Column] "This is the kind of development that would have made me a fiery guy! A writer who loves SLAM DUNK talks about his love for "SLAM DUNK" and his expectations for the movie "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK

The legendary comic "SLAM DUNK" by Takehiko Inoue, which was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" (Shueisha) in the 1990s and created an unprecedented basketball boom, will be adapted into a new theater work "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK" on December 3, 2022.

This work, which is attracting a lot of attention because it is the first visual adaptation in 26 years since the TV anime, has been attracting attention for better or worse. There may be a lot of opinions and feelings among the many fans, but for now, let's just get excited about this new work, which is the first festival in a long time!

Let's get excited about this new work, which is a festival for the first time in a long time! We asked Junichi Tsukagoshi, a writer who enjoyed "SLAM DUNK" in real time and who proudly states that "Slam Dunk is my life," to write about his thoughts on "SLAM DUNK!

First Impressions of "Slam Dunk" from the Real-Time Generation

Slam Dunk" is, roughly speaking, the story of the main character Hanamichi Sakuragi, a delinquent who joins the basketball club, gets hooked on basketball, and becomes a sportsman. The Shohoku High School basketball club he joins is filled with unique characters such as Goken Akagi, an immovable center; Hisashi Mitsui, a 3-point shooter; Ryota Miyagi, a point guard; and Kaede Nagaregawa, Hanamichi's rival and a genius in the same grade. Not only these characters but also their rivals were vividly and attractively depicted in "SLAM DUNK," a work that exploded the popularity and recognition of basketball, which was not so popular at the time.

This milestone in basketball manga is now being made into a movie. What is more, the original author, Takehiko Inoue, is directing and writing the screenplay. What kind of movie will it really be? ...... Here, I would like to talk about my prediction and the charm of "SLAM DUNK".

There are probably many people who use "SLAM DUNK" quotes in their daily lives, such as when they are tired and can't open a can of Pocari and then mumble, "Why did I waste all that time ......." Among them, one of the most versatile quotes is "bussiness," which is a word that is used in the movie "SLAM DUNK. Among them, "I want to play basketball" and "If you give up, the game ends there" are the most versatile ones. At the time when the original manga was serialized, anyone who said the "SLAM DUNK" line understood the original story, which is a great feat.

What is truly amazing, however, is that the line is still spoken more than 20 years after the end of the serialization. Perhaps it is because the words resonate across generations, and because the phenomena of life can usually be compared to "SLAM DUNK," making it easy to use.

When the serialization of "SLAM DUNK" began, I was a junior high school student and basically a serious kid, but "SLAM DUNK" was influential enough to make me wear bon-ton and doze off in class in admiration of Kaede Ryukawa and Yohei Mito. The storyline of the series was balanced between "yankee stuff✕ sports stuff". It was the golden age of JUMP, and the series were dominated by battles, with a lavish and bubbly lineup that included Dragon Ball and YuYu Hakusho, which started around the same time. On the other hand, there were almost no sports stories, or if there were, they did not seem to last very long.

SLAM DUNK" started in such a situation. In the beginning, there was basketball, but there was also a lot of fighting, and famous delinquent characters such as Yohei Mito & others, Tatsuhiko Aota, and Tetsuo Tetsuo appeared and played active roles (*Aota may not be a delinquent). ) Since "Bastard BLUES" and other works were being serialized at the time, the fact that it did not begin as a straight sports story seems in hindsight to have been a very good decision. From there, the story shifted completely to a sports story after Mitsui, who had become a delinquent because of his own injuries, reformed and returned to the basketball team. The timing was perfect, and by this time it had already become a very popular basketball manga.

This inevitably led to an increase in the popularity of the basketball club, and the number of basketball players across the country skyrocketed. At this point, perhaps one of Yuuhiko Inoue's great wishes was fulfilled: he loved basketball and wanted to promote it. At the height of his popularity, the serialization of "SLAM DUNK" came to an end. The serialization lasted six years, but the play had progressed only four months.

Instead of "Part 2," "Slam Dunk" returned as a "movie."

In terms of the story, Shohoku defeated the powerful Sanno Kogyo in the national tournament (losing in the next game), and the story ended nicely, but I was one of those who were not satisfied with the ending. Many people said that it was a good ending, but personally, I thought that the foreshadowing was not collected at all, such as the sentence written when Hanamichi and Kaede Nagarekawa met that they would later become "rivals for life," and the sentence that Hanamichi Sakuragi's accelerated growth after he started observing Nagarekawa's play was "a little further down the road. I thought that the foreshadowing had not been recovered at all.

Moreover, Nagarekawa and Hanamichi had their own rivals, and the nation's best players such as Hiroshi Morishige (Meho Kogyo) and Jun Tsuchiya (Daiei Gakuen) were left out and had not even fought yet. Why on earth did Tsuchiya come out ......? In all likelihood, it was just the end of the first part, and it would have been a strange ending if it hadn't been continued.

In the manga, Anzai stopped Nagarekawa from going to America, but the NBA, which was still a dream stage at the time, was reached by Yuta Tagase from Akita Prefectural Noshiro Technical High School (considered the model for Sanno Technical High School), which was unbeatable at the time of the serialization, and now two players, Yuta Watanabe and Rui Yamura, are active simultaneously. I thought that Nagarekawa and Hanamichi would eventually go to the NBA and be active, but no way, reality has overtaken the manga. We have no way of knowing how Takehiko Inoue feels about that, but what he chose was not to resume the serialization but to become a movie director.

The most important point about the movie "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK" is that it was written and directed by the original author himself, Takehiko Inoue. He is the only one who can depict the world of the author, but please read the comments on the official website of Takehiko Inoue for more details about this.

Looking at the new cast, I felt that this must be the result of the uncompromising choices made by Takehiko Inoue. He probably chose the voice actors who were closest to the voices of the characters that resonated in the director's mind. Personally, I think it is a perfect fit.

And the realistic basketball expressions that could not be reproduced in the TV animation of the time are to be expected from 3DCG. In the trailer, there was a scene of a boy playing basketball, and I think it would be difficult to do that casual scene with hand-drawn images. If we wanted to depict a realistic basketball scene, including the camera work, we could understand the choice of 3DCG.

However, there are many things we don't know because there is not much footage of the full-length film at all. Will the action scenes be depicted in 3DCG, while the drama parts, including conversations, will be drawn? I still have the impression that it would be difficult to move the drama between manga characters in CG, no matter how advanced 2D-look CG technology has become.

Therefore, if I want to move those characters, I have no choice but to draw them by hand. That is why Yasuyuki Ehara of the "Kabaneri of the Iron Castle" series was brought in as character designer and animation director.

Incidentally, in terms of drawing, what was well done was the animated commercial for Shiseido Aleph, which was the first time I had seen pictures from the manga "SLAM DUNK" animated in an anime. I can only wonder if something on this level will come along, and how it will be balanced with 3DCG.

As for the storyline, it is confirmed that it will take place after the National Championships, as Hanamichi's bash is an Air Jordan 1. Ryota Miyagi seems to be the key, and the scene in the PV where he was running on the beach looks like Miyagi, and it was also Miyagi who was calling out to the team in the circle. If so, it is likely that his past will also be depicted with him as the center of the story.

There were also some thoughts raised that the short film "Pierce" might have something to do with it, but this remains to be seen.

Besides, the meaning of the title "THE FIRST" is also a mystery, whether it means position number one or that the series will continue.

In terms of Miyagi Ryota, he had become captain after the nationals were over, but Mitsui stayed on for the winter selection, while Akagi lost his college recommendation and had to take the entrance exam. If Akagi returns for some reason, I think this could be an episode beyond the original story centered on Ryota Miyagi, but I also wonder if Hanamichi Sakuragi's injury will heal that quickly .......

If so, a reasonable line would be that the battle against Sanno Kogyo, which was never reached in the TV anime, will be depicted. Miyagi's performance against Sanno was also outstanding, and there is a famous saying "Dribbling is the way of life for the little guy! and "Dribbling is the way of life for the little guy! The special program did not even say which team they would be playing, so I guess you can just guess and enjoy the game.

Rock theme song

The theme song was also announced.

I personally still like the theme songs of TV anime broadcast in the 1990s, but to be honest, they were tie-up songs that had almost nothing to do with the content of the anime. However, it was announced that The Birthday would sing the OP theme song and 10-FEET would sing the ED theme song for this movie.

Speaking of the 1990s, garage rock by THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT, to which The Birthday's frontman Yusuke Chibaja belonged, was popular, and it is not surprising that the director liked it. Nothing would make me happier than to hear Chibayusuke's voice and fast-paced rock 'n' roll in the theater.

Furthermore, 10-FEET's love for Suradan could be clearly felt from their comments. The song "Dai Zero Kankan" blasts out from the introduction, and the lyrics, although I am not sure about the content of the movie, must be in line with the story. It will be moving when it plays at the end.

There are various elements that I am looking forward to seeing, and I have already decided to see the movie in the theater, but I still won't know how the lack of prior information will affect the movie until it starts. This is a 100% pure Yuhiko Inoue movie, directed by the legendary manga "SLAM DUNK" creator, Yuhiko Inoue, and created by his excellent staff to express what the director wanted to express! That being said, I cannot irresponsibly say "I recommend this movie" until I actually see it.

In any case, the game starts on December 3, which is already less than a month away. I can't say, "It's not time to panic yet," and I'm going to run out to buy the advance tickets anyway.

(Text by Junichi Tsukagoshi)