The Return of 'Slam Dunk' Protagonist: "It's Song Taeseop, Not Kang Baekho"

'The First Slam Dunk' Director Inoue Takehiko
Surpasses Avatar in Japan with 41 Billion Won Revenue in Just 2 Weeks

The animation 'Slam Dunk' is returning to theaters after 26 years.

'The First Slam Dunk' topped the box office for three consecutive weeks after its release in Japan, surpassing 'Avatar: The Way of Water' and 'Suzume no Tojimari.' It attracted 2.81 million viewers within 16 days of release and has continued its success with earnings of 4.186 billion yen (41 billion KRW). The film, set to be released domestically on the 4th, depicts the dreams, passion, and relentless challenges of the five members of the Buk San High School basketball team aiming to conquer the nation.

On the 3rd, director Takehiko Inoue revealed through distributor NEW that "I received a proposal for a Slam Dunk movie 10 years ago and accepted it in 2014."

He cited the pilot video’s ‘face’ as the deciding factor for the film adaptation. He said, "There was the soul of the person who made it, as if strongly appealing. The emotional aspects like passion and soul resonated more than the technology or video quality." He added, "Although I am not well-versed in animation-related technology, I believe technology is merely a means. For example, the CG for basketball scenes was chosen because it is the most suitable method to depict 10 people moving on the court."

Comics are comics, movies have their own enjoyment

Director Takehiko Inoue

'The First Slam Dunk' impresses with visuals that look like the drawings are moving as they are. Director Inoue explained, "Although I had images imagined in my mind, I lacked the experience and knowledge. When I presented rough images, experienced staff interpreted and conveyed them." He continued, "We didn’t rush straight toward a clear point like ‘this is the goal’ from the start, but built it up together and completed it with the feeling of ‘we reached it’ in the end."

Realistic basketball expressions are also a major feature. The director said, "It is about expressing the ‘basketball-ness’ I remember physically ? how you step, the body’s reaction the moment you receive the ball, the slight timing when going for a shot." The comic’s mid-game monologues and comedic scenes were omitted. Regarding this, he said, "In comics, you can insert simple comedic scenes in between, but in movies, the screen size is fixed, so even if you put jokes in the corners, they won’t be seen."

"The biggest difference between comics and movies was that it takes place on a large screen. In comics, you can find answers through panel division, but in movies, we couldn’t find that method. Rather than obsessing over that, we concluded that comics have their own enjoyment and movies have theirs, prioritizing ‘basketball-ness.’"

A new perspective rather than following the original

Photo by NEW

The protagonist of 'The First Slam Dunk' is not Kang Baek-ho but Song Tae-seop. This attracted attention among original fans. The director explained, "I didn’t want to make it exactly the same as the original and wanted to approach it from a new perspective."

Director Inoue said, "Song Tae-seop was a character I wanted to develop more even when the comic was serialized. In the third year, there was drama with center Chae Chi-soo and Jung Dae-man, and Kang Baek-ho and Seo Tae-woong were first-year rivals, so second-year Song Tae-seop was caught in between. That’s why we decided to focus on Song Tae-seop this time. The character’s family story wasn’t well depicted in the original, but in this work, Song Tae-seop’s family story is portrayed quite deeply."

"When I was in my 20s during serialization, I could draw better from a high school student’s perspective because that was all I knew. As I grew older, my perspective broadened, and so did the range I wanted to depict. After drawing ‘Slam Dunk,’ I also worked on ‘Vagabond’ and ‘Real,’ which influenced me naturally. The values drawn in the original were very simple, but since I am involved now, I had to include the perspective that ‘values are not just one; it’s okay if there are several as long as the person has their own answer,’ which I learned after drawing the original."

Just lending a left hand, the challenge continues

Director Inoue cited 'comics' as the driving force behind his challenges. He emphasized, "From a third-party perspective, it might look like I’m doing various things besides comics, but inside me, it is a single path." He continued, "I face everything as a comic artist, and all experiences return to me as a comic artist. Whether it’s art museum exhibitions, illustration work, or this movie, I approach them all thinking ‘comics can do this too.’ Gaining diverse experiences and refining myself ultimately leads to drawing better comics."

"Comics as comics, animation as animation, movies as movies ? each is a work created as a new life. Ultimately, the roots are the same, and even if you already know ‘Slam Dunk,’ I hope you feel, ‘Oh, there’s this kind of Slam Dunk too.’"