Real, Dear Boys, Vagabond, Slam Dunk, Aishiteruze Baby
Buzzer Beater(Japanese: ブザービーター, Hepburn: Buzā Bītā) is a manga series by Takehiko Inoue. The series debuted on the web, where it was made available in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. Buzzer Beater was being serialized in Monthly Shōnen Jump shortly after its introduction on the web. An anime adaptation of the webcomic supervised by Inoue was released in 2005, a second season coming out two years later.
Inoue launched Buzzer Beater in 1997 on the World Wide Web in collaboration with EPSN. It was second manga to focus on basketball, following his very successful second manga series, Slam Dunk. The name of the manga comes from the term used for when a basket is scored at the same moment a period or the game itself ends. The story revolves around a basketball team from Earth assembled to participate in an intergalactic basketball competition. The webcomic is released online in four languages.
The original Japanese webcomic is available on Inoue's personal website. Inoue manually wrote all text in the webcomic, though these were altered in the translated adaptions. The English translation leaves all the Japanese sound effects untranslated, keeping the manga entirely unedited. The manga's Korean translation has a completely different designed page, however, replacing the Japanese sound effects with a Korean translation drawn by Inoue. The same translation was serialized in Daiwon C.I.'s manhwa magazine Comic Champ, and also published under its Champ Comics line. The Chinese edition is directly translated from the Korean one.
Inoue has suggested that he will continue the webcomic in the future.
Manga publication
Buzzer Beater was published in print format by Shueisha shortly after it began, as it was being serialized in its Monthly Shōnen Jump manga magazine. The manga has also been compiled in four print volumes.
Anime
Buzzer Beater is Inoue's second manga series to have been adopted into an anime. A 13 episode TV series was produced by TMS Entertainment and premiered on WOWOW from February 5, 2005, ending its run on May 7, 2005. A second 13 episode series, continuing the story and also animated by TMS, premiered on Nippon Television on July 4, 2007 and ended its run on September 26, 2007. Both anime adaptations were supervised by Inoue. The anime series includes story elements and characters that were either hinted at or did not originally appear in the manga.
Characters
Hideyoshi Tanaka(田中 ヒデヨシ,Tanaka Hideyoshi)
Voiced by: Fujiko Takimoto
Jersey #:1
Position: Point guard
An orphaned street kid and boisterous 14-year-old who survived on the streets by hustling adult basketball players with his phenomenal skills. He was selected to the Earth All-Star team because of his superhuman speed. Hideyoshi is prone to paralyzing migraines during practice or in games. It was later revealed by DT that he is growing horns because he is a half-Goran taken from the symptoms, and DT's self history. Hideyoshi wears a wristband made of unique elastic material found only on the planet Goru, the sole memento from his unknown parents.
Cha-che
Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi
Jersey #:2
Position: Shooting guard
The teenage granddaughter of the team's creator, Yoshimune. Cha-che wanted nothing more than pleasing her grandfather and making his long-term dream come true: lead a complete team of Earthlings that will eventually conquer the Intergalactic League. She challenged Maru to a shooting match in order to join the team, where she sank a half-court shot. She is an extremely good sharpshooter who sank 2 10-point baskets early in the game against the Swallows, the first team they faced. In the anime, her shooting skills was the basis of a comeback which allowed her team to triumph over the Smoky Queen. She is very rude to Hideyoshi and early on is one of the most annoying characters in the anime, however her attitude changes throughout the anime and becomes more kind.
DT
Voiced by: Yūji Ueda
Jersey #:9
Position: Point guard
Earth's best point guard and the captain of the team. with speed and mind numbing play. "DT" is a nickname that he gave himself, referring to his ability to put his opponents and teammates into a state of "dream time" when he plays. He has a friendly rivalry with Hideyoshi, similar to that between Sakuragi and Rukawa from Slam Dunk. DT is a former Goran, but broke off his horns when they began to manifest themselves when he was a teenager, and thus wears his trademark skull cap to hide the scars.
Ivan
Voiced by: Tetsu Inada
Jersey #:55
Position: Power Forward
A 15-year-old who looks like a full-grown man. He met Hideyoshi during the elimination match to recruit players. He is the reigning shotblocking king of State R.
Maru
Jersey #:7
Position: Shooting guard
Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi
A player, known as the JBA's "shooting android", whose specialty is shooting. However it is shown that during the final minutes of an all-deciding match, he missed two free throws and then made one which he was purposely trying to miss. He revealed that he had then undergone "tough physical and mental training". In the anime, he was not able to show his skills against the Smoky Kings, missing all of his shots, however became a key part of the team in later matches. He is a fond parent who loves his children dearly.
Mo
Voiced by: George Nakata
Jersey #:35
Position: Center
A former sumo wrestler. He is 220 cm tall and a monster under the basket with his physique and skills.
Rose
Voiced by: Daisuke Fujita
Jersey #:8
Position: Point guard
Stylish in purple, he loses to DT in the PG match because of his temper. He didn't go into the game vs. the Swallows because he had an injury.
Lazuli
Voiced by: Yū Asakawa
Jersey #:21
Position: Small forward
A tall player who turns out to be a woman. In the anime, Lazuli was originally the captain of the Smoky Queens, a Goran team in the Underground League who often cheat to victory, and are notorious for injuring and brawling with their opponents. After Yoshimune's team defeated them, Lazuli joined the team on their quest to conquer the intergalactic league. Lazuli is an admirer of Apiru, the ace player for the Swallows who also happens to be a woman.
Han
Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao
Jersey #:12(manga only), #5(anime)
Position: Point guard/Small forward
He is a tall PG, tall enough to be a center, second only to Mo in terms of height [1]. He was in the Earth's team because of his elegant ball-handling skills. He is calm in the match against DT for the PG position but was unable to show his real skills. He was deployed as SF against the Swallows. In the anime version, his number is #5.
Yoshimune
Voiced by: Takkō Ishimori
The extremely wealthy millionaire who oversaw the recruitment and formation of the Earth's team in his bid to win the Intergalactic league. Although 77, he is still vigorous and takes an active role in overseeing the team's training and play during games.
Liz Murdoch
Voiced by: Masako Katsuki
Liz is the coach for the Earth team, and is half Goran. Her father, Mr. Murdoch, is the Goran president of the Intergalactic Basketball League.
