The countdown has already started for the animated film The First Slam Dunk. In case you didn’t know, this feature film should against all odds make its grand debut in Japanese cinemas on December 3rd.
Credits: Toei Animation
And before getting to the heart of the matter in a few days, the franchise takes the opportunity to tease fans with a little trailer.
The return of a legend
To find the last appearance of the anime slam dunk on the small screen, we have to go back to March 23, 1996. This date marked the broadcast of episode 101 of the animated series produced at the time by Nobutaka Nishizawa for Toei Animation.
Although 26 years have passed since the end of the series, fans are still in adoration for this iconic work. While we thought that Slam Dunk was ancient history, the franchise is magically returning to the front of the stage in this year 2022.
A new animated film will be unveiled in broad daylight on December 3, 2022, first in Japan. Starting today, there are only 5 days left to wait before its big premiere. And to mark the occasion, the franchise has decided to release a new trailer which you can watch below:
All about the production team
For the moment, the animated film The First Slam Dunk does not yet have an international release date. As you will have understood, the only confirmed date for the moment is that of its release in Japan. For the return of Slam Dunk to the fore, Takehiko Inoue, the creator of the manga, will be in charge. The Japanese artist will be both the director and the screenwriter of the film.
And again, Toei Animation will be in charge of producing the film. But unlike their previous collaboration, a second studio will join them. The studio in question is DandeLion Animation Studio. For the other members of the production team, several names are to be remembered. These include Yasuyuki Ebara who serves as Animation Director and Person Designer.
Daiki Nakazawa and Yuta Ogura serve as CG Director and CG Producer respectively. Kazuo Ogura finds himself at the head of the artistic direction while Koji Kasamatsu and Yota Tsuruoka are the sound directors. Finally, the technical directors are Katsuhiko Kitada, Naoki Miyahara, Toshio Ohashi and Yu Kamatani.
As you will have noticed with the latest trailers, the Slam Dunk franchise is getting a facelift. To get up to date, the franchise has taken the gamble of CG animation. For some time now, this type of animation has been gaining ground in the Japanese animation industry. Several well-known Japanese franchises have also taken the plunge.
The latest examples are Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Trigun Stampede or Lupine III: The First. Even if this style is not unanimous, the latest trailers for Slam Dunk are quite convincing. As for the main cast of the feature film, the names of the voice actors of the main cast are already known.
Kenta Miyake and Jun Kasama lend their voices to Takenori Akagi and Hisashi Mitsui respectively. Shinichiro Kamio and Subaru Kimura voice Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi respectively. Ryoga Miyagi, the most featured character in the last two trailers is played by Shugo Nakamura.
What do you think of this new promo for the movie The First Slam Dunk? Are you sold on the CG animation given the latest trailers? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
