An Exciting and Romance Basketball Story - Dear Boys

Hi! For all the basketball fans or lovers, I am recommending an anime series and manga to you. It is called "Dear Boys".

Dear Boys (ディア・ボーイズ, Dia Bōizu) is a sports manga by Hiroki Yagami. As of June 2007, the Dear Boys series has 25 volumes in total, including the Dear Boys: The Early Days and Dear Boys: Act 2. In 2007, Dear Boys: Act 2 was awarded the Kodansha Manga Award for the shōnen manga.

Honestly speaking, I do not know that the Dear Boys is a shonen manga until I checked it from the Wikipedia. So I think this manga is my 1st shonen manga which I read it in a few years back. Well, I only managed to read the first series, that is "Dear Boys : The Early Days".

I also watched the Dear Boys anime series, I think it is good. Its story is followed the manga. Mostly all the basketball teams of other schools are shown in the snime series. But my favourite is the final match between the Mizuho High School and East Honmoko Academy. I think it is great in both the anime series and manga. I enjoyed it very much.

Title        : Dear Boys / Hoop Days
Genre      : Sports, Romance, Tournament, School-life
Episodes : 26
Story :
The story concerns the progress of the Mizuho High School basketball team as it attempts to win the prefectural championship. It also deals heavily with the relationship between the players on the team, especially the two main characters Kazuhiko Aikawa and Takumi Fujiwara.
At the outset of the manga, the team is in trouble, as there are not enough players to play a game. Additionally, the coach has left after a conflict with Fujiwara. However, Aikawa transfers to Mizuho and through his enthusiasm and sheer love of the game, infuses the few remaining members with a sense of purpose.
Despite the fact that there are only five of them (i.e., they have no substitutes), they manage to get the coach of the girls' team to coach them as well. At first, she seems very strict, but later reveals her attachment to her "Dear Boys". Together, they do their best to make their dreams come true and take their team to the top of the prefecture.
The manga isn't only focused on the Mizuho team, but also on several rival teams. In fact, the mangaka spends a bit of time developing the characters of other teams' members.

Characters :

Mizuho High School Team
Kazuhiko Aikawa
Aikawa Kazuhiko (哀川 和彦)

• Basketball Jersey: Number 7
• Height: 175 cm
• Nickname: Aika, Ai-chan
• Birthday: 9 June
• Position: Small Forward

He was the one who convinced remaining players to play basketball again. Mutsumi had once said that it was as if Aikawa reminded them all about how much fun they could've all had playing basketball together. He was once the trump card and captain of the Tendōji High's basketball team. He plays the position of point forward in the team. He also has a knack of being able to jump higher than most people, and that makes up for his height disadvantage. Even though he is short, he is able to dunk.
He is considered to be a genius as can be seen in anime and it is seen that his skills seems to improve with every game that he plays. He is also the best friend of Masato Sawanobori, the star player and point guard of Tendōji High School and Fujiwara Takumi, the captain of the Mizuho basketball team.
He is always able to encourage the other players no matter how hard the game is. He is romantically involved with Mai Moritaka of the girl's team.

Takumi Fujiwara
Fujiwara Takumi (藤原 拓弥)

• Basketball Jersey: Number 4
• Height: 184 cm
• Nickname: Fujiwara-chan, Taku
• Position: Point Guard

Fujiwara is a second-year student at Mizuho High. He is often nicknamed as Taku by his close friends and seems romantically involved with Mutsumi Akiyoshi of the girls' team. Fujiwara also appears to be very close to his long-time friend, Miura Ranmaru.
He was involved in an incident where he was provoked into punching the coach in his first year. The coach has since transferred to another school and Mizuho's boys basketball team was banned from any tournament for a year. He is not to be mistaken with Initial D's Takumi Fujiwara.
He has an old injury on his right knee which came from one of his games involving Miura and was ordered by Anzaki to rehabilitate his knee and make it more flexible to improve his playing ability in time for the prefectural tournament.
Fujiwara is the captain of Mizuho basketball team and plays the position of point guard. He attended Mizuho Junior High and was Miura's teammate at that time as well.
As seen in the anime and said by Aikawa that he(Takumi) is the reason due to which Aikawa can push himself way beyond his limits.It is denied by Aikawa that he(Fuji) was equal to Masato Sawanabori of Tendouji in skills.

Ranmaru Miura
Miura Ranmaru (三浦 蘭丸)

• Basketball Jersey: Number 8
• Height: 173 cm
• Position: Shooting Guard

Miura has a calm and quiet personality. He has been Fujiwara's best friend since middle school. Miura was seen not to have good stamina at the beginning of the series. He plays the shooting guard position and is the three pointers of the team. It was mentioned in the manga that he would rather be scoring points then being the playmaker of the team.He is also talented at stealing balls from his opponents. He is also the one who can shoot Fade Away Three Pointers.
During the match versus Kadena Nishi, he is forced to shoot NBA 3 pointers to help Mizuho win the match. Unfortunately, he was injured due to a foul made by Kenta Shimabukuro. He was then rested for the subsequent match.
Miura attended Mizuho Junior High and was Fujiwara's teammate at that time as well. He blamed himself for causing Fujiwara's knee injury although it is not his fault. In the anime, Keiko Ogami of the girls' team seems to have a crush on him.
Fujiwara had intended Miura to, before the start of tournament, become a player to be feared. He wants Miura to be like before, be unpredictable with his pin point passes, judgement and sharp shooting.

Tsutomu Ishii
Ishii Tsutomu (石井 努)

• Basketball Jersey: Number 6
• Height: 190 cm
• Position: Power Forward

Ishii is an extremely short-tempered person. It was highlighted that his weakness is being easily provoked by the opposing team to foul, and is prone to commit four fouls at a crucial time of a match. However, as the team starts to advance to the final, he has grown mature and his skills were also starting to grow more steady and powerful.
He plays the position of power forward in the team. It appears that he and Dobashi are close friends, having played on the same team during middle school. Ishii attended Takakura Junior High. And it says in the episodes that he matches with the big machine.

Kenji Dobashi
Dobashi Kenji (土橋 健二)

• Basketball Jersey: Number 5
• Height: 192 cm
• Nickname: Dobashi-chan, Oyaji
• Position: Center

Dobashi is the largest on team. He resembles Miura and has a quiet personality. Although his legs are not strong, he proves to his teammates that he can steal, rebound and defend better than ever before. He plays the position of center in the team.
He is often called "old man" by Ishii because of his hair and appearance. In the anime, before the prefectural championship, he changed his hairstyle. Dobashi attended Takakura Junior High.
As the story passes, he was one of the pillars for the team and his presence is felt. Whenever he was injured, the team performance will fare badly because everyone expects him to be there being the main guy in defence.

Satomi Anzaki
Anzaki Satomi (杏崎 沙斗未)
Satomi knows Fujiwara and Miura from middle school and is the manager of the boys' team. Currently, she studies at Mizuho High. She used to be active in basketball, but due to an injury she obtained, she is now unable to do so.She seems to be very close with Tōya Takashina who is her classmate.
To Satomi, taking the responsibility of being the team's manager is a new way of contributing to the sport she loves.

 Kyoko Himuro
Himuro Kyōko (氷室 恭子)
Miss Himuro is the coach for the Mizuho High girls' basketball team. However, when the boys' basketball team is reformed, she becomes the coach for both teams. She comes off as an extremely strict coach, but is actually very fond of her 'Dear Boys'.
In episode 7, the preliminary round for the girls' team is approaching and she wants to focus on the girls. As such, she appoints Satomi Anzaki to be the manager of the boys' team.

East Honmoko Acadamy Team

Gen Yakushimaru (薬師丸 元, Yakushimaru Gen) 

He is the captain of East Honmoku basketball team. He is the one who scored the winning point at the last second in the final of the prefectural tournament in the anime, which caused Mizuho to lose the game against East Honmoku. He is also considered to be the only one who is able to control his teammate Yuito.

 

Yuito Hoshina (保科 唯人, Hoshina Yuito)

He had a crush on Satomi Anzaki since they've first met. In one episode, he even confessed to her that he loves her, although she rejected him. He is the star player of the team. He mostly shoots dunks and 2 pointers. He has a cocky attitude at times and he's usually not serious. He considers Aikawa to be his rival and dreams of defeating him one day.

 

Satoshi Kadomatsu (角松 聡, Kadomatsu Satoshi)

He specializes in 3-pointers and can even shoot them from the half-court line.

East Honmoko Academy Team

                                                              Mizuko High School Team

The theme songs of the anime sereies are : Opening Theme: Sound of Bounce by DA PUMP Ending Theme: Baller No Shougou (Baller's Number) by Chris F.

I enjoyed this anime series and manga very much. Besides about the games, there are also stories of love triangles. Personally I like the characters of Aikawa, Satomi and Hoshina. As there are also part 2 of the manga, I think I will going to read it as I only managed to read the part 1 story.

Before I provide the links of manga and anime series, please enjoy some scenes of the anime.

You may refer to the links below for your choice :

Dear Boys Anime

Dear Boys Act 1 (Manga)

Dear Boys Act II (Manga)

Well, enjoy your watching and reading!!! :)