The Masterpiece That is Kuroko No Basuke

Kuroko No Basuke, or Kurokos Basketball, is a basketball anime that takes place in Japan. It quickly became one of my favorite shows, not only because it is about basketball (although that has a lot to do with it), but because of the characters, the intensity, the lighthearted scenes, and more. The characters will never fail to amaze you with their abilities and personalities, especially the Generation of Mirales.

My favorite character is Midorima. His shooting ability is incredible, and since I am a shooter myself, I love it. I mean he can literally shoot from full court and can only miss when he gets blocked. Although it takes time to get his shot off, when paired with a point guard who can make accurate passes, the shot where he catches and shoots in mid-air is deadly. I also love his demeaner. He has this cold "I don't care attitude" most of the time. It's great.

Other characters like Aomine and Kise are really fun to watch. They can make any shot possible and as a basketball player I can appreciate the difficulty of the shots that they make. Aomine is too good for his own good and has no motivation to play basketball because it became too easy for him. He does not practice. He just shows up and kills whoever is in front of him. Behind the back shots, extreme fadeaways, behind the backboard, you name it, he can make it. Kise can copy whatever someone can do, so Kise can make every shot and move Aomine, or anyone can for a certain amount of time.

Akashi is another one of my favorites for obvious reasons. Making someone fall in with your moves is difficult to do and is a major highlight. Akashi can do it at will. And he has this "I am king" demeanor to him that makes him really intimidating and cold.

I love the themes of Kuroko No Basuke. With the generation of miracles relying on just their skills alone, Kuroko pushes for a more team-oriented way of playing the game. He hates playing on a team that is more focused on individuals rather than the team. Playing together and making everyone feel involved is how real winning is done, even if they lose the game. It is very applicable to real life basketball teams. The most successful teams are the ones that know their roles and play together as a team. The ones who rely on selfish play or a star player do not make it far, like Aomines team. Aomine is the Ace among the group but lost early in the tournament because teamwork beats solo play.

I love the theme of Kuroko No Basuke. With the generation of miracles relying on just their skills alone, Kuroko pushes for a more team-oriented way of playing the game. He hates playing on a team that is more focused on individuals rather than the team. Playing together and making everyone feel involved is how real winning is done, even if they lose the game. It is very applicable to real life basketball teams. The most successful teams are the ones that know their roles and play together as a team. The ones who rely on selfish play or a star player do not make it far, like Aomines team. Aomine is the Ace among the group but lost early in the tournament because teamwork beats solo play.

The intensity of the games is engaging, with many close games. Some end game results are a little unrealistic, like scores of 120-30 for example, especially for high school basketball. However, the games are very entertaining to watch. The team dynamic of Seirin High is very comforting as well with the team bonding that they do. With mixes of comedic and happy scenes to balance with the intense games and training they do, you really get to form a connection with the team and characters and it makes you want to be apart of a team like that.