The First Slam Dunk 2022

So slam dunk is supposedly one of the best sports mangas of all time. I tried watching the anime but it’s not that good and I wanted to read the manga but I wanted to read them all in their physical copies rather than on my phone so I never got round to getting past volume 2. Nonetheless I’ve been very excited for this film for a while and especially after seeing the animation in the trailer it became one of my most anticipated films of the year. When I realised it came out I started screaming and then spent the next 5 minutes literally dancing around my house with excitement. Then I read online that it adapts the last arc of the manga, from volume 25- 31. I wanted to see this film so much but didn’t wanna ruin a series that I knew I was gonna love. So I ran to the comic book shop and spent over £100 and spent the next 7 days reading all 31 volumes, 8 of them being the night before slam dunks last day in cinemas. After being up till 6am reading one of the best mangas I’ve maybe ever read and then seeing the film the next day at 12:50, I can’t even describe how good the feeling was of being able to see it on the big screen. I showed up 30 minutes early for some reason expecting the cinema to be packed but there was only 1 other guy who ended up seeing it. Everyone else other than that guy missed out coz this film was amazing and now that it’s over I feel empty lol.  So just to be clear if you do decide to watch this you don’t actually need to read the manga or watch the anime, it just kinda heightens the experience. Also the anime is really dated and never finished as it was cancelled by the writer because of some creative differences with the director wanting to take it in a different direction than the manga. The writer, Takehiko Inoue, who not only wrote the best sports manga of all time (debatable as hajime no ippo is incredible) but also he wrote the best samurai/ maybe one of the best mangas of all time, vagabond. Anyway he said he only wanted to do something else with the series if he could tell the story from a different characters perspective, so this film is about Ryota Miyagi, one of the least important characters on the team, who in this film was given a never before even mentioned, emotional backstory. Also fills in some questions we have about him in the manga and overall turns him into a great character. The film cuts between his flashbacks and upbringing to the final basketball match of the manga. It’s kinda weird coz the main character of the manga is the most interesting character in this match so it was weird not seeing him as the main character, but he was still my favourite part after seeing him so sick and just having read the manga, but honestly it doesn’t matter you can watch the film and it fills you in on everything you really need to know quite well.  The animation looks great, it’s CG animation which a lot of the time looks like shit but on occasion weirdly looks incredible, this along with beastars are the best examples of it that I’ve seen. It’s looks both incredible and kinda bad at the same time. I loved it, I don’t know why but it suited basketball perfectly.  Honestly if u haven’t already just read slam dunk. It’s way better than Kuroko’s Basketball, after watching that I just felt like playing basketball and after watching this I now feel like I’m a life long basketball watcher who understands the rules and respects the game. It is the perfect series for a basketball fan, and the perfect series to turn a non basketball fan into a basketball fan. I loved it so much and I can’t believe it’s over.  I love miyagi now too, his backstory was really sad and it made me cry. I’m gonna watch this again as soon as I can.  8.9/10