Yes, everyone and his other brother have reviewed Takehiko Inoue’s two basketball manga, justly praising his draftsmanship and storytelling. But no one has done a better job of describing Slam Dunk’s hapless hero than David Welsh:

It’s about a red pompadour that has parasitically affixed itself to the head of a first-year high-school student named Hanamichi Sakuragi. (Okay, the pompadour just kind of sits there, but many of Inoue’s characters really rock the early ’90s coifs, so forgive me for being distracted.) When the last of the many, many girls who rejected him in junior high admitted that she favored a boy on the basketball team, Sakuragi developed a violent aversion to the sport.

In high school, a new girl, Haruko, expresses her love for the sport and suggests that 6′2″ Sakuragi should try out for the team. Hatred is washed away, and only Sakuragi’s complete ignorance of the sport and total lack of impulse control can keep him from his athletic destiny. Will hot-headed Sakuragi settle down enough to learn the basics of basketball and be a valuable member of a shoddy team with big dreams? Of course he will. It’s sports manga.

In addition to being funny as hell, David’s review is also perceptive, drawing some interesting parallels between the series and discussing Inoue’s evolution as an artist. Click here for the full review.