

Kuroko's Basketball
黒子のバスケ
For the last three years, Teikou Middle School has dominated the national basketball scene with its legendary lineup: the "Generation of Miracles." It consisted of five prodigies who excelled at the sport, but a "Phantom Sixth Man" lurked in the shadows and helped earn the team their revered status. Eventually, their monstrous growth jaded them from the sport they loved and made them go their separate ways in high school. In search of new members, the Seirin High School basketball team recruits Taiga Kagami and Tetsuya Kuroko, two freshmen who seem to have significant differences in abilities. Having returned recently from America, Kagami has both a natural aptitude and relentless love for the sport. Meanwhile, Kuroko lacks presence and exhibits no outstanding athletic talent. However, it is later revealed that he is Teikou's Phantom Sixth Man—the player once part of the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko wants to prove to the Seirin team that he is strong in his own way. Seeing his conviction, Kagami forms a dynamic partnership with Kuroko, the latter promising to support Kagami's "light" as his "shadow." Alongside their new Seirin teammates, they aim to conquer the upcoming Interhigh championship, but the reappearance of Kuroko's former teammates complicates their plan. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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KoyoNEET
September 24, 2012
Note: this is my first review on this site but I'm pretty confident that this will be helpful. You don't have to know how to play Basketball if you want to enjoy this show or watch the NBA- though you should try just to see what it's like in real life but Kuroko no Basuket, also known as Kuroko's Basketball is an anime that will keep you glued to your seat from the first episode. Now, I have to say that I wasn't a very big fan of sports anime, in fact I disliked the whole lot of it, or I just didn't really have anyinterest in them. I have watched (The prince of tennis) before and it was average to me. I've heard of (Slam Dunk) and other sports anime that were famous but they sounded boring to me(not anymore). Kuroko to Basuket was the first sports anime that I gave myself a chance to watch, and I'm VERY glad that I did. Story: 9/10 The Teiko middle school basketball club. An incredibly strong team with over 100 members and 3 consecutive championship wins. Amongst their brilliant record, the generation of 5 prodigies was known as "The Generation Of Miracles." However, there was a strange rumor concerning the Generation Of Miracles. Despite being relatively unknown and lacking a game record, there was one more member recognized by the 5 prodigies. A phantom sixth man... (You'll recognize this soon) The story of Kuroko and Kagami and of course their team (Seirin) struggle and getting stronger and aiming for the top throughout the series is just absolutely amazing, because there is more than that of course. And with a great mix of comedy at times like the old classic joke when Kuroko suddenly appears and disappear and Kagami's English speaking skills. Now, I won't spoil anything so you can watch the series for yourself, but If you don't like the first few episodes, then you'll probably drop the series sooner or later. The development of the story is normal paste and they adapted the manga very well. Art: 9/10 With Production IG doing the animation, expect it to be nice and fluid (Have you seen Guilty Crown?), but not always. They can't just go changing the art style that the original creator of the manga (Fujimaki, Tadatoshi) did. But don't get me wrong, this kind of art is perfect for a sports anime, as for a sports anime the characters at many times are always moving around and that is not easy to animate though it can be rigid at times. They did a very good job in my opinion. This art style really brings out the aspects of the characters. It's not the best, but I like it. Overall the animation is great. Sound: 8/10 Alright, I swear that I heard dubstep tracks in many episodes, not hardcore like Skrillex of course. The other tracks are pretty good but not outstanding. The score does a good job when telling the way the game is drifting and the emotions of players. (Has anyone ever heard Guilty Crown OST?) - No, the sound track of Kuroko to basket is good and has a nice pace. Character: 10/10 Throughout the series, you get to see the different factors of major characters, what they went through, how they get stronger, and by all means... They never give up. This is what made them who they are today, look at Serin for an example, but I don't think this applies for Aomine and maybe some of the [GOM] \(*[]*)/ Anyway, you will find that from the beginning to the end the characters change, some little and some drastically, like Kagami. Enjoyment: 10/10 I just love this show from the bottom of my heart. To tell you the truth, I'm not a very active person. I don't play sports or exercise much, and I know this is only an Anime, but this show inspired me to go outside and actually DO SOMETHING! - No I am not a hikikomori, and plz don'th think I'm pathetic cause I don't exercise! So... all in all you really will enjoy this show;) Overall: This show is great and I think most people will really like it. It's not a masterpiece, but it's VERY close to it. Hope there will be a season 2, maybe there will because of the profit the company's making since this is a hit anime in Japan WOOOOOOOO! Thanks for reading my review if you did :D
For the last three years, Teikou Middle School has dominated the national basketball scene with its legendary lineup: the "Generation of Miracles." It consisted of five prodigies who excelled at the sport, but a "Phantom Sixth Man" lurked in the shadows and helped earn the team their revered status. Eventually, their monstrous growth jaded them from the sport they loved and made them go their separate ways in high school. In search of new members, the Seirin High School basketball team recruits Taiga Kagami and Tetsuya Kuroko, two freshmen who seem to have significant differences in abilities. Having returned recently from America, Kagami has both a natural aptitude and relentless love for the sport. Meanwhile, Kuroko lacks presence and exhibits no outstanding athletic talent. However, it is later revealed that he is Teikou's Phantom Sixth Man—the player once part of the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko wants to prove to the Seirin team that he is strong in his own way. Seeing his conviction, Kagami forms a dynamic partnership with Kuroko, the latter promising to support Kagami's "light" as his "shadow." Alongside their new Seirin teammates, they aim to conquer the upcoming Interhigh championship, but the reappearance of Kuroko's former teammates complicates their plan. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Jaylei
June 11, 2012
The most common criticism I've seen so far of Kuroko no Basket has been how unrealistic it is. I myself am an avid basketball fan who plays regularly and watches NBA games. I can understand the criticism as this anime has a lot of spectacular dunks, blocks and flashy passes, the stuff you usually only see in highlight reels, but occurs regularly throughout the games in here. There's also the shounen elements with the special powers of Generation of Miracles members and other things such as the "martial arts" Seiho employs. That being said, I am completely ok with this. Why? Because it makes itinteresting. Think about it. As a basketball fan, it'd be great to see the teams run plays like the triangle or pick and roll, but you can't expect the average viewer to understand what's going on. Plus, trying to explain this and other technical terms would eat up screen time and bore a lot of viewers. This is first and foremost entertainment. Kuroko no Basket is great to watch BECAUSE of these elements. Watching Kagami slam the ball down or Kuruko go ninja and make an amazing pass is far more exciting than watching a player hit an open jumpshot from good ball movement. It's the same reason why many people label the Spurs in the NBA as "boring" despite their well-oiled offense. If you really wanted realistic basketball, you'd watch an actual game. What Kuroko no Basket excels at doing is showing how exciting basketball can be to a mainstream audience. I have yet to be disappointed by any of the episodes, as they have all left me with a big, goofy grin on my face from the thrilling games or cliffhangers at the end of each episode. Look around and you'll see that many viewers are not basketball fans, but love this anime. This is great because it's garnering interest in basketball in people that would have never noticed the sport were it not for this anime. This is especially true in Japan, where basketball is nowhere near as popular as sports such as baseball or football (soccer). As for the anime itself, it captures your attention with epic scenes, likeable characters, and funny comedy. Kuroko's sudden appearances that startle every character out there is a running gag, opponents with names like "Papa" and Kagami's Engrish "THIS IS JAPANESE LUNCH TIME RUSH!" keeps things interesting. The story is your classic sports anime, with the Seiren basketball team aiming for the top. However, if you were expecting some athletic, hot-headed knucklehead who excels in the sport...well, that's the deuteragonist Kagami. Kuroko is the protagonist here, and he's an unconventional lead for a sports anime. He's terrible at almost every aspect of basketball except passing and stealing. Together, he and Kagami form a exciting duo to watch reminiscent of real-world duos such as Stockton and Malone. The other characters aren't explored too much initially and I was afraid the other Seiren members would just become useless bodies, but slowly we've been introduced to their own unique skills. The only other characters that the anime really delves into are the members of the Generation of Miracles, who are all distinguished by their special powers and...colorful hair, Kuroko included. Here is where the shounen aspect of the show is most visible, with the members displaying everything from behind the backboard shots to full court shooting range (though I have to admit that's really pushing it). They are the equivalent of the boss characters you see in other shounen anime, as Kuroko, Kagami, and the Seiren team must find a way to overcome them. The art and animation are solid, however, animation isn't as consistently fluid as I would've liked. The movement of players shooting or passing the ball feels too rigid or unnatural at times, as if they didn't draw enough frames (with the exception of Aomine's ridiculous handle). It compensates for this by having a lot of slow motion and close up shots of dunks, blocks, and steals which really help excite the viewer and make this anime so thrilling. It is definitely one of the better looking sports anime out there, which is part of what makes it so appealing to a wider audience. For the most part, the music consists of guitar-heavy tracks that come in whenever something notable happens, such as opponents being surprised by one of Kuroko's passes. The opening and ending feature rock songs that keep the same adrenaline pumping feel the anime has. The one thing that really bugs me though is how each episode starts off with a narrator introducing the Generation of Miracles story. It's understandable in the first few episodes, but past that there's no point in it, since viewers would already be familiar with the backstory (EDIT: They finally stopped this nearly HALFWAY through the season). In short, Kuroko no Basket is an entertaining anime to watch, even if you don't like basketball. The thrilling games will capture your interest and many can relate to the story of going for the top and exceeding expectations, as the underdog Seiren team does time and again. Don't go into Kuroko no Basket expecting expertly executed plays like in real basketball. Don't go into it thinking you'll see a mirror image of a real game in anime form. Go into it expecting a thrilling game of dunks, blocks, and crazy passes, a lot of O.O faces from the characters, and competitive trash talking. Watch it for the determined characters, comedy, and overcoming special powers we've come to love in shounen anime. It doesn't portray basketball too realistically, but realism in this case would only drag a fun anime like this down.
hrpgheaven
June 9, 2014
Let me start by telling you that I'm 29 years old, and when I was 6 years old, I fell in love with an anime called Captain Tsubasa, not only because I am Portuguese and we generally love football, but because when you're at that age, everything is magical, you want to do the shots they do, you want to be Tsubasa Ozora on the field. I've seen many sports anime after it, and none were good enough to create the impact that Captain Tsubasa caused on me, there were a few that I loved such as Miracle Giants Dome-Kun! and Ganbare! Kickers, but Captain Tsubasawould always have a special place in my heart. To all the sports anime fans that grew up with this style of Shounen, the anime with the potential to dethrone the generally accepted king is finally here. The story is just what you expect from a sports anime, it's unrealistic? It's an anime. How many anime about sports are realistic? hell, other than slice of life how many anime about anything are realistic? and is that really what you are looking for when you're watching anime? realism? the answer is obviously no. Despite all that, whoever wrote the anime and drawn the moves definitely knows his basketball since some of the plays are copy/paste from some of the greatest dunks, three-pointers or behind the hoop shots in real life, they know their technical therms, they know how basket works, and they made a damn good anime about it. The generation of miracles is exactly what they said it is, miracles, players that usually are born in the united states, once every other decade, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James... except these were born in Japan, all at the same time, and now, they're all rivals. You will love them all. The main character is not some overpowered monster that destroys everyone, no, he's very simple, you barely notice him, but you know he creates the biggest hype, and you can barely wait to see what he will be capable of in the future, but he faces hardships, real hardships, he's the underdog you like to root for. Right at the beginning of season 2, his potential will scare you. His rivals are not only his rivals, they're his friends, you will get to know them, their traits, you will appreciate the anime as much for its school and story characteristics as much as you will do for the sports component. The character development is ridiculously good, and you will get acquainted with all players from the top teams in about 25 episodes, games last 2 or 3 episodes, which is just the right amount of time, it's packed with action, it's packed with story, it has just the right amount of each! It keeps topping itself, over, and over, and over, and you get more and more excited, and not only for basketball or sports fans! No! You can like fighting anime such as Fairy Tail, Zetsuen no Tempest, Bleach, Naruto, and you won't be let down by the action of Kuroko no Basket, I guarantee it. No one would ever thought an anime about basketball could be so interesting, so filled with adrenaline and action packed, no one would ever think it could have such an amazing story, but Kuroko no Basket will prove you wrong, your heart will race, you will laugh, you will get excited, you will root for your favorite characters, and you will watch another, and another, and another, until you inevitably surrender to the awesomeness of Kuroko no Basket. As a sports anime, it gets a 10. As an overall anime, it still gets a 10 because it is that awesome!
Trikkiez
May 6, 2023
Kuroko is supposed to be a sports anime, but it isn't even about the sport. Despite there being basketball games that take place, there is no real portrayal of basketball to be found. It is just a generic rule of cool anime that happens to involve basketball. The concept of superpowers in sports completely takes the point away from the sport in the first place. It makes the side characters irrelevant, and it completely destroys the foundation of the sport. Instead of placing the focus on the intricacies of the sport, we are focused on random superpowers. The characters are bland and uninteresting, and thereare no stakes present in this anime whatsoever because of this. Characters: There is no reason to care for the characters on their journey because there is no reason to like them in the first place. We hardly see them in their personal lives, and we don't see them make relationships with anyone outside of the team. They don't have any real motivations except that Kuroko wants to prove that he is valuable to the other members of the generation of miracles for some reason. This doesn't make sense in the first place because Kuroko is constantly asked by the other members to leave the team he joined to join them, proving that they saw him as valuable the whole time. Even if they didn't, he is already one of the 10 best players in the entire world because he was born with superpowers, so of course, he would be valuable. Kuroko is a shy person who goes unnoticed by most of the people around him. This is literally just what his ability is. He goes unnoticed on the court because of the fact that he doesn't do much, and he uses this to his advantage. Except he actually does do stuff on the court, such as passing, so you would think that the opponents would begin to learn of this cliche and not let it happen over and over again, but yet he still goes unnoticed. When your entire personality can be defined in a simple ability like Kuroko's can, that's the sign of a generic self-insert character. Kagami is just along for the ride and doesn't have many real motivations outside of the generic wanting to be number one by surpassing the generation of miracles. This is literally impossible due to his ability being almost completely useless, if not the most useless in the anime. This would be a fine underdog story normally, but in this anime, the concept of getting better through training is completely nonexistent. This means there is no point in watching this anime because the main character will either achieve his goals through plot armor and bad writing, or he will never achieve them at all since he was born unlucky. The side characters pretty much have no involvement in the games since all of the main characters have superpowers. This is a terrible way of nullifying all side characters since they were born unlucky, and they are only there as filler players. The games might as well be 2v2 games instead of 5v5. Outside of that, they only serve as comedy and fan service. The rest of the generation of miracles are just stereotypes with broken abilities with different hair colors. When you pick a favorite character in this anime, you don't pick them because you like their character more; you pick them for their hair color and their abilities. All of the main characters who have abilities are defined by simply having a different hair color from one another, and that's it. Aomine is a poorly written-character as well. He was growing tired of competing since he was better than everyone else around him, so why didn't he just move on and play against bigger competetion? This happens all the time in real life, where younger people play up. It was Aomines choice to play against worse competetion, so why does he still play in the lower leagues? I found myself not caring about a single character because nobody is playing for anything meaningful. The main 2 characters are trying to get attention for how lucky they were for being born with basketball abilities; Kise doesn't even like basketball and also just wants to be cool like Aomine. Aomine thinks he is better than everyone and also doesn't want to play the sport, and we don't even know what Midorima is playing for. The only characters with some sort of actual motivations happen to be the side characters, who will never even be useful on a team no matter how hard they train. Powers: The generation of miracles is a poor concept, to begin with. These people all happened to go to the same school at the same time, and all happen to have superpowers? It doesn't make sense that they all go to the same school, and nobody else outside of this school had any superpowers, except Kagami, of course, because of plot convenience. Why are these people even competing at the high school level at this point? Midorima can literally shoot 100% from 3. This is not only impossible but Steph Curry, who is the best 3-point shooter of all time, only shoots 42.8% from 3, so why isn't he playing at a much higher level already? This concept is so poorly thought out, and if the writer wanted to force abilities in this badly, they should've made them less overpowered and more subtle, so it would at least be fair. The players and coaches seem to be self-aware of these abilities, yet they aren't at the same time. They are never implemented into the game plan at all. The abilities are often inconsistent, to the point where even the author doesn't know how they work. There is no consistency or use of strategy integrated within the abilities that add to the sport. You would think that, at least with the power system, the author would include this as a strategic way of playing through the basketball game, but even with these powers, there is still no strategy involved, and it is just random dunks with barely any planning or teamwork. The author was attempting to mix normal basketball play with overpowered abilities, but this creates an infinite number of problems such as: If Midorima can shoot 100% from anywhere on the court (even full-court shots somehow, which is physically impossible), why don't they just set screens or create ball movement in order to get him more open? Why doesn't Kise just copy whatever ability he needs at any moment in time whenever he needs that exact ability? Why does Kuroko go unnoticed still even though people know that his quirk is going unnoticed? Why does Kagami's ability defy the laws of physics? Why is Aomine so overpowered to the point where he can seemingly do anything he wants? The author was attempting to still have the characters play normal basketball even with these broken abilities, but the author didn't realize just how much these abilities change the core function of how the sport is played. Instead of going all the way and changing it fully, he mixes it with traditional basketball, and he uses the abilities as a cheap way to let us know who the important characters are instead of being able to come up with actual crafty basketball skills that normal people have in real life. Even the Coach has a random inhuman ability for no reason, which normally serves as plot convenience to use it as an excuse for her to know when Kagami should play or not whenever he gets injured. Instead of having a medical team like in real life and having to make a life-altering decision such as deciding whether to risk it all and play for the current time and risk making your injury career-ending or to suck it up and let it heal by ending the current season. Instead of being faced with tough decisions, the coach just magically knows exactly what Kagami's health status is and if he should continue playing or not. Why doesn't she become a doctor or something and actually do something more important than being a basketball coach with an ability like this? Could you imagine how helpful she would be? But no, she is just a basketball coach for a random school for some reason. The powers create infinite problems, and this was one of the biggest downfalls of the anime. Games: The games do a good job of building suspense, and it captures the intensity of the games really well at times. The soundtrack also does a great job at keeping the viewer interested along with the overall competitive environment. On the first watch, Kuroko can be thrilling and intense for anyone who manages to care about the characters. However, the games themselves are very uninteresting if you take the emotions out. Rewatching a game in Kuroko is almost completely pointless, and it's just plaing boring unless you're watching out of pure nostalgia. Rewatching a real NBA game, even when you know the outcome is very rewarding because you can dissect so many little things all of the players do and the strategies involved within the game to learn more about the sport and to learn how to get better at it yourself. You can really see everyones intent and purpose in the game. In Kuroko, there is no real strategy. It's just a rule of cool, with random shooting, running around, dunking, and overpowered abilities. This is why it’s so easy to get into this anime for people who don’t play basketball because it’s not actually basketball. The games are too lackluster and don't have enough strategy to be interesting to anyone who isn't just satisfied with seeing random dunking. There are never any stakes because we are never invested in the characters, and nobody is playing for anything meaningful. In Summary: In sports, everyone has to constantly work on their game to improve it no matter the sport. This is how you get better than others. In real life, anyone can be as good as they want to be at any sport if they work hard enough at it and learn what their strengths and weaknesses are. This isn't the case in Kuroko because no matter how hard they train, the side characters will never come close to touching the skill of the main characters. Therefore the message of this show is to hope you get lucky and are born with the best genetics. So, if you aren't born as a 7-foot-tall male with a 50" vertical that can also shoot consistently from anywhere on the floor efficiently and play defense at a high level, you might as well just not play basketball in the first place unless you want to be an irrelevant side character. There is no sense in attempting to get better at the sport, there is no strategy, and we aren't shown the intricacies of the sport in the slightest. I was able to enjoy something like Initial D even though I was never interested in racing in the slightest because the author bothered to show the viewers the intricacies of the sport, and I was able to really appreciate racing once I finished it. I learned a lot about racing after completing Initial D, However, with Kuroko, this isn't the case. The concept of the abilities takes what is good about basketball out and turn it into something it isn't and should never be. If you don't know anything about basketball, don't expect Kuroko to teach you a single thing. Kuroko doesn't capture the struggle of being on a team, having to put in the actual effort, and suffering loss as a team while overcoming that loss and getting better. It fails at even showing the most simple aspects of basketball on a fundamental or rudimentary level, and it doesn't have that much of an interesting plot outside of the basketball games. The characters are bland for the most part, with no real motivations of their own. Kuroko is bad in many aspects, and the only people I would recommend it to are those who enjoy turning their brains off and watching Rule of Cool action. It isn't a complete disaster and has some positives, but there are other anime more worth your time.
NyanPls
June 3, 2014
“There's no such thing as useless effort.” Kagami Taiga (Kuroko no Basket) So, as I have nothing to waste, I will bring to you a review of the immensely praised show that is Kuroko no Basket. Even though it is not a very popular show (not even in the top 100), most people that have watched it are immensely positive about it, and it made me wonder why. After being encouraged to watch the show several times, I figured it was the time to do so – and I can say it delivered. I soon became one of the people “enchanted” by the show. Story: 9/10 Once upon atime, there was a basketball team that demolished each and every competition they came across: the all-star team of Teiko Junior High. The team consisted of 5 basketball players with each an astonishing amount of talent, and their own unique speciality: the Generation of Miracles After junior high school ended, the team naturally broke up – the prodigies all joined different high schools with great basketball teams. However, fairly unknown is that there was actually a 6th player which played in the all-star team of Teiko Junior High: Kuroko Tetsuya. This so called “phantom” player joined a new school, with an unknown basketball team, unlike the other prodigies. At this school, Seirin High, Kuroko meets Kagami Taiga, a natural basketball talent who has just returned from America (where he had lived for some years). Together, they are aiming to beat the generation of miracles, and become the strongest in Japan. Overall it’s just a very solid storyline, which is able to keep the viewer interested over the course of episodes, but it’s not stunning either. It isn’t a very complex storyline which leaves the viewer thinking, but rather a very simple storyline which is enjoyable to watch. The show does not have much filler, yet is not too serious either – this was a huge plus to me. It was a very refreshing watch; a show I could really enjoy without putting too much thought into it. The pace is very good, as I found myself blowing through episodes one after another. However, I was a little disappointed at the predictability of some (or maybe most) of the matches, and the story as a whole. But that does not take away the fact that the story is very enjoyable. Most people that dislike KnB do so because of its unrealism – but I don’t agree on that. It’s the unique abilities and unrealistic shots that keep the viewer thrilled. I think the majority of the people would not like watching very plain basketball games as seen in real life. In short, Kuroko no Basket features a simple, yet very enjoyable story. Art: 8/10 Nothing astonishing here, nothing bad either. It is not a visual masterpiece, but some episodes really had a nice atmosphere to them due to the excellent animation in them. The drawing style is nothing to complain about either. Overall, I’d say that given the budget, they did a great job on the art: it is more than decent. Sound: 9/10 Sound is one of the aspects in which KnB really shines. The openings and endings are very good (and fitting), but even more impressive is the soundtrack during the episodes. They really manage to enhance the atmosphere of the matches and make episodes more thrilling than they already are. The sound acting is very well done as well – the sound as a whole is just excellent. Characters: 9/10 As for the characters, logically, the biggest focus is on Kuroko and Kagami. They are thoroughly described, and made to be very likeable: they both have characterising traits which perfectly fit their basketball abilities. The 5 “Prodigies” are very well done too – as far as the ones we get to know in season 1. Furthermore, we get to know a variety of characters in the high school basketball scene. While they weren’t all given the necessary description (for example, I think the other players in Seirin could have gotten more of a backstory), they were still decent enough to fulfil their roles. Enjoyment: 10/10 I honestly enjoyed Kuroko no Basket as much as I was told I would. While the show definitely has some flaws and is not nearly as enthralling or well thought out as others (I’m looking at you, Fate/Zero, Steins;Gate), it still turned out to be a great source of enjoyment. The matches actually did manage to keep me on the edge of my seat, and managed to get me to play basketball myself! It made me want to try those fascinating shots in real life, and got me to look up more about basketball as well. In short, if you are looking for a refreshing (perhaps simple) anime, or just really like sports shows, then you should certainly give this show a watch – because that’s what Kuroko no Basket has to offer.
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