Slam Dunk nostalgia scores big at box office

The highly anticipated Japanese animated sports film The First Slam Dunk has scored a major box office success riding a wave of nostalgia from Chinese fans born in the 1980s and '90s.

The film began screening in cinemas across the country at midnight on Thursday and, according to the live tracker Beacon, had grossed 389 million yuan ($56.4 million) as of Monday. On China's popular review site Douban it scored a 9 out of 10 rating from fans.

The movie is an adaptation of the popular manga series Slam Dunk created by Japanese author and illustrator Takehiko Inoue, who also directed the film, and tells the story of high school students pursuing their basketball dream.

The film's distributors decided to launch the film in China at midnight screenings in about 500 cinemas in 100 cities. The move garnered box office revenue of more than 21 million yuan, second only to Fast and Furious 9 over the past three years in terms of midnight screenings of new films, according to Road Pictures, the Shanghai-based Chinese distributor of The First Slam Dunk.

In 1996, the TV version of the manga ended with the Shohoku High School basketball team traveling on a high-speed train to take part in a national basketball competition. Although readers of the manga comic learned that Shohoku defeated a former champion team from Akita Sannoh high school, but failed in the next round in the competition, the story has not made it to the big screen until now.

Thirty years after the original manga became popular in China, fans can now watch their favorite Shohoku High School characters defeat Akita Sannoh in the new movie.

"I have waited for this competition for 27 years," said Zhang Ao, a fan of the manga. He said the film makes up for his regret that the TV version did not have the ending that fans craved. The new movie has also reignited his passion for the series.

Zhang said the story illustrates the charm of basketball through a group of relatable characters. "Every one of them has a vivid personality, and has gained a large number of fans for their charm and growth experience. … We can see part of ourselves in each character," said Zhang.

The story carries a positive message about holding on to what you love and never giving up, which has encouraged many people, said Zhang.

More than 68,000 viewers left their comments about the film on Douban, with most of them sharing Zhang's sentiment and sense of nostalgia. However, some pointed out problems in the film, including fragmented editing and too much description of one character at the expense of others.