Preface:
Hey! Thanks for reading my review of Slam Dunk just some quick notes. My review is solely based on how it affects me as a person and how my past experiences play a role in the overall enjoyment of this anime. Review will be broken down like so :
So let’s get started, I will avoid spoilers as much as possible but don’t worry, spoiler tags will be included!
My favourite out of these styles is the painterly look. It is a standout when it’s shown on the screen. I absolutely love how it looks aesthetically, and captures iconic moments for the character and brings a sense of achievement not just for the viewers but the characters as well.
My main problem with the art is how inconsistent it is, while it is really good for the most part, it really breaks the immersion of the audience. I get thrown off when the characters are just weird looking, like a body double for the characters themselves. When it comes to basketball, when they zoom out to take an overhead shot of the court, I cringe looking at how weird the scale is. Sometimes the court looks twice the size it actually is and sometimes looks really small. As a basketball fan, I watch a lot of basketball matches (Go Spurs Go), so seeing the wrong scale it kinda pulls me out of my immersion.
Overall art is pretty solid.
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The Gif on the left looks so buttery smooth. Maki-san with a simple hesitation to the left which gets Ryota to move to the right, only for Maki-san to change directions with a simple crossover. It is so well done and looks like a legit crossover from a basketball game. This is an example of good animation from Toei.
Now look on the damn right, alright so Rukawa goes for a spin fake and drives to the basket to take a JUMP SHOT. I repeat just a jump.shot.. ALL WE GET IS A DAMN STILL IMAGE!!!!! You’re telling me that the jump shot is harder to animate than the dunk. No way, even though it is from the OP. At least animate the shot or movements of the players around him. It feels so lazily done when they just don’t move and they use action lines to express movement. I might as well read the manga! Lastly, when they show a character driving in it just cuts to them being at where they planned to be, motion and rhythm is absent on this show which is so disappointing. If you watch any basketball and see the highlights, one of the biggest selling points for basketball is the cool movements of the players.
I particularly chose that bit because it doesn’t contain spoilers but I can assure you that the “iconic” moments of the show are plagued with this kind of poor animation. It’s a shame, as those moments still bring me excitement and glee when i watch it. I feel like if it was done better, the show would be held in higher regard. I will not give them the reason of “it’s from the 90s”, the 90s had some superb animation like NGE, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and LOTGH. So really it’s Toei’s fault. Budget is another thing, Toei just takes popular IPs and just runs with it. They literally produce a crap ton of shows, and the quality plummets. Toei is what a textbook Quantity > Quality is.
Sorry this bit really pissed me off.
It starts off with Sakuragi joining the basketball team because of Haruko and his interest in her. What I really like about his introduction to basketball, is how shallow his reason for joining is. However, the more he plays the more his love for the sport grows. We see him compete with other high school basketball teams to compete for a spot in the Nationals.
You are brought along this experience of basketball through Sakuragi’s eyes. We watch him as he learns how to play basketball, while also learning how to play it ourselves. The way the story is written masterfully relates to people who have not played basketball before. The audience is also well informed through Dr T’s lectures which are well thought out, not taking too much time and bringing the point across in a comedic manner.
We also see Sakuragi’s ups and downs and feel how he feels during those moments. When he scores a basket we get hype just as does and when he loses, you actually feel upset and affected that he lost. We are touched emotionally because of how well the characters are written. I’ll elaborate on this further onto the next section.
This may sound biased, but for me I constantly knew how they felt and how those key moments in the anime felt like. There was a certain moment that really hits close to home that I actually almost teared up. Watching Slam Dunk really brings me back to my competitive days and I feel like I get to relive that experience, the good and bad the bad, the whole shabang. Takehiko Inoue brings reality to this piece of fiction. You can tell he wrote this with a lot of passion for the sport.
What I appreciate most about Slam Dunk is the fact that Takehiko Inoue was doing his part for society. He wrote Sakuragi as your standard anime delinquent, loud, brash, absurdly strong and has coloured hair. Inoue-sensei was able to inspire delinquents in 90s Japan to get off the streets and do something worth their time like what Sakuragi has done. People may just look at this as just an anime but for some it could open new opportunities for delinquents who have lost their way. He shows how you don’t have to be good at school but if you’re passionate enough about something, you can make a career out of it. You can tell he tries to sympathize with delinquents and bring them out of that life.
This portion will contain spoilers regarding the ending so be warned!!
Starting off with the main character himself, Sakuragi Hanamichi, like i mentioned earlier, Sakuragi is your run of the mill loud protagonist. However, like I said, I believe he was written this way to relate with delinquents in 90s Japan. He’s a very endearing character from the amount of effort he puts into his craft and just being a goof ball during games. He’s a talented beginner and is a projection of delinquents doing something worth their time, in this case basketball. Love the relatability of Sakuragi.
The Shohoku Basketball team, arguably, has as strong of an influence as Sakuragi does. We see Sakuragi form a “tough-love” relationship with Akagi-senpai. The rivalry between Rukawa and Sakuragi is quite overrated and I believe that the older brother-younger brother relationship between Akagi and Sakuragi is quite wholesome. There are times when Akagi is facing difficulties and Sakuragi shows everyone how he’s Akagi’s younger brother and even claims it himself of how great he is because of Akagi. It’s admirable how Akagi always criticises Sakuragi but recognizes his efforts and does praise him for it.
Rukawa and Ryota are both similar in a way that they want to be the best for their respective positions. Rukawa wants to be the best player in Japan and Ryota wants to be the best Point Guard in Japan. They don’t have super deep relationships with other characters other than Ryota’s interest in Ayako.
One thing I feel is overlooked in other sports anime is the role of the coach. Anzai-sensei plays a massive role in strategizing how the entire team plays. He also inspires his players, and he helps them grow as a person. This is driven home through the relationship between Mitsui and Anzai-sensei.
Mitsui and Anzai’s relationship is one of the reasons I believe Inoue-sensei wrote Slam Dunk this way. Minor spoiler below :
Lastly i would like to mention, Sakuragi’s Goon Squad. The Goon Squad is the kind of best friends everyone probably has. The ones that make fun of you and rejoice in your downfalls, but is always there to help you when in need. They’re not there to be a gag, they actually affect Sakuragi’s basketball growth in surprising ways.
Overall, the characters in this anime are amazing.
The voice acting was pretty good, every voice perfectly suits the characters they play. A stand out would probably be Sakuragi’s as Takeshi Kusao sounds exactly what I expect Sakuragi to sound like.
The foley in this anime is pretty good, everything was quite in order and nothing too bizarre that pulled me out of the anime compared to the animation.
Overall pretty pleased with the sound department.
Slam Dunk is a must watch for any anime and basketball fan as well as Sports fan. It’s amazing how i always felt right at home watching Slam Dunk.
Note: I apologize if it was long or quite messy but hope you enjoyed reading my review!
Note : Just imagine if MADHOUSE remade this.
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