The First Slam Dunk: Inoue structures his narrative around the single game between Shohoku and Sannoh
The First Slam Dunk
Film: The First Slam Dunk
Cast: Luis Bermudez, Paul Castro Jr., Abby Espiritu
Director: Takehiko Inoue
Rating: 3.5/5
This animation, comedy drama is definitely among the best manga anime movies ever …and it’s a sports movie too. So the adrenaline rush is guaranteed. The First Slam Dunk brings Takehiko Inoue’s legendary basketball series to the big screen nearly 25 plus years after the original sports anime premiered on Japanese TV.
Takehiko Inoue, as writer and director of ‘The First Slam Dunk,’ ensures that the visual experience is both lucid and compelling enough for even newbies to enjoy.
Ryota Miyagi, the point guard for the Shohoku High School’s basketball team is the one telling this story.We see a few glimpses of his childhood aka learning to play basketball with his elder brother Sota. The narrative focus then shifts to the present where the Shohoku team which includes the red-haired Hanamichi Sakuragi, the cool Kaede Rukawa, shooting guard Hisashi Mitsui, the captain Takenori Akagi alongside Miyagi, is playing their rival, Sannoh.
Hanamichi Sakuragi, who is expected to be the main protagonist in the series, gets a strong story arc. He is a delinquent with a long history of getting dumped by girls. After enrolling in Shohoku High School, Hanamichi gets attracted to a girl named Haruko who loves basketball. From therein begins his tryst with the game.
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The film basically highlights his determination and never-say-die attitude and is likely to strike a chord with teens sailing in the same boat. The basketball action is staged in such a way as to guarantee high thrills. The story is easy to identify with and the characters feel real and believable.
Inoue structures his narrative around the single game between Shohoku and Sannoh. The action is edgily staged with highly challenging, tense and exhilarating moments for both teams. Inoue smartly incorporates slow motion, close-ups, speedy asides, tracking shots etc. to accentuate the experience. The expressions on the faces of the players add weight to the thrills here. The use of traditional hand-drawn 2D and 3D animation allows for a visually striking composite. The sequences are fluid and the action on court is both tense and thrilling. Satoshi Takebe’s choice of soundtrack and peppy score lends springy volatility to the experience. All this adds up to a winning combination for an audience bored stiff with traditional animation offerings.
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