Hanamichi Sakuragi is the main protagonist of the Slam Dunk series. He plays as a power forward for the Shohoku high school basketball team.
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Apparence
In his first appearance, Sakuragi had distinctive short red pompadour style hair with bangs in the center of his forehead and brown eyes. After his defeat against Kainan, he shaved his hair half bald in a vow that Shohoku would never lose again.
He wears a standard dark blue Shohoku winter school uniform from his first appearance until their match against Shoyo. Later, he wears a loose white short-sleeved shirt until he switches to an openly loose white short-sleeved shirt.
During basketball practice, Sakuragi wears a blue tank top tucked into his white shorts and his white running shoes with two blue liners. After his running shoes were destroyed at the end of the practice game against Ryonan, he first wore the Air Jordan 6 - "White Infrared" colorway. However, it also broke due to the increase in the size of his feet with his height, so he was forced to buy another one. This time, he bought the iconic Air Jordan 1 colorway - "Bred", which was an excellent choice to match the color of the Shohoku team. Later, the color of his tank top was changed to black. His basketball jersey uniform is red and black and alternately red and white.
When he was still at Wakou Junior High School, Sakuragi's uniform was olive green, but in later flashbacks when he fought other offenders from other schools, his uniform was purple.
Personality
Throughout the manga, he is very angry, loud, arrogant, aggressive, rude and immature. He starts to consider himself a "genius" even though he has not acquired any skills.
He can also be considered a "cheap artist", from sliding tackles, tripping and not dribbling the basketball against Akagi, to low blows and headbutts against the limbs and Aota, although he is unaware that both are considered illegal fouls in the respective sports. He redeems himself by copying Takenori's rear naked choke (bunk hold) after Takenori was soaked on the head, then choked Sakuragi afterwards. Sakragi finished the fight with an over the shoulder throw, a very advanced and powerful maneuver.
He also boasted of being the "Rebound King" as his rebounding ability had just begun to surface, which was accepted and considered valid. His most recognizable feature is his red hair, which he shaved off as reparation for a mistake that led to a loss in the interhigh tournament against Kainan.
Despite his violent nature and crude personality, Sakuragi has a soft spot for girls and is extremely vulnerable and sensitive towards them. This was seen when he was unable to defend himself against the provocations and insults of Rukawa's fans. While talking with girls, Sakuragi always speaks in a formal and polite manner. He also uses honorific titles, as he always addresses Haruko as "Haruko-san", which is a way to address a person of higher status.
She is also a simple-minded and naive person. After their defeat in the training match against Ryonan, he felt a little depressed. However, as soon as Haruko started congratulating him for his hard work in the match, he immediately came to his senses. Another time, when Miyagi explained the fakes in basketball, he showed astonishment and described it as terrifying to deceive the opponents. His naivety and simple judgment earned him the nickname "Simpleton King."
He is not one to accept losses. His perseverance began to enter Fukuda when he was totally dominated in the first half of their match, although this was settled in the training match against the combined team of Shoyo and Ryonan .
Sakuragi has a habit of making fun of other players by giving them nicknames. He calls Akagi "Gorilla" or "Gori" (a nickname that spreads, much to Akagi's displeasure), Uozumi "Boss Monkey", Kiyota "Wild Monkey", Maki "Uncle" or "Senior", Masahiro "Totem Pole", Masashi Kawata "Bald Gori", Mikio Kawata "Meatball", Miyamasu "Alien", and Fujima "Substitute" or "Bench Warmer". Despite this, the only one to do the same to Sakuragi is Kiyota who calls him "red-haired monkey". The only one who didn't get a nickname from him is Kaede Rukawa who he considers as his rival in basketball and love. However,
Despite the setbacks he has faced, Sakuragi shows great tenacity and determination that carries him through and helps to make up for his failures both on and off the field. He also knows how to carry the will of others. These were shown when he told Kogure to postpone his retirement for a while because of him, who is a genius.
As a basketball player, he became a person with great determination and purpose. Sakuragi began to earn the respect of the public at his dunk against Shoyo, and at the game against Sannoh, when he prevented the ball from going out of bounds and injured his back, making the public applaud for Shohoku. They managed to win everyone's hearts with his determination and resolve. His determination to continue playing despite the back injury was the main factor in Shohoku's victory over Sannoh.
Although his love for Haruko and his rivalry with Rukawa are the main driving forces that motivate him to succeed in basketball, his injury in the Sannoh game made him realize that he has come to love basketball, leading him to give his all for the team and bring their victory.
Land
Sakuragi was nothing more than a high school delinquent, who only knows how to fight and is unpopular with girls, because he was often rejected. His classmates Yohei, Ohkusu, Nozomi and Noma always teased him for his rejections, in which they ended up getting head-butted. Sakuragi also hated basketball, because the 50th girl who rejected him was in love with a basketball player; considering it a game for losers. A tall, hyperactive but angry teenager with no chance with girls. After being denied his feelings exactly 50 times at his previous school, he was simply fed up. With his red hair and muscular physique, he thought his chances of finding someone were slim.
Presentation of the Shohoku High basketball team
One day, a nice girl named Haruko Akagi approaches him and asks him if he likes basketball, Sakuragi immediately falls in love with her and decides to play basketball to please her. She showed him the way to the gym, Haruko informed him about the slam dunk, one of the most exciting and epic moves in basketball. After noticing that he can hit the ball, Haruko asked him to try to slam the ball, which he did by hitting his head into the backboard. Even though he missed his shot, Haruko was impressed with his jump and convinced him to join the basketball team. Sakuragi is overjoyed after finding a new love, but his happiness is short-lived when he finds out that Haruko is in love with a guy named Kaede Rukawa. a talented basketball player back in college, which once again broke his heart.a
Later, Sakuragi and his gang are challenged by a group of third-year students to a fight. Once they arrived on the roof, they found the students already beaten by a high school student who turned out to be Rukawa, the guy Haruko has a crush on. Sakuragi, overwhelmed with anger and jealousy, introduces himself to Rukawa. Haruko, finally arrives at the scene and notices that Rukawa is bleeding. Believing that Sakuragi is responsible for her crush's injuries, Haruko insulted Sakuragi by saying "I hate you!" After Rukawa coldly rejected Haruko's help, Sakuragi headbutted Rukawa this time for hurting her. Haruko left him emotionally broken and he tried to commit suicide to be stopped by his comrades.
On his way, he met two basketball players while headbutting them, until he met Takenori Akagi ., who hit the head of the two players and Sakuragi crushed him with the basketball in the face, insulting the basketball, which enraged Akagi to challenge him in a 1-on-1 handicap game.Sakuragi was easily outplayed by Akagi who scored 9 baskets, until Haruko intervened and urged Sakuragi to stop embarrassing himself. Mistaking that she was cheering him on, Sakuragi managed to snatch the ball away from Akagi and came to her senses in tears after Haruko actually cheered her on. Sakuragi eventually won the match with a slam dunk and reconciled with Haruko. Sakuragi started to make fun of Akagi with humor until he realized that he is actually Haruko's older brother. After that, Sakuragi officially joins the basketball team in order to compete with Rukawa and win Haruko's love.
However, he is a complete beginner and had to learn the basics such as dribbling, much to his displeasure. After a week, Sakuragi argued with Akagi, because he couldn't stand the pressure of doing a lot of basics, so he decided to quit basketball. However, Sakuragi thought back to his previous decision and realized that he wanted to come back one more time. Swallowing his pride, he finally came back to the team and Kiminobu Kogure suggested him to learn something other than dribbling. Akagi agreed and gave another basic training on passing. While Sakuragi was annoyed at first, but nevertheless he accepted it happily.
Some time later, a judoka named Tatsuhiko Aota, a childhood friend of Akagi's and a guy who also has a crush on Haruko, wanted to recruit Sakuragi for the judo team because of his athleticism and brute strength. He even went so far as to use Haruko's photos as a means of bribery to get her to join the judo club, but Sakuragi eventually refused. He told Aota that he would play basketball because he is a basketball player. Motivated by his words, Akagi decided to teach Sakuragi layers. Unfortunately, Sakuragi found him annoying, calling him a commoner's move. However, he found himself unable to score a single one and ended up fighting with Rukawa, which led Akagi to suspend them from training. The next day, Sakuragi went to the basketball court to practice his layup, but to no avail. He was finally found by Haruko and offered to teach her lay-ups because it was the only move she was good at. After several attempts, Sakuragi realized her trick and managed to score her first lay-up, to her great happiness not only to score a lay-up but also to practice with Haruko. After Anzai informed the team of their incoming practice game against Ryonan High, Sakuragi spent the night before the game with Akagi, learning how to rebound.
Training game against Ryonan High
On the day of the game, Sakuragi was initially angry that he was not selected as a starter but Coach Anzai reassured him that he would play because he is their "secret weapon." During the practice game and the beginning of the 2nd half, Sakuragi demonstrates his disruptive antics such as injecting Coach Taoka's buttocks, changing team scores and listening to Coach Taoka's plans for the game as well as having a personal confrontation with Akira Sendoh who laughs at his disruptive antics. All of these antics led to Akagi angrily punching him in the head and taking him back to the bench.
After Akagi hurt his face, Sakuragi entered in his place. He was nervous for the first time in his environment and injured Uozumi by falling into the ground. A kick from Rukawa made him pull himself together. He amazed everyone on the field with his skills despite being a rookie, as he managed to take the ball from Uozumi and pass him. He even managed to block Sendoh's shot and scored his first 2 points with a layup despite jumping the rim for a dunk. In the end, Shohoku lost the game after Sendoh scored the decisive points. Refusing to accept the loss, Sakuragi wanted to continue playing, but his running shoes were completely worn out. The next day, he was completely depressed by his loss until Haruko comforted him and praised him for his efforts, quickly regaining his usual self. Haruko suggested that Sakuragi buy some basketball shoes. After school, Sakuragi went with Haruko to buy his shoes, thinking it was a date, much to his delight.
Shohoku High Brawl and final training
Sakuragi met Ryota Miyagi, another member of Shohoku, well known for his speed and quickness as a leader. At first, they were on bad terms, because Miyagi believed that Sakuragi was dating Ayako, his crush. But soon they found friendship, after realizing how unlucky they were in love. Later, Shohoku was confronted with Hisashi Mitsui and his gang, who forced them to fight his gang, so they will be disqualified to participate in the tournament. After Sakuragi and his gang defeated Mitsui and his gang, it was revealed that Mitsui was once a basketball player, former MVP who resigned due to his leg injury. After Mitsui redeemed himself that he wanted to play basketball thanks to Anzai's call, Shohoku finally finished his selection of members.
Elimination round
The road to Interhigh has finally started for Shohoku. In the first few games, Sakuragi was Shohoku's worst player, as he was known for fouling in every game. For 4 games, he fouled with a total of 20 fouls, which earned him the nickname "King of Fouls". Despite this, Shohoku managed to win these 4 matches easily. The 5th match was against Shoyo High , who was considered as the 2nd representative of Kanagawa last year. In this game, Sakuragi was for the 1st time selected as a starter in this game. He played a major role in this game, scoring his first 2 points under a layup, overtaking Toru Hanagata who is considered as a strong rebounder for Shoyo, and at the end scored an epic dunk, to the surprise of everyone. Unfortunately, the dunk was invalid due to the offensive foul and Sakuragi was again fouled for the 5th time. But nevertheless, he earned the respect of the audience for his determination. Finally, Shohoku managed to defeat Shoyo with a score of 62-60. After the game, Sakuragi was initially frustrated because of a foul, but after dunking the ball in the gym, Sakuragi realized that he was getting a little better and Haruko managed to lighten his mood by telling him that he had become famous, showing him a newspaper where Sakuragi's dunk was shown.
Final League
Against Kainan High
After defeating Shoyo, the final round of Shohoku to enter the Interhigh finally began, doing so with Ryonan, Takezato and the reigning Kainan High, the king of Kanagawa for 16 years and their first opponent. During this game, Sakuragi improved at such a pace, scoring against Nobunaga Kiyota under a layup, faking a shot and fooling him completely. He even managed to block Nobunaga and Soichiro Jin's 3-point shot. His rebounding prowess was also shown, which was a factor in Shohoku's scoring chances. He then challenged Shinichi Maki with a dunk, and the latter voluntarily fouls, aware that he can't make free throws. But to their surprise, Sakuragi scored his 2 free throws by shooting it from below. Sakuragi simply told him that he would return the humiliation 10 times. Sakuragi finally managed to score his first dunk in the last minutes of the game. However, during the final seconds, Sakuragi made a mistake by passing the ball to Kazuma Takasago, who he thought was Akagi, shocking him and the whole team. The match ended with Shohoku's first defeat, and Sakuragi was left emotionally in tears, with Akagi consoling him.
Consequences
The day after the game, he didn't show up at school, still depressed by his mistake, thinking he was responsible for his team's defeat. Haruko showed up to comfort him, at first he refused to listen to her, but when she told him that his game will be unforgettable since he scored his first dunk and that even geniuses make mistakes, he felt a little grateful to her, but still felt that he was responsible for his team's loss. On the way to the school gym, he was first challenged by Kicchou Fukuda by convincing one of his friends but only refused by headbutting them because of his depression. At night, he went to the school gym and met Rukawa who finished training, Sakuragi found how he did not say anything about his defeat, but Rukawa pushed back Sakuragi's protest, telling him that his mistake will not affect the result of the match, and that his efforts exceeded everyone's expectations. Rukawa blamed himself instead, as he couldn't continue the match because his explosive strike force hurt his stamina during the 1st half. Believing that Rukawa belittled him, the two got into a fight, blaming each other for their team's loss.
The next day, Sakuragi came to himself in an unknown way and, to everyone's surprise, shaved his hair into a half-beard, causing everyone, especially his teammates, to burst out laughing. However, all of his classmates, including Mitsui's gang, are still looking at Sakuragi's hair in which Anzai was impressed with his new look. For the upcoming games against Takezato and Ryonan; Akagi taught Sakuragi how to shoot under the basket, wanting him to be a part of Shohoku's offense.
Vs Takezato high
Sakuragi showed up a little late in the game against Takezato, due to practicing his shots on the morning of the game day, but Shohoku still managed to win without him (Akagi didn't let him play because Ryonan was also watching the game). Despite the victory, their coach, Anzai was later taken to the hospital due to a heart attack and Akagi finds out that it was Sakuragi who saved and took Anzai to the hospital, which makes him remember the time when he was still a delinquent and tried to call for help because his father had a heart attack. However, he is forced to fight several offenders from other schools, leaving his father to die. From that moment on, the reason why Sakuragi saved Coach Anzai is to not suffer the same fate as his father.
Against Ryoanan High
The last opponent of Shohoku before entering the Interhigh was Ryonan. During the match, Sakuragi once again managed to surprise everyone with his rapid growth. First, he surprised Yayoi Aida and the game referee by committing a basket interference foul, which had never been committed in a high school game before. Aida noted that his jumping ability is beyond high school level. Secondly, he surprised everyone by scoring the first two Shohoku points under the basket, surprising both Ryonan's Moichi Taoka and Kainan's Riki Takato. He even managed to block Uozumi's dunk and scored a sneaky free throw. However, towards the end of the first half, he was beaten by Kicchou Fukuda, unable to stop his alley-oop, and left him bleeding from the forehead after falling to the floor.
Sakuragi felt humiliated by his defeat, but soon in the second half, he made a decision to help the team win the game after healing his forehead injury. He managed to score two points under the basket and 2 points under layup. He even managed to trick Uozumi into picking up his fourth foul, forcing him off the court. Uozumi's absence weakened Ryonan's defense, which greatly favored Akagi. In the final minutes, he managed to prevent Fukuda and Sendoh from scoring, and also blocked Uozumi, which surprised Taoka who had ignored him earlier as a threat. On the last play, Sakuragi scored a put-back dunk as the coup de grace that completely sealed Shohoku's victory. The game finally ended with Shohoku winning, 70-66 and qualifying for the Interhigh tournament with Kainan.
Pre-High School
Before the Interhigh tournament, Sakuragi accompanied Maki and Kiyota to see the level of the opponents he will face in the tournament. He learned about Dai Moroboshi , the ace of Aiwa, and was interested in facing Hiroshi Morishige of Meioh, after he was knocked down by him while deliberately trying to hit him. Some time later, Sakuragi challenged an ambitious Rukawa to a one-on-one match. Rukawa easily defeated him, which left him very shocked. However, he quickly recovered after Miyagi and Mitsui reminded him of his opponents in the tournament.
Before their training for Inter High, Miyagi, Mitsui, Rukawa and Sakuragi became dull due to their training which forces Akagi to let them stay at his house for their make-up exams with the help of Ayako and Kogure. Sakuragi can't concentrate too much because of Akagi's presence, even pranking him with a black permanent marker in retaliation. Only he could study hard when Haruko and Ayako were by his side. After that, the group passed the make-up exams. Sakuragi is revealed that he was cheated with Aota during the exams and his reason to pass it.
10 days before the Interhigh tournament, Anzai taught Sakuragi the concept of shooting by making him shoot 20,000 jump shots and as a favor to save him when he suffered a heart attack. Sakuragi, with the support of Haruko, his gang friends and Anzai, successfully completed his training. His intensive training wore out his basketball shoes, so he had to go with Haruko to buy new ones, much to his delight. When he bought his second pair, the owner of the basketball shoes was actually a former basketball player and caused Akagi's irritation for mispronouncing Shohoku's name 2 years ago. He even recognized Haruko as his sister since he didn't recognize her from the beginning when Sakuragi bought his first shoes. After buying his second shoes, Sakuragi and the rest of Shohoku took the Shikansen to Hiroshima to participate in the tournament. In the anime before going to Hiroshima, they were tested by the combined players of Shoyo and Ryonan in a training game as they demonstrated their intensive training in Shizuoka and Sakuragi's jump training by Anzai.
Interhigh
Vs Toyotama High
Shohoku, ranked as a C-ranked team, faced their first opponent in the Inter High, which was Toyotama from Osaka, ranked as an A-ranked team. Shohoku managed to win against Toyotama with a score of 91-87, which Sakuragi scored 6 points, 2 of them being a jump shot, surprising his teammates and even Kainan.
Against Sannoh
The second round was against the strongest team and the defending champion for 3 years, Sannoh High . Everyone in Shohoku felt nervous about the strength of his opponent. Sakuragi realized that the crowd was only supporting his opponent, so he challenged them with a dunk, jumping all the way to the free throw line, but eventually failed, much to his embarrassment. Nonetheless, Sannoh's Masashi Kawata and Eiji Sawakita were impressed with his jumping ability. Kawata asked Sawakita if he could jump like him, to which Sawakita replied that he could not. Shohoku regained his composure thanks to Anzai's inspiring words. Shohoku came back to the court, full of determination, and Sakuragi this time passed his dunk, shocking everyone, and gave the ball to Sannoh, saying that he was waving at them.
The game started and the first to score was Shohoku via Sakuragi's first alley-oop from Miyagi, shocking the crowd, Sannoh and all the teams that came to watch the game. Sakuragi also accidentally scored with his face after Sawakita blocked Miyagi's layup and the ball hit Sakuragi's face, bouncing directly into the ring. While Shohoku had the momentum in the first half, Goro Domoto, the coach of Sannoh sent Mikio Kawata against Sakuragi. At first, Sakuragi had problems with Mikio's weight and size advantage over him. However, with Akagi's instruction, Sakuragi immediately realized that Mikio could only score under the basket. Sakuragi immediately restrained his movements and managed to score twice on him, giving Shohoku the lead in the first half, 36-34.
In the second half, Sannoh showed its true strength, easily dominating with a 24-point lead over Shohoku. Anzai replaced Sakuragi with Kogure. Sakuragi was angry at first because he thought Anzai had given up the game. Instead, Anzai explained to him that if Sakuragi grabs the offensive rebounds, their chance to return will appear. Everyone on the bench gave their confidence and faith in Sakuragi. After entering the court again, a motivated Sakuragi stood atop the officials' table and declared that he would be the one to defeat Sannoh, which made everyone laugh. After returning to the game, he told his teammates that they would not lose, and as his teammates learned how impossible that would be, Sakuragi simply told them that their shared knowledge of basketball did not work against him,
Sakuragi was confronted by Masahiro Nobe, a proud rebounder and at least 4 inches taller than him. Against all odds, Sakuragi outwits him and scores 4 points on 2 offensive rebounds and escapes a call from the referee. Miyagi calls for them to focus as the game will not come back on its own. Finally, Sakuragi out-rebounded Masahiro with his explosive jumper from Akagi's miss. This was the beginning of Shohoku's rally for a comeback as Akagi regained his spirit and displayed excellent teamwork with Mitsui, who continued to shoot 3-pointers despite his defensive handicap. To stop the momentum, Domoto ordered Masashi Kawata to mark Sakuragi to stop his rebounding. He was thrilled that Sannoh sent the best basketball center in high school just to stop him. Despite the strong caliber of the latter, Sakuragi was able to withstand it as he was able to stop his alley-oop and forced him to miss a shot after being in the air for a long time. Kawata realized that he could not compete with him in terms of jumping but rather in strength.
After Rukawa decided to start passing the ball to his teammates to give them a fighting chance, Sakuragi mentally told Rukawa to pass the ball to him. Rukawa successfully bypassing Sawakita was wasted as Sakuragi accidentally crashed into him. Everyone thought Sakuragi was getting in the way but in reality, Sakuragi was waiting for a 45 degree pass to the right where his jumps have a higher success rate. When Sawakita went around Rukawa, Sakuragi managed to stop Sawakita by taking a charging foul against him. Sakuragi told Rukawa that all debts were resolved.
In the final minutes of the game, Sakuragi made an epic play, throwing himself to stop the ball from going out of bounds and crashing into the side tables. Everyone was shocked at this point and began to wonder if he was okay, as he showed no signs of movement. Finally, he stood up, much to everyone's surprise. This piece had the crowd cheering for Shohoku despite Sannoh's rooting at first. As soon as he returned to the game, Sakuragi noticed that his back was starting to hurt and getting worse and he continued to play. After a timeout from Sannoh, Ayako noticed Sakuragi and asked him if he was injured, to which he replied that his spine was hurting a little, shocking Ayako. After realizing the nature of the injury, Ayako told Sakuragi that his injury involves a player's life, which means he may not be able to play basketball again. However, Sakuragi quickly pushed Ayako's thoughts away, saying that he is immortal and should never be compared to a normal person. However, the pain intensified and even Kawata noticed his injury. He warned him not to push himself and think about his future, but added that he would not hold back once he was angry. Then, Akagi drew a foul from Kawata with a dunk attempt, so Sakuragi's so-called comeback dunk is invalid, which shocked everyone. He finally collapsed due to injury and was replaced by Akagi drew a foul from Kawata with a dunk attempt, so that Sakuragi's so-called comeback dunk is invalid, which shocked everyone. He finally collapsed due to injury and was replaced by Akagi drew a foul from Kawata during a dunk attempt, so Sakuragi's so-called comeback dunk is invalid, which shocked everyone. He finally collapsed due to his injury and was replaced by Koguré.
As he lay unconscious, Sakuragi began to wonder if this was really the end of his basketball life. He began to remember every moment and achievement he had made since he started playing basketball. When he thought it was finally over, he suddenly remembered Haruko's first words to him "Do you love basketball?". Realizing his true feelings for basketball, Sakuragi immediately regained consciousness, held both of Haruko's shoulders, confessing his love for basketball and indirectly revealed his love for her as well. He told her that he was not lying unlike the first time when he only said yes because of his love for her. The sudden confession surprised everyone, while Haruko blushed and was speechless after hearing his confession.
Sakuragi immediately asked for a replacement, but Anzai canceled the sub, telling Sakuragi how he had noticed her injury, and did not want Sakuragi to make a mistake that he will regret for the rest of his life. Sakuragi, determined to play, told Anzai that his glory days are over and that it is now his time. He was also provoked by Rukawa to enter, after Rukawa deliberately fouled him to get back on the court. Before entering, Sakuragi thanked Anzai and told him that he was finally able to make his decisions to change the course of the game. After coming in, his teammates were worried about him, but quickly mocked them for worrying without him, much to their displeasure. Despite a killer pain in his back, Sakuragi once again encouraged his teammates to win the game.
Despite the injury, his performance was really crucial in the last minute of the game. He managed to block Mikio's shot, which led to Mitsui scoring 3 points and a free throw due to a foul. He continues to amaze everyone after he managed to block Sawakita's dunk from behind. He also made the assist to Rukawa after Kawata blocked the latter, passing the ball to him, choosing his love for basketball over his rivalry with Rukawa. This allowed Rukawa to score and take the lead. However, Sawakita quickly took the lead with a fade-away pull-up. In the last two seconds, Rukawa passed the ball to Sakuragi, who scored the winning shot, much to everyone's shock.
Sequelae and rehabilitation
Some time later, Sakuragi is on a beach reading a letter from Haruko, who informed him of everyone's situation. He learned that Miyagi is the new captain; Shintai University's basketball scholarship in Akagi was withdrawn after their loss to Aiwa and she became the second manager of Shohoku. He was also delighted that Haruko's first job as manager was to maintain a weekly correspondence with him until he returned. He learned from her that Rukawa became a member of the Junior All-Japan team. At the same time, he happened to meet Rukawa training on the beach, showing him his All-Japan uniform. Sakuragi simply thought that Rukawa was chosen as a substitute because he was injured. Sakuragi's doctor arrived and told her it was time for her treatment. She asked him if he could handle it, the latter told her that it was a silly question. In the last part of her letter, she wished him good luck in his rehabilitation and that once he was done, she would wait for him. Sakuragi walked away thinking that he will wait for the basketball he loves so much, because he is a Genius.
In Slam Dunk: 10 days later, Sakuragi sent a letter to Haruko, informing her of his rehabilitation and that he is the King of Rehabilitation, much to Haruko's delight. At the end of the chapter, Sakuragi reads her letter back, informed once again of everyone's situation. Haruko told her that she was desperately awaiting his return as the Rebound King once again. Then, her doctor approached her and informed her about a Japanese player entering the NBA in America. While most people consider it impossible to enter the NBA, she told Sakuragi that those who said it was impossible had never taken on the challenge by themselves. After Sakuragi was advised by his doctor to challenge a new level of rehab, he told her that he would be the next to go to America. When his doctor told him if he could do it, Sakuragi immediately told him he could,
Capabilities
At first, he can only make dunks and lay-ups but under Akagi's training, his rebounding prowess became the main support of the team, which earned him another nickname now known throughout Kanagawa Prefecture because of that, "The Rebound King". Then, with Coach Anzai's training, he is able to complete 20,000 shots in a week to further improve his shooting range. Despite this, Mito notes that standing at 45 degrees to the right gives Sakuragi a higher success rate for shooting jumpers.
Jumping power and bounce
As Haruko and Hikoichi see and testify, the skills that Sakuragi really excels in are his jumps, speed and power. Masashi Kawata of Sannoh notes that he has never seen a person with this kind of leg power. His jump height is incredibly high, as noted by Coach Takato of Kainan High, as he was able to jump back to block Sawakita's dunk attempt and stop the alley-oop to Masashi, despite falling to the ground. His jumping ability makes him a formidable rebounder under Akagi's tutelage. With this, he is more than enough to overtake strong centers such as Toru Hanagata , Jun Uozomi and Masahiro Nobe of Sannoh. Coach Domotoa was even forced to put Masashi Kawata on him just to prevent him from rebounding. Despite the obstacle imposed on him, he is still able to keep his rebounding against the big men of Sannoh, which was the key starting factor for Shohoku's comeback victory. In episode 75, he made up for his tendency to fall into the trap against Ryoji Ikegami, jumped on the fake, jumped again for the block, and then one last time for the rebound, all while Ikegami was making a jump.
Strength/Power
He acquired his abnormal strength through his fights as a delinquent and power training that hardened him before playing basketball. Akagi notes that Sakuragi is much stronger than Jun Uozumi of Ryonan despite being smaller. This was shown when he easily threw away Koshino Hiroaki of Ryonan in their practice game, when the latter tried to take the ball from him. He is also known for his strength because Akagi says that in a battle of strength, no one can beat him. When he is and his gang came to Mitsui's rescue (although he never fought) against Ryu's gang, he easily stretched into the pipe held by one of Ryu's men. He is able to stand up to Mikio Kawata who weighs 130 kg. He also has a powerful ripping motion to secure rebounds.
Playmaker
He is also an underrated playmaker. Initially, due to his disdain for and focus on defending Rukawa, he tends to never pass to him, choosing to set up Kogure instead. However, he is not known to be an outlet passer.
Speed and Endurance
In addition to his jumping power and strength, he is also fast because he can catch up to defend himself, combined with his great endurance. These were tested when Totsuka Tetsuya of Ryokufu High School challenged him to a battle of speed. While he managed to outrun Sakuragi in the 1st half, he quickly tired when Sakuragi ran continuously faster in the 2nd half. Even Sendoh of Ryonan, considers Sakuragi's endless stamina as a huge threat, noticing that despite everyone approaching his limit in the second half, Sakuragi acts as if the game has barely started showing no signs of fatigue.
Resilience
As a fighter, he can withstand great pain. He can withstand a chokehold on Akagi's back without passing out, and hit by a broom without falling over, but Akagi's strength is still indefensible. He makes up for it by parrying his blows once he taps into his judo instincts.
Weakness
Sakuragi finds it difficult to face a weak opponent as he is unable to show his true skills and abilities. Mito notices this when Yoshinori Miyamasu of Kainan substitutes as Sakuragi starts to miss shots. Another weakness of Sakuragi for the majority of the series is that his shooting presence was not very accurate, which changed just before the national championships. He is also a weak defender on the ball and can easily fall into the trap of fakes, however, his athleticism makes up for it somewhat. His arrogance and daydreaming often causes the ball to hit him in the face during a game, leaving him unaware of a pass. This is also the main reason why he doesn't succeed in his plots and always ends up being an embarrassment to the team.
As a fighter, not only is he not the strongest against being picked up and thrown by Akagi, but his right eye is presumed to be his better eye, so when blood has blocked his vision, he is not able to fight Tetsuo.
Relationships
Love interest
Haruko Akagi
"I like it a lot. This time I'm not lying."
Sakuragi's love for Haruko makes him a better player as well as a person throughout the series. However, she doesn't reciprocate his feelings until the end of the manga, when he's in rehabilitation due to his back injury in the match against Sannoh. He is initially surprised by her big crush on Rukawa, but still tries to win her over by motivating himself to learn more about basketball. Sakuragi always listens to him because of his deep affection for her, and Haruko never hesitates to help him when he is in trouble and cheer him up when he is feeling down. Haruko's faith in Sakuragi's potential is what motivates him to improve his basketball career, as she believes that he would be the savior of the basketball team. During the game against Sannoh, Sakuragi begins to recall everything he has learned since he started playing basketball and begins to lament that his career may end because of his injury. Suddenly, he remembered the first reason he started playing basketball; when Haruko asked him if he liked basketball. Acknowledging that the first reason he played basketball was his love for her and not for basketball itself, Sakuragi immediately regained consciousness and held both of Haruko's shoulders confessing his love for basketball, telling her that he wasn't lying this time; revealing both his love for basketball and indirectly his love for her, which made Haruko speechless, as she blushed at his sudden confession. He remembered the first reason he started playing basketball; when Haruko asked him if he liked basketball. Acknowledging that the first reason he played basketball was his love for her and not for basketball itself, Sakuragi immediately regained consciousness and held both of Haruko's shoulders confessing his love for basketball, telling her that he wasn't lying this time; revealing both his love for basketball and indirectly his love for her, which made Haruko speechless, as she blushed at his sudden confession. He remembered the first reason he started playing basketball; when Haruko asked him if he liked basketball. Acknowledging that the first reason he played basketball was his love for her and not for basketball itself, Sakuragi immediately regained consciousness and held both of Haruko's shoulders confessing his love for basketball, telling her that he wasn't lying this time; revealing both his love for basketball and indirectly his love for her, which made Haruko speechless, as she blushed at his sudden confession.
The relationship between the two began to improve after the end of the Interhigh championship. While Sakuragi was in rehab to recover from his back injury, Haruko began writing letters to him every week informing him of the team's status. She encouraged Sakuragi to do his best to recover and once he finishes his rehab, she will wait for him, which generates a question if she has started to have feelings for him or is just waiting for his return to the team.
Shohoku High School Basketball Team
Kaede Rukawa
The two players are polar opposites. The only similarity they have is that they are both not academically inclined. Rukawa is pretty much what Sakuragi wants to be: basketball savvy and popular with women. The two don't like each other, as Sakuragi finds him a bitter basketball rival and Haruko interesting, while Rukawa finds him annoying and always gets irritated with his arrogance and immaturity, calling him "dou ahou" (idiot), which angers Sakuragi more. However, deep down, Rukawa appreciates Sakuragi's restlessness and determination to play, and knows that he can put his skills to better use instead of wasting his time against him. In their final match against Sannoh, Rukawa intentionally fouled Sakuragi to get back in court. The two of them put aside their dislike for each other during the match as Rukawa made an assist on Sakuragi's winning shot. The two celebrated their victory together with a meaningful high five, before resuming their rivalry once again.
Akagi Takenori
Akagi is Haruko's older brother and the captain of the basketball team. Sakuragi's initial encounter with Takenori was terrible and awkward at first when he headbutted both players upon his arrival, especially during the one-on-one basketball duel where Sakuragi embarrassed him with shame and physically defeated him by shooting the ball in a slam dunk to hit him. until he realized that he was Haruko's older brother. Sakuragi tries his best to apologize for his previous actions despite his faults while Takenori accepted his apology due to his sister's request. In every practice game or the whole basketball game, every time Sakuragi makes his disruptive antics to his teammates, other players from other schools, especially coaches such as Moichi Taoka and showing his level of arrogance.
This also applies to Shinichi Maki of Kainan when he hits Kiyota's head every time he makes antics and embarrassment to his teammates. He also hits Sakuragi's head several times when he pulls a prank by putting a black mark all over his face with the black permanent marker. Overall, Sakuragi always respects him as a captain or addresses him as Gori.
Ryota Miyagi
The initial encounter between Miyagi and Sakuragi was horrible, as Miyagi beats Sakuragi when he mistakenly thought he was dating his crush Ayako.. It even got worse when they found out that they were basketball teammates, as the two would always fight over petty issues. However, they quickly overcame it after discovering that they shared a lot in common.They were rejected quite often by girls and decided to play basketball for their crush. Since then, the two started to get along and became close friends. As Miyagi often teaches Sakuragi basket skills, and on the court, the two always teamed up to score decisive goals. He is the only person outside of the Sakuragi gang to call him by his first name "Hanamichi", while Sakuragi calls him "Ryo-chin". In English and Filipino Dub, Sakuragi calls him by his first name "Ryota".
Rivals
Sakuragi has a few rivals in both the anime and the movies and his rivals are similar to his personality as well as his disruptive antics and foul play in the game with the exception of Oda and Fukuda who outperforms him in the first half of the game against Ryonan.
Koichiro Nango
Nango is the central player of Tsukubu High in the second movie. Nango meets Sakuragi after having a crush on Haruko who practices basketball by herself while he saves his ball by shooting the basketball dunk while wearing a motorcycle helmet. They started their rivalry when Sakuragi headbutts him in anger after seeing him have a crush on Haruko while he also headbutts her in retaliation after Sakuragi's friends find out that Nango is able to withstand Sakuragi's headbutt, just like Rukawa and Akagi.
During the best of 8 games before facing Shoyo, he mocks Sakuragi while he is on the bench and later when he replaces Kogure to play the game, he and Sakuragi are seen bickering when they wanted to face Rukawa after the latter called them two idiots. In that game, Sakuragi got 22 rebounds and needed one more to break the record for most rebounds by a high school player until his 5th foul. His last rebound was called an offensive foul after he threw Rango to the floor so the record would not be broken. At the end of the movie, Nango congratulates them on their victory just as Haruko arrives to praise Sakuragi's team's victory and ends up fighting in front of Haruko. In the anime series, Nango can be seen grumbling when Sakuragi kicks him to the ground and earns him the fifth foul he was seen in the second movie.
Tatsumasa Oda
Oda is the central player of the Takezono team and Sakuragi's rival in the first film during the training match between Takezono and Shohoku and also studies in the same college as Sakuragi with his gang and Yoko Shimamura who is a 50th girl that Sakuragi eventually gets. rejected because of his crush on Oda. Their rivalry can be very intense as seen in the movie where Oda angrily berates Sakuragi for his initial actions as a delinquent, which Sakuragi initially dislikes about basketball or others mention it until he notices Sakuragi's basketball potential when he risks his life to save the ball. He goes out of bounds several times to the surprise of the audience, players and all Oda's supporters even though they laugh at him during the first half of the practice game.
In both episode 48 and 49 of the anime series, Sakuragi visits Takezono High with his gang to visit Oda at night after hiding from his female supporters who are strictly guarding the outside of the school and notices his right ankle injury after slipping from a sweat on the floor during their basketball practice and also worried that Yoko is upset when Oda secretly doesn't want to tell them about his ankle injury. Despite their support during their fight against Kainan, Sakuragi angrily reprimands Oda for having too much pride for himself in trying to beat Kainan and forgetting his own dreams with Yoko after collapsing due to his ankle injury, much to Takezono's players, including shocking their captain and surprising them. After the defeat of Takezono against Kainan,
Nobunaga Kiyota
Kiyota is another rival of Sakuragi and his disruptive antics and his personality closely resembles him in which he calls Sakuragi as the "red-haired monkey" as the latter calls him as the "wild monkey". The two characters shared the same jersey No. 10 but their positions in the basketball are different. They try to make a rival to Rukawa. However, their antics cause both captains Akagi and Maki by hitting them in the head and they apologized for the embarrassment of their two teams before the start of their basketball game. This also happens after the national eliminations in Kanagawa, where Sakuragi joins him and Maki to watch a basketball game between Meioh and Aiwa in Aichi, as the two bicker when they meet. Later, after Meioh's victory against Aiwa, he and Sakuragi boo Hiroshi Morishige and his teammates for their victory.
Kicchou Fukuda
Fukuda became Sakuragi's rival when he wanted to challenge him to a basketball game by convincing one of his friends to challenge him but Sakuragi refused by headbutting them due to his depression after their defeat against Kainan. In the game against Ryonan, he and Sakuragi challenged a looping game which ended in the 1st half where Sakuragi tries to stop him for an alley-oop but failed because he was knocked down. He tells him he won and his injured forehead continues to bleed before they bring him back to the bench. In the 2nd half, a persistent Sakuragi fights back and manages to contain him although in the anime, this has just been settled in the training match between Shohoku and the combined team of Shoyo and Ryonan.
Hiroshi Morishige
Morishige is the super recruit of Meioh high school and also similar to Sakuragi who is also fouled in the game due to his immense physical strength and clumsiness of getting a technical foul when he is suspended in the ring after hitting the two players of Aiwa with a huge punch. This increases the fighting spirit of Sakuragi who wanted to challenge him after watching his match against Aiwa. In his case, he made him hurt Aiwa's ace, Dai Moroboshi during their match because of his huge physical strength. After the match, Sakuragi intentionally hit him (to test his physical strength) but ended up being knocked down on the ground, which further increased his fighting spirit. Because of this, he became one of Sakuragi's targets at the national championships, although their respective teams never met.
Family
It was mentioned in the anime that Hanamichi's father, whom he calls the old man, had a heart attack, just when he arrived home. But Hanamichi couldn't do anything for him because he was stopped by 8 high school students and was forced to fight. This delayed him and he could not get an ambulance for his father. This flashback was shown after coach Mitsuyoshi Anzai had his heart attack, reminding Hanamichi of his past. Since nothing was mentioned of his father after that, he is presumably dead.
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