the reputation of hisashi mitsui
A major theme that isn’t explicitly stated (yet very prevalent) in Slam Dunk is reputation and pressure, which is explored through the Shohoku team as a whole, but also through two of Shohoku’s starting five. I had already touched upon how the topic of image and reputation was explored through Sakuragi’s character and development, but I believe that it's a very important theme for Mitsui’s character as well.
Unlike Sakuragi (who had very little expectations or pressure from others), Mitsui is a boy whose reputation precedes him. He was nicknamed as ‘MVP’ by practically everyone (something that bugged him) after he had led his team to winning nationals in his third year of middle school. This nickname follows him around, even in his third year of highschool. I believe this shows how Mitsui was expected to always excel and do well in basketball, by practically everyone around him. He was a kid that had lots of potential even from a young age, but his talent in basketball also became something that screwed him over.
In Slam Dunk, it’s shown Mitsui isn’t very academically gifted, initially failing many of the subjects in his exam. After Akagi and Kogure left the team to focus on school, Mitsui still sticks with the team despite having college entrance exams. I think that suggests that Mitsui only really excelled at basketball, and this might have led to more pressure (from himself, and also the people around him). After all, if he didn’t have basketball, then what would be left? This extra pressure to excel likely added to how strenuous his knee injury was for him mentally, and also part of why he was so impatient about waiting to recover. And when he couldn’t make it in time for the preliminaries and the basketball team couldn’t make it far, I think he was really disappointed (and also felt excluded).
At this point, Mitsui’s reputation shifted. A change in appearance was used to depict this shift aesthetically, as he looked more intimidating and rough compared to his middle school years. He changed his mentality too, and his view of basketball became more of a hate towards it. He had also become more known as a thug than a basketball player. I think part of this was denial, but also because he was scared of going back; after all, he had an injury and I feel like he didn’t want to disappoint again. He had put a lot of pressure on himself to excel and carry Shohoku to victory, and I think he gave up on that goal.
When Mitsui came back to the team and played in the preliminaries, he was recognized by others as the former MVP. Again, unlike Sakuragi, he was expected to excel and do well, and he wasn’t underestimated. But at the same time, some players had also written him off as a guy who had already hit his peak. And to an extent this is true; Mitsui’s accolades and accomplishments were at their best in his middle school years. Mitsui understood this too, and it led to him losing confidence in himself, especially as a player. As he played in more and more games and was matched up against players that were practically the opposite type of player as him (something I will touch upon in another essay LMAO), he was being referred to by both coaches and players as streaky, and against Ryonan, he had ran out of stamina and collapsed. He showed his regret for his time off, and he blames himself for wasting so much time.
Mitsui’s current abilities were practically in the shadow of how dominant he had been before, but towards the end of the series he overcame his reputation.
Against Sannoh, Mitsui wasn’t underestimated at all, as they had known his former accolades and abilities. But he was guarded tightly, and it led to Mitsui quickly losing stamina. In this match he acknowledged that he had already reached his limit, and he even said that all he had were threes. But instead of giving up, he persisted and sank his threes.
I also want to mention how Mitsui referred to himself by saying “I’m Mitsui, someone who doesn’t know when to give up”. The point of Akagi being asked “What are you?” by Uozumi was so he’d stop comparing himself to someone else, but I think this question for Mitsui was needed to make him stop comparing himself to his past self. At this point, I believe Mitsui realized that he was a different person and player from around that time, and that he shouldn’t chase after his former accomplishments/abilities. In Mitsui’s statement, he doesn’t refer to how good he is or was or call himself an MVP, but simply Mitsui — a guy with a lot of persistence and determination for a sport that he loves. I think this moment signified how Mitsui rose above the shadow that was his past image and reputation and finally became “Mitsui” instead of “MVP Mitsui”.
I also want to add that Sakuragi and Mitsui respectively carrying their team in morale and points (Mitsui scored 25 points in the game, the second highest scorer overall after Sawakita’s 26) against Sannoh was needed for their character development. Sakuragi had gone from someone who didn’t have much going for him much expected of him, to an integral part of Shohoku that was relied on to change the momentum of the game. And Mitsui had changed from someone that had been thought of as a “has been” that had already reached his peak, to a guy that persevered and fulfilled his promise of carrying his team to victory.
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