Hisashi Mitsui

Hisashi Mitsui
Name
Japanese	三井 寿
Aliases	Mitchi, Mit-chan, Mit-chin, Splashy
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Birthday	May 22
Age	18
Height	184 cm (6' 0")(current) 176 cm (5’9”)(freshman)
Weight	70 kg (155 lbs)(current) 63 kg (138 lbs)(freshman)
Hair Color	Dark Blue
Eye Color	Black
Professional Status
Occupation	Basketball player
Team	Osaka University Team
Year	3rd year
Position	Shooting Guard
Jersey Number	#14 (Shohoku) 20 (Takeishi)
Personal Status
First Appearance
Manga Debut	051. "Super Problem Child"
Anime Debut	021. "Enormous Trouble Makers! Hanamichi vs Miyagi"
Voices
Japanese Voice	Ryōtarō Okiayu Jun Kasama (The First Slam Dunk)
English Voice	Steven Bednarski Michael Pizzucato (Animax Dub) Vincent Gutierrez (GMA Dub) Marlo Mortel (ABS-CBN Filipino Dub) Jonah Scott (The First Slam Dunk)
[v · t · e]

Hisashi Mitsui (三井 寿 Mitsui Hisashi^?) is the Shooting Guard of the Shohoku Basketball Team. Though he was on hiatus due to his knee injury, he still has the skills to put the team on a win.

Despite having the opportunity to join more prestigious high schools like Ryonan, he chose to enroll in Shohoku because of its basketball coach Mitsuyoshi Anzai. Anzai had given him the courage to win in the Junior High tournament by encouraging him during the last seconds of the match. However, an injury to his left knee in a training session in his first year at Shohoku interrupted his basketball career. An imprudent early return to the court reinjured the knee more severely, leading to a basketball hiatus of over a year.

Appearance[]

Mitsui initially has shoulder length black hair with dark blue highlights when he became a delinquent along with his group and has a broken frontal teeth in both sides. He also has indigo eyes. When he returns to play basketball, he cuts his hair shorter and it was styled slick back and gains a false teeth to match up his broken frontal teeth. His hair later grows out and turns into a wavy style during their battle against Ryonan. In the First Slam Dunk, Mitsui's highlights are brown.

Like Takenori and Kogure, Mitsui wears a navy blue standard Shohoku winter school uniform. As an initial delinquent, his jacket is open to show his white long sleeve loose undershirt. Although his second confrontation with Miyagi has not seen wearing his school jacket. His summer uniform is the same as his winter school uniform but its short sleeve button shirt is loose to reveal either a pale blue t-shirt or a green t-shirt.

When he returns to play basketball training, Mitsui wears a light violet sleeve shirt with the sleeves are folded to make it sleeveless, dark blue trousers and white Asics basketball shoes with red linings. His actual training outfit is a maroon short sleeved loose shirt and black basketball shorts, he gains a red kneepad with black outlines where it supports his former left knee injury.

His Basketball Jersey is red and black and its alternate pallete is red and white.

When he was in middle school and as a Freshman in Shohoku, Mitsui's hair is in a short wavy style.

Personality[]

In his 1st year, Mitsui has an overflowing confidence and is very competitive, especially towards Akagi. In the 1st year match, as there were 12 freshmen that year, Mitsui split from his middle school teammates. He envisions a bright future for Shohoku until his left knee injury during practice aggravates due to returning early instead of waiting for full recovery. Despite his eventual recovery, his exclusion embittered him and quits basketball. He became a gang leader but regretted it eventually.

He returns with a renewed determination of conquering the nation he once dreamed of. While being competitive against Akagi during their 1st year, he has learned to accept the latter as the suitable captain for the team. He is also not afraid to stand up for a friend, just like what he did for Tetsuo; he insisted Ryu and his gang to beat him up instead of the latter.

While his lack of stamina is his main weakness, the great determination and trust for his team is what keeps him going, shown when he is totally worn out against Sannoh. His lack of stamina and resilience also showed when he gets involved in fights, easily getting knocked out and having his teeth knocked out.

Mitsui, like many top athletes, hates to lose. He and Akagi butted heads when they first joined the basketball team together regarding who the primary focal point should be for the team's offense, which eventually led to Mitsui punching Akagi in the face after not reaching an agreement (before comically running away). Mitsui and Rukawa also bickered about who won in their 1-on-1 challenge, so far as to knitpicking whether Mitsui's foot was barely on the 3-point line or not when he took his last (and self-proclaimed winning) shot, though Rukawa stringently refuted this.

In the First Slam Dunk, Mitsui was the one who challenges Miyagi to a one-on-one basketball match during their 1st year in middle school. While after getting hospitalized from his broken frontal teeth, Mitsui is also seen watching a basketball game which he coldly leaves bitterly.

History[]

He went to Takeishi Junior High, where he was the MVP in his final year. It was at the final match where he met Coach Mitsuyoshi Anzai, who encouraged him not to give up hope until the last second, and enabled him to win the game. As a result, he went to Shohoku High School, having turned down Coach Moichi Taoka (who was also present at that game) when he offered him a place at the more prestigious Ryonan High. It was noted that Kainan and Shoyo also tried to recruit him for scholaships, but turned them down.

He injured his knee during practice in his freshman year while trying to shake off Takenori Akagi (which was later explained as an old injury in the middle school championship game where he knocked the knee after unsuccessfully diving for the ball, although he was able to play on at the itme), and exacerbated his injury by returning to play before he had been healed. As a result he was not able to compete in the district tournament, and was disheartened into quitting basketball and becoming the leader of a gang.

Plot[]

He retained a great resentment toward the basketball club for a long time, and he and his gang picked on Ryota Miyagi during the latter's 1st year. A fight ensued, in which Miyagi beat Mitsui senseless, before taking a beating himself, knocking out a few of Mitsui's frontal teeth.

Both of them were in the hospital until after the practice game against Ryonan in Mitsui's third year. At this point, Mitsui attempted to ruin the basketball team by forcing them to fight against his gang and trying to get them banned from the regional tournament for fighting. In the end, Sakuragi's own gang - Yohei, Takamiya, Ohkusu and Noma - along with Norio Hotta and Mitsui's own friends voluntarily took the blame for the fight, and Mitsui was filled with remorse when he saw Anzai again. He rejoined the team and vowed never to fight again - a promise that he upheld even when he found himself cornered by some members of his old gang outside Shohoku.

Vs Miuradai[]

Coach Anzai decides to sit him out along with Miyagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi as a consequence of the fighting incident. Because of it, Akagi and Kogure had to endure the lack of firepower for Shohoku, which gives Miuradai a big advantage. Eventually, Coach Anzai let them play as they express their regret over the incident and vowed never to fight again. With them entering the game, he and Miyagi finally filled the up the missing pieces for the team that's in need of strong guards.

Abilities[]

Mitsui is best known as a 3-point specialist. His 3-pointers helped Shohoku catch up when they were 12 points down against Shoyo, and again when the team was 20 points down against Sannoh High in the Nationals 2nd Round. One of his strengths is catch-and-shoot, and opponents' aggressive closeouts often does not faze him once his feet are established prior to his shot release. Because of his shooting prowess, his pump fakes frequently force defenders to jump which allows him to either blow past his marker for an alternate shot or playmake for his teammates. Opponents who have the most success against him (such as Satoshi Ichinokura and Ryoji Ikegami) aggressively pressure him off the ball to prevent him from receiving a pass in the first place; such method also accelerates Mitsui's fatigue when trying to get open and, due to his low stamina, greatly reduces his overall efficiency and accuracy as a match progresses.

Mitsui's shooting ability also allows his teammates to score by stretching the opponents' defense. Mitsui, Akagi, and Miyagi develop a deadly 3-man game involving Akagi setting a flare screen for Mitsui to shoot a 3; however, if the defenders try to guard this set by switching, Miyagi simply passes to a rolling Akagi instead for an easy finish at the rim over Mitsui's (likely) smaller defender. Even a top defensive team like Sannoh struggled to defend this set as Shohoku ran this play over and over to catch up in the 2nd half (with assistance from Sakuragi's dominant rebounding). Thus is Mitsui's shooting threat that he doesn't even need to touch the ball at times to make an impact during an offensive possession.

Befitting of a former national MVP, Mitsui's offensive prowess extend beyond just shooting. He can also dribble, pass, and finish around the rim at a good level along with his impressive court awareness and vision. And despite his reputation as a sharpshooter, Mitsui is actually an incredible two-way guard with elite defensive skills. He has terrific lateral movement and can prevent blow-bys, steal off dribbles, contest shots, intercept passing lanes, and do much more. Mitsui combines these skills with his high basketball IQ, which include taking charges and committing tactical fouls when appropriate. Mitsui singlehandedly nullified Kicchou Fukuda's scoring spree during Shohoku vs. Ryonan after Sakuragi failed the assignment and subbed out, something that even Tadashi Muto and Kainan High initially struggled to accomplish during Kainan vs. Ryonan.

Mitsui's basketball IQ and innate awareness are where he really shines in both offense and defense. Mitsui's own teammates (along with his coaches) are well aware of how multifaceted he is; Akagi in particular firmly acknowledges and respects Mitsui's incredible basketball intuition. During a Shohoku scrimmage, Mitsui managed to completely shut down Sakuragi from the center position despite being undersized. He then easily worked in tandem with Miyagi to retake the lead for the upper classmen. Akagi noted that even top centers in the district such as Kazuma Takasago and Toru Hanagata struggled to control Sakuragi even with the help of their respective teammates, yet Mitsui accomplished this singlehandedly. However, it must be noted that Mitsui had the advantage of knowing Sakuragi's weaknesses from practicing with him every day; this familiarity allowed him to capitalize on those weakpoints to full effect while the aforementioned opponents could not (only few other intuitive opponents like Coach Takato did the same). Also, the only other player Mitsui had to worry about during the scrimmage was Rukawa; the aforementioned Kainan and Shoyo players had to worry about guarding the entire starting line-up of Shohoku.

As previously mentioned, one of Mitsui's major weakness is his low stamina due to his prolonged hiatus from basketball. Combined with his delinquent lifestyle during this absence, he can no longer play at his full capacity throughout the 40 minutes of a match against tough opponents. This happens several times throughout the Slam Dunk series: against Shoyo where Kogure had to sub in for him before match end; against Ryonan when he collapsed on the court and had to be carried off by his teammates; and against Sannoh when he could barely run, lift his arms, or even see. This causes him to become a liability (especially on the defensive end), such as when Minoru Matsumoto of Sannoh easily blew by him on multiple occasions which the rest of his Shohoku teammates had to cover for. Mitsui's lack of stamina also diminishes his shooting accuracy as he tires, though Sakuragi made up for this against Sannoh by controlling the rebounds to provide him extra shooting opportunities.

<needs annotation/reference> His immaturity and impatience not only caused him to be forced into long rehab, but he actually has poor mental toughness because he is the only Shohoku player to come from an affluent family <needs annotation/reference>, and his early success in junior high (prefecture champion and MVP) left him unable to deal with setbacks. His only redeeming quality as a thug was that he didn't smoke cigarettes. 

Relationships[]

Shohoku Basketball Team[]

Takenori Akagi[]

The two players had history with one another before Mitsui stopped playing basketball. He once competed vs Akagi due to the latter also getting attention because of his height. He also considered Akagi's dunks somehow to be a challenge for him. 

Ryota Miyagi[]

In the First Slam Dunk, the two came to know each other first when they were both kids, in which he challenges Miyagi to a 1v1 match.

The movie also shows a more in-depth view of their old rivalry, which started when Mitsui’s gang trash talks sophomores Miyagi and Yasuharu Yasuda, which was not well-received by Miyagi. The two will then clash against each other, with an infuriated Mitsui-jealous of Miyagi’s success as a basketball player-beating him up, which led to the two being hospitalized.

The two have known each other, when Miyagi beats Mitsui, knocking his frontal teeth, before been beaten by his gang, which hospitalized both of them for some time. Mitsui, along with Tetsuo and his gang came to the gym in order to take revenge on Miyagi and force the team to fight, so they could be disqualified from the tournament. During the showdown, Kogure reveals that Mitsui was a basketball player, once an MVP who got injured 2 years before the start of the series. While denying his interest about basketball, considerating it boring, Miyagi tells Mitsui he was the one who couldn't forget about his past. With Anzai's sudden arrival, Mitsui, remorsefully confesses that he wants to play basketball. Since then, Mitsui started to get along with Miyagi, acknowledging him as a friend and teammate.

At the end of the manga, with Miyagi as the new captain, Mitsui started to get into fights and quarrels with him because of his new strict personality, though, not at the same extent it used to be in the past.

Kiminobu Kogure[]

Kogure and Mitsui used to friends during their first year of high school, until Mitsui receives a leg injury that made him unable to play basketball for some time. After Mitsui returns to the gym with the intention of destroying the basketball team, Kogure reveals to everyone about Mitsui's past, including his goal of the national championship. When Mitsui started denying his interest about basketball, to the point of knocking Kogure down. Kogure scolded Mitsui for giving up on his dream so easily, saying that he really has no guts and shouldn't give people so much expectations. Thanks to Anzai's call, Mitsui was finally able to redeem himself, admitting that he wants to play basketball. After the incident, the relationship between the two started to return to its formal shape.

Mitsuyoshi Anzai[]

Mitsui has high respect for Anzai, and admires him very much because he was the one who willed Mitsui during the match in middle school to not give up until the end, which enabled Mitsui and his team to win the match. Mitsui decided to join Shohoku because of him and his inspiring words. When Anzai entered the gym, all the thoughts of destroying the basketball team in Mitsui quickly vanished and felt very remorseful. Mitsui tearfully confesses that he really wants to play baskteball again. Since then, Mitsui promised to never fight again, which he even held up despite being cornered by his former gang. During the match against Ryonan, when Anzai was hospitalized, Mitsui brought a photo portrait of him, and even prayed for him as a sign of respect, which was not well-received by Sakuragi and Akagi, because his act of respect unintentionally implicates that the old man is already dead.

Rivals[]

Kazushi Hasegawa[]

Hasegawa lost against Mitsui during middle school and subsequently lost his confidence. But when he saw him being a delinquent, he was totally shocked after seeing Mitsui as a shadow of his former self. He vows that he'll never lose to him again. They meet again in the match between Shohoku and Shoyo and he marks him with a box-and-one strategy. Mitsui overhears Hasegawa that he won't allow him more than 5 points. This reinvigorated Mitsui's MVP caliber and he consecutively shot several 3-points on the 2nd half. He scored a total of 20 points in the game and cover the 12 point lead of Shoyo before being gassed out eventually.

Quotes[]

• To Shokoku on his first year introduction : "My goal is to lead Shohoku to dominate the National Championship! To be the best in Japan!"
• To Anzai : "Anzai-sensei... I want to play basketball."
• To himself (about Rukawa) : "This guy always thinks he is the best. He is annoying, doesn't like to talk, and has no respect for the others. But I have to admit it, he is really strong."
• To Minoru Matsumoto : "Masashi is Masashi, Akagi is Akagi. Then, who am I? Tell me... I'm Mitsui. A person who will never give up."

Etymology[]

• The name Hisashi means "longevity, congratulations, one's natural life" (寿).
• Hisashi's surname Mitsui means "three" (三) (mitsu) and "well, mine shaft, pit" (井) (i).

Trivia[]

• In the original English Dub of the anime, Sakuragi calls Mitsui "Missy" instead of "Mitchi".
• Mitsui is considered as one of the problem players because of the fight history. The others are Miyagi, Rukawa and Sakuragi.
• In his hospital ward, Mitsui has two posters of Michael Jordan dunking. One is a fake finger roll dunk, the other is 'the look-away' reverse dunk.
• Mitsui is likely based on former NBA player, Craig Hodges They both wore the no. 14 jersey and were three-point shooters. It also be based Jeff Hornacek due to them wearing no. 14 jersey, and Horncek's left knee also wearing knee brace, as his knees deteriorated from shooting practices. Hornacek is also a liability on defense due to lack of speed and agility, but his defense was still serviceable.
• Mitsui's left knee injury seen in both the manga and anime is revealed to be an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and is a very common injury for basketball and volleyball players in real life. Additionally, after his return to play basketball, Mitsui was seen checking his former left knee injury at the hospital. The reason is a destabilization of his leg from his ankle injury suffered in the first practice match, but returned only three days post surgery.
• In the Filipino Dub when Mitsui was initially a delinquent with his gang, he was called "bungal" by Yohei Mito due to his broken frontal teeth.
• Mitsui is the only character to have his own theme song, which later became the ending theme song (Sekai ga Owaru Made wa...).
• Mitsui wears Asics TBF 707 sneakers. Asics is also the team sponsor for Shoyo and Sannoh.
• Mitsui failed 4 of his final exams.