Mitsui Hisashi

Name: Mitsui Hisashi A.k.a.: Mit-chin, Mitchi, Man of Fire Age: 17 - 18 Birthday: May 22nd Highschool: Shohoku Highschool Junior High: Takeishi junior high Year: 3rd Class: 3 Height: 184 cm (6'0 ½) Weight: 70 kg (154 lbs.) Position: shooting guard (SG) Jersey no.: 14 Shoe Brand: Asics Voice actor: Okiayu Ryotaro

Family and background: Mitsui lives with his parents, it's likely that he's only child. In junior high his team was in the district finals of the Inter Junior Highschool competition. In the final minute his team was one point behind, when he tried to steal the ball it went out. At that moment he felt that there was no chance for his team anymore, but Anzai walked upon him and while handing him the ball he said the words that would change his life forever: "Don't ever give up hope until the very last moment. If you give up the game is already over." Mitsui managed to steal the ball in the remaining seconds and hit the buzzer beater. He would be chosen MVP of Junior High. The highschool basketball teams were probably in the row asking him to join their teams, but Mitsui chose to attend Shohoku Highschool, joining Anzai's basketball team. He showed his already incredible abilities: he just finished junior high, but his skills were already better than a lot of highschool players! However, during a training Mitsui suffered a severe injury to his left knee and was hospitalized. He insisted to play although he wasn't fully recovered yet; he wanted to make it to the district games so badly. But he injured his hurt knee again and at the first day of the games he still wasn't able to walk. He couldn't handle that disappointment and from that day on Mitsui wasn't seen on the court again. He joined a group of local delinquents and quit basketball. In his 3rd year of highschool he gets into fights with another juvenile Ryota Miyagi who is also member of the basketball team. Mitsui and his gang go to the training court to cause trouble so that the basketball team would be dismissed according to Shohoku's rules. Akagi and Kogure were the only ones who knew about his past. Even his delinquent friends knew nothing about Mitsui's b-ball past. Mitsui refused to talk about it and kept fighting, but when Anzai-sensei appeared Mitsui broke down in tears as he remembered all the great moments he had as a basketball player and the things he wanted to do for Anzai's team. He finally spoke up his memorable line: "I want to play basketball." Soon he cut off his long hair and joined the team. (Read the post on this topic on our blog.) Special abilities: Mitsui is a very talented shooter, especially his 3-pointers are a great weapon. He needs little time to fire a very accurate shot. Due to his two-year absence from the court, he lacks physical shape. When he faces a very capable guard, he can't finish the game. But Mitsui is an incredible fighter and never gives up until he literally collapses. Mitsui is not just a good shooter, he is also a very good guard who is able stop marvelous forwards such as Fukuda. He has keen senses and is an intelligent player, he knows the game of basketball so well. In one of the trainings Mitsui guards Sakuragi and immediately finds his weaknesses, but he was also able to show Sakuragi himself what he was lacking. Coach Anzai describes Mistui as someone who once walked down the wrong path, but still is intelligent and possessing a great weapon. Special features: Mitsui still wears a knee protection bandage around his left knee. He also has a mark left from his delinquent life, which is a little scar on the left of his chin. His jersey number is quite unique too. Personality: Mitsui is a very cool guy. He has in contrary to the others a very sad past, he wasted two years of his basketball life and regrets that with a lot of pain. He never shows his anger and sadness though, always trying to solve problems on his own. He is a proud and independent player who is willing to give everything for the game. He shows respect to players that are capable, but he will even disregard seniors if they are no good. Not really a nice guy on the court... But I believe that he's a very good and loyal friend.

Akagi Takenori

    

Name: Takenori AkagiA.k.a.: Gori, Gorilla, captain of ShohokuAge: 17 - 18Birthday: May 10thHighschool: Shohoku Highschool Junior High: Kitamura Junior HighschoolYear: 3rdClass: 6Height: 197 cm (6'5½)Weight: 90 kg (198 lbs.)Position: center (C)Jersey no.: 4Shoe Brand: ConverseVoice actor: Yanada Kiyoyuki Special abilities: Akagi is an outstanding center. He is that kind of player that doesn't really have much talent, but does have potential and he has trained very very hard to get to the top. His two-handed dunk called Gori-dunk (yeah Sakuragi's idea) is his trade mark scoring. He's not a very good shooter and won't hit from outside the bucket. Akagi has great defensive play, I don't even remember how many block shots he has had!! In his first year of highschool he really sucked at free throws and dribbling, but he got some major improvements over the years, fortunately... Akagi is also a very good rebounder; with Sakuragi on his side they can get like 75% of the rebounds. Besides, Akagi is also a very defensive player, his blocks are just frightening! As a team captain he provides the team the mental support and discipline. He was chosen one of the five best players of Kanagawa, the other four were teammate Rukawa, Sendoh, Maki and Jin. He was also approached by a well-known Sports University to join their team, but he had to prove himself by reaching the quarterfinals in the IH tournament. Unfortunately, Shohoku lost in the third round. And in contrary to the other Shohoku members (well except Kogure) Akagi happens to be a top student. Outstanding in English as well as physics, it's just unbelievable. Special features: Although he's Japanese, his looks are very different from an ordinary Japanese guy...Personality: Akagi has a very serious and angry look on his face most of the times, but this guy actually is very soft hearted. His love for basketball is incredible, his ultimate dream is to win the IH tournament. In his first and second year of highschool, he hasn't had reliable and capable team members, but the situation changes after when rookies Rukawa and Sakuragi join the team and soon also the return of Miyagi and junior high MVP Mitsui. Thanks to his own efforts and these marvelous team mates he finally gets the chance to prove himself on the IH stage. Akagi is a very determined person who won't give up easily. He has always dreamt of a match up against Kainan, but during that district game he injured his ankle, but he insisted to play the second half, although he might not being able to walk anymore. He just had to grab the chance to play Kainan, no matter what.

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Sakuragi Hanamichi

Name: Sakuragi Hanamichi A.k.a.: Red Haired Monkey, Tensai, Genius, King of the Rebound, King of Fouls, Iron Man Age: 15 - 16 Birthday: April 1st Highschool: Shohoku Highschool Junior High: Wakou Junior Highschool Year: 1st Class: 7 Height: 188 cm (6'2); at the end 189.2 cm (6'2 ½) Weight: 83 kg (182.6 lbs.) Position: power forward (PF) Jersey no.: 10 Shoe Brand: Nike Air Jordan 6 and Nike Air Jordan 1 Voice actor: Kusao Takeshi Special abilities: Sakuragi is a natural talent. His greatest abilities are his rebounding ability and his endless energy. He is tall and strong, but also very fast and flexible. And just like Rukawa he can jump really high! The Slam Dunk story's time span is only 4 months, but during these months Sakuragi already learned how to dribble, rebound, dunk, block, the layup and some shooting to become a very valuable player to the team. And he is able to do unbelievable things at unexpected moments! He grows stronger by every game he plays. By the way he gets into fights a lot, but probably hasn't lost any fight in his life, so he actually is the Street Fighter King... A funny note: Sakuragi was able to ride a bike even faster than a car. Coach Anzai says that Sakuragi brings the team rebounding powers and strength. Special features: Sakuragi is a loud guy and claims to be the genius of the court. You recognize him by his big mouth... And his red hair is definitely his trade mark. He cut off his hair after the game vs Kainan, because in his opinion it was his fault they lost the game. He passed the ball to Kainan's center Takasago instead of Akagi with less than 20 seconds on the clock and 2 points behind. Personality: Sakuragi is a short tempered person, but he slowly changes. He is anything but modest: although he is just a rookie he always claims to be the best player of the team, district and country. He is very stubborn and ignores criticism. But he is also a very quick learner who learns from his mistakes. He can be sensitive and naive sometimes, which shows that he actually is still a young guy. He 'hates' Rukawa for his ability and for being the person Haruko is in love with. Deep in his heart he knows that Rukawa is a very capable player, but he will never admit. Rukawa has become his biggest rival and that probably will never change. But Rukawa is also an important reason for this development: he wants to be better than Rukawa so badly! He isn't really a very smart guy, but you have to admit that sometimes he really is a genius (on the court). He is just a newbie but understands the game very well. He's always learning from his own mistakes, he analyzes his own technique and improves every day. For example: his free throw kinda sucked, and he found out to throw the ball from low (between the knees) to high.