Slam Dunk/Characters

The character sheet for the famous basketball anime/manga series Slam Dunk.

Shohoku
Hanamichi Sakuragi "Number: 10 Position: Power Forward Height: 6 feet 2.5 inches (188 cm) Weight: 182.6 lbs (83 kg) Birthday: April 1 Shoes: Nike Air Jordan 6 later the Nike Air Jordan 1"


 * Adorkable
 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Animal Motif: According to Kiyota, he's like a monkey, more specifically an orangutan.
 * Badass Adorable: Childish, sincere, gullible and kind. Even moreso in his Super-Deformed mode.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Butt Monkey (and how)
 * Catch Phrase: "I'm a basketball GENIUS!"
 * Character Development: From a Hot-Blooded ex-delinquent, to a still Hot-Blooded but more mature player.
 * Dark-Skinned Redhead: He's quite tan.
 * Delinquents
 * The Determinator
 * Dogged Nice Guy: To Haruko.
 * Dye Hard
 * Evil Laugh: "Naa-hahahahahahaha!!"
 * Expy: Of Dennis Rodman
 * Face of a Thug
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Foe Yay: With both Rukawa and Sendoh.
 * The Fool: Subverted, since despite his potential he can't skip the basic training.
 * Gentle Giant: He's much more friendly towards girls than males; if he has a crush on you, he'll go blushy and tongue-tied.
 * Honor Before Reason: Once he makes a promise, he will keep it, fire or water.
 * Hot-Blooded: And how!
 * Idiot Hero
 * Indulgent Fantasy Segue: During a match, he becomes frustrated as he can't get rid of his markers, so he imagines himself headbutting them and leaving them knocked out. Cue him whimpering over the rules that forbid him doing so.
 * Japanese Honorifics: Sakuragi is actually a pretty interesting case, as he almost exclusively uses them towards women -- complete with rather polite speech pattern, indicating his Gentle Giant side. In regards to his gangster friends, Sakuragi resorts to yobisute aka referring to them without any pronouns, which exemplifies their True Companions bond. And towards all other dudes... well, see The Nicknamer.
 * Japanese Pronouns: Refers to himself as ore.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A total sweetheart and teddy-bear with the kind-and-innocent heart (and intelligence) of a 5 year old.
 * Large and In Charge: He's the leader of his gang and noticeably taller than them.
 * Large Ham
 * Lightning Bruiser: Very tall, VERY agile. Hence why Akagi trains him specifically to catch rebound balls at some point.
 * Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places: He's asked out (and been rejected) by 50 girls.
 * Love Redeems: Had it not been for his love for Haruko, Sakuragi would more than likely have ended up like Mitsui if not worse.
 * Manly Tears: Moreso than any other character.
 * Mr. Imagination: Usually done to boost his own ego. Done less frequently as the series goes on.
 * The Nicknamer: If you're not a female or one of his four friends, do NOT expect him to refer you by name or surname.
 * Or any of his Unknown Rivals, by the way. Although that wouldn't necessarily be an exception...
 * Redheaded Hero: Subverted, he dyes his hair.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Rukawa.
 * Also with Fukuda.
 * Supporting Protagonist: Subverted with his gang, played straight with the basketball team.
 * Takeshi Kusao
 * Ted Baxter: Subverted as the series goes on: he genuinely improves his playing, but still considers himself a genius among mortals.
 * Unknown Rival: To Rukawa.
 * Unskilled but Strong: One of the reoccuring themes of the story is his potential to be a great basketball player, but his lack of skill in certain areas.
 * Use Your Head: His preferred method of punishment.
 * Wife-Basher Basher: Even though Youko rejected his love confession, he was was still going to dish out a brutal beating to Oda, her boyfriend (who plays for the anime-only Takezono), for slapping her.
 * Wolverine Publicity: In one way or another, he's the only character who appeared in the covers of all 31 volumes of the manga - even during the Mitsui origin story arc.
 * Unskilled but Strong: One of the reoccuring themes of the story is his potential to be a great basketball player, but his lack of skill in certain areas.
 * Use Your Head: His preferred method of punishment.
 * Wife-Basher Basher: Even though Youko rejected his love confession, he was was still going to dish out a brutal beating to Oda, her boyfriend (who plays for the anime-only Takezono), for slapping her.
 * Wolverine Publicity: In one way or another, he's the only character who appeared in the covers of all 31 volumes of the manga - even during the Mitsui origin story arc.

Kaede Rukawa "Number: 11 Position: Small Forward Height: 6 feet 2 inches (187 cm) Weight: 165 lbs (75 kg) Birthday: January 1 Shoes: Nike Air Jordan 5"


 * The Ace
 * Aloof Ally
 * Animal Motif: Sakuragi compares him to a fox, probably because he always looks so sleepy.
 * Catch Phrase
 * Chick Magnet
 * The Comically Serious
 * Deadpan Snarker: In spades.
 * Delinquents: Just as infamous as Sakuragi for a history of brutal violence.
 * The Determinator
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Expy: Of Michael Jordan, if only in playing technique and the armband.
 * Heavy Sleeper: To nearly absurd levels, such as getting asleep while riding his bike. It's implied he spends the nights practicing until very late, so he needs the daytime sleep. Oh, did we mention waking him up is a VERY bad idea?
 * Headphones Equal Isolation: When he's not sleeping he's listening to his headphones.
 * Justified since he plans on going to America one day so his headphones are constantly playing English lessons or English music.
 * Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Idiot Hero: Though he hides it well.
 * I Work Alone: He is very individualist.
 * Lack of Empathy: Which had to be toned down in the anime
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Raven Hair, Ivory Skin
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Rides a pink bike.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Sakuragi's red.
 * Shiny Midnight Black
 * The Stoic
 * The Sociopath: Aside from basic loyalty to his team, he forms no meaningful friendships or even basic emotional attachment to anybody in the cast for the entire franchise.
 * Good Is Not Nice: Actually slides more into this in the anime, specially when dealing with  in the last OAV.
 * Also, in the Shoyo match he is the one who calls out Sakuragi on, explicitely telling him "That is NOT you".
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky

Takenori Akagi "Number: 4 (team captain) Position: Center Height: 6 feet 6 inches (197 cm) Weight: 198 lbs (90 kg) Birthday: May 10 Shoes: Converse Weapon Classic"


 * Animal Motifs: The gorilla.
 * Berserk Button: Don't insult basketball in front of him. EVER.
 * Hanamichi doesn't need to insult basketball to push his button. In fact, he's pretty creative when it comes to it. Hilarity Ensues EVERY time.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Very, VERY protective of little Haruko.
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Sakuragi.
 * Sakuragi even refers to himeself as "Gori's Younger Brother" during the Kainan match.
 * The Big Guy
 * The Captain
 * The Comically Serious
 * Expy: Of Patrick Ewing.
 * Foe Yay: With Uozumi.
 * Genius Bruiser: Top student, super strong center player.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Kogure.
 * Jerk Jock: Comes as this at the beginning, but the story soon shows he's anything but a jock.
 * Kiyoyuki Yanada
 * Large and In Charge
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Mr. Exposition: Keeps explaning basket stuff to Sakuragi, specially when he has to teach him rebounds.
 * Not So Stoic: Actually far more Hot-Blooded than you'd think
 * Platonic Life Partners: Him and Ayako
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Aouta, lampshaded by Kogure more than once.
 * As well as with Uozumi.
 * Scary Black Man: Has traits of this.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: With Haruko, in both physical appearance and personality.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Kogure.
 * Supporting Leader
 * Team Dad
 * Younger Than They Look: According to Maki, Akagi looks even older then him.
 * Younger Than They Look: According to Maki, Akagi looks even older then him.

Ryota Miyagi "Number: 7 Position: Point Guard Height: 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) Weight: 130 lbs (59 kg) Birthday: July 31 Shoes: Converse Drive"


 * Adorkable: In direct correlation to how close Ayako is.
 * Butt Monkey
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Ryota and Ayako were this at age eleven (age was probably the key reason for this). Rather hilarious considering how much of a dogged nice guy Ryota becomes later on.
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Sakuragi.
 * Brilliant but Lazy: By far the most analytical of the players on the court with a keen court awareness. When forced to study for his make-up exams, he picks up the material pretty quickly and is capable of getting good scores. In the 10 Days Later omake, he's shown going through a pile of books on how to be an effective leader (while skipping his actual classes).
 * Crazy Jealous Guy: Introduced as one. He punches Hanamichi in the face the first time he meets him because he assumed he was dating Ayako (when all the two were doing was walking together).
 * Dogged Nice Guy: To Ayako, Played for Laughs.
 * Delinquents: While not really one, he's got both the attitude and the involvement, having been a target of Mitsui and his gang's bullying prior to Mitsui's Heel Face Turn.
 * Drill Sergeant Nasty: He apparently becomes one after being made captain.
 * Face of a Thug
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Funny Aneurysm Moment / Hilarious in Hindsight: His one-shot backstory, Piercings (which was published two years after the series ended), is chock full of these.
 * In one of the earlier chapters of Slam Dunk, Miyagi beats a delinquent half to death for slapping Ayako, declaring that you never hit a girl. When he was eleven he slapped her for littering.
 * At the end of the one-shot, Ayako tells him to keep a picture of her on his desk so he can see her everyday; he thinks this is an absurd idea. Five years later, he not only keeps a picture of her on his desk but talks to it every morning.
 * Heterosexual Life Partners: With Sakuragi. They actually bond over their bad luck at romance.
 * Indy Ploy: As a point guard, he's quite good at these.
 * I Wished You Were Dead: According to his backstory, Miyagi had an older brother who got lost at sea... and this happened right after Ryota said he never wanted to see him again.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He starts off as one but outgrows it pretty quickly.
 * Looking for Love In All the Wrong Places: He was introduced as one (although he never gets very far), but spends most of the series devoted to Ayako.
 * The Napoleon: A milder example: though he can still be sensitive about his height, the issue isn't brought up as much since he actually makes use of it.
 * Love At First Punch: Surprisingly enough, Ryota and Ayako were both this to each other in 6th grade (according to the prequel). Perhaps Miyagi's adorkable side came with puberty.
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Don't underestimate him for his size, he's a very good fighter.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Yasuda.
 * She's All Grown Up: One possible explanation for Miyagi's deep infatuation with Ayako. It's revealed he first met her when he was 11, but at the time thought she was weird. Yet when he meets her again in high school, he's head over heels.
 * Wife-Basher Basher
 * Would Not Hit a Girl: Completely snaps when Ayako is hit by a delinquent, kicking the culprit in the head and then beating him up savagely while yelling at him to not ever raise his hand against a woman.
 * Averted in his backstory. He slapped Ayako without hesitation (though to be fair, he was only 11 at the time). Certainly makes for a funny aneurysm moment though.
 * Yoku Shioya

Hisashi Mitsui "Number: 14 Position: Shooting Guard Height: 6 feet (184 cm) Weight: 154 lbs (70 kg) Birthday: May 22 Shoes: ASICS GT White"


 * The Ace: In his better days.
 * The Atoner
 * Delinquents
 * Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life
 * Fallen Hero
 * Glass Cannon: His two-year long absence from basketball costs him most of his stamina. His shooting skill, on the other hand, remains untouched.
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Heel Realization
 * He's Back
 * Ho Yay: With Kogure, arguably.
 * Important Haircut
 * Long-Range Fighter
 * My Greatest Second Chance
 * One Steve Limit
 * Ryotaro Okiayu
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky
 * Toothy Issue: Has missing incisors that Ryota knocked out of his face while still a delinquent. By the time he joins the team, he's already replaced them (most probably with bridges).

Kiminobu Kogure "Number: 5 Position: Small Forward Height: 5 feet 10 inches Weight: 83 kg Birthday: July 12 Shoes: Mizuno Wave"


 * Alliterative Name
 * Badass Normal
 * Heterosexual Life Partners - Ho Yay: On one hand, he's extremely close to Mitsui and very devoted to him after his Heel Face Turn. On the other, he and Akagi as the two have been inseparable since middle school and he's very devoted to him as well.
 * Hideyuki Tanaka
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Meganekko
 * Nice Guy
 * "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered one to Mitsui.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With both Mitsui and Akagi.
 * Team Mom
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: A rare male example.

Yasuhara Yasuda "Number: 6 Position: Point Guard Height: 5 feet 5 inches"


 * Adorkable
 * Alliterative Name
 * Butt Monkey: Especially in the early chapters, thanks to Sakuragi.
 * Extreme Doormat: Subverted, he's often pushed around but stands up for his team when it counts.
 * Eyes Always Shut: It makes him look like a cat.
 * Hidden Depths: He's brave when it counts.
 * Nice Guy: It works to his advantage during the Toyotama game.
 * Odd Friendship: With Miyagi.
 * Timid little Yasuda warmly greeting Miyagi was probably the first indication that Miyagi wasn't such a scary guy after all.
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: To Miyagi, whom he's known since middle school.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * Those Two Guys: Him and all the other backup players are this.
 * The Woobie: He's shy and good-natured which naturally means he's pushed around in a team full of alpha males.

Ayako "Position: Team Manager"


 * Age-Appropriate Angst: According to the one-shot, Piercing, she didn't take her mother dating again very well.
 * Cool Big Sis: Specially to Sakuragi
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Ayako was this towards Ryota as children.
 * Eriko Hara
 * First-Name Basis: We never know what her surname is.
 * Sugar and Ice Personality: As a kid.
 * Tsundere: As a teenager.
 * Paper Fan of Doom

Mitsuyoshi Anzai "Position: Head Coach"


 * Acrofatic: Not to fighting levels, but he's still an excellent shot.
 * Big Good: *cough*
 * Blank White Eyes
 * Catch Phrase: "Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh hoh..."
 * Old Master
 * Stern Teacher: Even more so in the backstory, where he bordered on Sadist Teacher.
 * Team Dad
 * Tomomichi Nishimura
 * Tomomichi Nishimura

Ryounan
Akira Sendoh "Number: 7 Position: Small Forward Height: 6 feet 3 inches (190 cm) Weight: 174 lbs (79 kg) Birthday: February 14 Shoes: Converse Weapon Black"


 * The Ace
 * Anime Hair
 * Brilliant but Lazy: Or vice versa.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Chick Magnet
 * Die for Our Ship: The rabid Sakuragi/Rukawa fans hate him. But much less than Haruko.
 * Hochu Otsuka
 * Nice Guy
 * Odd Friendship: With Fukuda.
 * Perpetual Smiler
 * Worthy Opponent

Jun Uozumi


 * Animal Motif: Either the gorilla or the orangutang
 * The Big Guy
 * Bruiser with a Soft Center: In spades.
 * The Captain
 * Dark-Skinned Redhead: A rather realistic variation. His hair is reddish-brown and he's pretty tan.
 * Emotional Bruiser: He's a lot more emotional and Hot-Blooded then the other centers of the show, and is a Gentle Giant out of the courts.
 * Evil Counterpart: Not actually evil, but he's very similar to Akagi.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Foe Yay: With Akagi.
 * Large and In Charge
 * Manly Tears: He does this a lot.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Akagi's blue.
 * The Rival: To Akagi.
 * Unskilled but Strong
 * Worthy Opponent
 * Younger Than They Look: People have a very hard time believing he's only in high school. Masashi thought he was Akagi's dad.
 * Yukimasa Kushino
 * Younger Than They Look: People have a very hard time believing he's only in high school. Masashi thought he was Akagi's dad.
 * Yukimasa Kushino

Hiroaki Koshino
 * The Comically Serious
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Those Two Guys: With Uekasa, when compared to Ryonan's much more impressive front line.

Tomoyuki Uekasa
 * The Chick: Made abundantly clear in the 10 Days Later. He's pretty much the only one who keeps everyone from killing each other.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Lampshaded. Uekasa believes he's one, but he's probably the least popular of the Ryonan players.
 * Those Two Guys: With Koshino.

Kiccho Fukuda
 * Bruiser with a Soft Center: For all his stoicism, he's actually very sensitive when given a chance.
 * The Comically Serious
 * Gonk
 * Hideo Ishikawa
 * Hot-Blooded: Actually his Fatal Flaw:
 * Jerkass: Although it's mainly towards Sakuragi... and this is Sakuragi we're talking about.
 * Not So Different: Although the two are polar opposites in personality, Sakuragi and Fukuda are actually very similar when it comes to basketball: They're both relatively new to the sport, quick learners, poor in defense, and are very prideful.
 * Odd Friendship: He and Sendoh appear to be pretty good friends despite being completely different.
 * Which provides a nice contrast to the very unfriendly rivalry Sakuragi and Rukawa have.
 * Perpetual Frowner: To contrast with Sendoh's perpetual smile.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Sakuragi's red.
 * The Stoic
 * Unskilled but Strong: As he's meant to be Not So Different from Sakuragi.
 * Worthy Opponent: He views Sakuragi as this.
 * Worthy Opponent: He views Sakuragi as this.

Hikoichi Aida
 * Butt Monkey
 * Catch Phrase: "Must take note of that!"
 * Gratuitous English: "ANBIRIIBABURU-YA!!"
 * Keet
 * Masaya Onosaka
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * The Idiot From Osaka
 * Tagalong Kid

Coach Moichi Taoka
 * Butt Monkey: Off the courts.
 * Stern Teacher: So much that his Training from Hell makes everyone in Ryonan collapse upon the mere memories.
 * Team Dad: Specially to Uozumi.
 * The Rival: To Takato,.
 * Unsho Ishizuka

Shoyo
Kenji Fujima
 * The Ace
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: By virtue of being both The Ace, The Captain, and the team coach.
 * Bishonen
 * The Captain
 * Chick Magnet
 * Kouji Tsujitani
 * Large and In Charge: Inverted; in a team that is (in)famous for its 190-Centimeter-minimum average-height, the positively tiny point-guard Fujima (178 centimeters) is the single most powerful player of the Shoyo team. Not to mention his Lancer Hanagata defers to him completely.
 * Lovable Jock: Is actually a Nice Guy despite having the looks and the sports skills that would make him the perfect Jerk Jock.
 * The Rival: To Maki.
 * The Strategist
 * Team Dad and Team Mom

Tooru Hanagata
 * The Big Guy and The Lancer
 * Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Mostly on the field. Off the field we see him as a rather serious but not super scary guy, as much a Deadpan Snarker.
 * Genius Bruiser
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * Team Dad
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky

Kazushi Hasegawa
 * Anime Hair
 * Kozo Shioya
 * Unknown Rival: To Mitsui,
 * You Are Number Six

Kainan University
Shinichi Maki
 * The Ace
 * Ambiguously Brown:.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: By virtue of being both The Ace and The Captain.
 * Beauty Mark
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Nobunaga, when he's not acting like a Bratty Half-Pint
 * The Captain
 * The Comically Serious
 * Embarrassing Nickname: As noted by Jin, his comeback about Akagi looking older than he does was proof that some veins had popped when Hanamichi started a discussion with Kiyota about his age in the middle of the game. Later we get to see him sulking when Hanamichi's friends - particularly Takamiya, who thought he was the team's coach - mistake him for an adult.
 * Expy: Of Magic Johnson
 * Hisao Egawa
 * The Rival: To Fujima.
 * The Strategist
 * Tall, Dark and Handsome: Though he can get pretty snarky sometimes, too.
 * Team Dad
 * Wise Beyond Their Years
 * Younger Than They Look: Lampshaded by Sakuragi - he's 17, by the way.

Nobunaga Kiyota
 * Animal Motif: Sakuragi considers him to be a monkey.
 * Bratty Half-Pint: Manages to pull this despite being 15 already.
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Evil Counterpart: A bratty freshman starter who can jump high and competes against Rukawa. Now who could that be describing?
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Ho Yay: His worship of Maki treads sometimes into this. In the Nagoya episodes, he TOTALLY went googly-eyed when he learned that Maki was well-known outside of their state, as if he was a Fan Girl in front of her favorite Idol Singer.
 * Jerkass
 * Jerkass With a Heart of Gold: Unlike Sakuragi, he's actually very respectful to his teammates.
 * Keet: Although he's only short when compared to other basketball players.
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Jin.
 * Ted Baxter: Subverted: he is a decent player (, but he's more talk than show.
 * Toshiyuki Morikawa
 * Unknown Rival: To Rukawa.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: With Sakuragi.

Soichiro Jin
 * Bishonen
 * Charles Atlas Superpower: A realistic variation. He shoots 200 baskets everyday after practice so it's no surprise he's the best three-point shooter in the series.
 * Nobutoshi Canna
 * Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: With Kiyota.
 * Weak but Skilled: He wanted to be a center, but his lack of physical strength got him almost booted off the team. He went Determinator and decided to train himself well in his other skill: long shooting.

Yoshinori Miyamasu
 * Geek Physique: He looks like an Asian Urkel.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Small, unimposing, nerdy... and an excellent 3-point shooter.
 * Nerd Glasses
 * Weak but Skilled: An extreme example in both dimensions.

Coach Riki Takato
 * Berserk Button: He goes apeshit if his team is having a hard time.
 * Genre Savvy: AND HOLY SHIT, HOW.
 * Paper Fan of Doom
 * The Rival: To Taoka.
 * Team Dad

Sannoh
Eiji Sawakita


 * The Ace
 * Adorkable: In contrast to other aces, he's actually pretty goofy.
 * Always Someone Better
 * Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny: Unless he's being challenged, he very easily distracted.
 * Brutal Honesty: He suffers a lot for it though.
 * Butt Monkey: He mostly brings it on himself though.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: See the above.
 * Chick Magnet
 * Evil Counterpart: He's basically the Rukawa of Sannoh. Ironically enough, he's actually much nicer then Rukawa.
 * Good Parents: In spades. His father completely encourages and supports his son's passion without being a sports dad.
 * Not So Different
 * Victory Is Boring: Why he decides to move to America after the tournament.
 * Worthy Opponent

Masashi Kawata


 * Aloof Older Brother
 * Always Someone Better
 * Animal Motif: He's also another Gorilla.
 * Big Brother Bully: He's kind of a jerkass to his younger brother but...
 * Big Brother Instinct: At the same time he's always looking out for him.
 * Big Brother Mentor: To Sawakita, as well his actual brother.
 * Berserk Button: When Sawakita shows off or insults him. He's especially jealous about how popular Sawakita is with girls.
 * The Big Guy and The Lancer: To Sawakita.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Bald Gori. Guess who gave him that name.
 * Evil Counterpart: To Akagi.
 * Genius Bruiser: Has experience in all five positions.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Masashi is stern, short tempered, and focused while Mikio is easy going, timid, and easily distracted.
 * Stout Strength
 * Worthy Opponent

Kazunori Fukatsu


 * The Leader
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Cloudcuckoolander
 * Serious Business: He's even more serious about his speech style then he is at basketball.
 * Verbal Tic: He used to say "man", but now he says "yo" (in Japanese, it's respectively "besh" and "pyon").

Mikio Kawata


 * Apologizes a Lot: It's partly because Masashi's always scolding him.
 * The Big Guy
 * Big Little Brother: Literally, though he's overshadowed in every other respect.
 * Embarrassing Nickname: Meatball. Provided by Sakuragi.
 * Friendly Enemy
 * Gentle Giant
 * Gonk: While not necessarily the ugliest character in the manga, he's drawn a lot less realistically then the other characters.
 * Naive Newcomer
 * Nice Guy
 * Shrinking Violet: Of the Weeping Willow kind. Some would say he's a genderflipped Huge Schoolgirl.
 * Sibling Yin-Yang: Masashi is stern, short tempered, and focused while Mikio is easy going, timid, and easily distracted.
 * Stout Strength
 * Unskilled but Strong
 * Strong Family Resemblance: He looks exactly like his mother.

Satoshi Ichinokura


 * The Comically Serious: He's always 100% serious at all times, no matter how trivial the situation.
 * Determinator: To the point of parody. He once insisted on finishing through all his exams despite having a severe case of appendicitis.
 * Evil Counterpart: Slightly, both he and Mitsui are insane determinators. The only difference is that his specialty lies in defense while Mitsui's is in three-pointers.
 * Gradual Grinder: He is this trope personified. He isn't very tall or athletic, but his sheer willpower will tire anyone out.

Other characters
Haruko Akagi
 * Akiko Hiramatsu
 * All Love Is Unrequited: Between her, Sakuragi and Rukawa. Played for Laughs, obviously.
 * Cute Clumsy Girl
 * Die for Our Ship: Poor, poor Haruko.
 * Joshikousei
 * Moe
 * Naive Everygirl
 * Nice Girl
 * Oblivious to Love
 * Tender Tears: She cries a lot during games. YMMV on whether it's Cry Cute or Inelegant Blubbering.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: With Ayako.
 * Plucky Girl: Not terribly bright in the love fields, but supports her friends with extreme loyalty.
 * Manly Guy's Cute Sister: Sakuragi and Aota even lampshade this.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko: One in training. Lampshaded by Youhei.

Rukawa's fangirls
 * Fan Girls
 * Flat Character
 * Genki Girl: Two of them, the short-haired one and the girl with long hair
 * Girlish Pigtails: The leader
 * Jerkass: The three can be pretty annoying, but the leader takes the cake.
 * Kick the Dog: Said leader slaps Haruko to the ground once, when she defends Sakuragi from their bashing.
 * Valley Girls
 * Woman in White

Sakuragi's friends (Youhei Mito, Yuuji Okusu, Nozomi Takamiya and Chuuichiro Noma "Okusu, Takamiya, Noma: OI!!!"
 * Ambiguously Brown: Takamiya could easily pass off as African-American.
 * And the Rest: The whole gang is usually referred as "Sakuragi, Youhei, and the others --"


 * Badass Mustache: Noma
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Against Mitsui's gangsters. Specially noticeable when
 * Delinquents
 * Dye Hard: Okusu.
 * Eighties Hair: Okusu's curly pompadour.
 * Fat Bastard: Averted with Takamiya, who may be fat and all but has a heart of gold. Though he can get pretty annoying sometimes, he's still very kindhearted when push comes to shove.
 * Five-Man Band
 * The Hero: Sakuragi
 * The Lancer: Youhei
 * The Big Guy: Takamiya
 * The Smart Guy: Noma (by process of elimination, though Yohei is smarter than him)
 * The Chick: Okusu (likewise)
 * Gonk: Takamiya.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The five of them.
 * Kozo Shioya: Takamiya.
 * Nakama: If Sakuragi does need their help, they'll be the first ones to rush to his aid. The fight in the gym was definite proof, as well as their co-joined Crowning Moment of Awesome.
 * Nobutoshi Canna: Okusu.
 * Non-Standard Character Design: Takamiya
 * Toshiyuki Morikawa: Youhei.
 * Younger Than They Look: Noma is 15-16 and already has a thick moustache. Lampshaded when one of 's gangsters calls him "moustache dude" or something.

Norio Hotta
 * Delinquents
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
 * Hochu Otsuka
 * Nakama: To Mitsui.

Youko Shimamura
 * Ascended Extra: In the anime; only appeared in the first frame of the manga.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Though less aloof than the standard.
 * Yamato Nadeshiko
 * Yuko Minaguchi: In the first movie
 * Machiko Toyoshima: TV series.
 * Machiko Toyoshima: TV series.

Tatsumasa Oda
 * The Ace
 * Broken Ace: Nears this in the fillers, due to his pathological need to shake off others's worry about him.
 * Ascended Extra: In the anime; he was only mentioned by Youko in the manga, whose crush on him led her to Sakuragi's fiftieth rejection.
 * Don't You Dare Pity Me!: His Berserk Button.
 * Hirotaka Suzuoki
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold

Tatsuhiko Aouta
 * Butt Monkey
 * The Captain
 * Comically Missing the Point: He tends to regard Hanamichi's physical prowess to judo, despite Hanamichi never having practiced said sport.
 * Hypocrite: Blames Akagi for using Haruko to lure Hanamichi into the basketball team, yet tries to bribe the latter with pictures of their common crush to convince him into joining the judo team.
 * Insane Troll Logic: His later appearances mostly follow a pattern: someone, usually Sakuragi, does something; Aouta cites it as proof that he was born to practice judo; he's either called on this trope or completely ignored.
 * Lolicon: Sakuragi openly accused him of being this. Not that the photos of young Haruko that he used to try bribing him into the judo club helped.
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Akagi, lampshaded more than once.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds
 * Rousing Speech: Aouta's Crowning Moment of Awesome in the series was giving one to.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend

Tetsuo
 * Badass Biker
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Delinquents
 * First-Name Basis
 * Heel Face Turn
 * Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold

Yayoi Aida
 * Cool Big Sis: She teases her much younger brother Hikoichi a lot
 * Hot Scoop
 * Intrepid Reporter
 * Shotacon: Or at least a female Ephebophile: she has a crush on Sendoh.
 * Yuko Nagashima

Eri 
 * Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the third movie
 * Cute Sports Club Manager: Subverted, she may be the assistant of the coach but acts almost as if she was the coach.
 * Hot-Blooded
 * The Ojou: To the point that she's referred to as "ojousan" (a rather familiar nickname for girls of high status)
 * Plucky Girl
 * Tsundere
 * Yumi Touma

Michael Okita
 * The Ace
 * Blue Eyes
 * But Not Too Foreign: Half-American
 * Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the third movie
 * Chivalrous Pervert
 * Hair of Gold
 * Keet
 * Let's Get Dangerous
 * Toshio Furukawa

Ichirou Katsumi
 * Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the third movie
 * Junichi Kanemaru
 * Sempai Kouhai: With Mitsui

Ichiro Mizusawa
 * Akira Ishida
 * Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the fourth movie
 * Fan Boy: Of his former sempai Rukawa
 * Shrinking Violet
 * The Woobie
 * The Woobie

Akane Mizusawa '
 * Canon Foreigner: Appears only in the fourth movie
 * Cool Big Sis
 * Hair of Gold
 * Yamato Nadeshiko
 * Yoshino Takamori