With the film's release just a month away, The First Slam Dunk revealed that it had recast its main characters, to the surprise of many fans. Along with the new cast reveal, an official trailer for the film has also been released.
The new cast announcement and trailer were released during a recent live stream that featured the film's main cast. Details were also shared on the movie's official Twitter account.
Once the cast was announced, many fans did not expect the film to replace the original TV anime cast with new voice actors.
The First Slam Dunk Movie – The Classic Series Gets a Modern Touch for the Big Screen
In case you missed its reveal, The First Slam Dunk is a new movie based on Takehiko Inoue's iconic manga series, Slam Dunk.
The film is written and directed by Inoue himself and features 3DCG animation.
Slam Dunk is one of the most popular manga of the 90s, helped in part by the TV anime adaptation by Toei Animation.
Toei will handle the production for this upcoming movie again, but it now has 3DCG animation.
Check out the new trailer here:
The move to 3DCG animation might be a bit of a surprise to some, but given the recent anime film trends, it makes sense.
After all, Toei's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, released earlier this year, also featured 3DCG animation.
As for its cast, the film features:
- Subaru Kimura as Hanamichi Sakuragi
- Shugo Nakamura as Ryota Miyagi
- Jun Kasama as Hisashi Mitsui
- Shin'ichiro Kamio as Kaede Rukawa
- Kenta Miyake as Takenori Akagi
While the film features a cast with some well-known voice actors, this hasn't stopped fans from being surprised, and some were even disappointed with the recasting decision.
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Fans React to The First Slam Dunk Movie's Major Cast Change
In Japan, changing voice actors is a big deal, especially for beloved titles like Slam Dunk.
Given how iconic the original voice cast was, it shouldn't be too surprising that many Japanese fans were disappointed with this decision.
If you look at the replies of Japanese fans to the voice cast announcement, many remarked that they are disappointed and sad that the original voice actors aren't returning for the new movie.
While many are disappointed, some fans remain optimistic or at least have an open mind, especially given that Inoue is directing and writing the movie.
The First Slam Dunk will be released in Japanese cinemas on December 3, 2022.
Currently, there's no word yet on an international release.
Discover more anime news and info by following us on Twitter @epicstreamanime.
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