As a fan of the manga over 30 years ago, I was kinda disappointed in the quality of the anime series. Thus movie fixed that. The animation was exactly how I imagined the scenes to be like when flipping through the pages of the manga. Even though I already knew how the match turned out, I still had to hold my breath and couldn't help but cheer like at a live sports event throughout the movie.
This movie no longer focuses on Sakuragi and the story is told from Ryota's perspective. Considering his back story wasn't developed much previously, this was a good decision to offer something new to fans of the manga and anime series.
Will someone not familiar to the franchise enjoy this? Not knowing the stories behind the other characters might make it difficult to connect with them, but I think everyone can enjoy the basketball scenes and the match which the entire movie is centred on.
This movie no longer focuses on Sakuragi and the story is told from Ryota's perspective. Considering his back story wasn't developed much previously, this was a good decision to offer something new to fans of the manga and anime series.
Will someone not familiar to the franchise enjoy this? Not knowing the stories behind the other characters might make it difficult to connect with them, but I think everyone can enjoy the basketball scenes and the match which the entire movie is centred on.