Although two of his most famous works, Slam Dunk and Real, revolve around the lives of basketball players, Takehiko Inoue has never considered himself a "sports manga-ka." His primary focus has always been on his characters, not the sports they play—and he uses their involvement in athletics as a means to illustrate their personal growth. Over the course of his career, Inoue has developed into one of the most famous manga artists of all time, with series selling over a combined 156 million volumes worldwide.

• A 31-volume manga series, widely considered to be the best sports manga ever
• Great non-shojo romance title that men wouldn't be ashamed to read
• Slam Dunk has sold over 100 million copies worldwide
• Takehiko Inoue has won numerous awards, including the Osamu Tezuka Award, and has been nominated for an Eisner Award in Best Writer/Artist category for Vagabond
• Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk is part of a 2008 initiative to push Inoue's manga masterpieces in the U.S.
  

• Vagabond is on Japan's top ten best seller's list with over 100 million volumes in print
• Vagabond has sold over 48 million copies worldwide
• Based on the classic novel Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa. Originally written in the early 40s, Yoshikawa's fictional account became so well known that his version has blurred fact from fiction
• VIZ Media is currently releasing the English translated edition of Vagabond only three months apart from the Japanese release
• The popularity of Vagabond has been recognized as the reason NHK produced its period drama TV series based on Yoshikawa's novel
• There have been six films and two TV series based on Miyamoto Musashi's life
• Inoue received the 2000 Media Arts award for manga from the Japanese Ministry of Culture and the Kodansha award for best manga for his work on Vagabond
• "...reads like an Akira Kurosawa film captured on the printed page." -Cliff Biggers, Comic Buyer's Guide

• An ongoing manga series—over seven volumes released in Japan to date
• Sold-through 8.9 million copies worldwide
• From the award winning artist of Vagabond and Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk, also available from VIZ Media
• Everything and anything Takehiko Inoue creates hits the Top Ten Tohan sales list in Japan
• Takehiko Inoue has won numerous awards, including the Osamu Tezuka Award, and has been nominated for an Eisner Award in Best Writer/Artist category for Vagabond
• Real is part of a 2008 campaign to promote Inoue's manga masterpieces in the U.S.

Preview the manga at inoue.viz.com