{ "id": "epz78atsya", "slug": "slam-dunk-the-movie", "title": "Slam Dunk: The Movie", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features", "label": "Japanese anime features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features.yr-1932-1998", "label": "Released 1932 to 1998", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features.yr-1932-1998" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000: Japanese anime features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features", "path": [ { "id": "geo.asia", "label": "Asia (other)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946", "label": "Asia (other) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts", "label": "Animated and short films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts" }, { "id": "geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features", "label": "Japanese anime features", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.asia.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Slam Dunk: The Movie (スラムダンク) is Toei Animation's first theatrical Slam Dunk film, released March 12, 1994. The 30-minute short, directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa, depicts Shohoku's practice match against Takezono High and Sakuragi's rivalry with Oda.", "snippet": "Slam Dunk: The Movie (スラムダンク) is Toei Animation's first theatrical Slam Dunk film, released March 12, 1994. The 30-minute short, directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa, depicts Shohoku's practice match against Takezono High and Sakuragi's rivalry with Oda.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.animated-shorts.anime-features.yr-1932-1998", "markdown": "# Slam Dunk: The Movie\n\n**Slam Dunk: The Movie** (スラムダンク) is a 1994 Japanese animated short film, the first theatrical adaptation of [Takehiko Inoue](https://www.edgepedia.org/takehiko-inoue)'s basketball manga *Slam Dunk*. Produced by [Toei Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/toei-animation), it was released in Japanese cinemas on March 12, 1994, with a runtime of 30 minutes, and was directed by Nobutaka Nishizawa from a screenplay by Yoshiyuki Suga.[1](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265) • [2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) It was the first of four theatrical films made during the run of the *Slam Dunk* television anime.[3](https://www.toei-animation-usa.com/movies.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Japanese release | March 12, 1994, as part of the '94 Spring Toei Anime Fair[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) |\n| Runtime and format | 30 minutes; 35mm color film with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio[1](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265) |\n| Director and writer | Nobutaka Nishizawa (director), Yoshiyuki Suga (screenplay), from the manga by Takehiko Inoue[1](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265) |\n| Production | Toei, Shueisha, and Toei Animation; distributed by Toei[1](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265) |\n| Story | A practice match between Shohoku High and the strong Takezono High team, built around Sakuragi's rivalry with Takezono's center, Oda Tatsunori[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) |\n| Theme songs | Opening \"Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai\" by BAAD; ending \"Anata Dake Mitsumeteru\" by Maki Ohguro[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) |\n| Sequels | Slam Dunk 2 (July 1994, 45 min), Slam Dunk 3 (March 1995, 40 min), Slam Dunk 4 (July 1995, 40 min)[3](https://www.toei-animation-usa.com/movies.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story\n\nThe Shohoku High basketball club enters a practice match against Takezono High School, a strong program that regularly reaches the prefecture's best eight. Takezono, however, is a school in which about 70 percent of the students are girls, and their loud cheering becomes one more source of pressure for Shohoku.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\nDuring the buildup, Hanamichi Sakuragi meets Yoko Shimamura, the girl who rejected him in junior high school as his fiftieth rejection. She came to Takezono to follow its ace, the center Oda Tatsunori. Oda insults Sakuragi, saying that someone who spent junior high fooling around has no right to play basketball, and once the game begins Sakuragi shows only a clumsy performance in front of him. Haruko Akagi's cheering changes that: at her shout of encouragement his movement sharpens, and Oda and the Takezono players, who had looked down on Sakuragi, respond with renewed intensity.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\nThe film is set early in the series' timeline, before Mitsui and Miyagi join the Shohoku team, and it reworks material connected to the manga's opening chapter, in which Yoko first appears.[5](https://filmarks.com/movies/1051)\n\n### Sequels and place in the franchise\n\nThree more theatrical films followed during the anime's broadcast: *Slam Dunk 2: National Tournament* (July 1994, 45 minutes), *Slam Dunk 3: Crisis of Shohoku School* (March 1995, 40 minutes), and *Slam Dunk 4: Roar! Basketman Spirit* (July 1995, 40 minutes).[3](https://www.toei-animation-usa.com/movies.html) Like the first film, these are side stories set around matches not covered by the manga's main storyline.[6](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/slam-dunk-manga)\n\nThe 1994 film stands apart from the later franchise film, *The First Slam Dunk* (2022), which was written and directed by Takehiko Inoue himself and depicts the manga's final match between Shohoku and Sannoh, a game the 1990s anime never animated.[7](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-first-slam-dunk-streaming-on-august-25) The 1994 short remains the franchise's first cinema appearance and a compact example of the television series' cast, music, and comedic sports style carried onto the big screen.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\n## Background\n\nThe film adapts *Slam Dunk*, a shonen manga by Takehiko Inoue serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from 1990, issue No. 42, to 1996, issue No. 27, which has sold more than 120 million copies in Japan.[4](https://slamdunk-movie.jp/en/about/) The television anime adaptation, produced by Toei Animation, began broadcasting in October 1993, and the theatrical film followed within months as the franchise's first cinema release.[4](https://slamdunk-movie.jp/en/about/) • [2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) Toei's own listing describes it as the first theatrical work based on the popular comic, screened as one title in the '94 Spring Toei Anime Fair program.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\n## Cast and staff\n\nThe film uses the television series' principal voice cast: [Takeshi Kusao](https://www.edgepedia.org/takeshi-kusao) as Hanamichi Sakuragi, Akiko Hiramatsu as Haruko Akagi, Kiyoyuki Yanada as Takenori Akagi, Hikaru Midorikawa as Kaede Rukawa, and [Hideyuki Tanaka](https://www.edgepedia.org/hideyuki-tanaka) as Kiminobu Kogure.[6](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/slam-dunk-manga) New to the film are Yoku Shiozaki as Oda Tatsunori and Yuko Minaguchi as Yoko Shimamura.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\nBehind the camera, Nobutaka Nishizawa directed from Yoshiyuki Suga's screenplay, with Tsutomu Tomari and Tomio Anzai producing, music by BMF, animation direction by Masaki Sato, and art supervision by Nobuto Sakamoto.[1](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265) • [2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/) The opening theme, \"Kimi ga Suki da to Sakebitai,\" was performed by BAAD, and the ending theme, \"Anata Dake Mitsumeteru,\" by [Maki Ohguro](https://www.edgepedia.org/maki-ohguro); both songs also served as the television series' first opening and ending themes.[2](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [ＳＬＡＭＤＵＮＫ - 作品情報, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=28265)\n2. [スラムダンク 劇場版 - 東映アニメーション 作品ラインナップ](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_slumdumk_1994/)\n3. [Toei Animation Movies list](https://www.toei-animation-usa.com/movies.html)\n4. [ABOUT SLAM DUNK - The Movie THE FIRST SLAM DUNK official site](https://slamdunk-movie.jp/en/about/)\n5. [SLAM DUNK (1994) - Filmarks](https://filmarks.com/movies/1051)\n6. [Slam Dunk (manga) - EBSCO Research Starters](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/slam-dunk-manga)\n7. ['THE FIRST SLAM DUNK' Streams on Netflix on August 25 - About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-first-slam-dunk-streaming-on-august-25)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1932 to 1998*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Slam Dunk: The Movie\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Slam Dunk: The Movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Slam Dunk: The Movie\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/slam-dunk-the-movie. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Slam Dunk: The Movie is Toei Animation's first theatrical Slam Dunk film, released March 12, 1994." }