Full-time comic artist

……

The rain drizzled on and off for two weeks, and the sun only came out occasionally. Higashino Hibiki realized how kind the sun was.

July is almost here.

Tanaka's manga was approved by Sasaki, who shared a similar idea with Hibiki Higashino, thinking it might be feasible.

The results will be revealed in the July manga awards.

He also saw Oda's character designs, and Sasaki was somewhat surprised by Oda's style.

You can see that it draws inspiration from Akira Toriyama; it's simple, clear, and distinctive, making it a type that's easy to draw.

However, they have also developed their own unique characteristics, with distinct characters and prominent traits that leave a strong impression on readers.

As an assistant, Oda is very talented.

Chapter 137 Shohoku vs Ryonan (Part 2)

In July, the plum rains gradually subsided, and the sun freely displayed its presence.

The friendly match episode in "Slam Dunk" is finally coming to an end.

At Nobuhiro Watsuki's studio, he looked at "Slam Dunk" with a complicated expression.

“I felt it was unfair that Mr. Sasaki valued Tori Akino more in the past.”

He muttered to himself, "Rurouni Kenshin was clearly a better performer."

Rurouni Kenshin has become the benchmark for samurai manga, and anyone wanting to serialize a samurai manga must first consider its existence. Many manga artists shake their heads at the question of whether their own work can surpass it.

Kenshin Himura's path to redemption, depicted with exquisite detail by Nobuhiro Watsuki, is incredibly moving.

A hero reduced to a murderer under the weight of power—the oppressive atmosphere of the early Meiji era is palpable. This rich history adds a profound depth to "Rurouni Kenshin."

As a shonen manga, Rurouni Kenshin is particularly delicate in its portrayal of emotions, making it a rare work in this era that has a large female readership.

However, even with such a great anime adaptation starting in January, "Rurouni Kenshin" still couldn't compare to "Slam Dunk".

"When 'Hikaru no Go' was being serialized, it could only rival 'Rurouni Kenshin' for a period of time. But when it came to 'Slam Dunk,' I felt that I couldn't compare to Akino Tori."

Nobuhiro Watsuki had mixed feelings about this opponent who was indifferent to him.

He likes the other person's comics and wants to be friends, but he is ignored by him intentionally or unintentionally. The editor in charge is more biased towards him, which makes Nobuhiro Watsuki feel very frustrated.

He sighed and stood at the window. The eleven or twelve-year-old elementary school girl was carrying her schoolbag and putting on her hat to go to school. His depressed mood was immediately relieved.

After watching the elementary school girl disappear from his sight, Nobuhiro Watsuki sat down and started reading a manga.

……

Shohoku's situation became critical, but their point guard, Yasuda Yasuharu, unexpectedly hit a three-pointer, easing their tension. However, under Sendoh's direction, Ryonan launched an attack, with Uozumi grabbing the rebound and dunking, bringing the score to 6 points again.

Ryonan was like an immovable Yokozuna sumo wrestler, remaining completely unmoved no matter how Shohoku attacked.

Ayako saw no possibility of winning.

At a crucial moment, Akagi, the gorilla, returned, giving the basketball team, which was on the verge of losing confidence, a shot in the arm.

The doctor advised him to rest and not play, but Akagi didn't care.

He replaced Rukawa Kaede.

As soon as Akagi entered the court, he slammed home a dunk, and cheers filled the basketball arena.

Everything is back.

Because of Akagi's appearance, Sakuragi recalled the basic positioning techniques that Akagi had taught him, and finally suppressed Uozumi and grabbed the rebound.

Akagi then scored another goal, bringing the score to just two points, and Shohoku took control of the pace and the situation.

Coach Taoka Shigeichi, however, was not worried; he did not believe that Ryonan would lose.

When Kogure hit a three-pointer, Shohoku achieved their first score comeback, surpassing Ryonan by one point to turn the tide and win. At that moment, one person's expression changed: Sendoh's.

He became serious, his skills surpassed his opponent's, and he easily dodged Sakuragi Hanamichi, scoring goals one after another.

It's not that he wasn't taking it seriously before, but rather that Sendoh hadn't fully unleashed his potential, only using 70% of his strength, which is why he seemed so careless.

When Shohoku's score surpassed Ryonan's, Sendoh finally felt a sense of crisis, focused his mind, and unleashed his potential.

Akagi believes that he should take over keeping an eye on Sendoh himself.

It's not that I don't approve of Sakuragi Hanamichi, but Sakuragi is still just a beginner, and he's already done a great job to reach this level.

Sakuragi, however, was not one to give up easily. When Sendoh dribbled past him, Sakuragi immediately chased after him with all his might. Although he was tricked by Sendoh again, Akagi greatly admired his relentless spirit.

With two minutes remaining, Rukawa entered the game. At this moment, Coach Anzai finally remembered that he was Shohoku's basketball coach and began to give Sakuragi and Rukawa tactical instructions.

This stunned the Ryonan bench.

"At this critical juncture, Shohoku's coach finally couldn't sit still any longer!"

"So that person was the coach! I thought he was just there for decoration."

"Me too!"

"Me too."

"me too."

Coach Taoka was very nervous. He couldn't understand Coach Anzai's plan and couldn't guess it at all.

When the game started, Rukawa and Sakuragi teamed up to attack Sendoh, which revealed Coach Anzai's instructions.

One is Sakuragi Hanamichi, whose physical talent is amazing, and the other is Rukawa Kaede, who has superb basketball skills. These two serve Sendoh alone, which makes Sendoh extremely devoted.

This was the first time Coach Taoka had ever seen Sendoh so happy.

Sendoh was completely immersed in the fun of playing ball, single-mindedly focused on defeating his opponent, as if he were waiting for a strong enemy to challenge him.

There was only one minute left, no, only 50 seconds. Shohoku was down by four points. At this moment, Sendoh broke through to the basket. If he made the shot, Shohoku would have no chance.

At this crucial moment, Sakuragi jumped up from behind and blocked Sendoh's shot.

Sakuragi launched a counterattack, but facing Sendoh's defense, he felt he couldn't hold on for long and passed the ball under Sendoh's immense pressure.

To his utter despair, the ball was passed to Rukawa Kaede, who then made a three-pointer, stealing the spotlight.

However, the score difference was only one point.

With 40 seconds left, Ryonan decided to slowly stall for time, as they had the advantage in the score.

With the ball being passed around continuously, only 15 seconds remained.

Like a plane roaring through the sky, Akagi unleashed all his strength and finally stole the basketball. Rukawa seized the opportunity and ran towards Ryonan's basket. Almost at the same time, Sendoh also chased after him to defend the ball.

Akagi passed the ball from a long distance to Rukawa.

Rukawa Kaede launched a fierce attack, but Sendoh was right next to him. Sendoh reached out and hit the basketball out of bounds.

Rukawa Kaede did not give up. He tried his best to catch the basketball in mid-air and passed it to the person wearing the Shohoku jersey in an instant.

This person is none other than Sakuragi Hanamichi!

At this moment, there is no one guarding the basket for Ryonan, and Sakuragi Hanamichi has the ball.

Everyone stared wide-eyed, mouths agape, in shock at what they saw.

Akagi Takenori caught up, shouting, "Don't do anything reckless!"

Sakuragi's heart is only set on dunking.

At that moment, he heard Haruko Akagi calling him and remembered the shooting techniques Haruko Akagi had taught him under the setting sun.

"Relax your knees, jump as high as you can, and put the ball in the basket."

The players from both Shohoku and Ryonan rushed towards Sakuragi, whose mind was completely blank except for Haruko's instructions.

He relaxed his knees, jumped as high as he could, and put the ball into the basket, into it...

A swirl goal!

Goal!

The entire stadium fell silent, watching in shock as Sakuragi Hanamichi scored a crucial goal. With just 10 seconds left, Shohoku had taken the lead, and victory was practically assured!

After a grueling competition, we finally won!

……

Nobuhiro Watsuki felt a chill run down his spine, but he was also greatly excited as he watched.

This scene of a desperate counterattack, vividly portrayed by Tori Akino Mirai, is so exhilarating that it evokes a sense of unbridled pleasure from head to toe.

Facing a powerful opponent, never giving up, and ultimately turning defeat into victory—that's the charm of sports!

Slam Dunk perfectly depicts this.

"The drawing is absolutely amazing! Akino Mirai-sensei has captured the charm of basketball perfectly!"

He used to think that this was just a niche sport, making it difficult for readers to immerse themselves in the reading experience, and that it didn't provide the same sense of engagement as baseball.

But at this moment, Nobuhiro Watsuki was deeply impressed; it was something he could not draw.

"In sports manga, Nobuhiro Tsuki and I would call ourselves the strongest!"

Compared to Slam Dunk, Touch is more like a romance manga, and its light and bright style is also very different from the extremely realistic Slam Dunk.

"Phew~" Nobuhiro Watsuki relaxed.

He started watching this match more than two months ago, and finally, it came to a perfect end.

The Shohoku basketball team's unwavering perseverance finally turned the impossible into possible, defeating Ryonan, one of the top four teams in Kanagawa, and proclaiming their existence to everyone.

As the first match laying the foundation for the national competition, it was absolutely perfect.

From his first appearance to the last, Sakuragi Hanamichi learned a lot. He improved rapidly and also worked on integrating with the team.

Rukawa and Akagi demonstrated their abilities, proving themselves to be top-tier players.

Mumu was in a bit of an awkward situation. His strength was neither particularly strong nor weak, and he was stuck at this point.

As the vice-captain, his presence is very strong, making him a significant obstacle to Shohoku's strength.

As for the other Yasuda Yasuharu, although he performed well, he was more like a background character.