Ever been told you’re not tall or strong enough for something, or looked upon as a useless player on a team? Most people will say yes, except those with too much pride to accept it. Basketball is one of those sports where people need to be tall, and strong to play. If you’re 5’ 6”, then chances are, you won’t make it into the team before someone over 6’ tall. However, there are sometimes exceptions. Such as if the team does not have enough players to participate, or if that person has formal basketball training and has more experience than some people on the team. This is the case for the Seirin high school basketball team. With recruiting at the start of the year, a mysterious student, who claims to have been part of the Generation of Miracles: a middle school basketball team made up of five members, and a sixth phantom member who are all basketball prodigies gone on to separate high schools. However there is also a talented and tall student who had played basketball in America, and was on the lookout for games to get his blood boiling again.
Kuroko no Basuke is a basketball sports drama revolving around the Seirin basketball team, based on the manga of the same name. The story revolves around the talented basketball duo of Kagami and Kuroko, and starts at the start of their high school careers when they both join the basketball team. The manager of the team, Riko, starts the team off by making them state their goal, name, and class during the morning assembly to let them on the team. Of course, teamwork is a large part of any sport, but in this story, teamwork is much more about just winning. Teamwork is an essential part to move forward in the player’s lives, and to help one another succeed in their own way. The Seirin team is then confronted with stronger and stronger teams, each adding onto Kagami and Kuroko’s goal of defeating the Generation of Miracles. As teams start getting stronger and stronger, the determination and goals of the characters start to take form, making the story more and more interesting every game. Some people may argue that games are sometimes drawn out too long, (often to 4 episodes), however much of the action is slowed down to fit in the player’s inner monologues and feelings. As interesting as these bits may be, it plays with the pacing of the game, and sometimes makes scenes slightly formulaic, except for the odd plot twist. As much as the series is expected to follow its predecessor, Slam Dunk, which is much more serious, and focused on the sport, Kuroko no Basuke is lighthearted, and is intended for a much wider audience. There is the odd filler in the series, but even the filler relates to the series well, be it an athlete’s lifestyle, or a problematic lunch rush challenge by the manager.
One of our main characters, Kuroko Tetsuya, is the sixth phantom member of the Generation of Miracles, is a master of the pass, and art of misdirection. He is hardworking, and nonathletic compared to the other members of the team, and appears almost invisible to everyone around him due to his lack of presence, yet tries to help the team in any way possible nonetheless. At first glance, he looks unpromising as a basketball team member, but his true talent lies in his misdirection and lack of presence. Kuroko uses these features to make him virtually invisible to other players, thus helping his teammates without the other team noticing. Kuroko’s rivals include his former teammates, as well as Kagami Taiga, his in-team rival/partner. Kagami has a very stubborn and determined character, (towards basketball and food at least). He can have a very short temper, but is pleasant and part of the team when he needs to be. Kagami starts off disliking Kuroko for his lack of presence, and can be self-centred when it comes down to basketball skill. Despite Kagami being selfish, he accepts Kuroko as being his partner, and works well with him, as the light to Kuroko’s shadow. As far as side characters go, there’s the team, their manager, Kuroko’s and Kagami’s rivals, as well as teams they play along the way, and most are well-developed and get sufficient screen time. Although some characters had back stories not explained enough, with some plot holes through the end of both seasons, characters were interesting and had enough characterisation to give them a good personality and motive.
The soundtrack for Kuroko no Basuke was done by Ryosuke Nakanishi and Yoshiro Ike, who have done soundtracks for Blood: The Last Vampire, and Love Stage. The tracks on the soundtrack complement the games well, being mainly upbeat electronic tracks, with vocals done by Japanese Rock bands. The OST is good to listen to as background music while exercising, or doing something where you need a beat to work, but some of the tracks are slightly slower, or don’t have a very noticeable beat, so be sure to set your playlist up beforehand. As for the openings and endings, they fit well, and hyped you up for the show. The first opening, Can Do, by GRANRODEO, is a good way to kick off the series, and all the openings in the first two seasons are done by the same band, so it keeps the feeling in the openings consistent through the series. The dub is good, and suits the characters well, however some overlaps in voice actors from other series can throw you off at first.
The animation was done by Production I.G, and works well for the series. The game scenes were done well, and character designs look fairly realistic. Other than the odd brick wall of a student, most players look very athletic, allowing the plays to look reasonable for their appearances. The only problem with the animation with the series, would be a bit of the awkward neck crosshatching, which was slightly jarring in the first few episodes.
Overall, Kuroko no Basuke is a fun basketball sports drama, with well rounded characters, and well done animation. As with other shows, sports dramas aren’t for everyone, so don’t expect to be amazed by the first episode. So, considering the categories of sound, animation, story, characters, and my own enjoyment, Kuroko no Basuke, or Kuroko’s Basketball, receives an overall score of 8.1 out of 10, with a recommendation to stream rather than buy. The series is available to stream on Crunchyroll, and has a DVD release from Aniplex.
And that’s a wrap up, thank you for reading. Reviews will be posted daily through the month of November, so stay tuned!
-Takami
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