Slam Dunk

It's akin to a director winning Best Picture for a high school comedy, and then again for a historical war epic.

Let's look at his first triumph on the list, coming in at number four, Slam Dunk, running from 1990 to 1996.

A classic.

The premise is the blueprint for the modern sports manga, but it starts so grounded.

Real world influence.

Right.

The Source explicitly states that Slam Dunk didn't just entertain people.

It single-handedly ignited a real world basketball craze across the entire nation of Japan.

It's kind of the same...

Well, I'll, I'll defend that in, in a sense, because it's the same with Slam Dunk.

Yeah, but Slam Dunk-

The first time they play-

... has 100 episodes.

Maybe this was supposed to be female-

But you, you don't wanna say, "Oh, this is shitty."

Maybe this was supposed to be female Slam Dunk.

Darfox, you would recognize him.

Not only is Megane-kun from Slam Dunk, but also the magnificent Steiner himself, Wolfgang Grimmer from Monster.

Oh, okay.

I don't think I ever saw that form to the Monster anime.

Wow, sounds like you grew up a lot from animations.

It also reminds me of a very hot manga, Slam Dunk, 30 years ago.

It is also a sports one.

Five different problem kids join a basketball team and their coach convert their problem into strength and power in the basketball and also their lives.

All right, Joey, what did you pick for best story?

I mean, fuck, it's so hard, because anime has so many great stories, but I, I picked Slam Dunk.

Slam Dunk.

Slam Dunk.

And in a lot of the same...

And I'm, I'm kinda gonna be parroting a lot of what Connor said about Ping Pong, because I feel like Slam Dunk is amazing because of that, where it's like, yes, it is a sports anime about basketball, but the reason you stick around with it and the reason why so many people consider it one of the greatest sports anime ever made was because of the characters and how they deal with their individual issues, you know.

Like, you know, Hanamichi is, like, you know, the main character, is, like, um, you know, he's, like, fucking GOAT at basketball, or at least he thinks he is, uh, to impress this girl, and he gets a reality check in a really hard way, not from an opposing team, but from his own teammates.

Like, it's this act of friendly rivalry that pushes him even further-

it.

Slam Dunk.

Slam Dunk.

It was the

first one.

The movie one.

The new movie one? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What was it? The first Slam Dunk? Yes, yes, yes.

Think of Hajime No Ippo, because again, you get to fight on the ice.

Uh, think of Slam Dunk You know, with that competition between two teams.

And think of Naruto with the underdog-

Mm.

Right

... that ends up becoming someone that everybody admires.

So, so basically Naruto, uh, and the Slam Dunk all in one, uh-

Exactly.