physical touch in slam dunk
There is a big difference between the dynamics of friendships involving two girls, compared to a friendship with two boys. Girls are more likely to be communicative with how they appreciate each other. Boys don’t communicate this verbally, due to not wanting to come off as “cheesy” or “corny”. Instead, they show their affection/appreciation towards each other through physical touch. While not all guys are like this, a lot of boys are very touchy with each other, even coming off as gay at times.
Slam Dunk presents an accurate portrayal of male friendships. Their relationships with each other reflects on their age and maturity, and I believe it is part of why Shohoku and their dynamic as a team is so likable.
Something that I believe is notable is that the boys aren’t emotionally vulnerable with each other. Both Ryota Miyagi and Hanamichi Sakuragi are shown to have rough backgrounds, but neither of them are shown to tell their teammates about it. And they aren’t visibly depressed in front of the team.
I think the most emotionally vulnerable moments are from Mitsui and Akagi, who are both the oldest of the team.
Mitsui, who had hid his feelings of wanting to go back to basketball, finally broke down when Anzai walked back into the gym. Mitsui clearly did not intend to break down like this, I think he was just caught in the moment. The guys didn’t say anything about this, partially because they were still pissed at Mitsui for what happened, but also because they probably wouldn’t have known how to handle that at the moment.
The moment in the series to me that signified the most about how the boys aren’t vulnerable to each other was when Akagi cried, and said that the team was amazing. The guys didn’t comfort him, but instead were like “Why you crying?” and then went on to make fun of him. I think this is realistic compared to other series where the guys are all comforting each other, as they are teen boys and they don’t want to come off as soft.
Another vulnerable moment in the series was when Miyagi and Sakuragi both cried in front of each other because of their bad luck with girls. This wasn’t intentional either, and I think it was the result of the heat of the moment.
Instead of being affectionate through words, physical touch is used to show the boys’ friendliness with each other.
An example of this is during their games. When the team scores, they high five each other, fist bump, or pat each other. While this is typical behavior for teams, it is used to show Rukawa growing closer to the team, as he ends up engaging in this as well.
Additionally, when Shohoku lost against Kainan, Sakuragi cried. Akagi doesn’t say anything to comfort him in particular, but he pats Sakuragi and walks with him. I think this showed his care for Sakuragi, and he felt bad seeing him like that, it just wasn’t portrayed with words.
And when Akagi cried after winning against Ryonan, Sakuragi wraps his arm around Akagi and tells him to come line up with him. Again, nothing particularly comforting is said verbally, but it’s shown through actions.
Another big moment, arguably one of the biggest in the series, was Sakuragi and Rukawa going up to each other and high fiving after winning against Sannoh. Rukawa is shown before this to have high fived or fist bumped other members of the team, but not Sakuragi. Due to their “rivalry”, the two didn’t say anything and just looked at each other for a second before turning away. However, their high five signified how the two had grown close, as teammates and as friends.
Showing emotional vulnerability and closeness through physical touch is very effective and provides a sense of realism, and I believe that Slam Dunk would not have been as strong of a series if the physical touch between the team was not presented.
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