| Introduction |
| Shinichi Maki | |
|---|---|
| |
| Name | |
| Japanese | 牧 紳一 |
| Romanized | Maki Shin'ichi |
| Aliases | じい ('Jii', short for じいさん, or middle-aged man) |
| Characteristics | |
| Gender |  Male
|
| Birthday | August 15 |
| Age | 17 |
| Height | 184 cm (6' 0") |
| Weight | 79 kg (175 lbs) |
| Blood Type | O |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Professional Status | |
| Occupation | Basketball player |
| Team | 
|
| Year | Third |
| Position | Point Guard, Captain |
| Jersey Number | #12 (1st year) #8 (2nd year) #4 (3rd year) |
| Personal Status | |
| First Appearance | |
| Manga Debut | Chapter 75 |
| Anime Debut | Episode 29 |
| Voices | |
| Japanese Voice | Hisao Egawa |
| English Voice | Jeff Lumby |
| [v · t · e] | |
Shinichi Maki (牧 紳一 , Maki Shin'ichi) is the captain of the Kainan basketball team, and reputedly the best player in the region. He was crowned MVP of the prefecture twice, in both his second and third year. As the captain of the team, Maki commands a lot of respect, and his teammates follow his orders to the letter.
In spite of his skill and renown, Maki displays good sportsmanship toward all his opponents, and is quick to catch on to Shohoku's potential early on in the series.
Appearance[]
Maki has a cool and masculine appearance, with a chiseled jaw, tanned skin and a mole near his left eye. It is revealed in Slam Dunk: 10 Days After that his tan is a result of the fact that he surfs. He is of average height for a basketball player, having the same height as Hisashi Mitsui. He is often made fun of by Sakuragi and his friends for looking older than his age.
As a freshman, Maki wore a similar "regent" hairstyle not unlike Sakuragi's pompadour. In his second and third year, however, Maki's dark brown hair appears slick back with two small fringes in each sides. Following Sakuragi's off-handedly remark that he appeared older than he looks, Maki sports a different hairstyle, with his hair unslicked and his fringe parted loosely in the centre.
In his initial appearance when he was encountered by Akira Sendoh during the basketball eliminations between Shohoku and Miuradai, Maki wore a standard Kainan winter school uniform: a light blue formal suit jacket under a white long sleeved button shirt with a red tie, light blue formal pants and black dress shoes. He also wears a summer school uniform during the second movie and the final episode of the anime wearing a short sleeved button shirt tucked into his light blue formal pants and a knotted red tie.
His overall Kainan jersey uniform is the standard white, yellow and purple. As the captain of the Kainan team, Maki wears the number 4 (he wore number 8 in his 2nd year during his match against Sannoh at the National Inter High Tournament). His shoes, as depicted in the official art and manga, are implied to be Reebok Pumps.
In the beginning of the basketball match between Shohoku and Kainan and during off-courts while watching a basketball match, Maki wears the blue and yellow openly Kainan jersey jacket with a white short sleeve loose undershirt, blue jersey trousers and his basketball shoes from his jersey attire. He reprises the same outfit before the National Tournament, sans the white shirt beneath.
Personality[]
As one of Kanagawa's strongest players, Maki is defined first and foremost by a dominant personality and a strong desire to win, with Kainan's Coach Takato remarking, "You, who stand at the top, desire victory the most." This desire is seen in the moments before Shohoku's match against Kainan, where Maki is seen visibly perspiring and warmed up for a match that not even their coach was concerned about. To that end, it could be said that Maki extended his determination to all his opponents, regarding them with the same level of respect and seriousness. When Kiyota suggests that Kainan could easily beat Shohoku after Akagi leaves the game due to injury, Maki is quick to correct him, stating that Kiyota should never underestimate their opponents if he wishes to wear Kainan's uniform.
Furthermore, Maki is a conscientious player who does not rest on his laurels despite being the ace of one of the strongest teams in the nation. He is seen regularly attending games to understand the team's future opponents, and even travels to Aichi prefecture to spectate Aiwa's game against Meihou. Thus Maki is not easily flattered; whereas the main protagonist Sakuragi can be easily swayed from a mere school newspaper article and his schoolmates congratulating him, Maki is unmoved even when people recognize him while walking through the streets of an entirely different prefecture.
Maki retains a good sportsmanship spirit for his opponents — he praises Akagi Takenori's grit and skills in both of Shohoku's match between Kainan and Ryonan, and even checks on Akagi's ankle injury with Sakuragi before the nationals. Maki generally treats Sakuragi with respect and does not belittle his basketball abilities like many of Sakuragi's peers, and often recognizes Sakuragi's basketball fortes throughout the series that others typically do not give Sakuragi credit for (in direct contrast to Kiyota).
On the court, Maki is a very shrewd player, and does not hesitate to exploit his opponents' weaknesses to the fullest (as demonstrated in the Kainan vs. Ryonan game when Jun Uozumi is baited into fouling out). In the same game, Maki narrowly avoids giving Akira Sendoh a chance at a 3-point play by divining what his intentions are at the last moment and purposely allows Sendoh to equalize during a fastbreak. Kainan ultimately wins in overtime.
Despite his mature appearance and generally serious demeanor, Maki is shown to be sensitive when Sakuragi and his friends make fun of him for looking older than his age on at least three occasions: the first time is when Sakuragi first comments on his age, upon which Maki tells Sakuragi that Akagi looks older than he does, surprising Jin. The second occurs when Sakuragi calls Coach Taoka an old man (じじい, or Ji-jii, as opposed to Sakuragi's じい, or simply Jii, an informal term of a middle-aged man, for Maki), leading Maki to compare their nicknames; and lastly when Sakuragi's friends make fun of him as Kainan's coach when the group encounters him and Kiyota outside the pachinko parlour.
Maki knows how to be strict while patient at the same time. Though he occasionally knuckles Kiyota on the head when he gets too rambunctious, he's also gentlemanly (befitting his name) such as letting Sakuragi tag along with him and Kiyota for the trip to Aichi despite being in rival teams. Maki never shows any frustration with the rowdiness of Kiyota and Sakuragi throughout the trip, with heavy sighing the most he does (whereas a captain such as Akagi likely would have snapped on multiple occasion).
History[]
Little is known about Maki's life or basketball career prior to joining Kainan University Affiliated High School. However, given that he is the same age as Mitsui, it can be surmised that the two might have played against each other before in junior high.
Soon after joining Kainan High, Maki started making waves in Kanagawa for being the prefecture's "super rookies" alongside Fujima Kenji. In an Interhigh game that year where Akagi Takenori and Kogure Kiminobu were both spectators, a man remarked that the "future of basketball in Kanagawa with belong to them", although Maki was "temporarily ahead" of Fujima at that point. In that year, Kainan would win the prefecture's Interhigh for the 15th year running.
In his second year, Maki would win the title of MVP in Kanagawa's Interhigh games. He would also face off Sannoh High in the semi-finals of the National Tournament, coming head-to-head with Fukatsu Kazunari, the strongest point guard in Japan's high-school basketball scene. Kainan would eventually be defeated by 30 points to Sannoh (83-113), coming in fourth place. It was also at the end of this year that Maki was appointed captain of the Kainan team.
Plot[]
Maki makes his first apperance at Shohoku v. Miuradai at the Kanagawa Inter High Regional Tournament, when he greets Sendoh who was grabbing a drink from the vending machine. He remarked that Rukawa plays very similarly to how Sendoh did in the previous year, adding how raw Rukawa still is. He eventually joins Soichiro Jin and Nobunaga Kiyota on the sidelines when they arrive.
Maki, alongside many other starters, did not play against Takezono High as Kainan's bench (led by Jin and Tadashi Muto) destroyed them in a 150-78 victory.
Maki started against Shohoku in the 1st game of the Kanagawa Regional final 4 playoffs. Kainan obtained a 90-88 victory.
Kainan faced Ryonan in the 2nd game of the Kanagawa Regional final 4 playoffs. Kainan eventually obtained 89-83 victory in overtime.
Kainan faced Takezato in the 3rd game of the Kanagawa Regional final 4 playoffs. It was a blowout as Kainan won 98-51 where Maki and the other starters rested toward the end of the match. After clinching Kainan's 17th consecutive first place finish, Maki watched the upcoming match of Shohoku v. Ryonan with his team. He was one of the very first persons to recognize that something was wrong with Akagi after landing on his ankle from Uozumi's foul, and continued to show concern from Akagi's poor performance that immediately followed. Maki ultimately watched Shohoku defeat Ryonan before heading down to the award ceremony to be crowned champions of the tournament as well as the tournament MVP.
On their way to watch Aiwa vs Meihou, Maki and Kiyota ran into Sakuragi trying to illegally enter a pachinko store with his friends. Maki asks Sakuragi if he'd like to join them to go watch Aiwa's match which Sakuragi agrees to; but Maki and Kiyota end up paying for Sakuragi's train ticket, irritating Kiyota. During the train ride, Maki checks in with Sakuragi on Akagi's ankle and Coach Anzai. While walking through the streets, Kiyota and Sakuragi were amazed that people recognized Maki even when they were in a different prefecture. When they arrived at the stadium, they ran into Dai Moroboshi being stretechered off due to his clash with Hiroshi Morishige. They watched the remainder of the match as Meihou defeated Aiwa 74-68. After the match, Maki noted that Morishige was not someone Kazuma Takasago would be able to guard alone.
Kainan and Shohoku departed for the National Inter High Tournament on the same train (albeit in different cars). When Sakuragi mistakenly approached Kainan thinking it was his team at the station, Maki redirected him to where Shohoku was waiting. Maki is often seen with his team during the tournament. Maki did not know who Minori Kishimoto was when Kishimoto talked to him as if they were familiar with each other. But he did recognize Tsuyoshi Minami, whom he warned Rukawa to be wary of.
Maki watched both of Shohoku's matches at the tournament. Unlike the rest of his team who were absolutely speechless when Sakuragi scored his first official midrange jumper against Toyotama High, Maki smiled. During the match, he revealed to his teammates that Minami was known as the "ace killer," recalling how he intentionally injured Fujima in the previous tournament just as he injured Rukawa with the same dirty play.
Maki witnessed Shohoku's historic victory against Sannoh and saw Sannoh's consecutive championship run come to an end.
Maki led his team to finish second place at the National Inter High Tournament.
Abilities[]
Having withstood Kainan's harsh training regime, Maki is a strong athlete with considerable skill in both speed and strength.
Point Guard[]
One of Maki's specialties is making And-1 plays from his drives thanks to his strong physique and ability to finish at the rim. His offensive prowess is incredibly high that four players from Shohoku were needed to contain him. He uses his height and power against other point guards to create mismatches which his team usually capitalises on. Whilst going up against Miyagi Ryota, one of the fastest point guards in the prefecture, Maki was able to evade his defense.
Maki's defensive skillset is also top tier. He can guard the perimeter while also protecting the paint. Even though his primary position is point guard, Maki can guard any position on the court (such as when he marked both Sakuragi as well as Akagi in the same match who were PF and C, respectively). Due to his ability and size, switches like these do not force him into mismatches. Maki also demonstrates superb shotblocking and rim protection capabilities throughout the series.
Maki possesses a high basketball IQ. When Ryonan's Sendoh tried to lure Maki to foul him for a possible 3-point play at the end of regulation time, Maki recognized this and purposely avoided fouling him to let the game tie at 79-79. Only few other keen observers such as Fujima recognized what had actually transpired unlike most of the crowd and players who thought Sendoh merely tied the game.
While Shohoku reviewed the previous year's match footage of Kainan v. Sannoh, Miyagi commented that anyone other than Maki would have lost possession of the ball against Fukatsu's defense. Though they are comparable, the two players have few notable difference. Fukatsu is a prominent 3-point threat while Maki hardly shoots a 3. On the flipside, Maki can comfortably guard positions 1 through 5 while Fukatsu does not. And though the sample size is small based on 1 game against Shohoku, Fukatsu hardly drives into the paint like Maki who forces contact as mentioned above.
| Physical Ability | 10/10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Technique | 10/10 | |
| Stamina | 10/10 | |
| Mental Strength | 10/10 | |
| Special Ability | 10/10 | |
In the mobile game, Maki is an all-rounder that can do almost everything on the court. He is a good passer, scorer, stealer and blocker.
Leadership[]
As the captain of the Kainan team, Maki exhibits considerable skill and team discipline in managing the team's morale and performance. He never underestimates any opponent and makes sure that his teammates do not either.
During Kainan's victory against Shohoku, Maki decides to personally guard Sakuragi after recognizing how much impact Sakuragi was having in the early stages of the match. Maki also coordinates defensive assignments towards the closing stages of the same match, and instructed Kiyota to not let his guard down against Kogure due to his shooting prowess from the 3-point arc. These are aspects of Shohoku that even Ryonan's Coach Taoka self-admittingly underestimates and disregards until it is too late (which ultimately leads to Ryonan's defeat against Shohoku in the regional finals), further exemplifying Maki's exceptional maturity and coaching potential at his young age in contrast to other coaches/players much older than him.
Despite his already high leadership capabilities, Maki is still a student of the game and attends many matches (including those that may not include his direct opponents or are high profile). During his first year of high school, Maki watched Shohoku vs Awato Tech High, which ended in a blowout 78-36 victory for Awato. Yet, Maki recognized the potential of Akagi despite Shohoku's heavy loss.
Maki has high basketball IQ and is highly aware of his team's tactical needs. Recognizing Uozumi's foul trouble in their match against Ryonan, Maki instructs Takasago to lure Uozumi to foul out of their match without the need for Coach Takato to call a timeout and relay the message.
Weakness[]
One aspect of his game that Maki does not demonstrate during the Slam Dunk series is his ability to shoot 3's. However, he is proficient in free throws and midranges outside of the key; so it is possible that he has a decent shooter's touch that extends to the perimeter and the title simply does not demonstrate it during its run. And since his teammates Jin and Miyamasu are prolific perimeter shooters who are perfect outlets for his drive-and-kicks, it may be that he purposely focuses more on drawing the opposing defense inside the paint in order to provide the aforementioned shooters more space. This speculation compliments his winning mentality as the captain--maximizing his team's potential in lieu of merely his own--which further exemplifies his leadership and maturity.
Rivals[]
Kenji Fujima[]
Maki's main rival is Kenji Fujima of Shoyo, although Maki is decidedly better than him. Maki was named the MVP of the Kanagawa tournament.
Takenori Akagi[]
During the match against Shohoku, when Akagi had an injury and continues to play, he is gained respect for his determination and a tough player. Before their basketball match, he and Akagi are the ones to punch both Sakuragi and Kiyota's heads respectively for making an embarassment towards both teams and their troublemaking antics.
Akira Sendoh[]
During the fight with Ryonan High, Ryonan's Coach Taoka decided on a man-to-man defense to keep Maki facing Sendoh, for he believes Sendoh is capable of defeating Maki. Nearing the end of their match, Maki acknowledged Sendoh as his equal and even expressed regret when he could no longer face Sendoh in another match after Ryonan failed to advance to the National Tournament.
Dai Moroboshi[]
Maki regards Moroboshi as a skilled player, electing to visit Aichi prefecture to attend Aiwa High's games. He is also implied to be friends with Moroboshi, or are at least on good terms with each other, as he expresses visible concern for Moroboshi's injury and well-being during Aiwa's match against Meihou.
Etymology[]
- The name Shinichi means "gentleman" (紳) (shin) and "one" (一) (ichi).
- Shinichi's surname Maki means "shepherd, tend cattle" (牧).
Trivia[]
- Maki's counterpart is most definitely Magic Johnson as the characteristics and playing style of both are similar. At 2.06m tall, Johnson was bulkier and taller than most point guards and was reknowned for his incredible skill at passing. As Maki could play all the positions, so could Magic Johnson. His legendary skills at assisting and bringing out the full potential of his teammates, as well as overall ability has caused him to be regarded as the greatest player in the point guard position in basketball history, much like how Maki is known as one of the best (if not the best) point guard in the prefecture and possibly the country.
- Sakuragi calls Maki, "じい", an informal term for a middle-aged man.
- Maki has be shown to wear three different numbers throughout the series: 12 as a freshman, 8 as a second-year student, and finally 4 in his third year.
- In official art drawn by Inoue Takehiko, Maki is depicted as wearing glasses and driving a car.
- Maki appears to have an uncanny ability to predict the opposite of whoever will win a match — Shoyo and Ryonan were defeated after he speculated that both teams might win their game against Shohoku; likewise, after introducing Moroboshi Dai as the "Star of Aichi", Moroboshi was next seen carried off in a stretcher after being injured during the game.