One of the best anime films of the last five years is now on Netflix
If you got into manga/anime after the ’90s—especially if you’re not a sports person—you might not have heard of Slam Dunk. Unless you live in Japan, that is. Then you definitely have.
Beyond being one of the best-selling manga of all time, few other series have had such a profound effect on Japanese culture at large. Before Slam Dunk, basketball had zero presence in Japan. Slam Dunk alone changed that.
I learned all of this in the winter of 2022. As a Westerner who got into manga/anime after the ’90s, I was rather perplexed to find Tokyo completely awash with ads for a film called The First Slam Dunk. The film rocketed to become the sixth highest-grossing anime film of all time, outperforming even bangers like One Piece Film: Red, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, and a whole host of Ghibli films.
After a brief stint in North American theaters last summer, The First Slam Dunk has arrived on Netflix, making it more readily available than ever before. And it’s absolutely worth your time.
Stunning all around
The First Slam Dunk depicts the final arc of the series—an arc which, shocking was never covered by Toei’s 1990s adaptation of the series. Toei just dropped off in 1996, with the Shohoku High School basketball team literally en route to the championship game. Talk about a cliffhanger.
That being said, The First Slam Dunk doesn’t expect you to watch 101 episodes of a nearly thirty-year-old series in order to understand it. Sure, there are moments that might hit deeper if you’re familiar with the characters, but the general consensus is that the film is still phenomenal as a stand-alone experience. It covers this one championship game with such care, it’s absolutely thrilling whether you’re previously familiar with Slam Dunk or not.
The animation is also incredible, using a highly unique-looking blend of 3D computer graphics and 2D animation. Where we see the 3D / 2D mashup often collide into uncanny territory, The First Slam Dunk soars. And that’s a rather wide-held opinion, too—the film won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year in 2023.
Slam Dunk laid the ground for series like Haikyuu!! and even Blue Lock by showing that sports can be action. Even though it was produced 28 years later, The First Slam Dunk reminds us all of the series’ incredible legacy. And now that the film is finally streaming on Netflix, you can check it out easier than ever.
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