Why Slam Dunk is dunking me

Due to budgeting issues sort of related to the economic downturn, I am only able to purchase about one volume of Slam Dunk a year, and I think it's going to kill me. 


Unlike certain tournament shonen series, you really kind of need to read a whole game of Slam Dunk at once, or you lose all the narrative momentum and totally forget who the characters are.  This last part is not as much of a problem in Slam Dunk as, say, Whistle, but I couldn't remember any of the minor characters from the last volume, so it took me a while to get the adrenaline going.  Which is why it was even more painful when it screeched to a halt a few short chapters later. 


I really want to purchase this series to show my support for all sports manga.  To make sure I purchase, I usually don't read the series in a bookstore or the library.  This way, I can justify purchasing it.  I don't know if I can hold out with Slam Dunk, though. 

I was so happy when it was in Shonen Jump . . .  I may just have to marathon it at the library and hope for better economic times in the near future, so I can purchase it and read it again.  Viva le Sports Manga!

Yawara: a Fashionable Judo Girl

I am getting a bigger kick out of Yawara than I thought I would, which is odd since I'm such a Naoki Urasawa junkie.

I sort of started watching the show out of academic interest.   I figured:

• I should support this because the distributor is taking a big chance
• It's Urasawa
• A Japanese judo prodigy actually arose for real just after this and was called Yawara-chan by her numerous fans even though that wasn't her name.

I am definitely amused.  Of course the show is dated (clothes, music, frame-jitter), but its quirky charm has pretty much won me over.

Definitely closer to the lighter aspects of Master Keaton but much fluffier all around, Yawara is the story of a high school girl who's a genius at judo but wants nothing more than to be a normal teenager (who has fun, wears pretty clothes, goes to college, falls in love, etc.).  Her scheming old grandfather has been training her since early childhood, and he has a plan that won't end until she's won the gold medal at the olympics (even though judo wasn't a medal sport yet) and a National Merit Award.  He tries to set things up to go his way, and I pretty much hate him, but he has his moments. 

There's a bit of mystery here, too, because Yawara's judo genius father is missing.  There's some romance and heartbreak.  A former judo prodigy with competition-prohibiting stage fright becomes the object of her affection.  A reporter who was always a mediocre athlete and is now working for a trashy sports paper in the hopes of discovering a genius hero athlete just like the ones he always idolized wants to make her into a star. 

A lot of the humor comes from the situations that start out cliched but aren't.  Yawara's grandfather entices a talented-but-spoiled rich girl athlete to become Yawara's rival (I kind of hate her, too).  Yawara couldn't care less.  The reporter wanted to discover a genius athlete, but he never anticipated what life would be like for a genius who wants nothing to do with the spotlight.

It's light and fun and goofy and sometimes quite touching.  Just don't go in with any expectations above that, and you'll probably enjoy it, too.  If you've seen it, do let me know your thoughts about what made you watch it and what you liked about it.