MANILA, Philippines — Anime fans will be having an early Christmas as a brand new "Slam Dunk" movie will be released on December 3, the first film from the popular anime since 1995.
The movie titled, "The First Slam Dunk," will premiere first in Japan before expanding to other territories.
A teaser trailer for the movie sees clips of the anime's characters, drawn in three dimensional (3D) rather than two dimensional (2D), within the words "Slam Dunk."
Character posters for the film have already been posted on Instagram with titles like "Former MVP" and "Troublemaker." The voice cast is set to to be announced in the next few weeks.
Original manga creator Takehiko Inoue is directing and writing the film in collaboration with Toei Animation, the production company that also did the anime series during the 1990s.
Inoue's manga first appeared in Shueisha's magazine "Weekley Shonen Jump" in 1990 before becoming an anime series that ran from 1993 to 1996. Four "Slam Dunk" movies were released during that timespan.
"Slam Dunk" follows high school delinquent Hanamichi Sakuragi who has been repeatedly dumped by girls but becomes interested in Haruko Akagi, who introduces him to their school's basketball team.
With Sakuragi teaming up with rival Kaede Rukawa, captain Takenori Akagi, skilled shooter Hisashi Mitsui, and the quick Ryota Miyagi, the Shohoku High School basketball team becomes one of the best squads in Japan.
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