I’m a 90’s baby. I grew up during Slam Dunk’s heyday. Everyone watched Slam Dunk, whether you were an anime fan, or a basketball fan, the streets would become empty whenever the show aired on local TV, everyone went home to watch it. As a nation who loves basketball, it was easy for the Filipinos to fall in love with the Shohoku team, a relatively unknown high school basketball team, made up of delinquents, underdogs and misfits.
The original anime series ran from 1993 until 1996, and broadcasted later in the Philippines, having multiple runs due to its popularity. Its worth noting that the Tagalog dub of the series, was, in this otaku’s opinion-impressive not only with its voice acting but with the script that was used as well. I remember the dialogue including colloquial slang that was popular at the time like ‘stupid love’ -you know, from that song from Salbakutah back in 2001. Using these colloquial dialogue and slang helped make the characters even more relatable to fans.
The anime series ended with a big cliffhanger, leaving fans (who didn’t read the manga wondering-What happened next?) At last after almost thirty years we will finally know and get to see it on the big screen with the release of ‘The First Slam Dunk’ movie.
Fans of all ages, Titos, Titas, 90s babies like myself, millennials, and even kids, most likely children of the older fans who grew up with the series, were at the SM Megamall IMAX fan screening last January 28, 2023 Saturday. And while anime fan screenings are nothing new. The ‘First Slam Dunk’ fan screenings had to add more locations (SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia) due to demand. That’s three IMAX venues, which have a larger seating capacity than regular cinemas filled with fans who are willing to pay a higher than IMAX price to see the film in advance and bring home exclusive merchandise.
To make things even more exciting there were representatives from TOEI Animation were present during the SM Megamall IMAX screening. And I’m pretty confident that they were impressed with the outpouring of love that the Filipino fans who came to the screening showed.
And of course, us, the Filipino fans did not disappoint. Not only did they come dressed to the nines in Shohoku’s signature black and red colors, in basketball jerseys, shirts, jackets, but they even eagerly chanted in unison: ‘Shohoku! Shohoku! Shohoku!’ *goosebumps* before the screening started.
The film, which featured a David-versus-Goliath match between team Shohoku and the top high school team in Japan, Sannoh High had the audience at the edge of their seats and true to Filipino fashion there were also cheers and jeers in Tagalog and some curse words shouted here and there because they were carried away by their emotions. So, yup, it was just like we were all in a real basketball game.
While the heart-stopping basketball suspense was to be expected, we were pleasantly surprised that the film was grounded on one of the character’s unknown story. The film was directed by the original mangaka Takehiko Inoue, he stated that he wanted the film to have a new perspective, that instead of focusing on a protagonist with possibilities, he wanted to focus on the perspective of living with pain and overcoming it. And damn there was definitely a lot of that, no shame, tears were shed.
Now let’s talk about the animation, which was a combination of 2D, 3D techniques as well as motion capture for the basketball scenes, was definitely a treat to see on the big screen. When I first saw the trailers to the The First Slam Dunk, I was initially worried since I was used to the 2D style from the animated series but while watching the movie, especially that crucial last few seconds in the game; that was an experience you can’t replicate.
The ‘First Slam Dunk’ had a runtime of 124 minutes and in those minutes, all of us in the audience were back in our childhood homes, cheering for team Shohoku, back to laughing at Sakuragi’s antics, blushing at Rukawa’s stares. Simpler times, with less adult responsibilities, but time has passed between then and now; almost thirty years, and if there’s anything that can be said about that, its how team Shohoku has a special place in the hearts of its Filipino fans. And that the long wait was definitely worth it.