Written and directed by Takehiko Inoue, The Slam Dunk Movie 2022 is an upcoming anime sports film. Like many anime adaptations of manga, it is also an adaptation of the famous manga Slam Dunk. It will return with a new anime feature film from the Toei Animation studio of Dragon Ball Super fame. The studio released the official trailer and announced Slam Dunk Movie 2022 release date in the first week of July.
The 4th movie in the series is titled The First Slam Dunk. It will be a spin-off of the Slam Dunk manga series originally created by Takehiko Inoue. In one of the rare cases, in the movie, mangaka will also be the director and writer for the movie script in collaboration with Toei Animation studio. After more than a year of waiting, we are already learning the first few details.
So, are you ready to see the Red-Haired Monkey and yell “Shohoku” at the top of your lungs once more?
We haven’t heard the exuberant “Ru-ka-wa!” cheers, squeaks of basketball sneakers, or the booming sound of the shot clock in Slam Dunk in over two decades. The classic sports anime is making a triumphant return this year with a new film titled The First Slam Dunk.
What will be The First Slam Dunk Movie plot?
The first Slam Dunk Movie is about a high school basketball team that is struggling to win games. The team’s coach, who is also the school principal, decides to take a new approach and allows the players to develop their own game style. This movie is based on the manga series of the same name.
The story follows Hanamichi Sakuragi, a delinquent who joins Shohoku High School’s basketball team in order to impress Haruko Akagi, an older girl who he has been infatuated with since middle school.
Is there a First Slam Dunk Movie poster?
Toei Animation unveiled new posters for the franchise’s key characters — Sakuragi Hanamichi, Rukawa Kaede, Akagi Takenori, Miyagi Ryota, and Mitsui Hisashi — on the first day of Anime Expo 2022.
Is The First Slam Dunk Movie release date announced?
The Slam Dunk Movie will get a theatrical release in Japan on December 3, 2022. It is about a group of high school students who are trying to save their school’s basketball club from being disbanded.
Fans of the Slam Dunk series are eagerly waiting for the release of this movie. If you are looking for a list of romantic anime that you can’t miss, make sure to check out, “Top 5 Romance Anime of All Times – You Must Watch if High School Romances are Your Thing”
When will the First Slam Dunk movie 2022 release in the West?
As we know now that The First Slam Dunk movie release date in theaters in Japan has been confirmed for Saturday, December 3, 2022. However, the Studio has yet not confirmed timelines for international screenings and subsequent release on OTT platforms.
As of now, there is no confirmation if the Japanese theater premiere will be followed by a release for international audiences. However, it is speculated that like most anime movies that release in Japan first and later are broadcast internationally. With its popularity, the film is expected to be released in both the Japanese dub/English subs and English dubs.
Slam Dunk fans are sincerely hoping that the Japan premiere should be followed by an announcement of a theatrical premiere globally as well as broadcast on TV and streaming on channels.
The seasons and movies of Slam Dunk anime can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
The First Slam Dunk Movie Trailer
The trailer was released on July 7, 2022.
Unfortunately, the few seconds of footage do not tell much about the plot arc that spans this film dubbed The First Slam Dunk. Nonetheless, we see Hananichi Sakuragi, Hisashi Mitsui, Takenori Akagi, and Kaede Rukawa briefly.
According to the trailer, the film will make use of CGI, or computer-generated animation. It goes without saying that this strategy does not sit well with all anime fans. It will be fascinating to see how fans respond if 3D models are employed.
Finally, the official teaser also indicates that The First Slam Dunk would make its Japanese debut on December 3, 2022. Unfortunately, Toei Animation has not confirmed its Western release date, so we will have to wait for the update.
The First Slam Dunk Movie Characters
The first Slam Dunk Movie Characters were introduced in the 1986 Japanese anime series Slam Dunk. The show is about Shohoku High School’s basketball team and their quest to win the National Basketball Championship.
Main Characters
- Godoi
- Kiminobu KOGURE
- Takenori AKAGI
Secondary Characters
- Hanamichi SAKURAGI
- Kouichirou NANGOU
Minor Characters
- Ayako
- Chuichirou NOMA
- Fujii
- Haruko AKAGI
- Hikoichi AIDA
- Hisashi MITSUI
- Jun UOZUMI
- Kaede RUKAWA
- Kentarou ISHII
- Matsui
- Mitsuyoshi ANZAI
- Mitsuyoshi’s Wife
- Nozomi TAKAMIYA
- Ryota MIYAGI
- Satoru KAKUTA
- Satoru SASAOKA
- Shinichi MAKI
- Tatsuhiko AOTA
- Tetsushi SHIOZAKI
- Yasuharu
- Youhei MITO
- YASUDA
- Yuji OHKUSU
Is Slam Dunk movie releasing on Netflix?
Currently, there’s no update on whether Netflix will feature the Slam Dunk movie 2022. However, noticing the recent trends of animes released on Netflix like Arcane Season 2, Chainsaw Man, etc. it could be said that maybe in the future, we can expect The first Slam Dunk movie to be available on Netflix.
How many Slam Dunk movies have been released?
In total, Toei Animation animated 4 movies from 1994 to 1995 while the manga and TV series were in production. The first Slam Dunk movie released in 1994 was rated 7.3/10 on IMDb.
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