Buzzer Beater (manga)

Buzzer Beater
Cover of Buzzer Beater volume 1 as published by Shueisha
ブザービーター (Buzā Bītā)
Genre	Basketball
Manga
Written by	Takehiko Inoue
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Web comic→Monthly Shōnen Jump Comic Champ
Original run	1997 – 1998
Volumes	4
Anime television series
Directed by	Shigeyuki Miya
Written by	Akatsuki Yamatoya (series composition)
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Network	WOWOW
Original run	February 5, 2005 – May 7, 2005
Episodes	13
Anime television series
Buzzer Beater II
Directed by	Shigeyuki Miya
Written by	Shundō Ōkawa (series composition)
Studio	TMS Entertainment
Network	NTV
Original run	July 4, 2007 – September 26, 2007
Episodes	13

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 and was later published in print format by Shueisha, being serialized in its Monthly Shōnen Jump manga magazine. It can be read on Inoue's website in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean.

Media

Manga

Buzzer Beater is Inoue's 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 web comic is released in four languages.It is said to be starting again in the near future. Inoue has revealed that it is going to take place in Planet Goru, in the past were we will find out more about Shogon (Hideyoshi's suspected father)and present Planet Goru were it talks about Hideyoshi and DT's story. The manga will switch between the two from time to time.

The original Japanese web comic is on Inoue's site, just like the others. All text in the talk bubbles was manually written by Inoue, although altered in the foreign adaptions, specifically for translation. The English translation leaves all the Japanese sound effects untranslated. None of the manga is edited. The manga's Korean translation has a completely different designed page, also 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.

Anime

Buzzer Beater is also 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)

• Jersey #:1
• Position: Point guard
• Voiced by: Fujiko Takimoto
• 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

• Jersey #:2
• Position: Shooting guard
• Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi
• 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

• Jersey #:9
• Position: Point guard
• Voiced by: Yūji Ueda
• Earth's best point guard, 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.

• He is the captain of the team.

Ivan

• Jersey #:55
• Position: Power Forward
• Voiced by: Tetsu Inada
• A 15-year-old that 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 whose specialty is shooting. He was known as the JBA's "shooting android", 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

• Jersey #:35
• Position: Center
• Voiced by: George Nakata
• A former sumo wrestler. He is 220 cm. tall and a monster under the basket with his physique and skills.

Rose

• Jersey #:8
• Position: Point guard
• Voiced by: Daisuke Fujita
• He is 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

• Jersey #:21
• Position: Small forward
• Voiced by: Yū Asakawa
• 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

• Jersey #:12(manga only), #5(anime)
• Position: Point guard/Small forward
• Voiced by: Ryūsei Nakao
• 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.

Other characters

There are three other alternate players on the team who are not named.

External links

• Buzzer Beater at Takehiko Inoue's site (archived June 6, 2012)
• TMS Buzzer Beater anime site (Japanese)
• Buzzer Beater (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Buzzer Beater (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia