Sakuragi Hanamichi 
Enough talking about the plot, let's talk about everyone's favorite redhead! From beginning to end, Sakuragi sees
himself as a genius and he motivates himself through the story by constantly repeating it. Sometimes he does
doubt his status but never admits it out loud, as to not hurt his own pride. But to me, it only shows that
he actually rationalizes his own capabilities and limits and is always thinking how to better himself. That's because Sakuragi's real genius comes from how fast he learns through practice and observing others (even
when it's someone he'd rather not look at cough cough Rukawa < 3) and not magically acquiring skills from
god knows where (looking at you, other spokon that aren't sd... jk they're probably okay, just not for me).
Still, our beloved genius is adorable whenever he calls himself one so who would even blame him?
Speaking of which, everything about Hanamichi and all he does is so cute to me ～　( * ´ ▽ `*) starting from
his own name of all things, bro's really called Hanamichi Sakuragi, am I the only one reading this??
Sakuragi is a very charismatic character of course, but the has this prominent innocent and childish side of his that can't help but bring out whenever Haruko's around, whenever he's throwing a fit for the most ridiculous things or he's being ridiculed by Rukawa, which is one of his many charm points to me.
There's just too many moments where I just want to hug him because he's too cute while being absolutely undreasonable and I don't understand if I'm just blinded or he's really that cute ><
Of course, throughout the story Sakuragi matures, even if only slightly, sometimes even bringing himself to
put rivalries aside to collaborate and win. He blames himself many times for mistakes he's done, even reacts in very emotional ways, but he always
manages to pick himself up again and get practicing. His determination is so motivating and seeing him
training by himself just puts a smile on my face. It's so lovely being testimony to his development as a character, and it doesn't even take too long to see some sort of result or at least see that he really wants to put all of him in
this effort of becoming a good player and doing it for himself, instead of doing it for the exclusive purpose of
chasing a girl. Seeing Sakuragi actually falling in love with the sport itself is the most captivating and beautiful
part of it all and I honestly feel bad for readers who have dropped this too soon to even see this. Or not! Their
fault they dropped it cause it was "too slow" or because "sakuragi is annoying". Shut the hell up!!!!!! 
.gif)
Hanamichi Sakuragi is a character from the 1990 manga Slam Dunk and is regarded as one of the most popular
and influential sports manga of all time. It's all for good reasons too, it starts as an easy and fun read and a
simple plot, but later evolves and becomes more and more intense, with conflict and losses alike and more
intricate stories and plot points.
To me one of the reasons why Slam Dunk is such an easy and fun read and always comes as a
recommendation is because of its core, its audacious and bold protagonist, Hanamichi! 
Sakuragi to me is definitely the series' beating heart and is the reason I've picked it up in the first place.
He presents himself as loud and stubborn, somewhat of a stereotypical delinquent type with a short fuse. He's
just the kind of guy that doesn't go unnoticed! Speaking of being noticed, Sakuragi is unfortunately unlucky
with girls and has been rejected fifty times upon entering high school, making him gloomy in return. (Which is
honestly really cute, even as a first time reader I just wanted to comfort him...) That's until he meets the girl
of his dreams and, as a way to impress her, joins the basketball team on her request, although his beginnings
are rocky. Sakuragi's inexperience as a beginner is also a great way to rope in the readers who have never
interacted with basketball in any way. The series never demands the reader to be an expert and you get
to learn through Sakuragi's worldview, also bringing yourself to root for him. After all, it's kind of impossible not
wanting to root for such a hopeless romantic who's in all this just to rizz a girl (But the real question is, will
he rizz with the ballin or will the ballin rizz him?!?!?). It's all so cute! 
I know I'm repeating myself a lot here and it might look like I don't have much to say, and that's because I really don't. Sakuragi is such an iconic character that has been talked about a lot outside of the Slam Dunk sphere and even the shonen jump sphere. He's regarded as one of the most popular shonen protagonists of the 90s, is beloved by so many at the point of always being first in SD's character popularity polls, everyone loves this guy!! A tetxbook japanese delinquent with fire red hair with a short temper and plenty of determination who is also constantly falling into the moe zone because he's just a dummy in love, he's everything the guys the gals and the gays want!! Really, what's there not to like? And what do *I* have to add to the discourse? Not much in particular. Sakuragi has just been a very important character to me in the past year and even when I'll get over Slam Dunk I'm not sure whether I'll be able to give him recycling bin treatment and forget about him, because I'm not sure I can. His personality and character is so magnetic, he really is unforgettable whether you like him or not, whether you find him cute or an absolute annoyance. I love collecting figures of him, I love it whenever I re-read chapters because he's there and he makes me smile and I want him to keep doing that for me. I want to keep him by my side for a bit longer. I feel a bit bad for not elaborating further on why I love him so much but it also comes with some difficulty. I think Sakuragi really is a character that speaks for himself and that describing him to someone else is never really something you can do accurately. And that's why I'm always encouraging others to actually pick it up and discover Sakuragi and Slam Dunk for themselves, let them empathize with him and let them see the world through his eyes like I did.
You thought this was over? Time for a bonus section, the one we've all been waiting for! The crucial question...
am I a pompadour guy or a buzzcut guy? It's a secret of course ☆
Uhh, I'm sure I would have answered buzzcut for sure not until long ago but now that I'm reading the first
volumes fot the upteenth time, I'm falling for pompadour Hanamichi once again!!! Both styles fit him and I'd want to pet him
regardless... I'm really bad at choosing and I'm sorry for giving
such a non-answer but both are good! Both is the right answer. ♪ It really depends from which chapter I read
last aha ～
(also... noticed how he would have never even cut his hair if it wasn't for Rukawa...? I got your attention right?! Then maybe you should head to the super secret ruhana shrine next! Or the not so secret Rukawa shrine if
you haven't read that already. Or you can head to the collection page to see what I stuff I have of Sakuragi.)
Thank you for reading !!
