“The First Slam Dunk” has a “feeling of being alive” that runs through it. Overcome the pain and take a step *Note! Contains spoilers.

The first round of film adaptation was in 2003, and the proposal was submitted in 2009.

One thing that makes one curious about the production process of "The First Slam Dunk" is just how long it took to complete the project. According to an interview with Inoue Takehiko in " The First Slam Dunk re:SOURCE " and on the official website, as well as an interview with Toei Animation producer Matsui Toshiyuki on the official website, the idea of ​​adapting the film was apparently first heard in the fall of 2003. Matsui, who was in charge of the "SLAM DUNK DVD-BOX," a DVD version of the TV anime version, visited the original company after witnessing the enthusiasm of the fans.

However, they could not get approval, so in 2009 they created a proposal and tried again. ``I analyzed the basketball styles of Shohoku and my opponents, and I also interviewed real high school basketball teams, and compiled my thoughts so that I could express the tactics and strategies, the fun of the play, and the depth of the battles in seconds. Matsui created a pilot version based on this in 2010. However, it was not the quality that Inoue could stand up to.

By the way, at this point, the producers were apparently looking into making a 3DCG animated film. ``I thought it was unrealistic to draw and animate a large number of Inoue-sensei's characters, and above all, CG technology was an attractive tool for expressing basketball play'' ``Professional street basketball With the cooperation of the players, we actually recorded and recreated the play scenes from the original manga using motion capture.'' (Matsui)

In 2012, he produced a second pilot version and attempted to attack again, but it was rejected, saying, ``The characters are not alive, there is no feeling that they are alive and moving.'' (translated into words and becomes the core of the work). However, producer Matsui did not give up. Pursuing conformity to the original work through a method of expression that ``animates the manga with a combination of 3DCG with a 2D drawing look, hand-drawn 2D drawing, and a hybrid'', he was able to meet Inoue at the end of 2014, and after five years of dialogue, he finally agreed. I smiled.

Inoue himself also expressed understanding of the use of CG. "I felt that it was bad if the scene didn't feel like it was alive. In terms of portraying basketball realistically, I don't have the knowledge to draw 10 players' movements by hand, each of which moves differently, and I thought that it would be impossible. That's why I thought that using CG was essential." (Inoue)

Matsui approached Inoue about writing and directing the film on the spot, and work on the script began in January 2015. However, it was also Inoue's first experience making a film. It seems like he worked out the story from drawing the name, just like making a manga.

Delving into “pain” that became the key to portraying the inner world