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The First Slam Dunk anime film was recently announced to have won Animation of the Year at the 46th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes. The awards ceremony took place at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo on Friday, March 10, 2023. The film’s achievement is impressive considering the competition it was up against, featuring some major names.
The film is based off of Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk basketball manga and follows Ryota Miyagi, a character in the original manga series who is the teammate of its protagonist, Hanamichi Sakuragi. The First Slam Dunk also sees Ryota and his teammates challenge the inter-high basketball champions, the Sannoh school.
The First Slam Dunk anime film beats One Piece Film: Red among other movies for Animation of the Year award
The Japan Academy Film Prize Association decided to award the prize to The First Slam Dunk anime film over some incredibly tough competition. Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume, One Piece Film: Red, INU-OH, and Lonely Castle in the Mirror were all also nominated for the same prize. This is an impressive group to be selected for the category, with all five films being praised throughout the year.
However, most of these other nominees didn’t go home empty-handed. RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi won the Best Music award for Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume no Tojimari. Meanwhile, One Piece Film: Red won Popularity Award for the film category. This is somewhat unsurprising considering how popular the adventure-battle series is.
One Piece Film: Red also won the Special Award, which is an honor similar to the Chairperson’s Distinguished Service Award. The latter is awarded to a person or group who has achieved outstanding results for that year. Considering Film: Red’s momentous run in theaters over the last third of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, it’s unsurprising that the movie won such an award.
Although the rest of the entrants for the Animation of the Year category didn't win any other awards, the honor of being nominated speaks volumes about their overall quality, cultural impact, and financial and critical success.
Meanwhile, The First Slam Dunk has some fairly large shoes to fill as 2023's winner. Last year’s winner for the Animated of the Year award went to Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, the final entry in the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
