As an anime that has made a lasting impression on anyone who has watched it, Slam Dunk was quite a phenomenon here in the Philippines since its first release in the 90s. Being an anime about a sport close to the Filipino heart, it has enthralled and entertained generations with its funny, quirky, dramatic, and exciting story and colorful, believable characters. It probably is no surprise why cosplayers, photographers and videographers alike would grab any opportunity to bring the exploits of the team from Shohoku to life in a shoot that would challenge everyone taking part in it to the limit.
The Slam Dunk franchise was created by the famous mangaka Takehiko Inoue, and from its native Japan it spread worldwide, phenomenal success especially here in the Philippines where our populace came to embrace the titular sports anime itself. Who wouldn’t know the famous, self-bragging tensai(genius) rebound king Hanamichi Sakuragi, who we came to admire as one funny, competitive, but also an admirable guy?
With the resounding success of the previous Daydreams 2 and the Final Fantasy Class Zero cosplay photoshoot projects, head organizer James Paolo Angeles decided to take a step further in reliving the series into the live plane and give life to the iconic characters of the anime. With handpicked characters carefully chosen for their physical attributes accurately resembling those from the main show, meticulous preparations were undertaken including physical fitness training so as to meet high expectations from the fans of Slam Dunk.
With the preparations undertaken months in advance, the project itself strove for accuracy and aimed to relive our classic memories of the iconic scenes from the anime itself and bring them to life. From the hulking physical presence of Takenori Akagi, the speedster badboy image of Ryota Miyagi, the heroic MVP schemes of Hisashi Mitsui, the cool but stoic popularity of Kaede Rukawa and the fiery, hilarious attitude of the main protagonist himself – Sakuragi, everyone was in for a real cosplay shoot treat.
The main cast was composed of James Paolo Angeles as Kaede Rukawa, Ken as Hanamichi Sakuragi, Abraham as Takenori Akagi, Kaloy as Hisashi Mitsui, Jonathan as Ryota Miyagi, Topher as Kiminobu Kogure, and Dale Perias as Yasuharu Yasuda, with Jennie Buaron, Aya Ninna, and Miyumi Dilan. Photographers included Eric DC, Jeff Ricalde, Japs Antido, Francis Legarda, Bernard Garb,o Aileen Omana, Leo Tagulao, Je Morerz, Aldrin Kencey, Xtian Mack, Lerie Ly, and Ej Ayalde, with special thanks also to Krisha Chloe Joaquin for HMUA.
The main cast plan on dropping by Otaku Expo later this January, so watch out for them very soon.
We’ll be updating this post soon, so please stay tuned. Thank you very much, and please stay tuned for more features here at arkadymac.com. Please click on an image to view slideshow.
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