Harlem Beat

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
From bottom-left to top-right: Mizuki, Naruse, Kiriko, Sawamura, Kobayashi, Kosuke, Sakurai, Umakure, and Imagawa.


Harlem Beat (ハーレム・ビート, Hāremu Biito) is a 1994 basketball manga by Nishiyama Yuriko, known in U.S as “Harlem Beat” from volume 1-9 and “Rebound” from volume 10-29.

Naruse “Narucho” Tohru (or “Nate Torres” in Tokyopop version) just wanted to be someone; he tried on basketball club only to find himself ended up as a mere benchwarmer. A chance meeting with his Childhood Friends Kusuda Mizuki brought him to the world of streetball, and after his unexpected win against famous streetball player Shu, Naruse renewed his resolve to be a basketball player. Along the way he met Ozaki Kosuke and Sawamura Masahiro, and then together with Mizuki, the four of them formed a streetball team named Scratch.

Naruse’s progressions as basketball player proved to be a great asset to his high school team, Johnan. With supports of Sakurai Shuuji, his senpai; Yabe Kiriko and Imagawa Kiyoshi, the team managers; Umakure Hiroaki, team captain; Kobayashi Sumisugu, and other members of the team, Naruse tackled the world of high school basketball and continued to mature as a player.

Not to be confused with Harlem Beat wa Yoake Made by Kazusa Takashima.


Tropes used in Harlem Beat include: