Slam Dunk, Anime, Japan, 1990s
Extremely influential cartoon. In China I remember everybody from grade school to college watching this show.
Basic plot: Hanamichi Sakuragi (cough*JR Henderson*cough) is a troubled teenager who had been rejected by 50 girls. Sakuragi then falls in love with the only girl who does not reject him, Akagi Haruko, and to impress her joins the Shohoku High School basketball team. Sakuragi is a natural athlete despite never having played basketball. However, the team's best player is a guy named Rykawa Kaede, whom Haruko loves...
The jersey of the Shohoku basketball team was modeled after the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls... and Hanamichi Sakuragi is loosely interpreted as Dennis Rodman. Imagine Rodman loving a woman who loves Jordan... crazy
(Note: Sakuragi is actually the red haired guy.)
My MVP Valentine, TV series, Taiwan, 2002
Basic plot: (of course influenced by "Slam Dunk") Duan ChenFeng is the best high school player in the country. Hours before the final game, his motorcycle hit the sister of his rival, Yunshang High School's Ming An (aka "Iceman"). Leaving her unconscious in the hospital, he arrived at the game, won the game and MVP award, only to feel extremely guilty afterwards. He swore to take care of the girl Angel (Ming Juan), even if it meant to drop out of school and separating from his sweet and loyal girlfriend Tian Yuxi. Things got a little tricky when Angel fell in love with him and a rich but affectionate Liu Hua (aka "Prince") fell in love with Tian Yuxi, who has a dream of bringing her rag-tag high school team to a national powerhouse.
Duan ChenFeng is played by Taiwan's star player Yen Hsing Su while healing an injury. Yen, a 183cm guard nicknamed "Basketball genie", started to play for Chinese Taipei at the age of 19 and led the 2003 FIBA-Asia tournament in assists. This TV series made him so popular across East & SE Asia that he quitted playing basketball altogether.
A basketball trivia: Yen and another important actor in this series, Kao Tien Chi (176cm PG) had both led Taiwan's high school league (HBL) in assists. Kao was far more unsuccessful as a pro player but he was mostly noted by this story: in the 2002 HBL award ceremony after the tournament, while receiving the "assist leader" award, he said "While I may have the best stats, the best PG in the tournament is Chen Shih Nien (now in the Chinese Taipei NT), and I wish to share this award with him!" The crowd cheered as the two opponents hugged. A similar scene took place in "My MVP Valentine".
Extremely influential cartoon. In China I remember everybody from grade school to college watching this show.
Basic plot: Hanamichi Sakuragi (cough*JR Henderson*cough) is a troubled teenager who had been rejected by 50 girls. Sakuragi then falls in love with the only girl who does not reject him, Akagi Haruko, and to impress her joins the Shohoku High School basketball team. Sakuragi is a natural athlete despite never having played basketball. However, the team's best player is a guy named Rykawa Kaede, whom Haruko loves...
The jersey of the Shohoku basketball team was modeled after the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls... and Hanamichi Sakuragi is loosely interpreted as Dennis Rodman. Imagine Rodman loving a woman who loves Jordan... crazy
(Note: Sakuragi is actually the red haired guy.)
My MVP Valentine, TV series, Taiwan, 2002
Basic plot: (of course influenced by "Slam Dunk") Duan ChenFeng is the best high school player in the country. Hours before the final game, his motorcycle hit the sister of his rival, Yunshang High School's Ming An (aka "Iceman"). Leaving her unconscious in the hospital, he arrived at the game, won the game and MVP award, only to feel extremely guilty afterwards. He swore to take care of the girl Angel (Ming Juan), even if it meant to drop out of school and separating from his sweet and loyal girlfriend Tian Yuxi. Things got a little tricky when Angel fell in love with him and a rich but affectionate Liu Hua (aka "Prince") fell in love with Tian Yuxi, who has a dream of bringing her rag-tag high school team to a national powerhouse.
Duan ChenFeng is played by Taiwan's star player Yen Hsing Su while healing an injury. Yen, a 183cm guard nicknamed "Basketball genie", started to play for Chinese Taipei at the age of 19 and led the 2003 FIBA-Asia tournament in assists. This TV series made him so popular across East & SE Asia that he quitted playing basketball altogether.
A basketball trivia: Yen and another important actor in this series, Kao Tien Chi (176cm PG) had both led Taiwan's high school league (HBL) in assists. Kao was far more unsuccessful as a pro player but he was mostly noted by this story: in the 2002 HBL award ceremony after the tournament, while receiving the "assist leader" award, he said "While I may have the best stats, the best PG in the tournament is Chen Shih Nien (now in the Chinese Taipei NT), and I wish to share this award with him!" The crowd cheered as the two opponents hugged. A similar scene took place in "My MVP Valentine".
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