FANTASIA23 REVIEW: The First Slam Dunk [2022]

Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 124 minutes
Release Date: December 3rd, 2022 (Japan) / July 28th, 2023 (USA)
Studio: Toei Company / GKIDS
Director(s): Takehiko Inoue
Writer(s): Takehiko Inoue

Once you give up, the game is truly over.

The Japanese high school basketball National Championship is underway between dynasty team Sannoh and the out-of-nowhere upstarts Shohoku. The former doesn’t seem to quite know what to do at the beginning, probably as a result of assuming the match would be a cakewalk.

Shohoku sophomore point guard Ryota Miyagi (Shugo Nakamura) is therefore swimming with confidence early alongside his teammates to take a two-point lead into the half, forcing Sannoh’s head coach to make the necessary adjustments only hindsight can provide. Cue a second half tip-off and massive twenty-two to zero run making it so everyone on Shohoku should want to quit if not for the adversity they’ve already faced to get this far.

Based on his manga Slamdunk, writer/director Takehiko Inoue wields the championship game at the center of The First Slam Dunk as a device to dig deeper into the emotional journey each starting player on the Shohoku team has endured to grab hold of this seemingly impossible opportunity. While we get brief glimpses of big man Akagi (Kenta Miyake), three-point specialist Mitsui (Jun Kasama), red-headed yet extremely green rebounder Sakuragi (Subaru Kimura), and power forward Rukawa’s (Shinichiro Kamio) moments of epiphany harkening back to a prior test of resolve, however, this is truly Ryota’s show. He’s the first character we meet playing one-on-one with his older brother eight years ago. He’s the born leader desperate to stop backing down.

It won’t be easy, though. Not with the life he’s lived to this point. His father wasn’t gone long before his brother tragically followed, leaving him and his younger sister alone to watch after their grief-stricken mother. Sota was the basketball star whose dream was to defeat Sannoh in a final. He was the one who never hesitated to step-up and comfort their mom or speak-up and lead his teammates through whatever adversity popped up.

So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone when their mother stops going to Ryota’s games. With too many memories tied to those gymnasiums for her to unravel, she couldn’t be the cheerleader he craved. But Ryota is undaunted. He’ll become the best athlete he can to honor Sota and achieve that lofty dream in his honor.

The game itself is shot like a battle. Each point is a skirmish with good guy versus bad guy and inner monologues alternating between chastisement and awe. Akagi loses his mojo. Mitsui loses his breath. They’re dead men walking before their coach lights a fire under Sakuragi, knowing his inexperience makes him the best option for riling everyone up since he doesn’t know any better.

Even then, though, they still must contend with a smart, talented, and determined group on the other side. Anyone who knows basketball knows a twenty-point lead is nothing if the other team gets hot. And since these guys are all good players, most of their troubles are mental. Can they get out of their own way?

It may feel like your usual run-of-the-mill David vs Goliath sports drama wherein the suspense is less about the result than the mini games sprinkled throughout, but Inoue choreographs it with an electric pace and infectious humor to captivate on an aesthetic level alone. The draw is what happens between these teenagers’ ears anyway—the memories conjured by each conflict on the court.

It could be a schoolyard fight or a selfish teammate. Maybe past regrets or a reminder to breathe. Some choices aren’t perfect (intentionally allowing a badly injured kid to risk his ability to walk for a game is a massive step back from present-day medical and moral consensus while an unspoken yet obvious motivation mirror between losing a game and losing your brother is misguided at best), but high stakes do lead to high drama regardless.