After the practice game against Ryonan, the Shohoku basketball team has gained confidence and momentum. They continue practicing for the summer inter-high prefectural qualifiers. Then Miyagi Ryota (Miyagi), a regular guard who has been hospitalized for some reason, arrives.
He is considered a super problem child as much as Sakuragi, but he is literally the trigger of a serious incident.
Miyagi and Mitsui
Miyagi was an important player in Shohoku, leading the team with his guts and speed, but he was also a brash and cocky kid who was noticed by the upperclassmen and sent to the hospital. Surrounded by a large group of students, Miyagi, as a last resort, targeted the leader of the delinquent group and took him along for the ride.
Soon after his release from the hospital, Miyagi got into a brawl with a group of upperclassmen, including Sakuragi. Among them was the leader of the delinquent group, Hisashi Mitsui (Mitsui), who had also just been discharged from the hospital.
In addition to the cocky Miyagi, Sakuragi is a standout and Nagaregawa has had a hard time on the rooftop, so the Mitsui group, who have been beaten up by the basketball team, take action to destroy the basketball team out of spite.
Sakuragi and Miyagi, who have been at each other’s throats since the brawl, become friends when they realize that they share a common desire to win at basketball for the sake of the girl they have fallen in love with. They are also two people with similar personalities, so they seem to have good chemistry. They also get along well and are relieved, but then Mitsui’s revenge begins.
Mitsui gathers his delinquent friends from other high schools and beats them up in the gymnasium while the Shohoku basketball team is practicing. He planned to destroy the basketball team by cowardly means: if they did not resist, he would beat them up, and if they resisted, he could destroy the team for violent problems.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Last day of basketball team
The Mitsui group that boarded the school insulted the basketball team in every way possible. They even resorted to violence against Miyagi. Nagaregawa and Sakuragi are enraged by the dirt on their prized equipment and court, and decide to pick a fight. I don’t think Ryukawa and Sakuragi have a plan to cover up the violent incident, but ……
After all, although they said they would cover it up, Nagarekawa and Sakuragi begin to fight back with no plan. The two, enraged by the insults to their basketball and teammates, knock down the delinquents. This is a great and exciting scene, in which we can’t help but get excited by the fight scene, which is just like a delinquent manga, and Sakuragi’s unusual physicality and his love for his friends even outside of basketball, but we can’t help but worry that the basketball club may be over. Mito and the other members of Sakuragi’s army join in the fight and seem to have beaten back the delinquents, but Mitsui is not backing down. Mitsui is determined to destroy the basketball club, but then vice-captain Kogure confides in him that Mitsui used to be a member of the basketball club.
Mitsui was once a genius and a famous player in Kanagawa Prefecture. Mitsui, who was in great demand, chose Shohoku High School and was a key member of the Shohoku team that set a goal of winning the national championship with Akagi, who was a big man.
Mitsui and Akagi had a friendly rivalry, and Mitsui grew up together, but repeated injuries and the resulting increased regard not for himself but for Akagi, and the fear that he would never be able to play basketball again, crushed him, and he stopped coming to the gymnasium.
Mitsui’s fixation on promising newcomers such as Miyagi and Sakuragi was not because he was cocky, but because he was still hung up on basketball. He had fallen off the path because he envied them for enjoying what he couldn’t do, and one day hated them for it.
While the gymnasium is in an uproar, the coach, Anzai-sensei, arrives. Mitsui looks at Mr. Anzai and remembers what Mr. Anzai said to him when he was on the verge of giving up in the final of the junior high school prefectural tournament.
If you give up, the game is over.
He has used these words many times in the past to inspire himself. He chose Shohoku because of Anzai Sensei and wanted to win the national championship. Various thoughts ran through his mind and the words that came out were
I want to play basketball. ……
Mitsui’s one simple thought has remained with him for a long time. This is one of the best scenes in which we see Mitsui’s true desire to return to the basketball team and make his dream come true once again.
When the members of Sakuragi’s gang and Hotta (a delinquent who had been hanging out with Mitsui) learn of Mitsui’s feelings, they protect the basketball team by taking the blame themselves, and the case is settled. Mitsui was also able to return to the basketball team with a new heart.
Shohoku reborn
With the addition of new students Ryukawa and Sakuragi, and the return of Miyagi and Mitsui, Shohoku made a fresh start, and the team members were even more fired up for the qualifying rounds.
Mitsui, who had been the main culprit of this incident, was able to put aside his pride and stubbornness, cut his hair, and put in his teeth to start from scratch to cooperate with the team. Shohoku, which had been called “weak” up until then, challenges the Inter-High School Championships with its army of problem children!
Prefectural Preliminary Round First Round vs Miuradai High School
The first match was against Miuradai! As a weak team, Shohoku could not afford to let their guard down. However, the four problem children started from the bench. They were punished by Mr. Anzai.
Shohoku was gradually losing ground, and the members vowed never to fight again. Anzai agreed, and the best Shohoku team was finally unveiled. Miyagi carried the ball, Akagi played inside, and Mitsui showed his outside shooting ability.
Shohoku won the game by a large margin without suffering. Shohoku won the match by a large margin without suffering any hardship, and this was a sensational appeal to the strong teams in the Kanagawa area. However, Sakuragi left the game after a brain dunk on the opposing team’s captain. Although he became famous, the result was far from satisfactory for him.
Shohoku went on to win the second, third, and fourth rounds, and as expected, this year’s Shohoku was very strong! Shohoku’s strength this year is their ability to score points quickly, starting with Miyagi, who is the leader of the team, and then Akagi, Nagaregawa, and Mitsui, who are all good at scoring points. However, Sakuragi was plagued by fouls and lost confidence.
The next game was against Shoyo High School, the second-ranked team in Kanagawa Prefecture last year. Sakuragi’s goal is to keep his opponent from getting eliminated and to be more prominent than Nagaregawa. Who will win the Shohoku vs. Shoyo match?
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
