Slam Dunk
He joined the team for a girl. He stayed for the game.
Last updated: 10 November 2026
Slam Dunk is Toei Animation's 1993 anime of Takehiko Inoue's manga, running 101 episodes to 1996. Red haired delinquent Hanamichi Sakuragi joins Shohoku High's basketball team to get close to Haruko Akagi, knows nothing about the sport, and discovers he has a real gift for rebounding. People watch it because the games feel honest, the comedy lands, and Sakuragi's improvement is slow and believable. The story's final match arrives in The First Slam Dunk, the 2022 film Inoue wrote and directed himself.
About Slam Dunk
Hanamichi Sakuragi, a hot headed first year with a record of romantic failure, joins Shohoku High's basketball team to impress Haruko Akagi. He cannot dribble, shoot or stay out of foul trouble, but he can jump, run and grab rebounds like nobody else in the prefecture. With captain Akagi, star rookie Rukawa, point guard Miyagi and returning shooter Mitsui, Shohoku grows from a one man team into a genuine challenger. The TV run covers their rise, and the 2022 film completes the story.
Slam Dunk is a TV anime from 1993, first released in Fall 1993. It belongs to the Sports and Comedy and Drama genres and is listed as a completed series. The summary above is written by the AnimeYug team in our own words.
Story & Plot
Hanamichi Sakuragi has been rejected by 50 girls, and the last one liked a basketball player, so basketball is officially his least favourite thing in the world. Then he meets Haruko Akagi at Shohoku High, she asks if he likes basketball, and suddenly he is on the team. The joke is that Sakuragi is a complete beginner: tall, strong, fast and athletic, with no skills, no stamina for practice, and a habit of fouling out. Captain Takenori Akagi, Haruko's older brother, has no patience for him at all.
What saves Sakuragi is pride and freakish natural talent. He learns to rebound before he learns to shoot, and rebounding turns out to matter enormously. Around him a real team takes shape: Rukawa, the silent rookie star Sakuragi cannot stand; Miyagi, the quick little point guard; Mitsui, a former star fighting his way back after two lost years; and Akagi himself, a centre who has carried a weak team on his own for too long. Coach Anzai, calm and round and almost impossible to rattle, holds them together.
The matches are the heart of the show. Slam Dunk plays basketball honestly. There are no glowing special moves, just screens, rebounds, fast breaks and nerves, and a single important game can run for several episodes because the series lets every run of points breathe. Shohoku is an underdog team in a strong prefecture, so every win has to be scraped for against Shoyo, Kainan and Ryonan.
The TV series stops before the national tournament's biggest test. That match, against the champion school Sannoh, finally reached the screen in 2022 in The First Slam Dunk, with Inoue himself writing and directing, and point guard Ryota Miyagi at the centre of the story. Watching the series first makes the film land much harder.
Story Arcs & Episode Guide
The Slam Dunk anime is split into story sagas. Here is every saga in order, with its episodes and years.
| Arc | Episodes | Years | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shohoku Forms | Episodes 1-20 | 1993-1994 | Sakuragi joins the team to impress Haruko and learns the game from zero, rebound by rebound. |
| Practice Games and Prefectural Qualifiers | Episodes 21-61 | 1994-1995 | Shohoku tests itself against Shoyo and Kainan and starts to look like a real team. |
| Road to the Inter High | Episodes 62-101 | 1995-1996 | The qualifiers climax against Ryonan, with a national tournament place on the line. |
Why Watch Slam Dunk
- Matches played at a realistic pace, easy to follow even if you do not know basketball
- Sakuragi's growth from joke player to genuine rebounder is earned, step by step
- A starting five where every player has a clear role and a real weakness
- Inoue's own film, The First Slam Dunk, finally animates the last big match
- Credited with sparking a basketball boom in Japan in the 90s
Who Is It For?
Fine for most ages. There is schoolyard fighting and bickering played for comedy, and emotional storylines in the film. A good pick for families with older children and teens.
Main Characters
View all characters →Voice Actors
The Japanese voices behind the main characters of Slam Dunk.
- Hanamichi SakuragiMain character, power forwardJapanese voiceTakeshi Kusao
- Kaede RukawaMain character, small forwardJapanese voiceHikaru Midorikawa
- Takenori AkagiCaptain, centreJapanese voiceKiyoyuki Yanada
- Hisashi MitsuiShooting guardJapanese voiceRyotaro Okiayu
- Ryota MiyagiPoint guardJapanese voiceYoku Shioya
Staff & Production
- Original Creator
- Takehiko Inoue
- Animation Studio
- Toei Animation
- Director
- Nobutaka Nishizawa
Manga & Source Material
Takehiko Inoue's manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1990 to 1996, 31 volumes in total. Inoue later created Vagabond and Real, but Slam Dunk remains the work that made basketball a schoolyard craze across Japan.
- The manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1990 to 1996 and fills 31 volumes.
- Inoue was a keen basketball player himself, and the manga is full of real plays and real rules.
- The series is credited with driving a major rise in basketball participation in Japan during the 90s.
- The TV anime ends before the manga's final match against Sannoh, which stayed unanimated for 26 years.
- Inoue returned to write and direct The First Slam Dunk himself, telling that final match through Ryota Miyagi.
Music
The TV series uses two openings and a run of endings led by Maki Ohguro's first ending, a chart hit in Japan at the time. The First Slam Dunk uses The Birthday for its opening theme and 10-FEET for its ending theme.
Opening Themes
- “Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai”by BAADThe first opening, episodes 1-61, and the sound most fans hear in their heads.
- “Sekai ga Owaru Made wa...”by WANDSThe second opening, used from episode 62 to the end of the TV series.
Ending Themes
- “Anata Dake Mitsumeteru”by Maki OhguroThe first ending theme, a huge hit in Japan in its own right.
Series Timeline
- 1990-1996
Takehiko Inoue's manga runs in Weekly Shonen Jump, 31 volumes.
- 1993-1996
Toei Animation's TV series airs 101 episodes on TV Asahi.
- 1994-1995
Four short films are released alongside the series.
- 2022
The First Slam Dunk opens in Japan on 3 December, written and directed by Inoue, by Toei Animation and DandeLion Animation Studio.
- 2023
The First Slam Dunk releases internationally with GKIDS, in subtitled and English dubbed versions.
Release Schedule
- Premiere
- 16 October 1993 on TV Asahi
- Broadcast
- TV Asahi in Japan
- Streaming
- Crunchyroll for the TV series; Netflix carries The First Slam Dunk in many regions
- Episodes
- 101 episodes, plus four 90s films and The First Slam Dunk (2022)
The TV series is complete. The First Slam Dunk is the latest and final screen entry so far. Details as of 10 November 2026.
Quick Answers
Is Slam Dunk finished?
Yes. Slam Dunk has finished airing, so you can watch the complete story from start to end without waiting for new episodes.
What genre is Slam Dunk?
Slam Dunk is a Sports and Comedy and Drama anime. You can browse more titles like it on our Sports anime page.
When did Slam Dunk release?
Slam Dunk first released in Fall 1993. It is a TV series.
Where can I watch Slam Dunk?
Crunchyroll streams the TV series in many regions. The First Slam Dunk is on Netflix in many countries. Availability changes, so check both in your region.
How many episodes does Slam Dunk have, and is it finished?
101 episodes, and the TV series is complete as a series, though it ends before the manga's final match. The First Slam Dunk (2022) film covers that Sannoh game, so together they tell the full story.
What is the Slam Dunk watch order?
Watch the 101 TV episodes first. The four 90s films are short side stories that fit alongside the series. Finish with The First Slam Dunk, which adapts the final match the TV series never reached.
Is there a sequel to Slam Dunk?
There is no new TV season. The continuation is The First Slam Dunk, a 2022 film written and directed by Takehiko Inoue himself, told through point guard Ryota Miyagi.
Who voices Hanamichi Sakuragi?
In the TV series, Sakuragi is voiced by Takeshi Kusao. The First Slam Dunk recast the whole team, with Subaru Kimura as Sakuragi in Japanese and Ben Balmaceda in the film's English dub.
Watch Order
Here is the release order for Slam Dunk and the series connected to it. Start at step 1 and work your way down.
- 1Slam Dunk (1993 TV series), episodes 1-101Start and spend most of your time here. 101 episodes of Shohoku's rise.
- 2Slam Dunk films (1994-1995)Four short cinema stories from 1994-1995. Optional side games, best watched alongside or after the series.
- 3The First Slam Dunk (2022)The final match against Sannoh, told through Ryota Miyagi. Watch last, after the series.
Where to Watch
Slam Dunk is officially available to stream on these platforms:
Streaming availability changes often and differs by country. Please check the platform in your region.