| Introduction |
| “ | Hello, I'm the basketball team's manager, Ayako. Pleased to meet you | ” |
—Ayako, to Shohoku High | ||
| Ayako | |
|---|---|
| |
| Name | |
| Aliases | Aya-chan
Big Sis (姉御) |
| Characteristics | |
| Gender |  Female
|
| Age | 17 |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Professional Status | |
| Team | 
|
| Year | 2nd year |
| Position | Team Manager |
| Personal Status | |
| First Appearance | |
| Voices | |
| Japanese Voice | Eriko Hara (TV series and OVAs) Asami Seto (The First Slam Dunk) |
| English Voice | Caitriona Murphy Grace Cornel (GMA Dub) Lexi Fernandez (ABS-CBN Filipino Dub) Kelsey Jaffer (The First Slam Dunk) |
| Italian Voice | Dania Cericola |
| [v · t · e] | |
Ayako (彩子) is the manager of Shohoku High School's basketball team and Ryota Miyagi's love interest. Her last name is unknown.
As the manager, Ayako keeps track of team logistics such as schedule and match statistics. She also helps treat basic injuries during matches. Ayako also acts as an assistant coach, and she trains Sakuragi Hanamichi in basics such as dribbling and passing.
Ayako frequently uses a traditional japanese fan to smack people for misbehavior and insolence (Sakuragi being a frequent recipient).
Appearance[]
She is a curvaceous young girl with long brown curls.
Ayako usually wears her hair tied under a baseball cap when with the basketball team. During regular school sessions, she's usually in Shohoku school uniform with her hair untied and worn down.
Background[]
Ayako graduated from Tomigaoka Junior High, the same school which Kaede Rukawa graduated from a year later. Ayako and Rukawa knew each other prior to attending Shohoku High School, thus she has the most familiarity with Rukawa during the Slam Dunk series.
Ayako's school grades are good enough to tutor academically poor members. Her best subjects are Japanese and English.
Personality[]
Strong-willed, somewhat tomboyish yet good-natured, her disciplinary style is midway between Takenori Akagi and Coach Anzai: while not as soft as the latter, she is also not as hard as the former. She often calls Sakuragi by his full name. Per her tomboyish nature, she is unfazed when abruptly entering the boy's basketball locker room to merely announce tournament groupings (even when the boys get embarrassed).
Everyone treats her with respect; even Sakuragi is more polite to her than he is to Akagi or Coach Anzai [whom he often calls Oyaji (おやじ)]. Ayako (along with Anzai) is one of few people whom Rukawa never disrespects. Unlike others who call Ayako by her name, Rukawa always calls her "senpai." Rukawa completely ignored everybody (including upperclassmen such as Kiminobu Kogure and Miyagi) who told him to stop fighting when Mitsui's gang invaded Shohoku's gym. However, he immediately restrained himself when Ayako approached and told him to stop.
Miyagi refers to Ayako as "Aya-chan" because of his attraction to her, and she responds by calling him "Ryota" rather than by his surname. Initially Ayako does not seem to reciprocate Ryota's feelings for her, which she knows of, and will not until the end of the series.
Plot[]
Ayako first introduces herself during Shohoku High School basketball team's first practice and orientation. She greets Rukawa and was pleased to see him again since both of them graduated from Tomigaoka Junior High.
Ayako and Haruko bicker during Shohoku's Freshmen vs. Upper Classmen scrimmage about who will win (mainly regarding Rukawa vs. Akagi). Despite the comic relief, it is shown that Ayako is quite familiar with Rukawa's personality as the scrimmage progresses (including how Akagi blocking his shot will only amp him up rather than discourage him), and even reveals some history about Rukawa (such as when he was tardy to his final basketball match during middle school due to oversleeping).
While walking about at school, Ayako runs into Kogure and Akagi who were spying on Tatsuhiko Aota trying to persuade Sakuragi to quit basketball and join the Judo team. She ends up joining them to watch Sakuragi ultimately reject Aota's offer.
When Mitsui invaded Shohoku High's basketball gym, Ayako stepped in to initially stop Rukawa from continuing to beat people up. However, she got slapped by the gang member whom she prevented Rukawa from fighting, and this immediately ignited Miyagi (who was restraining himself up to that point) to start fighting to protect her.
When Akagi injured his left ankle against Kainan, Ayako accompanied Akagi to the locker room to help treat his injury. Ayako tried increduously to prevent Akagi from re-entering the match and further aggravating his injury; however, Akagi would not budge and proceeded to play in the 2nd half.
When Sakuragi got a bloody injury while marking Kicchou Fukuda of Ryonan, Ayako treated his wounds. When Haruko Akagi tried to approach Sakuragi despite his friends' warnings, Ayako firmly held her hand up to stop her from getting closer. She then shook her head to tell Haruko to stay back, knowing that Sakuragi was upset to the point of needing space rather than any talking to. Back in the locker room during half-time, she smacks both Rukawa and Sakuragi with her fan to stop them arguing. After Shohoku's victory, Ayako congratulated Rukawa with a high-five.
During the Nationals Tournament, the relationship between Ayako and Ryota developed to the point where he could confide in her about his uncertainties about the upcoming Sannoh match when he was alone with her, and during the match Ayako motivated him by writing the words "Number 1 Guard" on his hand to keep him focused and determined.
She was the first one to notice Sakuragi's back injury during the game against Sannoh, and also warned him that his injury concerns his life as a Basketball player; meaning he may never be able to play basketball again. When Sakuragi collapsed from his injury, Ayako showed a compassionate side towards him, she believes that no one was able to improve so fast like him in only 4 months. She also believed if his treatment goes for a long time, he might have already lost what he learned so far; thus these 4 months would turned out to be merely a dream for him, which greatly shocked and touched Ayako.
Quotes[]
- "His injury shouldn't be that much serious if he was able to last that much longer. However, his fast improvement during these 4 months... Learned various skills. If he undergoes medical treatment, and it takes a long time for him to participate in a real match... By that time, he might have already lost what he learned so far. These 4 months... It's just like having a dream." - to herself (about Hanamichi Sakuragi's injury)
Etymology[]
- The name Ayako means "color" (彩) (aya) and "child" (子) (ko).
Trivia[]
- She used to go to Tomagioka Junior High School with Kaede Rukawa