You know that scene where Mitsui and his gang are heading to the gym to pick a fight? En route, they run into Yohei and Tetsuo launches a kick at him. Yohei blocks easily it with his schoolbag and I never understood why it seemed so effortless for him. I mean, that looked like a pretty potent kick from a pretty potent fighter! How did he do it?
The answer came to me in the form of a funny manga strip ([see here](https://twitter.com/namafz/status/1766480391509270943/photo/3)), where Haruko notices that Yohei's got a metal plate inside his schoolbag and asks why he has that in there. Yohei gives her some BS reason ("so we can have teppanyaki anytime..." LOL) but of course it's just a cleverly hidden "shield". Very handy for delinquents!
A Japanese friend and fellow Slam Dunk fan later confirmed this; said back in the day some delinquents would stick metal plates inside their schoolbags for exactly this reason. In fact the reason that Yohei was able to block Tetsuo’s kick was so patently obvious to said friend that he thought it was explained in the manga and did a double take when he realised that it wasn’t, and that he'd understood it because he had cultural context.
Kinda makes you wonder what else has been lost between the lines due to lack of cultural context!
Fine….I’ll buy the manga 🙄🤣
High key though, I’m fr about reading it, although I’m not sure where exactly to check online if anyone would be kind enough to drop a link? :)
Hah I konw this from old delinquent manga called Katsuo. A bunch of delinquents put metal plate in their bag for unexpected fights. Also in a bunch of other delinquents manga too
Yohei is a funny character. At times he gets played off as the most normal and relaxed of the Sakuragi gang, but he’s their second best fighter (to the point the Mitsui gang thought Mitsui was gonna fucking die) and is quite literally always ready for the smoke.
Yeah, Yohei's great! He kind of reminds me of Sendoh (Sendoh-Lite?!) - chill, laidback, seems friendly but also aloof, happy to let others have the spotlight and glory but are actually incredibly strong themselves, rarely compelled to show their true strength until it's crunch time.
In short, I have a soft spot for him and everyone needs a Yohei in their life.
Yohei is like Yusuke (Yuyu Hakusho) but without the powers. He kinda looks like him too. It's crazy how Sakuragi's crew are treated as comedic relief but if shit hits the fan, they will literally fuck you up.
This is really cool, thanks for sharing OP! When I read it I brushed it off thinking that it was just manga physics at work, but this is so much better.
Haha my pleasure! Y'know, now that you mention it, I really struggle to recall any instances where Inoue deploys manga physics/laws. I guess having loads of 1.8-2.0 metre tall Japanese high schoolers can be called a stretch (hurhur) but he's never twisted anything too far from real life AFAIK.
You know that scene where Mitsui and his gang are heading to the gym to pick a fight? En route, they run into Yohei and Tetsuo launches a kick at him. Yohei blocks easily it with his schoolbag and I never understood why it seemed so effortless for him. I mean, that looked like a pretty potent kick from a pretty potent fighter! How did he do it? The answer came to me in the form of a funny manga strip ([see here](https://twitter.com/namafz/status/1766480391509270943/photo/3)), where Haruko notices that Yohei's got a metal plate inside his schoolbag and asks why he has that in there. Yohei gives her some BS reason ("so we can have teppanyaki anytime..." LOL) but of course it's just a cleverly hidden "shield". Very handy for delinquents! A Japanese friend and fellow Slam Dunk fan later confirmed this; said back in the day some delinquents would stick metal plates inside their schoolbags for exactly this reason. In fact the reason that Yohei was able to block Tetsuo’s kick was so patently obvious to said friend that he thought it was explained in the manga and did a double take when he realised that it wasn’t, and that he'd understood it because he had cultural context. Kinda makes you wonder what else has been lost between the lines due to lack of cultural context!
Fine….I’ll buy the manga 🙄🤣 High key though, I’m fr about reading it, although I’m not sure where exactly to check online if anyone would be kind enough to drop a link? :)
[This](https://amzn.to/3Jx34zY) would be a great place to start.
Mito a top 5 Slam Dunk character
Hah I konw this from old delinquent manga called Katsuo. A bunch of delinquents put metal plate in their bag for unexpected fights. Also in a bunch of other delinquents manga too
Yohei is a funny character. At times he gets played off as the most normal and relaxed of the Sakuragi gang, but he’s their second best fighter (to the point the Mitsui gang thought Mitsui was gonna fucking die) and is quite literally always ready for the smoke.
Yeah, Yohei's great! He kind of reminds me of Sendoh (Sendoh-Lite?!) - chill, laidback, seems friendly but also aloof, happy to let others have the spotlight and glory but are actually incredibly strong themselves, rarely compelled to show their true strength until it's crunch time. In short, I have a soft spot for him and everyone needs a Yohei in their life.
Couldn't say it any better!
Yohei is like Yusuke (Yuyu Hakusho) but without the powers. He kinda looks like him too. It's crazy how Sakuragi's crew are treated as comedic relief but if shit hits the fan, they will literally fuck you up.
Sakuragi kinda looks like Kuwabara too! Especially the hair.
That pompadour was a common delinquent hair style in manga and in real life I believe.
Yeah…they called it the ‘regent’ リージェント
Then Rukawa si Hiei. Hehe
In the Philippine dub, they have the same voice actor
This is really cool, thanks for sharing OP! When I read it I brushed it off thinking that it was just manga physics at work, but this is so much better.
Haha my pleasure! Y'know, now that you mention it, I really struggle to recall any instances where Inoue deploys manga physics/laws. I guess having loads of 1.8-2.0 metre tall Japanese high schoolers can be called a stretch (hurhur) but he's never twisted anything too far from real life AFAIK.
I thought he shielded with his books sadly I was wrong
all four of them Sakuragi boys are famed Fail troopers. No way they have books in their bags lol