Chapter 342 - 341: The Turning Point

Chapter 342: Chapter 341: The Turning Point

Following the broadcast of the latest episode, the controversy regarding Slam Dunk "missing the point" finally vanished. The debate over whether Haruto could actually write compelling sports sequences was laid to rest. It took two months of broadcasting for the series to secure the tentative approval of the fans.

In reality, the trajectory of Slam Dunk in this world was mirroring its history in its original timeline.

When the story first began, its popularity was lukewarm at best. The creator hadn’t actually intended to draw a straightforward basketball series. He had initially viewed basketball merely as a backdrop; the story was meant to be a coming-of-age school drama.

Because delinquent-themed stories were the trend at that time, he followed the crowd by making his protagonist a thug, adding heavy doses of slapstick comedy when the early popularity remained stagnant.

Eventually, the series reached a plateau where its future was uncertain.

Since basketball wasn’t making the readers’ blood boil yet, the narrative pivoted away from the court and let the protagonist do what he did best: fight.

This led to the infamous arc where Mitsui Hisashi and his gang laid siege to the Shohoku basketball team in the gymnasium.

By showcasing Sakuragi as a basketball novice but a formidable fighter, the popularity of Slam Dunk finally began to skyrocket. The arc culminated in Mitsui’s legendary line, "Coach, I want to play basketball," a moment so explosive it ignited the emotions of the entire fanbase and set the work on its path to becoming a global phenomenon.

In the original development, Mitsui was intended to be a minor antagonist who would be crushed by Hanamichi and then disappear. However, during the creation process, the author grew attached to the character and decided to bring him back into the world of basketball.

Haruto had been mentally prepared for this. He knew that for Slam Dunk to truly explode and gain universal acclaim, he had to reach the Mitsui Hisashi arc.

The current high viewership ratings were primarily a result of Haruto’s massive personal brand and traffic. It wasn’t necessarily because the audience was head-over-heels for the early slapstick comedy.

However, even Haruto was surprised by how strongly the audience reacted to the practice match with Ryonan. He knew they would like it, but the level of praise was higher than he had anticipated.

That was a good sign.

Now, with the Ryonan game concluded, the most iconic segment of the early story, the gymnasium brawl, was about to begin. Before that, however, many of Haruto’s fans found themselves suddenly interested in basketball.

"I looked into the rules, and this sport is actually pretty interesting."

"How have you guys watched fifteen episodes of Slam Dunk without knowing the rules?"

"I didn’t know them either! Until the Ryonan game, I thought the author was just making a romantic comedy with basketball as a gimmick. I thought the main plot was Hanamichi chasing Haruko. But watching him lose that game... it actually moved me. I don’t care about real sports on TV, but watching a basketball game in an anime when I don’t even know the rules made me tear up."

"That’s the magic of the medium! You have the God perspective on character growth and internal monologues."

"I used to think watching high schoolers play was a waste of time, but now I’m genuinely hyped for this National Tournament. I’m off to study the rules so I’m ready for next week."

"The Warrior of Love really picks niche subjects. Street racing, basketball... none of these are mainstream staples of the industry right now."

"They’re huge overseas, though. Especially racing, pro drivers make a fortune.

"I hope there are more games and less of Hanamichi being an idiot. The comedy is fine, but the games are where the real excitement is."

"Say no more, brothers. I’m going to go watch some pro games to learn the rules so I can fully understand what’s happening next week."

---

Given Haruto’s current fame, Slam Dunk was a household name in the ACG world. The quality of the plot directly dictated the viewership numbers. When the internet was in a state of unanimous praise, the number of people tuning in naturally spiked.

This positive feedback was immediately relayed to Haru-Yuki Animation, boosting the morale of the Slam Dunk team.

Simultaneously, the pressure shifted to the Gurren Lagann production crew.

Two of Haruto’s major works had launched this year.

Slam Dunk had finally secured the fans’ approval after one quarter of broadcasting.

Fullmetal Alchemist, now at twenty-two episodes, was already being hailed as a masterpiece in the making. While Fullmetal Alchemist hadn’t yet reached the record-breaking heights of Code Geass or Madoka Magica, the fact that its ratings had never dipped below 6% since the premiere was a testament to its sheer quality. It rose slightly every week with relentless stability.

And Slam Dunk was on track to break the 6% barrier within the next week or two.

This put immense pressure on the Gurren Lagann team. They weren’t the only ones suffering; the entire animation industry was feeling the burn this season.

Haruto’s two shows held the top two spots on the popularity charts. The Initial D adaptation was also closing in on the 6% mark. Looking at other studios, the gap in the industry was becoming a chasm. When a Haruto work aired, its "worst" performance was still over 5%, and its "good" performance was over 6%. Meanwhile, the best works from other companies struggled to even hit 4%, and 5% was an untouchable dream. Over the last five years, only one non-Haruto anime had managed to break the 5% barrier.

What was the absolute ceiling for other studios had become the baseline for Haruto.

The industry had essentially accepted him as the greatest creator of the current generation, if not history. But the magnitude of the gap made many people despair. Haruto was only twenty-two. He was young, energetic, and showed no signs of burning out. Would he really rule the industry for the next thirty, or even fifty years?

It wasn’t just animation, either. He dominated the manga and light novel industries with Hunter x Hunter and Sword Art Online.

While the Sword Art Online novel was already at its peak and didn’t see a massive sales spike from the anime, Hunter x Hunter was a different beast entirely.

The Phantom Troupe arc was reaching its climax. Kurapika had used his Nen to capture the brutal murderer Uvogin.

The final scene under the moonlight, where Kurapika killed Uvogin, portrayed a heartbreaking conflict between his thirst for revenge for his slaughtered clan and the crushing guilt of his first murder. This arc sent Kurapika’s popularity into another level, earning him millions of fans in Japan. Every anime convention was now flooded with female cosplayers dressed as Kurapika.

Manga sales were steadily approaching the 27-million-copies-per-volume milestone.

Across these three fields, Haruto’s achievements had created a massive rift between him and his contemporaries.

He had become the Great Demon King of the industry, the ultimate summit that every creator looked up to. His meteoric six-year rise had inspired a new generation of middle and high schoolers. Countless teenagers were now dedicating themselves to becoming novelists, manga artists, and animators with Haruto as their North Star. Some viewed him as an idol they hoped to work with one day; others admired him but vowed to be the ones to finally topple him from his throne.

And within this demographic, another creator held a special place in their hearts.

Reina Fujimoto. As the other genius novelist from the same school as Haruto, her light had often been overshadowed by his brilliance. Yet, her relentless pursuit of him moved many people.

In late June, Tokyo TV1 aired a documentary featuring Haruto and Reina Fujimoto, interviewing their former teachers and classmates. It was a massive hit.

Haruto continued his march toward becoming the industry’s ultimate boss, while Reina Fujimoto remained the only contemporary in the novel industry who was closely linked to him, the only one who could even catch a glimpse of his back.

June bled into July.

Thanks to Haruto’s edits cutting the fluff and accelerating the pacing to ensure every week was packed with substance, the plot of Slam Dunk moved rapidly.

The story had reached the introduction of Mitsui Hisashi.

In the original story, after the loss to Ryonan, the narrative introduced the fourth of the Shohoku Five, Miyagi Ryota, before Mitsui arrived to cause trouble. Haruto didn’t cut this, but he compressed the comedic backstories of Hanamichi and Miyagi, their shared history of romantic rejection and slapstick buffoonery, to get to the core conflict faster.

For the audience, the sensation was a bit jarring. The Shohoku-Ryonan game had just ended, and suddenly the anime wasn’t about basketball anymore; it was back to being a delinquent drama.

In the parallel world, delinquent narratives were mainstream, so this was perfectly normal. But in this world, however, "delinquents" carried a more negative connotation. Up until now, the delinquent elements had been paired with comedy, so fans just accepted it as a character trait for Hanamichi.

But with the arrival of Mitsui, the comedy evaporated.

The tone turned heavy. It looked like the show was genuinely heading toward a massive gang brawl in the middle of a basketball club. This development completely blindsided the fans.

"Is he really making a brawling anime? This feels wrong for Slam Dunk."

"Don’t get cocky, author! The ratings just hit 6%. You’ve got all these female fans hooked on Rukawa and Sendoh, and now you’re making them watch a street fight? You’re going to scare them off!"

"Mitsui Hisashi is the worst. He’s such a coward. He couldn’t take Miyagi one-on-one, so he jumped him with a gang, got himself hospitalized anyway, and now he’s back for more? Is this really a high school student?"

"I don’t mind the fighting. It’s actually pretty hype!"

"It’s not that fighting is bad, it’s just that this is a basketball anime. The early comedy was fine because it built the characters, but the basketball sequences were so good! Most fans want to see the rematch with Ryonan, not a locker room brawl. It feels weird."

"It feels like he’s making it up as he goes. The National Tournament is the goal, but we’re fifteen episodes in and the protagonist has only scored one basket in a real game. One basket! It’s hard not to complain when a basketball anime has more punches than points."

"The doubters are back, huh? Slam Dunk just broke 6%. You can say the plot is bad, but the ratings keep going up every single week."

"That’s just momentum. I have a feeling that if it stays a thug anime, the fans will leave. I’m here for high-level plays, not delinquents and brawls."

In early July, as Slam Dunk entered what fans called the "off-track" arc, a new wave of heated debate erupted.

That same week, Gurren Lagann made its debut.

The premiere pulled a 5.03% rating. As a mecha series in the vein of Code Geass, it inherited a large portion of that fanbase.

However, compared to Slam Dunk and Fullmetal Alchemist, it still had ground to cover.

The current market was dominated by Haruto’s "Big Two" taking up forty percent of the buzz, while Initial D and Gurren Lagann took up another twenty percent. The remaining forty percent was split among every other anime airing that season.

This was the current landscape of the animation industry in the July market of 2026.

_______________________

Support me at patreon.com/CulturedOne and read 50 Advanced Chapters