Miyagi Ryota

Japanese name:	宮城 リョータ
Nickname:	Lightning, Shorty, Ryo-chin

Name: Miyagi Ryota
A.k.a.: Lightning, Shorty, Ryo-chin
Age: 16 - 17
Birthday: July 31st
Highschool: Shohoku Highschool
Year: 2nd
Class: 1
Height: 168 cm (5'6)
Weight: 59 kg (130 lbs.)
Position: point guard (PG)
Jersey no.: 7
Shoe Brand: Converse

Family and background:

There is not much known about Miyagi's background. He might have siblings, but we can't be sure. He joined the basketball team for his love for the game in the first place. But soon it seems that he is also playing for the love of his life Ayako, the team manager. Although Ryonan's coach asked him to join the Ryonan Basketball Team, Miyagi chose for Shohoku because of Anzai. Miyagi is a problem kid, he gets into fights a lot and got himself beaten up. He was also the one who beat Mitsui up, but he had to pay the price of staying in the hospital for some time...

Special abilities:

Miyagi is quite short, but he has the greatest speed of all players mentioned in Slam Dunk. He has a great dribble and combined with his speed he's able to tear up the opponent's defense and deliver excellent (no-look) passes to the free team mate. He's also able to get a score at his own powers and his steals are just marvelous. Miyagi is a good point guard with a great sight on the game, he's also able to find his team mates without looking for them. He's the strategist of the team, and thanks to this role and his own skills he becomes the next team captain as Akagi retires to focus on exams. By the way, he is also a good street fighter and has a very good flying kick. (Mitsui told)

Coach Anzai says that Miyagi's value to the team is his great speed and his keen senses.

Special features:

His quite short length and the blue earring in his left ear. He also wears sweat bands around his left wrist. I think his hair is cool, it looks fine on him. Maybe his love for Ayako should be mentioned.

Personality:

Miyagi is a smart but kinda rude person, who is only nice and sweet to Ayako... He tried to date other girls to forget Ayako, but he failed to. So he can be a very sensitive person too. In the beginning he mistook Sakuragi for Ayako's boyfriend and got into a fight with him immediately. Later when they found out about each other's painful roads of love, they feel sympathy for each other and start to get along. That's how they became good friends. Miyagi is a bit short tempered sometimes and hates when people make fun of his height. In the match vs Toyotama he gets angry with the opposing point guard, loses his view on the game and almost beats the guy. But in the second half he is able to remain calm again and show his true powers.

MAL