Out of Takehiko Inoue's three major works, I would say Real is overall the best. His first major work of Slam Dunk, whilst good for what it was, had too few stakes to keep investment high and Vagabond took too long to provide a major focus on character development. In that sense, Real can be considered the best of both worlds and overall an improvement on everything about Slam Dunk to the point of the predecessor's redundancy akin to what Hunter X Hunter is compared to Yu Yu Hakusho.

The plot is something fairly straightforward and summaries of it wouldn't make the series sound so interesting. If it were purely the disabled playing wheelchair basketball, the series would have nothing to keep investment high. What does allow it to shine compared to many other manga, especially of the sports genre, is it's focus on characters and their psychology. Most of the cast are given a large focus on their personal struggle and how being catapulted into the realm of disability can affect both their path in life and relationships with their loved ones, particularly well done with the character of Takahashi. There is also exploration on the guilt and regret that comes from this sudden change, with many of the transformations into a paraplegic being due to an accident caused by reckless decisions. This can be particularly seen through the character of Nomiya and his attempts to atone for his sins in a life that he ruined. These elements provide the opportunity to create great drama, which the series utilises to it's full potential with it's exploration on the temporary nature of life.
However, it's not as though the synergy of a plot with good themes and very good characters makes something a masterpiece. Unfortunately, later chapters of the series spend so much of a focus on the failures of characters to get past their problems to the point of derailing the manga's pacing and causing some story lines to seemingly go in circles.

Onto the superficial element of art, this is an aspect of the series that is truly excellent. Inoue's art is well renowned as highly detailed and realistic, this holding true for Real. His work as an artist and ability to catch the audience's attention through it has improved staggeringly since Slam Dunk, though I'd say the peak of Vagabond's art surpasses Real's, but when the former is one of the most breathtaking manga artistically that's still a worthy feat.

As for the conclusion, is Real the greatest sports manga of all time? No. That title would belong to Ashita no Joe. However, Real is a worthy second place in that category with it providing enough drama and danger to stand above the countless titles of lukewarm importance within the genre and act as Inoue's expansion as a writer after Slam Dunk. Too bad the series will likely be stuck in hiatus hell for many years.

Overall ranking - 7.5/10