Slam Dunk (Japanese: スラムダンク Hepburn: Suramu Danku) is a sports-themed manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School in the Shōnan area. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1990 to 1996, with the chapters collected into 31 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. It was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which has been broadcast worldwide, enjoying much popularity particularly in Japan, several other Asian countries and Europe.[2] Slam Dunk has sold over 121 million copies in Japan alone, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. Inoue later used basketball as a central theme in two subsequent manga titles: Buzzer Beater and Real. In 2010, Inoue received special commendations from the Japan Basketball Association for helping popularize basketball in Japan.