*At Nitsuj’s burnt down home the Reaper is hard at work moving Nitsuj’s projects over to the Jack’s Bros. home*
(Reaper): *Sigh* When I was told I was a highly advanced security system, moving projects over to different locations wasn’t in the job description.
*As The Reaper continues to carry over projects one of them falls out of the container he’s carrying*
(Reaper): Hello, what’s this? Hmm~, top secret. Well it is wrong to look into the work of others without permission.
*The Reaper bashes open the case*
(Reaper): Whoops. The case has been busted. Let’s see what’s inside. All three seasons of Kuroko’s Basketball. I suppose the master wouldn’t mind me watching it and sharing it with our viewers at home. Let’s enjoy this.
*The Reaper plays the project*
Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. If you’ve been reading my blogs for a while you’ve noticed that I don’t review a lot of sports anime and the reason for that is because I really don’t see a need or reason to review them. That’s not to say they’re bad it’s just you can go outside and play these sports any time whereas with fantasy animes you know they’re not going to happen to you or would like to see them happen to you. They send you into a world of new possibilities and help broaden your mind. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t see the appeal of sport animes. Seeing players overcome the odds, grow as individuals, and win the big match is exciting and motivating and one of the animes that exemplifies how good a sport anime can be is Kuroko’s Basketball. Also called The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays, Kuroko’s Basketball is an anime that a lot of people have requested me to review. No doubt it’s because I put it on my Top 11 Animes I Recommend list which is true, I do recommend this anime to anyone interested in sports particularly basketball. Kuroko’s Basketball is based off a manga written by Tadatoshi Fujimaki who unlike a majority of shonen writers out there who were inspired by DBZ, Fujimaki was instead inspired by Slam Dunk another basketball manga that was popular back in the day. The series was featured in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2008-2014 where the series ended. While the series didn’t reach the level of popularity as One Piece or Naruto during its run, the series did gained quite a following in Japan and when the anime started airing in 2012 under the Production of I.G (Ghost in the Shell and Joker Game) the popularity of the series took off big time to the point that someone actually threaten Fujimaki’s life back in 2013 just because they were jealous of his success. In fact, Fujimaki showed everyone not to mess him when he ignored the threats and continued to write the series. So let’s celebrate this series and take a look at Kuroko’s Basketball.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening for the first half of the anime is “Can Do” by Granrodeo. At first I didn’t really care for this song but after listening to it multiple it grew on me. The song is basically the starting line for this anime. The new school year is about to start and the players are stepping on the court for the first time. This song is encouraging them to chase their dreams and play hard to achieve them. The guitar is great in this song and I like the level of energy the singer has as the song progresses. The ending is “Start it Right Away” by Hyadain. Unlike the opening I instantly liked this ending especially the rap part within the song. How can they speak so fast yet still sound incredibly awesome while doing it? Anyway, I do like the overall fell of this song. It almost sounds as if the singer lost the game and instead of feeling down and sad he instead decides to learn from this lost and rise back up to face them again. To quote one of my favorite characters from the series: “There’s no shame in falling down. True shame is to not stand up again.”
Episodes 1-4
So our story begins in Seirin Private High School where it’s club day and the all the students are eager to join a club (probably the only day in Japan where your senpai will notice you. That, or beg you to join their club so they don’t lose their funds). We focus on the basketball club looking for members when one student a first year named Taiga voiced by Yūki Ono a tall motherfucker who played basketball in America (he started off at The Cage and finished at Rucker Park) signs up to join the club saying he has no particular reason for doing it (other than to dominate the court with his size) and another first year named Kuroko voiced by Kenshō Ono (and no, Yuki and Kensho are not related to each other. They’re not siblings or cousins, they just have the same family name which I’ve heard is a common occurrence in Japan) who is small and has no presence whatsoever signs up as well. The captain and coach of the team take an immediate interest in him because he went to Teiko Middle School which was responsible for creating the Generation of Miracles. Basically, they were 5 prodigy players who were said to be the best of the best and once middle school was over they went to separate high schools (and the fact that one of their players is joining your team means you struck gold). We cut to the tryouts where the team’s coach Riko voiced by Chiwa Saitō (Aoi from Danganronpa) tells the boys to take their shirts off (Pervert! (Isis): I like the way this girl thinks). The reason for this is because she comes from a family of sports trainers and ever since she was young she’s had the ability to scan and evaluate the physical capabilities of a player at first glance (so she’s a fighter from DBZ? Cool). At first the new players don’t believe her but when she starts evaluating it’s clear that she’s the real deal as the stuff she says is accurate. Once she reaches Taiga (like what you see?) her mind is blown away at how high his stats are (https://youtu.be/SiMHTK15Pik?t=10s, I couldn’t resist. Scene here: https://youtu.be/_w521ZLxIx0, he’s like a ghost. In fact, I think he’s just a figment of their imagination). She then evaluates Kuroko where she’s shocked to see that his numbers are low and wonders if this guy was really a regular at Teiko (like my grandpa always said, a ferrous beast will hide its aura before attacking. Why scare the prey away?). After the tryouts we see Taiga practicing on a public court when Kuroko shows up wanting to see Taiga’s skills so the two have a scrimmage where Taiga destroys Kuroko and isn’t the least bit impressed with Kuroko’s skills as they seem to be below average. He tells Kuroko to quit because he’s weak and basketball is all about raw talent (halfway true) but he refuses saying he loves basketball and his philosophy vastly differs from his. The next day the first years play against their senpais in a game of basketball. The first years start off strong with Taiga taking control and dunking on people (feed the machine more) but the second years start to get serious and shut Taiga down (the machine has been put on standby). With Taiga shut down the second years take the lead and Kuroko decides to start showing off his specialty, passing. While Kuroko is weak he has amazing passing skills and because his presence is like that of a ghost nobody pays any attention to him and loses track of the ball allowing him to make opportunities for his teammates to score with his misdirection passing (a common move perform by a lot of guards in the NBA. The one person who excelled at this the most was Manu Ginobli. Watch some of his highlights and you’ll see how amazing his passes were). With Kuroko’s passing the first years make a comeback (don’t call it a comeback, they’ve been doing this years) and are down by one point with only a few seconds left to go. Kuroko makes a steal and goes to the other end where he misses the shot (clean up in the paint) but Taiga is there to finish it (scene here: https://youtu.be/jWVe02jgGLM). After the game Taiga goes to eat where he’s joined by Kuroko (or rather he joins Kuroko) and they talk about the Generation of Miracles and how great they were. Taiga decides that he’s going to beat them and become the best player in Japan (okay but just because you beat them in an actual game doesn’t mean you can beat them one on one. Just saying). Kuroko says that alone he’ll fail so he decides to become Taiga’s shadow and help him take down the Generation of Miracles (guys, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship).
In episode 2 Taiga and Kuroko want to become official members of the basketball club asap but Riko says they have one more trial to undergo before joining the club (you must act out one of your doujins). They must go on the school roof during morning assembly and shout their commitment to win the national championship. All the first years do this except for Kuroko because the teacher came in to stop them (yeah I was wondering what the teachers thought of this) so he instead writes his commitment in the school yard using chalk for everyone to see. Later on, Taiga asks Kuroko why he didn’t choose to go to a bigger school like his other teammates to which he replied he didn’t agree with the team’s model and mindset. You see on the surface the Generation of Miracles was a solid team but behind the scenes their model was winning is everything (laughing is winning and winning is being right) and they never really played like a team. Kuroko didn’t like nor agree with this style of basketball so he vowed that he would beat them his own way (he’ll haunt them in their sleep. He totally has the power to do this). At practice Riko announces that they’ll have a practice game against Kaijou a school with a very strong basketball club and one of the members was a member of the Generation of Miracles. As everyone talks about this the member of the Generation of Miracles shows up (woah, he’s some kind of ninja). His name is Kise and he works part-time as a model. He’s voiced by Ryōhei Kimura. He considers himself to be Kuroko’s friend and the weakest of the Miracles (quite the reserved fellow). Taiga challenges him in a one on one match where Kise manages to beat him using Taiga’s own move against him. It’s here that Kise reveals his special skill, copying the moves of others and making them his own (you are a ninja. Scene here: https://youtu.be/HF3YmxPFwkA). After besting Taiga he wants Kuroko to come join his school saying that Seirin is no good for him but Kuroko says no saying he’s going to beat him and Taiga says the same thing.
In episode 3 we get the big game between Seirin and Kaijou (and I have to say this is where the anime outshines the manga. While it’s cool reading and seeing the games in the manga they’re just images. To actually see them and feel the emotion and energy in the animation, that’s where the anime outshines the manga). Upon arrival, we see the coach of Kaijou (who is a fat pig) not take Seirin seriously as instead of playing full court they instead play half court and he has Kise sit out (well if that’s not a slap in the face than I don’t know what is). As soon as they begin Taiga and Kuroko send a message to the opposing team via breaking the rim (scene here: https://youtu.be/JHPk4yP5BCI, now that, is how you respond to a slap in the face). So this forces the game to be played on the full court and Kise joins the game where it is some of the best basketball I’ve ever seen animated. The game is so fast-paced and exciting to watch as each team is doing their best to guard the opposing team but offense for each team is just so good that the defense just can’t stop them (it’s like using a shield to defend yourself from a sword. The shield is strong but the sword is made of a stronger metal so it’s gonna beat the shield). The game is pretty close with Seirin down by one point after a time out but Kuroko is reaching his limits and Kise knows this. Kise explains to his team that Kuroko’s lack of presence isn’t magic (or that of the supernatural) he’s just directing their attention elsewhere and using his observational skills to do this on a continuous basis creating the illusion that he disappeared thus giving him the ability to create effective passing (again, a very common skill among guards particularly point guards but I doubt any of them can get it up to the level of Kuroko). The main drawback with this skill however is that the more Kuroko uses it the more everyone gets used to it and the more his presence starts to become recognizable (and that is when you bust that ghost). After the time out the game resumes where Seirin switches to a zone defense (the lazy man’s defense as I like to call it. Effective and good for slowing down the game but still lazy) but that doesn’t faze Kaijou as they go on a short run and increase the gap. Kise tells Taiga to give up saying that he’ll never catch up to him or the other members from the Generation of Miracles but Taiga just laughs saying he’s heard it all before and says Kuroko is Kise’s weakness because no matter how hard he tries he’ll never be able to erase his presence like Kuroko.
The game continues in episode 4 with the first quarter coming to an end and the score 27-35 Kaijou (we can come back. I’ve seen worse. Also, first quarter!? Jesus, that was some intense playing and we got 3 more quarters to go! Man, this is gonna be an awesome game). In order to close the gap and stop the bleeding, Taiga and Kuroko start doing coordinating passes and defense where they get steals and start scoring (scene here: https://youtu.be/JHPk4yP5BCI, that’s some good coordination and teamwork right there). Everything seems to be going well until Kise accidently hits Kuroko and opens him up (never underestimate the power of the pimp slap). Because of this Kuroko has to sit out and Seirin switches up their gameplay by having Taiga focus on defense and try to stop Kise while the second years focus on offense and yes they do deliver on the offense (glad to see the author didn’t forget to establish the rest of the team). Around the 4th quarter Kuroko returns to the game and Seirin manages to tie it up. But Kise’s competitive nature (and upbringing) won’t allow him to lose so he steps up his game and becomes more intense but so too does Taiga and Kuroko. In the last seconds of the game it’s tied and Seirin knows that if they go into overtime they’ll lose (coaches teach their players to play 4 quarters, but they never teach them how to play 5). Taiga manages to get a block and Kuroko recovers the ball with Taiga right behind him and on defense is none other than Kise (2 on 1, they got this). With a quick alley-oop pass from Kuroko, Taiga slams the ball in (yesssssssssssssss~) and wins the game for Seirin.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 serves as the aftermath of the game. Kise gets approached by Midorima who was the Generation of Miracles’ number one shooter (the Steph Curry of the group) who is quite the superstitious fellow always reading horoscopes and carrying around his lucky item of the day. He’s also voiced by the VA heartthrob Daisuke Ono (Sinbad from Magi. Again, no relation to Yuki or Kensho). He mocks Kise for losing saying his attempt at revenge will be meaningless because he’s going to beat Seirin (looks like Seirin just put a target on their back and now everybody’s coming for them). While that’s going on Seirin goes out to celebrate their victory but they have no money until Riko sees a truck advertising free steak however they have to eat the thing in 30 minutes or pay 10,000 yen (scene here: https://youtu.be/sqSyPXIhV9I, he ate all their steaks? How are you still alive man?). After the food, Kuroko gets approached by Kise where they go off to talk alone and the team searches for him because he left without a word (or was he even there to begin with?). Once there alone Kise asks Kuroko why he quit basketball after the championship game to which he replies he hated basketball (given the environment you were in that’s understandable). However, Taiga revived his love for basketball but Kise says in time Taiga will unlock his hidden abilities and separate from the team leaving everyone behind including Kuroko. Before Kuroko can retort this Taiga shows up and they see some bullies causing trouble in a street game so they join in to teach them a lesson (scene here: https://youtu.be/IRlv_uoLnFI). After the game Kise takes his leave and Taiga tells Kuroko he’ll need him to achieve his goal (I’m starting to see why people make doujins of these two). Riko shows up and locks Kuroko in the Boston Crab for worrying everyone (scene here: https://youtu.be/zbK2PTmX6nA, good Boston Crab).
In the first half of episode 6 the first years are given a test to get the second years this rare bread on sale. They go to the bread stand but the place is packed with students and there’s no way pass them. They try everything; rushing the mob, pushing through the mob, and even crowd surfing but come up short each time (guys, I think you’re missing the obvious solution to this problem). Kuroko comes through for them however and gets the bread because of his ghost-like presence (that man could be naked in the street and nobody would notice him). In the second half of the episode the group gets the brackets for the inter high tournament where they see that if they make it all the way to the finals they’ll face Shutoku that has Midorima on their team but first they have get pass Shinkyo Academy who have a foreign player named Papa Mbaye Siki who is 2 meters tall (he’s like a mixture between Yao Ming and Shaq). In order to prepare for the game Taiga gets trained how to defend big men and make them miss without blocking them (bringing them out of their comfort zone. I used to drive everyone crazy with this tactic. One guy actually took a swing at me in a game because of it) and Kuroko goes through endurance training so he won’t lose effect in the game. The day of the game rolls around where Papa (seriously, who names their kid that?) seriously underestimates Seirin and calls Kuroko a child (oh no he didn’t). The game begins where at first Papa dominates because of his size (I just hope he doesn’t fall and lands on someone) but Taiga begins to bring him out of his comfort zone and he starts missing his shots allowing Seirin to stay in the game and we end the episode with Taiga vowing to block Papa before the game is over.
The match between Seirin and Shinkyo continues in episode 7 where at the end of the first quarter it’s 23-8 Seirin (damn, that’s a whoopin’. Good start). Kuroko comes out to preserve his energy and from there the highlight of the game comes from Taiga taking on Papa (he loves it when you call him big papa) where Taiga is gradually jumping higher than Papa to the point that Papa has no choice but to pass it back out in order to avoid getting blocked (and to preserve what little pride he has left). It’s clear that Shinkyo relies too heavily on Papa in their offense which is bad because Taiga has pretty much shut him down and now that he’s down the offense is down as well. I’ve often been asked as a coach that if I had a choice of a team would I want a team of all average players or a team with one star player and below average players. My answer, give me the team with all average players any day of the week. Nobody stands out thus on any given night one if not two (possibly three of them) can go off and deliver. You have to focus on all the players because either one of them can do something great that night. Meanwhile, on the team with the star player all I have to do is take him out of the game and the rest of the team will fall with him as you’re seeing now. While it’s true Seirin has Taiga and Kuroko who are stand out players and obviously have star player potential the rest of the team is no slouch as we saw in the last game, the second years have good skills as well they just don’t stand out as much as Taiga and Kuroko. Anyway, we fast forward to the final quarter with Seirin still in the lead. Kuroko comes back in to put the final nail in the coffin and Taiga manages to block Papa. Seirin wins 79-67. After this Seirin goes on to dominate in the next few games and their confidence is building however the second years tell the first years not to get too overconfident because there’s a good chance they’ll be playing against the three king schools who are all very good. To stretch this fact, they watch the Shutoku game which is the team Midorima plays for and they’re good (I mean really good even for a high school team). They have excellent fundamental skills, a strong big man who can score easily, and with Midorima they have an outside game that can’t be beaten (great outside shooter, strong big man, know and can apply the fundamentals in a game, it’s every coach’s wet dream). Speaking of Midorima I’ve got to talk about his shot. The arc on his shot is unbelievable that if done in real life a person would more than likely miss (it’s like a rainbow except instead of finding a pot of gold at the end you find the net and nothing else). Not only that but it’s daunting. The arc is so high that it almost feels like you’re watching the shot in slow motion when it comes down and that plays with the mind of the players (scene here: https://youtu.be/OQA_JVUHiMg). In the end Shutoku wins 153-21 and Midorima didn’t miss a single shot (I don’t know how many shots but knowing him I’m sure it was a lot). After the game Seirin finds out that the fourth and fifth game will be played on the same day meaning they’ll be facing two of the three king schools on the same day with Seiho in the semis and if they manage to beat them they’ll most likely face Shutoku in the finals (two tough opponents back to back. It’s enough to get anybody excited).
Episodes 8-13
In episode 8 Seirin faces off against Seiho who really aren’t a threat offense wise but they destroy their opponents on defense. Kuroko and Taiga are determined to win this game for their seniors because last year Seiho beat these guys so bad that they almost quit basketball all together (good defense will do that to a man). In the game Taiga is going up against Tsugawa a first year like him who Kuroko said shut down Kise back in middle school (and he is a straight up sadist). Taiga quickly gets frustrated and picks up 2 fouls right away and Seirin fall behind big time in the first quarter. After the first quarter Riko figures out that Seiho is employing old martial art movements into to their defense which not only makes them move more effectively but also causes less strain on their body when they guard and play. After hearing this Taiga says the key to beating their defense is to be faster than them and at the start of the second quarter Taiga manages to get pass Tsugawa to put Seirin on the board.
In episode 9 and the first half of episode 10 the game with Seiho continues where Taiga picks up his fourth foul in the second quarter (man it’s only the second quarter. The way these games are played it feels like a whole game went by when really it’s only just the first quarter) and he has to sit. They also take Kuroko out in an effort to conserve these two for the game to come. So the second years take to the court and they came to play. In the second quarter, it’s pretty even but in the second half things start going Seirin’s way. The second years have been studying video after video of these guys playing and have become familiar with their habits that they’re able to predict what Seiho will do next. Thanks to this the gap closes quickly and after one of Seirin’s gets knocked out saving a loose ball Kuroko rejoins and avenges Taiga. With Kuroko on the court Seirin manages to take the lead by one point and only a few seconds left in the game and Taiga is amazed by Kuroko as this is the first time he’s seen him play and he’s stun by it (now you know how we feel). Seiho’s big man manages to get the ball and just drives it in for the dunk (where is the defense!? I don’t care how strong he is, spear that fucker if you must, foul him) giving Seiho the lead and they go full court man to man where Kuroko gets the ball and is about to make a pass but Tsugawa calculates where he’s about to pass and manages to get there in time for the steal but Kuroko redirects his pass to another player, he shoots a 3 and it goes in (ohhhhhhhhhhhhh~! Scene here: https://youtu.be/OJrtRoyTILU, I love this game). With this shot Seirin wins with Tsugawa throwing a small temper tantrum after the game but his senpai tells him to get over it and he vows revenge against Kuroko. Shutoku also won their game (obviously) so the final match will be Seirin vs Shutoku and Taiga and Kuroko vs Midorima. After a short intermission (and power nap) the game between Seirin and Shutoku begins where it’s a fight to see who will get the first basket (who will control the flow of this game? In games like these with two strong teams, the team that scores the first basket usually controls the flow of the game). After about 2 minutes of nobody scoring Midorima manages to score a 3-pointer for Shutoku (they drew blood first) but Kuroko and Taiga retaliate immediately with a dunk (scene here: https://youtu.be/h_QrBUDGex0, this is gonna be a long game).
Episodes 11-13 is Seirin vs Shutoku and it is epic. After that retaliation Midorima gets shut down for the time being because the arc on his shot works against him. While Midorima is confident that all his shots will go in some of the players have to stay behind and get the rebound in case he misses and just like Midorima can get back and defend thanks to the hang time, so to can a Seirin player get back and score thanks to Kuroko’s fast pass which Midorima can’t stop (not unless he wants to lose a hand and that’s his bread and butter). But despite Midorima being shut down the flow of the game remains in Shutoku’s favor and they even manage to do something no other team has ever done, shut down Kuroko. Shutoku puts a player on him named Takao another first-year student who has eagle eyes. Nothing escapes his vision, he notices Kuroko always, and can read his passes. Kuroko’s passing gets shut down and with him out of the picture the offense of Seirin has come to a complete halt. Things get worse in the second quarter when Midorima takes every shot and makes them including a full court shot and he actually shoots 3 of them (scene here: https://youtu.be/fbtV6HgDBwE, that is bull! Now making a full court shot in games is possible it’s been done a number of times in games but to make 3 shots and do it like it’s normal, that’s just bullshit. Even Steph Curry would be calling BS on that). At the end of the second quarter it’s 27-45 Shutoku (and there’s no doubt in my mind 39 points came from Midorima) and at the start of the third quarter Kuroko sits out. Despite the point deficient Seirin still refuses to give up (endure, continue to play. Where there’s will there’s a way. And there is a way to win this game) and as the game goes on Taiga unlocks his hidden ability which is continuously jumping higher than anyone else (I’ll accept it. Hey, we gotta guy who can make full court shots in his sleep. If we can accept that we can accept this). It takes him a few tries but Taiga manages to block one of Midorima’s shots and Seirin breaks the deficient down to single digits with Taiga leading the charge however he stops playing like a team player and becomes self-centered (not to mention his body is giving out on him because of the overexertion). At the end of the third quarter Kuroko punches Taiga (welcome to the gun show Taiga) and brings him back to his senses (scene here: https://youtu.be/di1i_FOoKwQ). With Taiga back to his senses they get back to the problem at hand, finding a way to win and Kuroko thinks he has a way to win, take it up a level with his passing. At the start of the fourth quarter Riko tells Taiga he only has 2 more jumps left and tells him to use them to stop Midorima’s first shot and use the second one to make a big play. Taiga manages to stop Midorima’s first shot and the deficient is down to single digits once again. Kuroko manages to get pass Takao drawing his attention thus limiting his vision of the court and then refocusing his sight and slip away (I’m a little confused too but it works). Once Takao loses sight of him, Kuroko uses his new pass which is basically him punching the ball and making it go faster (technically it’s a palm strike but I guess you could call that a punch) and it works with Taiga being the only one strong enough to catch the pass and uses his last jump to dunk over Midorima (scene here: https://youtu.be/2FeY2P4PqsY). As clutch time approaches Seirin has managed to close the gap where they’re down by one basket and they managed to get a steal and score a 3-pointer giving them the lead but Midorima answers with another 3 giving them the lead and Hyuga (the team captain who’s slightly crazy) answers back with a long range 3 (all the way in Steph Curry land) giving Seirin the lead with only a few seconds left. Midorima gets the ball and prepares to shoot with Taiga guarding him where Taiga pushes past his limits and jumps which Midorima predicted and he fakes the shot but Kuroko comes from behind to swat the ball away giving Seirin the win with the final score being 82-81 (scene here: https://youtu.be/IDPUzqC9Rv8). As Seirin celebrates their victory, Midorima receives a call from Aomine another player from the Generation of Miracles where Midorima warns him to be careful in the championship game (because Seiren is coming for you).
(Reaper): My, my. Such intensity. I need to stop and catch my breath. Alright, I’m gonna call a full time out here but due be sure to come back next Wednesday as we continue this series. Please don’t tell my master.
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