In a powerful cliffhanger of volume two, Damian discovered that he was not selected to a basketball team. Does this new failure sound the death knell of his career? Follow the match through our review of volume three of Deep 3 to find out.
The third third begins in Deep 3
The reality is very harsh in Deep 3 for young Damian. Basketball is an unforgiving world that eliminates a large portion of candidates as early as high school. Following his failure, Damian waits prostrate near the empty field. He could not bring himself to this failure but, through a coach, his sense of the collective finally allowed him to be selected. The coach agrees to follow the training sessions in exchange for cleaning the locker room. He is between the player and the stooge. Worse, he is not selected for the right reasons…
A series following the rules
In Deep 3, we find the obligatory passages of sports manga. The texts at the end of the volume are very enlightening. The screenwriter is a former high school basketball player who understood his limitations playing in college The idea of Damian's three-point shooting comes from the experience of the first Japanese player to play at an American university. The reader enters an environment by discovering the very virilist rituals of American basketball. You must not be humiliated otherwise you will not receive any more ball. Between two checks, each young player demands the respect of his prerogatives by details: we want his number and his locker. In the United States, players are faster, more agile and bigger. All this makes the shocks more violent. Competition is everywhere. Everyone hopes to stand out to become a pro but this battle of ego paralyzes the collective.
On the other hand, Damian's father conveys to him the importance of effort. The goal is not to reject defeat but to get up again and again. It doesn't matter what the end result is. In Deep 3, the adventures are numerous as in an NBA final. Alas, some reversals a little too fast are as artificial as a wrestling match. Strangely, his illness no longer seems to handicap him.
Deep 3 comes off the lines
If Ao Ashi sometimes looks like a war, in Deep 3 we are in the world of work. Everyone has a task to do for collective success. Between the steward and the player, Damian would be an employee in depression back but unable to find his place or his confidence. In Deep 3, screenwriter Mitsuhiro Mizuno modernizes shonen by the main character. Damian is a mixed-race hero, a choice too rare in manga. This difference is a key element explaining his psychological disorder. He suffers the racism of being Japanese in the United States as he suffered in Japan for his skin color.
In the first volumes, Deep 3 remained only on the floor. However, this second volume comes out of gyms and focuses on Damian's family life. He finds out who his father is. In Volume 3, we see that academic success is necessary to integrate the university. Damian's personal life is bleak. The young mixed-race woman now lives with his father. He is not a champion but a former basketball hopeful who missed his career. Considering himself a loser, he runs a small restaurant in the United States. Absent from Damian's life since childhood, he becomes his guardian. Like many teens in this situation, Damian angrily refuses. However, the Damian blood will learn that reality is always hidden.
Screenwriter Mitsuhiro Mizuno criticizes the mother of the hero of Deep 3. Her Japanese mother tries a career as a dancer in Hollywood and remains in a paradoxical situation of absence and thoughtfulness at a distance. In volume one, she wears a daring outfit, has a casual stance and drinks in a bar. She hates her ex-boyfriend but knows he knows her son's game well. It is certainly strategic but it is whimsical at best even whimsical and selfish.
Published by Mangetsu, Deep 3 may appear as a classic shonen. Damian is a freak who must go beyond his limits to achieve his dreams. However, by its mixed-race character and the presentation of its parents, the series differs from other sports manga to mark the floor of victorious passes.
Do not stay on the sidelines and discover the articles on the beginnings of the series and on our best sports manga.
