An Incredible Experience: The First Slam Dunk Anime Movie Review
I’m no fan of team sports, nor of sports anime (except for the sublimely insane Birdie Wing), so went into basketball anime The First Slam Dunk with minimal expectations. I certainly didn’t predict it would be one of the best anime movies I’ve ever seen.
Based on the 31-volume 1990–1996 Weekly Shonen Jump manga, this movie has been a long time in gestation. In its time, Slam Dunk was phenomenally popular and is credited with popularising basketball amongst 1990s Japanese youth. The Slam Dunk TV anime adaptation ran for 101 episodes and was an international megahit — though not in North America. Its 2005 DVD release was cancelled without completing the series. In the US at least some of the episodes stream on Crunchyroll and Amazon, though there’s no way to watch in the UK. The manga received a complete and easily available, still-in print English translation — first in short-lived weekly manga anthology Raijin Comics — and then later by Viz under their Shonen Jump imprint.
I was one of the few people who collected every issue of Raijin Comics back in the early 2000s, from the first 36 weekly issues to the last few where it limped onto newsstands in diminished monthly format before disappearing after issue 46 in 2004. Raijin Comics translated and published only the first five volumes of Slam Dunk. It took until December 2013 for Viz to complete the manga’s publication with its final 31st volume. Although I almost certainly read every chapter published in Raijin Comics, two decades on I remember very little about it.
Incredibly, The First Slam Dunk is a passion project screenwritten and directed by the manga’s original writer and artist, Takehiko Inoue (Vagabond, Real). Inoue also provided storyboards and art for the movie. Apart from Katsuhiro Otomo with Akira and Hayao Miyazaki with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, I’ve never heard of a mangaka being granted such unprecedented creative control over the animated adaptation of their manga. As far as I know, Inoue has no other directing experience. In this case, producer Toei’s trust in the original author is vindicated — The First Slam Dunk is an absolute triumph of tension, emotion and sublime animation.
Slam Dunk — the TV anime — ended without adapting the manga’s climactic story arc, as collected in volumes 25–31. Inoue set himself the unenviable task of completing a story begun in a beloved, decades-old, long-running TV show, placating longstanding fans familiar with the characters, while simultaneously crafting a coherent movie suitable for first-time viewers. That he succeeds on both counts is nothing short of miraculous, and the movie’s recent spectacular financial success across Asia (especially in China) is testament to his vision and skill as both writer and director.
While Slam Dunk’s primary protagonist is usually fiery red-haired Hanamichi Sakuragi, in the movie he takes a back seat to assume a supporting role. Instead, short-statured but speedy Ryota Miyagi is promoted to leading man, and through a series of non-chronological flashbacks interspersed throughout current-day scenes of a high-stakes inter-high school basketball game, we learn of the personal tragedies that drive and influence him.
Originally from remote, tropical Japanese Okinawa Prefecture, nine-year-old Ryota loses both his father and elder brother in quick succession. In particular, the death of his loving, supportive, sporty and wise brother deeply affects Ryota, and he spends his adolescence fighting to escape his brother’s long shadow. Emotionally broken, and in an effort to distance the family from their trauma, Ryota’s mother moves them to Shohoku in Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. Ryota continues his struggle to live up to his gifted, athletic brother by following him into competitive high school basketball. Much of the movie depicts Shohoku High School’s climactic basketball match against the renowned Sannoh High’s formidable team, in particular their star player Eiji Sawakita.
This match forms the backbone of the film, from beginning to unbelievably nerve-wracking end, with spurts of intense action where sweating, gasping bodies collide and basketballs launched from player to player are plunged into baskets with unexpectedly dramatic flair. So densely kinetic are the action sequences that the more sedate and thoughtful flashbacks act as much-needed breathers. The final moments of the match are so tightly-wound that I felt my stomach churning in anticipation of the next crazy twist or audacious strategy. I’ve never been so invested in a sports-related story in my life.
This investment is conjured not just by the detailed and affecting character work, but by the frankly phenomenal animation. Toei took years, and multiple attempts, to perfect a method of convincingly depicting multiple bodies interacting, at speed, on the basketball court. Their ultimate solution is an elegant and impressive mix of both traditional hand-drawn two-dimensional and three-dimentional CGI cel-shaded animation. Due to the stylised manga-referencing character designs, there’s no “uncanny valley” effect to the players’ movements and appearances, and the skilled use of rotoscoping and dynamic camera movement really helps sell the game’s intensity.
Ryota isn’t the only character from the five-person Shohoku High basketball team to benefit from flashbacks. Although most flashbacks are from Ryota’s viewpoint, we witness his past important interactions with his teammates. Although none are as fleshed-out as Ryota, enough time is devoted to the others that we get a good handle on their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Man-mountain Takenori Akagi is team captain and harsh taskmaster, frequently exasperated by his wayward teammates’ antics. Hisashi Mitsui is an ex-gang leader, and after he and Ryota beat the stuffing out of one another, he cuts off his long hair and (re)joins the basketball team. Kaede Rukawa is a cool, aloof star player with almost Levi Ackerman-like vibes. In a prominent subplot, his somewhat selfish playing style is challenged by Sannoh’s Eiji Sawakita during the match.
It’s Hanamichi Sakuragi who, gets the least character development and flashback appearances. As overall series protagonist, this seems odd — especially considering his more prominent role in the movie’s final third, and certain plot developments feel like they come from a little bit left-field without the relevant backstory. I can’t help but think that the re-focusing of the story on Ryota is deliberate on writer Inoue’s part though. It really is incredible how accessible the story and its characters are, even without that much in the way of context.
The First Slam Dunk isn’t just a success in terms of visuals, characters and action though — the soundtrack is excellent. Fast-paced crunching guitars and growling vocals from The Birthday in theme song LOVE ROCKETS really set the scene, and 10-FEET’s multiple tracks keep the viewers’ heart rates up along with the bpm. The music is easily as hype as the animation — both aspects complement the other perfectly.
I left the cinema absolutely buzzing, with my heart thumping and my bowels churning. Perhaps that sounds somewhat disconcerting, but it’s been a long time since I’ve felt such a profound and visceral reaction from a movie. The First Slam Dunk deserves to be widely experienced, even by those, like me, who normally say “but I don’t like sports anime”. You’ll like this one. Trust me.
The First Slam Dunk
Based on the manga Slam Dunk by: Takehiko Inoue
Written and directed by: Takehiko Inoue
Character designer/general animation director: Yasuyuki Ebara
Production: Toei Animation, Dandelion Animation Studio
JP theatrical release: 3rd December 2022
JP Distributor: Toei Company
US theatrical release: 28th July 2023
US distributor: GKIDS
UK theatrical release: 30th August 2023
UK distributor: All the Anime (Anime Limited)
Runtime: 124 minutes
Languages: Japanese audio with English subtitles, English audio.
BBFC rating: 12
