he becomes the next team captain as Akagi retires to focus on exams. By the way, he is also a good street fighter and has a very good flying kick. (Mitsui told)Coach Anzai says that Miyagi's value to the team is his great speed and his keen senses.
Special features:
His quite short length and the blue earring in his left ear. He also wears sweat bands on his left wrist. I think his hair is cool, it looks fine on him. Maybe his love for Ayako should be mentioned.
Personality:
Miyagi is a smart but kinda rude person, who is only nice and sweet to Ayako... He tried to date other girls to forget Ayako, but he failed to. So he can be a very sensitive person too. In the beginning he mistook Sakuragi for Ayako's boyfriend and got into a fight with him immediately. Later when they found out about each other's painful roads of love, they feel sympathy for each other and start to get along. That's how they became good friends. Miyagi is a bit short tempered sometimes and hates when people make fun of his length. In the match vs Toyotama he gets angry with the opposing point guard, loses his view on the game and almost beats the guy. But in the second half he is able to remain calm again and show his true powers.
Name: Hisashi Mitsui
A.k.a.: Mit-chin, Mitchi, Man of Fire
Age: 17 - 18
Birthday: May 22nd
Junior High: Takeishi junior high
Grade: 3rd
Class: 3
Height: 184 cm (6'0 ½)
Weight: 70 kg (154 lbs.)
Position: shooting guard (SG)
Jersey no.: 14
Shoe Brand: Asics
Voice actor: Ryotaro Okiayu
Family and background:
Mitsui lives with his parents, it's likely that he's only child. When Mitsui was in junior high his team was in the finals of the Inter Junior Highschool competition. In the final minute his team is one point behind, he tried to steal the ball but the ball went out. At this moment he felt that there was no chance for his team to win, but Anzai walked upon him and while handing him the ball he said the words that would change his life: "Don't ever give up hope until the very last moment. If you give up the game is already over." Mitsui managed to steal the ball and hit the buzzer beater. He would be chosen MVP of Junior High.
The highschool basketball teams were probably in the row asking him to join their teams, but Mitsui chose to attend Shohoku Highschool and to join its basketball team, which Anzai is the coach of. He showed his already incredible abilities: he just finished junior high, but his skills were already better than a lot of highschool players! However, during a training game Mitsui seriously injured his left knee and had to stay in the hospital. Mitsui insisted to play although he wasn't fully recovered yet; he wanted to make it to the district games so badly. But he injured his knee again and at the first day of the games he still wasn't able to walk. He couldn't handle that truth and from that day on Mitsui wasn't seen on the court again. He joined a group of local delinquents and stopped playing basketball.
In his 3rd year of highschool he gets in fights with another juvenile Ryota Miyagi who is also member of the basketball team. Mitsui and his friends go to the training court to cause trouble so that the basketball team will be dismissed (Shohoku's rules). Akagi and Kogure are the only ones who know about his past. Even the delinquent friends know nothing about his b-ball past. Mitsui refuses to talk about it and keeps fighting, but then coach Anzai appears and Mitsui breaks down in tears as he remembers all the great moments he had as a basketball player and the things he wanted to do for Anzai's team. He finally speaks up his memorable line: "I want to play basketball." Soon he cuts off his long hair and joins the team.
Special abilities:
Mitsui is a very talented shooter, especially his 3-pointers are a great weapon. He needs little time to fire a very accurate shot. Due to his two-year absence from the court, his lacks physical shape. When he's guarded well in matches versus strong opponents, he can't hold on till the end of the game. But Mitsui is an incredible fighter and never gives up until he literally falls down.
Mitsui is not just a good shooter, he is also a very good guard who is able stop marvelous forwards such as Fukuda. He has keen senses and is an intelligent player, he knows the game of basketball so well. In one of the training games Mitsui guards Sakuragi and not only immediately finds his weaknesses, but he was also able to let Sakuragi know what he was lacking.
Coach Anzai describes Mistui as someone who once walked down the wrong path, but still is intelligent and possessing a great weapon.
Special features:
Mitsui still wears a knee protection bandage around his left knee. He also has a mark left from his delinquent life, which is a little scar on the left of his chin. His jersey number is quite unique too.
Personality:
Mitsui is a very cool guy. He has in contrary to the others a very sad past, he wasted two years of his basketball life and he feels really sorry about that. He never lets anyone know about his anger and sadness though, always trying to solve problems on his own. He is a proud and independe
nt player who is willing to give everything for the game. He shows respect for players that are capable, but he will even disregard seniors if they are no good. Not really a nice guy on the court... But I believe that he's a very good and loyal friend.
Name: Kaede Rukawa
A.k.a.: Wild Fox, Super Rookie, Shohoku's Ace player
Age: 15 - 16
Birthday: January 1st
Junior High: Tomigaoka Junior Highschool
Grade: 1st
Class: 10
Height: 187 cm (6'1 ½)
Weight: 75 kg (165 lbs.)
Position: small forward (SF)
Jersey no.: 11
Shoe Brand: Nike Air Jordan 5
Voice actor: Hikaru Midorikawa
Family and background:
There is not much known about Rukawa's family. But as we look at his Nike outfit, Panasonic walkman and cool bike we get the idea that he's from a quite wealthy family. He attended the Tomigaoka Junior High. He was captain of the basketball team and was already a very well known player. Although Ryonan's coach asked him to join the Ryonan Basketball Team, Rukawa chose for Shohoku. (Because it's near his home...) He doesn't have any close friends. Rukawa is extremely popular at school; he has his own cheerleaders club, that started off with three girls but grew out to a LOT. Besides, he also has a great fan called Ichiro Mizumasa who is still attending his Junior Highschool and has become the basketball team's captain after Rukawa left. Ichiro's biggest dream is to become national champion along with Rukawa. Unfortunately, Ichiro has a terrible injury to his knee, has to undergo surgery and won't be able to play basketball anymore.
Special abilities:
Rukawa is an all-round player: he can play defense and offense as well, he is much more known for his incredible scoring ability though! He has a very nice and accurate jump shoot, good inside moves, fancy slam dunks and he eventually hits three-pointers too. His free throws are accurate, he also has a nice dribble and is a good rebounder due to his height and athletic jumping ability. He likes to play the one-on-one game, for it gives him the best challenge. On his way to the basket he'll never pass the ball to his teammates, always believing in his own skills. He's quite dedicated to this kind of playing style. In the game vs Sannoh though he lost his one-on-one attempts vs probably the best player in Highschool Sawakita, during that game he changes his style and starts giving assists. In the first IH game vs Toyotama High, he gets injured to his eye but was still able to play with one eye (i.e.: not being able to see depth nor estimate distances). He had even closed his eyes while taking free throws relying on his body.
Coach Anzai sees a great talent in him and knows he'll be a marvelous national player. He said that Rukawa's contribution to the team is his explosive powers and his ever lasting will to win.Thanks to all these outstanding qualities, Rukawa was chosen one of the five best players of Kanagawa, along with Akagi, Kainan's Maki and Jin, and Ryonan's Sendoh.And then an ability that hasn't much to do with basketball: sleeping. Rukawa's life seems to be dedicated to two things: basketball and sleeping. He is even able to fall asleep when he's biking... Thanks to his rudeness he gets into fights a lot, and he happens to be a very good fighter as well. (Yeah, some guys get all the good stuff...)
Special features:
Rukawa is always very serious, cool and he doesn't speak a lot. So his smileless face could be a feature... The sweatband around his left arm (kinda like Michael Jordan's). He has quite long bangs and no.11 is of course his trademark jersey number.
Personality:
Rukawa is a very cool person and seems not to care about anything but basketball. His passion for basketball and sleeping are the only things he has in mind. He is kinda rude to most of the people he meets, but to the ladies he is less rude, just silent. He hates when people disturb him when he's asleep, mostly he'll beat those people up, even if he's dealing with teachers... Rukawa is definitely a person of action rather than words. When his team is behind, he's always the person who steps up and takes over the game. A lot of people consider Rukawa as the most selfish person ever, but he doesn't care about what others think about him. Rukawa is a confident and independent person for sure. He only respects people that are strong and capable, but those are also the people that he sees as rivals; and he wants to defeat that kind of people very badly. By the way, he takes winning and losing very seriously; he hates to lose...
Name: Hanamichi Sakuragi
A.k.a.: Red Haired Monkey, Tensai, Genius, King of the Rebound, King of Fouls, Iron Man
Age: 15 - 16
Birthday: April 1st
Junior High: Wakou Junior Highschool
Grade: 1st
Class: 7
Height: 188 cm (6'2); at the end 189.2 cm (6'2 ½)
Weight: 83 kg (182.6 lbs.)
Position: power forward (PF)
Jersey no.: 10
Shoe Brand: Nike Air Jordan 6 and Nike Air Jordan 1
Voice actor: Takeshi Kusao
Family and background:
Sakuragi probably has no siblings and probably spent most of his youth on the streets. From a flash back we learn that his father died from a heart attack. Sakuragi got into a fight again with a few guys, when he got home and found his father on the floor, he went to get a doctor but the guys he had just beaten up blocked his way after getting some reinforcements. Probably Sakuragi couldn't get a doctor for his father in time...He has four very good friends with which he forms the Sakuragi Gang. They are Yohei Mitoi, Sauichiro Omachu, Anozumi Hakami and Yuji Ookuzu. They have known each other since Junior High and don't have a good reputation. Sakuragi has been rejected by 50 girls in his Junior High time, when he meets Haruko Akagi at Shohoku High he immediately falls in love again. And since Haruko is a great b-ball fan he joins the b-ball team to please her. But soon he finds out that he really has talent and loves the game very much. The game kept him from the streets a lot and changed his personality.
Special abilities:
Sakuragi is a natural talent. His greatest abilities are his rebounding ability and his never ending energy. He is tall and strong, but also very fast and flexible. And just like Rukawa he can jump really high!The Slam Dunk story's time span is only 4 months, but during these months Sakuragi already learned how to dribble, rebound, dunk, block, the layup and some shooting to become a very valuable player to the team. And he is able to do unbelievable things at unexpected moments! He grows by every game he plays. By the way he gets into fights a lot, but probably hasn't lost any fight in his life, so he actually is the Street Fighter King... A funny note: Sakuragi was able to ride a bike even faster than a car.Coach Anzai says that Sakuragi brings the team rebounding powers and strength.
Special features:
Sakuragi is a loud guy and claims to be the genius of the court. You recognize him by his big mouth... And his red hair is definitely his trade mark hair cut. He cut off his long hair after the game vs Kainan, because he thought it was his fault that they lost the game. He passed the ball to Kainan's center Takasago instead of Akagi with less than 20 seconds on the clock while they were 2 points behind.
Personality:
Sakuragi is a short tempered person, but he slowly changes. He is anything but modest: although he is just a rookie he always claims to be the best player of the team, district and country. He is very stubborn and doesn't want to listen to other people's criticism. But he is also a very quick learner who learns from his mistakes. He can be sensitive and naive sometimes, that shows that he actually is still a young guy.He 'hates' Rukawa for his ability and for being the person Haruko is in love with. Deep in his heart he knows that Rukawa is a very capable player, but he never wants to admit. Rukawa has become his biggest rival and that probably will never change. But Rukawa is also an important reason for this growth: he wants to be better than Rukawa so badly!He isn't really a very smart guy, but you have to admit that sometimes he really is a genius (on the court). He is just a newbie but understands the game very well. He's always learning from his own mistakes, he analyzes his own technique and improves every day. For example: his free throw kinda sucks, and he found out to throw the ball from low (between the knees) to high.
Name: Akira Sendoh
A.k.a.: The Genius, Ryonan's Ace Player
Age: 16- 17
Birthday: Probably February 14th
Junior High: Kitazawagakuen Jr in Tokyo
Grade: 2nd
Height: 190 cm (6'3)
Weight: 79 kg (174 lbs.)
Position: point guard (PG) & small forward (SF)
Jersey no.: 7
Shoe Brand: Converse
Voice actor: Yoshitada Ohtsuka
Family and background:
We don't know much about Sendoh's family. Somehow we believe that he's only child in a nice warm family. Despite his friendly character, he seems to be a loner. He could be friends with anybody though, everyone seems to like him so much. Soon after he joined the Ryonan highschool team he became the ace player because of his incredible talent and abilities.
Special abilities:
Sendoh is one the most talented players around in Slam Dunk. He's a good shooter, nice rebounder and also a strategist of the game. He's able to play fancy offense but also great defense to stop outstanding forwards such as Rukawa. Despite his height he's a very speedy and flexible player. He ain't the Genius for nothing. Sakuragi likes to call himself the Genius, but Sendoh is called the true Genius by others. In his first year of highschool he was a small forward and literally a scoring machine (similarity with Rukawa), but in his second year he figured the fun of passing the ball and upgraded the whole team. His sight on the game is outstanding and his senses are very high; thanks to these facts he became the excellent point guard of the team, which is quite exceptional for such a tall player. But he does his job very well and is without a doubt the ace player of Ryonan. Along with Fukuda and Uozumi they form the strongest offense of Kanagawa.Not only is he the ace player, he's also the mental support of the team, when things are going wrong, the team members keep having faith in their star player. Sendoh is that kinda player that can bring up the best qualities of others. He's a very reliable player: when the team is behind, he'll show his scoring ability again without losing the focus on the game. He knows what the best is for his team. It's often said that Sendoh is the true captain of Ryonan instead of Uozumi, because he has the ability to calm down the team, and also fire up and unify the team. When Uozumi retires from the game Sendoh becomes the new captain.Although Ryonan lost their game vs Shohoku and also their opportunity to play in the IH competition, Sendoh was chosen one of the five best players of Kanagawa (of course). The other four were Maki, Akagi, Jin and Rukawa (of course).
Special features:
His spiky hair and ever disarming smile.
Personality:
Sendoh is in contrary to most of the Slam Dunk characters a very nice and warm person. He always smiles and is friendly and modest, although he surely knows that he is a more than marvelous player. He never loses his temper and shows respect to strong players, but definitely won't give away any game! He's a fighter for victory no matter what. The only problem he might have is his lack of focus when he meets an opponent that's not very strong. His concentration is optimal when he's playing rivals such as Rukawa and Maki; such guys bring up the best in him. Although they are rivals, I believe that Rukawa and Maki truly have respect for this genius. And Sendoh is that kinda person you can't resist, you just have to respect this guy.But it happens that Sendoh is not really caring about being in time... He was late at the practice game vs Shohoku, but his honesty ("Sorry coach, I overslept.") was so disarming that Ryonan's coach simply couldn't get angry at him... He was also late on the training right after the district games. Sendoh's biggest hobby, besides of basketball of course, is fishing. He is always alone. I think the fishing part is to relax from the tension, I mean the whole team is laying in his hands: he's the player the team leans on. Everyone needs a time to relax, Rukawa sleeps and Sendoh fishes. (I will never understand geniuses...)
