The First Slam Dunk

Shohoku's "speedster" and point guard, Ryouta Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryouta had a brother who was three years older. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryouta also became addicted to basketball.

In his second year of high school, Ryouta plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship. And now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.

(Source: GKIDS, edited)

Sakuragi, Hanamichi Main

Kimura, Subaru Japanese

Mitsui, Hisashi Main

Kasama, Jun Japanese

Miyagi, Ryouta Main

Nakamura, Shuugo Japanese

Rukawa, Kaede Main

Kamio, Shinichirou Japanese

Akagi, Takenori Main

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Mito, Youhei Supporting

Kobayashi, Chikahiro Japanese

Anzai, Mitsuyoshi Supporting

Houki, Katsuhisa Japanese

Akagi, Haruko Supporting

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Ayako Supporting

Seto, Asami Japanese

Kogure, Kiminobu Supporting

Iwasaki, Ryouta Japanese

Inoue, Takehiko Director, Script, Original Creator

Kasamatsu, Kouji Sound Director

Kitada, Katsuhiko Episode Director, Key Animation

Suganuma, Fumihiko Episode Director

Reviews

Dec 9, 2025

Spike_Spiegel06

Recommended

I haven’t really watched the original slam dunk anime nor have I read the manga,I don’t even watch sports anime, but god this film was so great. 

The story was pretty good, it had some really emotional moments and it also did a really good job with some of the characters’s backstories, particularly with the protagonist Ryota Miyagi.

The animation in this film was amazing, even though I’m not really a fan of CGI animation, Toei animation and DandeLion Animation Studio did an absolutely fantastic job with it. The basketball scenes, which are the essence of this film, every dribble, every pass, every block and body movements ... felt really fluid and realistic, and the scenes where there was no basketball were also pretty good. this level of animation should be the standard for any sports anime. Imo, this film and season one of chainsaw man are the prime example that CGI animation has a place in anime as long as it’s done in the RIGHT way.

 Definitely one of the best sports related animes I’ve seen so far.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 21, 2024

Zeemod155

Mixed Feelings

I can't say I recommend watching this movie as an introduction to Slam Dunk. Because I tried and got mixed results. That's not to say you can't enjoy this movie, in fact I enjoyed it a lot. What it does for 3D and sports action direction is something to be marveled. But the one issue is it's difficult to appreciate. And this movie deserves to be appreciated NOT just enjoyed.

To simply enjoy it feels like missing the heart of the chapters/episodes of drama and trauma, of build-up and expectation that are earned throughout these characters' life journeys. And so much of it is dedicated ... to that drama/trauma outside of the game compared to the game itself (the build-up and expectation part). And I struggled connect the pieces all the way. But also can't quite place the purpose of certain things like to structure of stopping the single match to have the entire backstory told piecemeal. Like who even knows if I'd find the flash-back-to-flash-forward style of storytelling more or less helpful after reading it all first?

So while I was under the impression that one could watch this as an introduction, this isn't a review so much as it is a cautionary tale. Perhaps others who have never read a page of Slam Dunk before got exactly what they wanted (and more?) but that should not be the expected outcome for everyone. And I do feel that having a super popular movie released years after the anime/manga is going to have the effect of garnering new attention from people like me who want to see what's up. So I hope this review is still "valid" in the minds of MAL readers.

Although I have to say I'm very interested in picking up the manga/anime now. So in a reverse intentional way "mission accomplished"? It will be interesting to see how manga/anime reads after experiencing this movie in full. It got engaged in the potential of the material which is something I couldn't have said had I never tried this movie out in the first place.

MAL requires me to give an overall rating which I feel uncomfortable doing since a re-watch seems to be in order after I fulfill my required reading (at least up to this point in the story). So this is an even split between how I feel now and how I think I'd feel after. Is that even okay? My actual score is blank so it's not like it will affect the aggregate score anyway :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 4, 2023

aLotQuestion_

Not Recommended

Funny

Spoiler

To be honest, I think the "MC" of this movie is just so wrong. Why Miyagi of all people? Out of all 5 people the most mysterious is definitely Rukawa, he pretty much has ZERO background beside basketball is everything to him. We at least know some background about Miyagi already, the MC should be Rukawa instead for the reason why he is the most persistent against being the best of the best in basketball.

Half of the screen time is about Miyagi background and the a lot of the scene in the match has to be cut. For examples, the scene where Kawata did a ... slam dunk and look down on Sakuragi, the introduction of Kawata brother get COMPLETELY omitted, flash back of Kawakita became a random running scene without content...

For fuck sake, I don't feel shit about Miyagi background, even the 1 minute scene of Sakuragi's flask back is more sad than Miyagi's brother death, and even the few second scene of Sakuragi telling Anzai Coach he wanted to be back in the field is more hot blooded than Miyagi's.

I just don't understand why, not just Takehiko Inoue himself but almost ALL recent author love to do stupid decision or ending like this and ruin the show. The show is selling nostalgic ONLY. I really hope Oda from One Piece don't make stupid ending like this, one of my childhood...

Overall, I highly not recommended, don't waste your money to buy ticket, NOT EVEN FOR NOSTALGIC!

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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