Slam Dunk

is a 31-volume, 24-Kanzenban manga and anime series written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shohoku (Shōhoku) High School. It was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan and has sold over 100 million copies in Japan alone. In 1995, it received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen and in 2007 was declared Japan's favorite manga. It was so popular that many Japanese teenager began playing basketball after it was published. Inoue has also used basketball as a central theme in two other manga series: Buzzer Beater and Real. The anime series, consisting of 101 episodes, was produced by the TV Asahi terrestrial television network and Toei Animation and directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa. It was first aired on TV Asahi from October 16, 1993 to March 23, 1996. It was later aired on the anime satellite television network, Animax, in addition to four animated movies produced. The anime series follows the manga storyline, but leaves out the National Tournament... full article at wikipedia