If I were to summarize my thoughts on The First Slam Dunk in a single word, it would be 'bizarre.' The choices made when adapting this film to the big screen turn a film with all the building blocks needed for success into a more disjointed, uneasy experience that hinders both accessibility and enjoyment of the film to all but its most hardcore fans.

And it all starts with the film's title.

For something called ‘The First Slam Dunk’, the movie actually adapts the last match in the manga, the second-round faceoff between Shohoku High School and the widely-regarded number one high school basketball team, Sanno Industry. The movie is a feature-length adaptation of this game and the twists and turns of last-minute scores, injuries, an end-to-end match of thrills, and setbacks, culminating in a final result.

The decision to adapt this series from the ending isn't necessarily an issue, but it throws non-fans into the deep end from the very beginning, with very little to catch us up on the importance of the match at hand. Those unfamiliar with the series are told about the strength and character of the formidable opponents in front of them. The anime points out Sanno Industry's titanic strength and Shohoku's place as underdogs. Yet amidst it all, the excitement of this match is driven by your investment in these characters before a ball is thrown, and the backstories that give these rivalries weight, and no amount of context will work as a substitute.

To its credit, the movie does try to look back into the past to elevate the action on screen. Rather than centering the movie on the series protagonist Hanamichi Sakuragi, Ryota Miyagi and his complicated relationship with his family and older brother are used to ground us in this unfamiliar sporting world. To tell a narrative like this, basing the story in this particular character's past, makes the most sense; after all, his struggles to find an identity in this team and his unresolved grief from family tragedy pack the emotional gut-punch necessary to remain invested. It also provides space for relevant contextual history with the other characters to shine through and interweave their place in the film.

However, Ryota Miyagi's lack of a pivotal role in this match, despite this central narrative hook, leaves this feeling out of place for the sake of accuracy. It's one of the few times where changing the franchise canon to alter the match's outcome and make Ryota's role more critical beyond narrative fodder would have made more sense.

It's also a decision that speaks to the core of the problem with this uneven movie. Unless you're already a fan of the manga and anime, there's only so much The First Slam Dunk can and will speak to you. Beyond Ryota's outsized role at the center of this story, the lopsided time spent exploring character motivations and backstory, and the lack of buildup to this rivalry and the motivations of each of our protagonists, we're left with an impassible barrier to understanding the central tension of this pivotal match.

The best sports anime and manga succeed because they make us cheer and commiserate with every result like a fan for their real-world favorite sports team, emotions rising and falling with the buzzer-beater scores or last-minute refereeing howlers. To an extent, the high-octane skill on display and impressive CG animation allow the anime to partially achieve this no matter your past experiences with the story, with the smoothness of motion inherent to the medium used leading itself well to sport and bringing a flowing intensity to the action that's easy to get swept up in. But without a reason to care for these characters, it can only do so much.

The First Slam Dunk, a story about the last slam dunk, is everything a megafan of the franchise could dream of. No wonder it's been such a runaway success at the Japanese box office. Those who can't name the Shōhoku High School starting lineup by heart may leave the theater quietly satisfied while ultimately wondering what all the fuss was about.