Fans were pretty satisfied with the first game of the Slam Dunk All-Island Tournament, overall!
Though, to be honest, the scene where Minami Tsuyoshi remembered why he had started playing basketball in the first place because of Rukawa Kaede's serious attitude toward the game, then resolved to turn over a new leaf after his most respected Coach Kitano brought a group of elementary school fans to watch Toyotama play, felt a little contrived!
And it wasn't as exciting as Shohoku's games against Kainan, Ryonan, or even Shoyo, but it was still above par.
After all, it was only the first game. Toyotama was probably just an appetizer, so there was no real need to spend too much time on them!
Fans who had watched the latest episode of Slam Dunk were fired up by the sight of Sannoh walking away at the end.
Fan groups were more active than ever, spending the next few days discussing Shohoku's clash with Sannoh!
After all, the All-Island Tournament was different from the previous prefectural games. There were five games in five days, and whoever won all five would be champion.
But Slam Dunk fans weren't even thinking about the teams Shohoku might face in the last three games anymore. Sannoh's entrance and the way they were depicted in the story had given many highly invested fans the overwhelming impression that this team was practically invincible.
Could Shohoku win?
Even veteran 2D fans who firmly believed that the protagonist always won couldn't help worrying about it.
Of course, compared with the fans' concern over whether the protagonist's team could win, the Slam Dunk Animation Production Team was actually even more worried—and reluctant to see it end.
After all, to ensure that four episodes of the Slam Dunk anime aired smoothly each week, the Animation