The First Slam Dunk Movie Receives The AMD Chairman’s Award At The 29th AMD Awards 2023

The official website for The Association of Media in Digital (AMD) has announced the winners of its 29th AMD Awards 2023 and it looks like The First Slam Dunk movie has bagged the prestigious AMD Chairman’s Award during the ceremony held in Tokyo on Mar 5, 2024.

Takehiko Inoue, the director and primary author of the manga, as well as Sougo Nakamura, the voice actor who plays Ryota Miyagi in the movie, were present at the event. In the following video clip, you can see them going on stage to accept the award on behalf of the movie’s production committee.

The First Slam Dunk’s production committee shared the following words when they heard of the film receiving the award:

“We are very honored to receive such a prestigious award. Thank you very much.

This film was born thanks to the challenge of manga artist Takehiko Inoue, who took the plunge into the unknown world of film, as well as all the staff, cast, and artists, who kept trying and trying again and again to “make it better” and “there must be something better.” Thanks to the staff and related people who continued to take on challenges in various parts of the planning, production, advertising, promotion, and distribution, the completed film has reached a wide audience, not only readers of the original manga, but also those who are encountering “Slam Dunk” for the first time. We would like to thank you again for recognizing the results of everyone’s efforts.”

The judges and folks over at the AMD Awards gave the following reasons to present the Chairman’s Awards to the film:

“Twenty-six years after ending serialization, the original author, Takehiko Inoue, directed this new film himself. The 3DCG using motion capture, the sympathetic and appealing characters, the fast-paced storyline combined with music, and the meticulous finishing in every corner made us feel like we were watching a real game. The film attracted people who had never read “Slam Dunk” and became a record-breaking hit in China, Korea, and other Asian countries, grossing more than 15.8 billion yen at the domestic box office. We praise the creativity that created new impressions with animation that no one has ever seen before as if it were a manga come to life.”

(The First Slam Dunk’s official poster)

The film was released on December 3 in Japan and was ranked at #1 in its opening weekend with 847,000 tickets sold, earning around 9.5 million USD. The film also surpassed Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and Weathering With You, becoming the 16th highest-earning film of all time in Japan.

The film’s producer, Toshiyuki Matsui, received this year’s general award for Eiga Engeki Bunka Kyokai’s 42nd annual Fujimoto Awards.

The staff of the film includes:

• Screenplay: Takehiko Inoue
• Designer and animation director: Yasuke Ebara
• Technical Directors: Katsuhiko Kitada, Naoki Miyahara, and Yu Kamatani
• CG Director: Daiki Nakazawa
• CG Producer: Yuta Ogura
• Art Director: Kazuo Ogura
• Sound Directors: Yota Tsuruoka and Koji Kasamatsu

Cast Includes:

• Subaru Kimura as Hanamichi Sakuragi
• Shinichiro Kamio as Kaede Nagarekawa
• Sogo Nakamura as Ryota Miyagi
• Jun Kasama as Hisashi Mitsui
• Kenta Miake as Goken Aakagi

GKIDS describes the film as:

Shohoku’s “speedster” and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure.

Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older.

Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.

In his second year of high school, Ryota plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship.

Now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.

Source: AMD’s official site via Crunchyroll