Sports films are often used as a metaphor for something else. The grit, the determination required to succeed either as a team or an individual being a symbol for some other kind of battle. In the feature film directorial debut for Takehiko Inoue, The First Slam Dunk, the metaphor is out in the open as the tale, inspired and adapted from Inoue’s own 1990 – 1996 running series Slam Dunk, utilizes the struggle to win as a metaphor for overcoming grief. Between compelling characters, a combination of score and music from Satoshi Takebe and TAKUMA (10-FEET) that gets your blood pumping, art direction that maintains one foot in the source material and another in the requirements of cinema, and so much more, the battle between Sannoh High School and Shohoku High will have you out of your seats until the shot clock stops. Now, thanks to GKIDS Films via distributor Shout! Studios, North American fans of The First Slam Dunk can explore the film through three distinct bonus features on a high-definition release.
L-R: Hisashi Mitsui voiced by Jun Kasama, Kaede Rukawa voiced by Shinichiro Kamio, Ryota Miyagi voiced by Shugo Nakamura, Takenori Akagi voiced by Kenta Miyake, and Hanamichi Sakuragi voiced by Subaru Kimura in THE FIRST SLAM DUNK. Photo Credit: © I.T. PLANNING, INC. © 2022 THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Film Partners. Photo courtesy of GKids Films.
Going head-to-head in the national championships are “the unstoppable” Sannoh High School and the lesser-known Shohoku High. Both teams are in it to win, but, for each member of Shohoku’s team, there’s something personal about this match, too. Shohoku players Ryota (voiced by Shugo Nakamura), Sakuragi (voiced by Subaru Kimura), Rukawa (voiced by Shinichiro Kamio), Akagi (Kenta Miyake), and Mitsui (Jun Kasama) strive to put their talents to the test, unwilling to back down no matter how much Sannoh scores. But will a strong spirit be enough?
To learn about The First Slam Dunk in a spoiler-free context, head over to the initial Fantasia International Film Festival 2023 review.
F-B: Young Ryota Miyagi voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro and Sota Miyagi voiced by Gakuto Kajiwara in THE FIRST SLAM DUNK. Photo Credit: © I.T. PLANNING, INC. © 2022 THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Film Partners. Photo courtesy of GKids Films.
In the featurette, “Interview with the Director,” Inoue states that he structured The First Slam Dunk specifically to be accessible to old fans, as well as new audiences: an aspect that’s a strength of the film and a touch of a weakness. Though the film is primarily focused on Ryota with a split timeline — one set in the present with the championship game and the other across several previous years — the flashbacks include the other four players, sometimes as they intersect with Ryota and sometimes not, resulting in a bit of a split focus. The Ryota story is significant and powerful on its own, fueling an already competitive situation with an exploration of grief, forgotten promises, and broken homes in need of reconnection. That Ryota plays basketball as a result of his relationship with his older brother Sota (voiced by Gakuto Kajiwara), that he wears his brother’s number (and has since Sota’s tragic death) and that he’s going up against the team that Sota swore to defeat, this game is loaded with drama, even without including what’s in it for each of the others. Structuring it as he does allows Inoue to make sure that the other four players are given their due, especially as the Sannoh takes the lead early and dominates, requiring Shohoku to dig deep (like all Shonen heroes) and go past their limits; however, it also creates deviations that interrupt the momentum of the game play, sometimes at odd times. When the tension is riding high on the court, one doesn’t want to shift to something that happened days, weeks, months, or years before, even if it becomes a necessity for understanding what’s at stake beyond just the tournament. None of this detracts from the energy of the gameplay, which is, in my estimation, some of the most impressive and tension-creating action in recent animation.
A blend of editing from Ryuichi Takita (Just Remembering), art direction from Kazuo Ogura (Dragon Ball Super: Broly), animation direction from Yasuyuki Ebara (Attack on Titan) and Inoue, and blending of both traditional 2D animation and 3D direction (handled by Daiki Nakazawa (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods)), The First Slam Dunk is a marvel that never lets the audience forget where it came from. Sometimes this is overt, like the introduction of the Shohoku team as hand-sketches brought to life before us as each player is drawn moving forward until they are all in lock-step and the image transitions into the final cinematic version; whereas sometimes it’s smaller, such as when something happens during gameplay inciting a reaction from any of the team, resulting in their face breaking into the frame. Though the players are CG derived from motion capture performances and the rest are 2D, everything is blended together so that they all feel part of the same world, even if the players feel just outside of it given their additional dimension. This does convey a certain intensity with the difference in visual language creating a separation between the players and everyone else, yet one doesn’t identify them as completely separate, just unique. In close-ups, the audience will notice that the CG characters are still constructed to appear like everyone else, even to the point of noticing tiny details indicative of a hand-drawn style. When in action, coupled with Takita’s editing, Inoue is able to generate the kind of electricity usually reserved for live-action games (real or cinematic), so that when Ryota is trapped in a press, Mitsui is relegated to three-pointers, or Sakuragi takes a header going for a loose ball, we find ourselves looking for our own blue vuvuzelas to root them on.
THE FIRST SLAM DUNK packshot. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films.
The bonus features don’t get into all of the things that audience members like this reviewer will want, but what we do receive is enlightening all the same. The first thing is a 24-minute sit-down with Inoue in which he talks about the central characters, the process of adapting the film from the source material, his first time directing, the use of motion capture to create life-like animation for the gameplay, the importance of sound on the execution of the narrative, and even gets into his thoughts on past and present ballers from both Japan and United States with a specific shoutout to the 1992 Dream Team. (Literally the only time I cared about basketball and I still have the soundtrack released in support of the entire U.S. Olympics team.) The second is a 12-minute featurette focused on the English dub titled “Behind the Starting Line-up: English Dub Featurette,” which centers English language voice director Michael Sinterniklaas (BELLE; Star Wars: Visions), assistant director Stephanie Sheh (BELLE; Pompo: The Cinéphile), and voice actors Paul Castro Jr. (BELLE), Jonah Scott (One Piece), and Aleks Le (Solo Leveling). It’s a mixture of explaining the casting process, capturing moments of the performers recording lines in ADR, and learning how Sinterniklaas worked around significant cultural aspects that are baked into the film but required adapting for English-speaking audiences. The third and final major material included on the disc is a feature-length commentary track from the English dub team, accessible through the Bonus category, alongside the other special features. They don’t introduce themselves when it starts, so it’s hard to say who is involved, but a voice tells the participants to use headphones in order to better experience the 7.1 audiotrack — something not available on this edition (only TrueHD 5.1 in original Japanese and English), which hopefully hints at something to come in the later collector’s edition of the film. For now, though, if you’re interested in listening to commentary on the English dub, here’s how you can do that. The last things are two brief teasers and one English-language trailer, for those who enjoy having that kind of archival material.
Though GKIDS FIlms has already announced that a collector’s edition of The First Slam Dunk is in-development, neither a release date nor the contents are yet known. A 4K UHD edition is available to import and GKIDS Films has been known to release 4K UHD collector’s edition after an initial Blu-ray release, so one can presume that will be the case here. Fingers-crossed that the GKIDS collector’s edition includes much of the materials that the import does, even if not styled the same. Currently, the Blu-ray edition features an art design that makes the disc look like a traditional basketball, versus Sota’s purple and yellow ball found on the import 4K UHD, and a set of six Shohoku jersey stickers, while supplies last.
Admittedly, the jumping back and forth across times does take some getting used to on the first watch; subsequent watches don’t contain such fluidity issues, making for a much more enjoyable time. One is able to see what Inoue is going for, especially as it all comes together in the final 30 minutes of the film. If you’re like this reviewer and enjoyed The First Slam Dunk back in 2023, this home release edition is not going to disappoint. It sounds good, it looks great, and the bonus features give you something more to explore. Whether or not you decide to hold tight and see what the collector’s edition offers, perhaps in a 4K UHD Blu-ray combo is entirely up to you. With too little information, one might feel hesitant to snag this solo Blu-ray release, but know that, should you snag it, you’re going to walk away happy.
The First Slam Dunk Special Features:
- Interview with the Director (23:57)
- Behind the Starting Line-up: English Dub Featurette (11:41)
- Color Commentary with the English Dub Team (2:05:22)
- Trailers & Teasers (2:15)
Available on Blu-ray June 25th, 2024.
Collector’s Edition available TBD 2024.
For more information, head to the official GKIDS Films The First Slam Dunk webpage.
To purchase, head to the official Shout! Studios The First Slam Dunk webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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