One of the greatest sports anime and manga of all time, Slam Dunk, is finally going to be available readily for fans to enjoy, with the Toei Animation series coming to the Netflix streaming platform.
Adapted from the manga of the same name by Takehiko Inouem, the anime first aired in 1993 and spanned over 101 episodes, bringing fans a unique brand of sports drama and on-court action unlike anything before.
![Slam Dunk on Netflix](https://geekculture.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Beloved-Classic-Anime-Slam-Dunk-Now-Available-On-Netflix-2.jpg)
With the central character Hanamichi Sakuragi and other recognisable faces in the mix, Slam Dunk has always been beloved for its mixture of serious basketball action and focus on human relationships. Teammates like Kaede Rukawa, Takenori Akagi, Hisashi Mitsui, and Ryota Miyagi all play important roles in developing the story and bringing viewers further into the world of high school basketball.
And with Slam Dunk finally coming to Netflix, it is likely more viewers can enjoy the show than ever before. Back in August, Toei released the entire series on YouTube via the Animation Museum Channel, but it was only available for a limited time only. This time around, the hope is that it will stick on Netflix for the foreseeable future.
The renewed interest in the Slam Dunk anime was also due to the marketing for the first Slam Dunk movie as well. Titled The First Slam Dunk, the movie instead focused on Ryota rather than Sakuragi, further fleshing out the backstory of the team’s premier point guard. In our review, we found that it “expertly weaves a good character story with tense, exhilarating court action, but more importantly, it doesn’t need to rely on nostalgia to deliver a delightful, stirring experience even for newcomers.”
It has been more than 20 years since the anime debuted, but it remains an excellent flagbearer for the medium. Now that Slam Dunk is on Netflix, there is really no excuse for any basketball fan not to enjoy it for the first or the umpteenth time.