Anime fans might’ve heard of The First Slam Dunk due to how well it’s doing in Japan and even worldwide. There’s a reason why it’s the 7th highest-grossing anime film of all time, you know. It does make one curious about what this anime film is about, aside from the obvious basketball thing there. Fortunately, GKIDS has noticed, and wants to do something about that. Starting by acquiring the NA distribution rights for the anime film. Heck, they’ve even released a brand new official announcement teaser trailer to hype it up. Don’t believe me? Then why not check out that teaser trailer for yourself below, and revel in the cel shaded glory?

The First Slam Dunk: Headed to NA for the Very First Time

It’s been a while since I’ve seen such beautiful cel shading in an anime. Guess they must really love basketball.

GKIDS is proud to announce that they have acquired the NA distribution rights to The First Slam Dunk with that official announcement teaser trailer above on YouTube. Apparently, they want everyone in NA to see this latest anime film adaptation of the comedy coming-of-age sports manga Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue. And for good reason, given the quality of that teaser trailer.

You might’ve noticed that throughout the entirety of that The First Slam Dunk teaser trailer, the entire anime film is in CGI animation. It’s not the low-quality CGI you might’ve come to expect from such anime films. Rather, the CGI here seems to be very high-quality cel-shading. It creates a very unique look for this anime film that’s surprisingly pleasing on the eyes. The official synopsis from GKIDS only adds to the hype here. You can read that below:

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

GKIDS even gives us a release window for this anime film. At the end of that teaser trailer, it reveals that The First Slam Dunk will make its NA theatrical debut in Summer 2023. It doesn’t get any more exact than that, unfortunately. We’ll just have to wait for GKIDS to give us that info later. Tune back in to THS to find that out when we do.