Netflix has just dropped a modern classic, The First Slam Dunk, on the service, a widely beloved and critically acclaimed 2023 release. Not just one of the best anime movies , but one of the best movies of 2023, The First Slam Dunk was, as the name suggests, a slam dunk. The sports anime arrived on the big screen with Shohoku High School taking on reigning champions Sannoh Kogyo High School for the regional championships.
A climactic march in Takehiko Inoue’s manga, it’s brought to life in a stirring blend of CGI and hand-drawn animation, the former being used for action on the court, while the latter comes in for flashbacks and such. The result is a sports movie for the ages, and a trendsetter for anime on the big screen. Takehiko Inoue wrote and directed the picture, a sequel to the ’90s anime show that ended in 1996.
Similar to Haikyuu!!, the TV show only covered a certain amount of the manga, and the film now depicts the rest. The First Slam Dunk helped prove there was interest in releases like these after Demon Slayer : Mugen Train, since it went on to make $279 million worldwide. A huge amount for a non-English language film, the takings firmly place it within the highest-grossing movies from Japan.
Since then, we’ve had Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle , Spy x Family Code: White and Blue Lock: The Movie – Episode Nagi , all successes in their own right, and keenly, all bringing a major franchise to theaters. Previously, the biggest anime films were the likes of .