Real: Volume 10

by Takehiko Inoue, 210 pages

As Takahashi and his friends avoid the dreaded pool (or, more accurately, the dreaded physical therapy coach who runs it), Nomiya readies himself for the pro tryouts and Togawa readies himself for an all together different kind of test.

Togawa's so strong, it's easy to forget he's got fears, too.  It makes me happy that his friend (girlfriend? I'm not sure they know, either) Azumi isn't about to be left behind and plans to strive toward her own goals.

Oh, Takahashi!  It's taken him so long to get to the point where he can let himself have a goal, let alone feel the ambition to fight for it.  I want to cry, and he hasn't even mastered picking a ball up off the floor yet.

Nomiya cracks me up!  And makes me want to give him a fist bump.  He's a little awesome.

And so is this series.  Read it.  *foist*

Real: Volume 9

by Takehiko Inoue, 206 pages

Nomiya is absolutely determined to play pro basketball.  But if he's going to play, he needs to decide what kind of point guard he wants to be and put all his energy into fulfilling that ideal.  Meanwhile, Takahashi's stratified world-view is further shaken up by the arrival of his new roommate, Shiratori, the larger-than-life (figuratively and literally) pro wrestler known to his adoring fans as Scorpion.  How can someone so intimidating and strong look to broken Takahashi as a mentor?

How I love Nomiya.  He's a dreamer who understands that dreams are only obtained by hard work and a clear, honest understanding of both himself and those around him.  That's how teamwork works, no?  By encouraging himself, he encourages others.  So when he goes and informs Takahashi--his former high school teammate with whom he was never friends--that he's going to overcome his past failings and accomplish greatness, he plants the seed of an idea in his dumbfounded audience's weary, frightened heart.  A chemical reaction, he says.  And he is going to be the catalyst.  The last three pages give me happy, hope-filled goose bumps.

Real: Volume 8

by Takehiko Inoue, 210 pages

The Tigers discuss their next move as they drown their sorrows and celebrate their future with beer and karaoke and just about tackle Togawa when he admits to having made a promise to, and then gotten a reprieve from, the coach of the Dreams, a rival team, who very much wants to recruit him. Nomiya hangs with the guys but feels unmoored since he lost his job due to his boss going out of business, so he drives back up to Nagano to visit the girl whose mobility he took and whom he considers a friend, much to her amazement (and the fact that she seems to be starting to see him that way, too, probably amazes her more than anything else). And Takahashi pushes forward and renews his painful but necessary rehabilitation while his father navigates unfamiliar waters by buying a cell phone and sending (and accidentally resending, multiple times) his first ever text message--words of love and encouragement to his son.

Ack, this series makes me want to cry, it is so good.

Real: Volume 7

by Takehiko Inoue, 220 pages

The Tigers are gearing up for the first game in the preliminaries to the National Championship. But what can they really hope to achieve with only five guys and no coach?

The realism in this series impresses me more and more all the time. I can't recommend it enough. Not into sports? Me, either. This isn't The Mighty Ducks. Neither is it "Hallmark Hall of Fame". Real is about getting out of bed and facing each day's challenges with all the hope and strength you can muster; and if you can store a little away for the next day, do, as you--or the friend at your side--just might need it.

Real: Volume 6

by Takehiko Inoue, 212 pages

Tomomi inspires his detached coworkers to appreciate and live in the now. And when he's not working, he's hanging out with Togawa and the Tigers, making noise on the bench and shooting layups while they take breathers as they prepare for the preliminaries for the Tokyo Regional Tournament.

Takahashi, however, is having a hard time moving forward at all. When the hospital calls in his long-absent father to take him out for a few days, the reunion is painful and awkward. Father and son will have to work through a lot of past baggage and present uncertainties if their relationship is going to find any measure of healing.

Tomomi serves both as a well-defined character in himself and as an "in" for the uninitiated reader as he makes Togawa and the guys explain the points system in wheelchair basketball. I like that he is neither their mascot nor their coach. He's just a friend and a fan and sees no difference between them and himself, except that maybe they have a little clearer vision of where their path is heading--in this case, the tournament. And they quickly learn to see him with the same clarity.

In contrast, Takahashi can't accept Tomomi's criticism yet without feeling the gap in their circumstances, but at the same time he needs people who won't let him off the hook. When he's a jerk, he needs to be told. When he's giving up, he needs a slap upside the head. And when he's breaking down in tears as he is in the last chapter, he needs someone to listen to and acknowledge and cry along with him. I hope when the next volume comes, we'll see that his father, who obviously loves him despite having once walked away from the family, has learned a few hard-won lessons in the intervening years and is able to do all those things for his son...and for himself.

So good, so good, so good.

Real: Volume 5

by Takehiko Inoue, 210 pages

Three lives linked by tragedy and basketball.

Hapless delinquent Tomomi Nomiya drops out of high school following a motorcycle accident from which he walked away but which left his passenger without the use of her legs. Never more than a mediocre student with a love of basketball, now he finds himself unemployed, directionless, and incapacitated by guilt. But when he stumbles upon a wheelchair basketball practice, he's inspired to challenge one of the players and maybe start facing his own demons.

Togawa Kiyoharu, once a star sprinter, has lost one of his legs below the knee due to a bone disease and is now trying to learn to love wheelchair basketball the way he once loved running. The pressure he puts on himself and his teammates is high, but so are the goals he's aiming for.

Takahashi Hisanobu is a popular student, top of his class, and captain of the basketball team. When an accident leaves him paralyzed from the chest down, he loses his identity and his faith in himself. Always a harsh judge of others, he turns his scathing criticism inward and is demoralized by what he sees. If he's going to face his physical hurdles head-on, he'll have to overcome his emotional ones first.

Strong character development is the heart and soul of this series. As the three young men deal with their pasts, presents, and as-yet-unknown futures, they have to dig deep to find the determination and confidence to move forward and to recognize and hold onto people they can trust, be they family, friends, physicians, or each other.

This is not a soft-edged, sugar-coated after-school special. These characters' lives and struggles are realistic and hard. They cry, they swear, they throw punches. The scenes of Hisanobu's grueling, humiliating physical therapy sessions are painful to witness. When Nomiya pushes through his debilitating fear to finally get his driver's license, you want to cheer. I've lost count of the number of times this series has made me cry. Luckily, there's also a healthy dose of humor (much of it thanks to earnest Nomiya's tactless honesty). And Inoue's expressive art is as realistic and affecting as the stories it conveys, with or without words.

A sportswriter and basketball fanatic, Inoue has written about the game before (in the long-running, teen action / comedy Slam Dunk), but here the sport takes backseat to the complex interior lives of the characters who love it and need it.

Real won an Excellence Prize at the 2001 Japan Media Arts Festival. The judges' citation stated that although they gave Inoue the award, what they really wanted was the next book. It's good. Read it.