Ask John: What Happened to Slam Dunk in America?

Question:
What happend to the Slam Dunk manga? Regarding it’s popularity, companies should be fighting about the license! Yet nothing has happend since Guutson’s 5 volumes. Wasn’t there talk about Viz being interested?

Answer:
While this question may revolve around Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga, I think it reflects an interesting larger theme. It’s ironic that basketball was invented in America (specifically at a YMCA in Massachusetts in 1891), and the sport remains tremendously popular in America, but, for the most part, Americans don’t seem to like manga and anime about basketball. I think that’s an intriguing mystery which I can’t explain.

Slam Dunk, both the original manga and the long running anime series, are very popular in Japan, but both have a relatively small cult following in America. Gutsoon attempted to publish the Slam Dunk manga series in English beginning in 2002. But in 2004 Gutsoon’s Raijin Comics ceased publication. Toei attempted to release the Slam Dunk anime television series in America in 2005, but the release was an abject failure. I’ll concede that the failure of Toei’s American DVD line was partially due to a myriad of circumstances, but I do think it’s fair to say that one of those multiple circumstances was a lack of consumer interest in the Slam Dunk anime.

TOKYOPOP’s domestic releases of Yuriko Nishiyama’s Harlem Beat and Rebound manga series and Shizuru Seino’s “Girl Got Game” haven’t been failures, but they haven’t been exceptionally successful either. Bandai’s domestic DVD release of Dear Boys, under the name “Hoop Days,” apparently sold so poorly that the initial release was canceled after just two discs. I think it’s also revealing that the 2005 anime series Buzzer Beater has not been licensed for domestic release. In summation, no basketball themed manga or anime has ever achieved major success in America.

In 2005 Viz’s Shojo Beat Magazine reported that the Slam Dunk manga would be “soon” re-released in America. The statement didn’t claim that Viz had plans to distribute the title. Since then, more than a year has passed with no hint or rumors of the Slam Dunk franchise being revitalized in America. It’s quite possible that domestic licensors are avoiding Slam Dunk. After all, it’s already failed twice in America. Considering that there have been previous attempts at localizing both the manga and the anime, I believe that there would be more vocal demand for Slam Dunk among American fans and consumers if there was actually a significant demand for it. I’m not prepared to completely rule out the possibility that Slam Dunk will again reach American consumers, but at this point in time, that seems like a very remote possibility.