THE FIRST SLAM DUNK, the film based on the popular Slam Dunk manga by Takehiko Inoue, has now topped Japan's ticket sales list for the past 7 weekends. First released on December 3, 2022, the film has been gaining a lot of popularity throughout Japan and has grossed 8.27 billion yen ($64.4 million USD) to date. Adding it to Japan's top-grossing film list at spot 24!
A teaser trailer for the film was released on July 7, 2022, followed by a full trailer on November 4, 2022 (linked below). Toei Company opened the film in Japanese theaters for regular and IMAX screenings.
The film follows a similar pattern in the plot line but instead follows Ryota Miyagi, the point guard of Shohoku high school's basketball team. His older brother, Sota, who's three years older than him, inspired his passion for basketball. Ryota and his teammates Hanamichi Sakuragi, Takenori Akagi, Hisashi Mitsui, and Kaede Rukawa are challenging the inter-high champions, the Sanno school, in basketball. The excitement seems to only build as their skill continues to grow and the tensions of the competition between the two schools grow along with it.
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THE FIRST SLAM DUNK History:
The original Slam Dunk manga aired on television from 1993 to 1996, and four anime films were based on it. The storyline follows Hanamichi Sakuragi, an incoming freshman at Shohoku High, who also holds the record for having been rejected by the most number of girls in middle school, which sadly adds up to a whopping 50 total. Sakuragi has been traumatized by basketball ever since he was most recently rejected by a girl for a fellow teammate.
During a December 2014 dinner with Matsui, Inoue gave the film the go-ahead. Then, Matsui suggested that Inoue write the script and direct, as he was the person most trusted with the dialogue and physical appearance and expression of the characters. In January 2015, he began working on the script after Inoue's acceptance. In 2018, motion capture and model development began. Then on January 6, 2021, Inoue unexpectedly announced on Twitter that production had begun on the film.
On August 13, 2021, Inoue was revealed to be the film's screenwriter and director, alongside other production staff members including Yasuyuki Ebara as character designer/animation director and Naoki Miyahara, Katsuhiko Kitada, Toshio Ohashi, Yasuhiro Motoda, Fumihiko Suganuma, and Haruko Kamatani as sequence directors.
Interested in what else is popular in the Anime world? Take a look at what is topping the charts currently down below!
January's Top 10 Anime for January 2023:
1. THE FIRST SLAM DUNK
2. Suzume
3. Ichikei's Crow: The Criminal Court Judges: The Movie
4. Avatar: The Way of Water
5. Detective Conan: Ai Haibara Story ~ Black Iron Mystery Train
6. Dr. Koto Shinryojo
7. Lager yori Ai wo Komete
8. Lonely Castle in the Mirror
9. One Piece Film Red
10. Soshite Boku wa Tohou ni Kureru