Rediscovering my love for Slam Dunk

When I was much younger, around oh maybe 10 years ago (rough estimate here), I fell in love with a comic book series called Slam Dunk. It was mainly about a bunch of unruly, problematic guys (read: disciplinary problems) who were obsessed about basketball. I, in turn, became obsessed with those guys. Oh, how I searched eagerly in all the bookshops in and around town for those elusive comics. Every time I found one, I was ecstatic for the remainder of the week. I remember poring over those pages, cherishing each book, caring for each book in such a way that it looked new even five years down the road. Slowly, over the years, I built up my collection of comic books. I even had a special wooden shelf to store them in.

And then I grew up.

My love was still strong, but slowly, with all the hustle and bustle of reality, I found less and less time to spend with them. Slowly, I started to forget the exact amount of books in my collection. My memory started getting a little fuzzy, a little woozy. I couldn't quite remember the exact quotes from the characters, or the height and weight of my favourite characters, or which scene was in which book. I even didn't bother waking up at 10 a.m. every Saturday to follow the anime version showing on national TV... Slowly, I forgot.

And then I discovered some of the episodes on YouTube last week.

And that's how I rediscovered my love for Slam Dunk. The memories came rushing back, like a tidal wave that sweeps up onto the shore... Suddenly, I found myself smiling again. Reminiscing about the good old days that I left behind in the pursuit of an education. I even laughed out loud at certain scenes. My heart beats a little faster. I smile a little wider. I even grin. And that night, I dug up a couple of my old comic books and read. And grinned wider than before. The next day, I brought another book to accompany me in university. And at times in the past few days I have wondered to myself: How could I have let the chaos of life rob away my imagination?

Cos, believe you me, when I flip the pages and read the different columns of the comic, still and lifeless though they may be, I can actually see them moving in my mind's eye. Can hear them speaking, running, yelling, the sound of the basketball thumping on the ground... Imagination is a wonderful thing.

So let me just introduce you to the guys of the Shohoku basketball team!

The red-haired guy below is Sakuragi Hanamichi, the main protagonist of Slam Dunk. There are many protagonists, but Sakuragi is like, the main main protagonist, cos the plot follows him from the start to the end. This fierce-looking guy below is Akagi, the captain of the Shohoku basketball team. He's also the centre for the team.

The guy below (number 11) is Rukawa Kaede, the one that all the girls in the comic are crazy about. He's the cool, mysterious type.

This guy (number 7) is Miyagi Ryota, the smallest amongst the 5 main guys, but also one of the fastest.

And the guy below... With the white jersey... This guy... This guy is my favourite of them all, Hisashi Mitsui! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhh! *faints* I repeat, my favourite. Fantastic 3-point shooter. Enough said.

So there you have it. The five main characters of the comic book. I could go on and on about this subject, but I think I'd rather spare my thoughts for another time. Besides, you all probably think I'm going nuts. So if you really wanna know more, I'd suggest approaching me and asking about it. It'll prolly take me about an hour or so to finish talking.

Muahahahaha!

And at the end of this year, when I go to KL for my family holiday, I'm gonna be on the lookout for all things Slam Dunk! I'm back! Oh YEAH!

Time to go look for more videos on Slam Dunk... Cheers!