# Dear Boys

Dear Boys (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Hiroki Yagami. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine from June 1989 to January 1997, with its chapters collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. The story concerns the progress of the Mizuho High School basketball team as it attempts to win the prefectural championship. It also deals with the relationship between the players on the team, especially the two main characters Kazuhiko Aikawa and Takumi Fujiwara.
Dear Boys has spawned other manga series, also published in Monthly Shōnen Magazine: Dear Boys The Early Days (1997); Dear Boys Act II (1997–2008); Dear Boys Act 3 (2008–2015); Dear Boys Over Time (2016–2017); and Dear Boys Act 4 (2018–present).
A 26-episode anime television series adaptation of the original series, produced by OB Planning and animated by A.C.G.T, was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April to September 2003. In North America, the series was licensed by Bandai Entertainment and released under the title Hoop Days.
By March 2019, the overall Dear Boys manga series has sold over 45 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 2007, Dear Boys Act II won the 31st Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category.

## Plot

At the outset of the manga, the Mizuho High School basketball 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.

## Characters
### Kazuhiko Aikawa (哀川 和彦, Aikawa Kazuhiko)

    Voiced by: Kōhei Kiyasu (Japanese); Mark Gatha (English)
    He was the one who convinced the 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 small 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 the anime and it is seen that his skills seem 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 difficult the game is.
    He is romantically involved with Mai Moritaka of the girls' team.

### Takumi Fujiwara (藤原 拓弥, Fujiwara Takumi)

    Voiced by: Masaya Matsukaze (Japanese); Ethan Cole (English)
    A second-year student at Mizuho High. He is often nicknamed Taku by his close friends and seems to be 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 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 the 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 why 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 (三浦 蘭丸, Miura Ranmaru)

    Voiced by: Ken Takeuchi (Japanese); Scott Roberts (English)
    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-point specialist of the team. It was mentioned in the manga that he would rather be scoring points than 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 the tournament, become a player to be feared. He wants Miura to be like before, be unpredictable with his pinpoint passes, judgement and sharp shooting.

### Tsutomu Ishii (石井 努, Ishii Tsutomu)

    Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Japanese); Brendan Hunter (English)
    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 committing 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 (土橋 健二, Dobashi Kenji)

    Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese); Lucas Gilbertson (English)
    The largest player in the 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 their main guy in defence.

### Tōya Takashina (高階 トウヤ, Takashina Tōya)

    The first player seen practicing alone in one episode, and later became the sixth member of the boys' team. It was said that he can play any position in a team. He is extremely talented in shooting three pointers, matching up to Miura's level of skill and excellent in rebounds.
    It is said that Takashina was a friend of Ayumi Fuse during middle school.

### Mutsumi Akiyoshi (秋吉 夢津美, Akiyoshi Mutsumi)

    Voiced by: Miki Yoshino (Japanese); Carol-Anne Day (English)
    The captain of the girls' basketball team, and is a close friend of Moritaka's. She seems to be romantically involved with Takumi Fujiwara of the boys' team. She plays as a point guard on the team and used to admire Fujiwara's talent. During the quarter-finals match, she couldn't play because of her emotional distress, and she fouled many times and was benched. But after Fujiwara opened up to her before the finals, she played to her fullest, making Mizuho win.

### Mai Moritaka (森高 麻衣, Moritaka Mai)

    Voiced by: Akiko Kawase (Japanese); Leda Davies (English)
    Mai seems to be romantically involved with Kazuhiko Aikawa and becomes his girlfriend later in the series. Aikawa nicknames her "Pony/Pony tail" because of her long ponytail when he first saw her.
    Her position on the team has never been revealed, neither in the manga nor in the anime. However, after some advice and personal training from Aikawa, Mai has the highest shot percentage among all her teammates when it comes to 3-pointers.

### Keiko Ōgami (大神 恵子, Ōgami Keiko)

    Voiced by: Miho Yamada (Japanese); Cheryl McMaster (English)
    Keiko plays as a center for the girls' team and is the tallest among all her teammates.
    She appears to have a crush on Miura and is proven on two occasions: one when she gave Miura a 'victory sign', and another when Mutsumi remarked if Keiko would get jealous after seeing a couple of girls approach Miura to congratulate him over the team's recent victory.

### Masato Sawanobori (サワンボリ マサト, Sawanobori Masato)

    Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese); Victor Atelevich (English)
    Kazuhiko's best friend and another member of the boys' basketball team at Mizuho High school.

### Igarashi Osamu (五十 嵐修, Osamu Igarashi)

    Voiced by: Takeshi Yamane

### Satomi Anzaki (杏崎 沙斗未, Anazaki Satomi)

    Voiced by: Mamiko Noto
    The manager of the Mizuho team, she was in the same junior high as Fujiwara and Miura (one year below them). She used to be a star player in the female basketball team, but suffered an injury that cut off her career as a player. As a result she's become somewhat withdrawn and bitter, to the point the other players think she's too harsh and cold. Over time, however, she warms up to them and does her best to support them.

### Kyoko Himuro (氷室 京子, Himuro Kyoko)

    Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka
    A homeroom teacher and the coach for the Mizuho female team, she takes it upon herself to save the male basketball team from being shut down for good. Being friends and former teammates with Aikawa's older sister, she arranged his transfer from Tendōji, believing he could become the soul that would bring out the best in the male basketball team. While she can be strict, it becomes clear she's very fond of her "Dear Boys", and wants to see them become the team she knows they can be.

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Hiroki Yagami, Dear Boys was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Magazine from June 1989 to January 1997. Kodansha collected its chapters in 23 tankōbon volumes, released from 16 December 1989 to 17 March 1997. Other related series and sequels, published in the same magazine, have been released:
* Dear Boys The Early Days
    Serialized from February to May 1997; its chapters were collected in a single tankōbon volume, released on 12 August of that same year.
* Dear Boys Act II
    Serialized from July 1997 to November 2008. Its chapters were collected in 30 tankōbon volumes, released from 17 November 1997 to 17 February 2009.
* Dear Boys Act 3
    Serialized from 6 December 2008 to 4 December 2015. Its chapters were collected in 21 tankōbon volumes, released from 17 June 2009 to 17 February 2016.
* Dear Boys Over Time
    Serialized from 5 February 2016 to 6 January 2017. Its chapters were collected in three tankōbon volume, released from 17 June 2016 to 17 February 2017.
* Dear Boys Act 4
    It started on 6 October 2018. The first tankōbon volume was released on 15 March 2019. As of 17 July 2024 17 volumes have been released. A six-volume prequel to Act 4, titled Dear Boys Shōnan Dai Sagami Special Selection (DEAR BOYS 湘南大相模スペシャルセレクション), set two years before the events of the story, was published digitally on 15 March 2019.

### Video games

A video game, published by Yutaka for the Super Famicom, was released on 20 October 1994. Another video game, titled Dear Boys: Fast Break!, published by Konami for the PlayStation 2, was released on 18 September 2003.

### Anime

A 26-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by OB Planning and animated by A.C.G.T, aired on TV Tokyo from 8 April to 30 September 2003. Da Pump performed the opening theme "Sound of Bounce", while Chris Sasaki [ja] (credited as Chris) performed the ending theme "Baller no Shōgō" (Ballerの章号, "Baller's Number").
In North America, the series was licensed by Bandai Entertainment in 2004. They released it under the title Hoop Days; episodes were partially released on two DVD sets on 28 June and 23 August 2005 and a "Complete Collection" was later released on 5 June 2006. The series was licensed in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment, who released a Complete Collection set on 6 September 2006. Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia and was broadcast on Animax Asia.

#### Episodes

| No. | Title | Original release date |
| 1 | "An Interesting Transfer Student" Transliteration: "Ki ni Naru Tenkousei" (Japanese: 気になる転校生) | 8 April 2003 (2003-04-08) |
| Kazuhiko Aikawa has recently transferred to Mizuho High School. When asking a teacher why there was no boys' basketball team he was told that they were not a functioning team and that they were about to be disbanded. Aikawa then declared that he was to be the fifth member of the team so that they could attempt the championship. |||
| 2 | "The Resurrection of the Boys' Basketball Team?" Transliteration: "Danshi Baskebu Fukkatsusu?" (Japanese: 男子バスケ部復活す?) | 15 April 2003 (2003-04-15) |
| 3 | "Who Is the Opponent for the Practice Team?" Transliteration: "Renshū Shiai no Aite wa?" (Japanese: 練習試合の相手は?) | 22 April 2003 (2003-04-22) |
| The episode starts with a flashback showing how the star ace from Tendōji High's basketball team wound up at Mizuho. Basketball practice starts and once again the boys, barring Aikawa, do not show up. However the episode shows them all gathering things for basketball or practicing. The final day for the ban has come and Aikawa shows up to the gym to practice a little only to find Miura, Ishii, and Dobashi already there. When Aikawa comments on Fujiwara not being there, he is told that it is not a problem, that he will show up. The next day all five members of the boys' basketball team show up at practice. They play a brief game against the girls only to fail horribly showing that they don't play well together. In order to give them a little initiative coach Akiyoshi pits them against Narita high school in a practice match. The very same team whose coach is Shimojou, the previous captain of the boys' team. |||
| 4 | "Determination to Win" Transliteration: "Makerarenai Iji" (Japanese: 負けられない意地) | 29 April 2003 (2003-04-29) |
| 5 | "Counterattack Full of Wounds" Transliteration: "Kizu Darake no Hangeki" (Japanese: 傷だらけの反撃) | 6 May 2003 (2003-05-06) |
| 6 | "To Each His Own Emotion…" Transliteration: "Sorezore no Omoi…" (Japanese: それぞれの思い…) | 13 May 2003 (2003-05-13) |
| 7 | "A Disquieting Air" Transliteration: "Fuon na Kūki" (Japanese: 不穏な空気) | 20 May 2003 (2003-05-20) |
| 8 | "Cold Rain" Transliteration: "Tsumetai Ame" (Japanese: 冷たい雨) | 27 May 2003 (2003-05-27) |
| 9 | "Because You Are Here…" Transliteration: "Anata ga Iru kara…" (Japanese: あなたがいるから…) | 3 June 2003 (2003-06-03) |
| 10 | "Confined Passion" Transliteration: "Tozasareta Jōnetsu" (Japanese: 閉ざされた情熱) | 10 June 2003 (2003-06-10) |
| 11 | "People Following Their Dreams" Transliteration: "Yume o Tsugu Monotachi" (Japanese: 夢を継ぐ者たち) | 17 June 2003 (2003-06-17) |
| 12 | "Meetings Are Sudden" Transliteration: "Deai wa Totsuzen ni" (Japanese: 出会いは突然に) | 24 June 2003 (2003-06-24) |
| 13 | "Unengaged Gears" Transliteration: "Kami Awanai Haguruma" (Japanese: 噛みあわない歯車) | 1 July 2003 (2003-07-01) |
| 14 | "Anxiety and Burden" Transliteration: "Fuan to Futan" (Japanese: 不安と負担) | 8 July 2003 (2003-07-08) |
| 15 | "The Rivals" Transliteration: "Raibarutachi" (Japanese: ライバルたち) | 15 July 2003 (2003-07-15) |
| 16 | "Dead Heat" Transliteration: "Deddo Hīto" (Japanese: デッドヒート) | 22 July 2003 (2003-07-22) |
| 17 | "Never Give Up" Transliteration: "Nebaa Gibu Appu" (Japanese: ネバー・ギブアップ) | 29 July 2003 (2003-07-29) |
| 18 | "Game Set!" Transliteration: "Geemu Setto" (Japanese: ゲームセット) | 5 August 2003 (2003-08-05) |
| 19 | "The Finals Opponent Is?" Transliteration: "Kesshou no Aite wa?" (Japanese: 決勝の相手は?) | 12 August 2003 (2003-08-12) |
| 20 | "Trembling Hearts" Transliteration: "Yureru Kokoro" (Japanese: 揺れる心) | 19 August 2003 (2003-08-19) |
| 21 | "Supporting Family" Transliteration: "Sasaeau Nakamatachi" (Japanese: 支えあう仲間たち) | 26 August 2003 (2003-08-26) |
| 22 | "The Sixth Man" Transliteration: "Rokunin me no Otoko" (Japanese: 六人目の男) | 2 September 2003 (2003-09-02) |
| 23 | "The Finals!" Transliteration: "Kesshou!" (Japanese: 決勝!) | 9 September 2003 (2003-09-09) |
| 24 | "Back and Forth" Transliteration: "Isshin-ittai!" (Japanese: 一進一退) | 16 September 2003 (2003-09-16) |
| 25 | "It's Settled, and Then…" Transliteration: "Kecchaku, Soshite" (Japanese: 決着、そして…) | 23 September 2003 (2003-09-23) |
| 26 | "Look Towards Tomorrow" Transliteration: "Ashita ni Mukatte" (Japanese: 明日に向かって) | 30 September 2003 (2003-09-30) |

## Reception

By March 2019, the overall Dear Boys manga series had sold over 45 million copies.
In 2007, Dear Boys Act II received 31st Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category.