Kuroko no Basket 3rd Season

In this third installment of Kuroko no Basket, Seirin High is enjoying its win over Yousen High. They did an interview for Basketball Monthly and received well-deserved attention from basketball fans. But their journey is far from over. With a few teams left in the Winter Cup, the competition is getting tougher.

Kagami Taiga meets Haizaki Shougo of Fukuda Sougou Academy while on his way to visit his old friend Himuro Tatsuya. Haizaki was harassing Alex while Himuro tried to rescue her. During the confrontation, Kagami learns that Haizaki was once a starter at Teiko and played with the Generation of Miracles but was kicked out and then replaced by Kise Ryouta.

As it happens, Kise and Haizaki face off when Kaijou High meets Fukuda Sougou Academy in the second episode. Whoever wins the match will advance to the semi-finals. Despite Haizaki's violent nature however, he is not the biggest threat to Seirin. They have yet to face Rakuzan led by Akashi Seijuurou, the former captain of the Generation of Miracles.

Will Seirin's teamwork be enough to defeat individual genius from the remaining teams? And how good is Akashi to be called the captain of the Generation of Miracles?

Kise Ryouta (left) and Haizaki Shougo

Rakuzan High

Akashi Seijuurou and Midorima Shintarou face off sometime in the 3rd season

The second installment was pretty intense and action-packed and so I was expecting season 3 to be consistent or even better than the first two seasons. The pace is slower however, because there are fewer matches. But that allowed for more court side analyses and episodes featuring back stories of the Generation of Miracles.

However, the story seemed rushed to me because I already know what to expect in the matches. It seemed to have lost sight of the message it intended to show and Kuroko's importance diminished. The third season did try to be consistent with the theme of the series (individual talent vs. teamwork) but it still had that tendency to highlight the best players already featured in the previous seasons. I don't even remember most of the supporting cast from other teams. Perhaps I was wrong in thinking then that this was about Kuroko's search for a team that plays as a team. Instead, it might be Kuroko's search for a team that would prove that what the members of the Generation of Miracles thought about playing basketball was wrong. Kuroko wanted to show that a talented player that overshadows his teammates is not enough to win a championship, and that this message is specifically for the five members of the Generation of Miracles. That was made clear in the episodes where Akashi's attitude towards winning changed. Not only does Kuroko want to prove Akashi that he's wrong, but he also wants to change the opinions of Aomine, Murasakibara, Kise and Midorima.

Sure, the series had all the expected cliche that you'd expect in a sports anime. But what I found interesting are the distribution of abilities among the members of the Generation of Miracles. If you're a basketball fan like myself, I think you'd understand what I'm getting at. At a glance, most professional players that are dubbed the "best players" are guards. What's more, the so-called show-stoppers love the crossover. They gave those characteristics to Akashi and called him the best in the Generation of Miracles. If you're observant, you'd say that's consistent with how real-life pro basketball athletes are in the past few years. Now contrast that to the Seirin team which only has one talented but inconsistent guy (Kagami). Unlike their opponents, they don't have consistent scorers. That kinda reminds me of my favorite team in the NBA and that is why I like what the series is doing.

Still, I was expecting more and season three didn't deliver. The animation is great, the opening and ending themes are interesting like those in the first two seasons and I love the voice acting cast. Perhaps it just wasn't the kind of closing chapter that I expected from a promising sports anime.

Kuroko no Basket Season One

Kuroko no Basket Season Two

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Kuroko no Basuke Season 1

Seirin High's basketball team has had little success so far and as a new school year starts, the members saw an opportunity to recruit some of the freshmen and hopefully acquire some talented players. At the outset Kagami Taiga made a good impression with his physique and competitive nature when he handed in his application. The upperclassmen think they have a good find but the others seem average. Among these newbies is Kuroko Tetsuya. Dismissed as physically average by the team coach Aida Riko, Kuroko possesses an ability that's unheard of. Small, unnoticeable, and with almost no skill in basketball, everyone was surprised to learn that Kuroko was the sixth man of Teiko Middle School.

Seirin High's starting five. (from left) Kagami, Hyuga, Mitobe, Kuroko, and Izuki

Teiko Middle School's basketball team created a sensation when they destroyed most of their opponents during their stint. The starting five were such fierce competitors with no equal that they were dubbed the Generation of Miracles. Their success, Seirin later learned when they witnessed what Kuroko can do, was pieced together by Kuroko's talent and role as the Phantom Sixth Man. 

Kise (Facing Kuroko)

(Middle) Midorima

Kuroko uses his technique of misdirection to steal and create passes that cannot be anticipated by both teammates and opponents. He does this without being noticed by the other players while he moves around the court. This ability comes with a price however not only because the passes are unpredictable but Kuroko is prone to injury and fatigue as well. 

Overcoming these is what Kuroko has to do to contribute further to the team. Now that they have a prodigy of a player in Kagami, experienced upperclassmen and a good coach, Seirin looks poised to rise to the top in the inter-high school tournament. But will these be enough to beat the other schools that also have new players, some of which are from the Generation of Miracles?  Kise Ryouta, Midorima Shintarou, and Aomine Daiki have successfully raised their teams' competitive level and all of them are now rivals.

Aomine

Most sports anime usually have for a lead character either a prodigy or an average but promising athlete. Kuroko is a new specimen because he is a mediocre but overspecialized athlete with little promise of further improvement. Physically he isn't gifted and he doesn't even know how to shoot. In a physically demanding sports like basketball, a guy like this is unusual if not completely useless on court. Like most series of the genre, Kuroko no Basuke follows the story template of a rising team with new talent on its way to a national tournament. To get there Kuroko and the rest of Seirin have to face the former's talented ex-teammates.

Tetsuya #2

As for the other characters, Kuroko's teammates save Kagami are easy to forget because there is few or no character development at all. The known players from the Generation of Miracles however are easily distinguishable. In fact, there seems to be more focus on the stories and characters of Kagami, Kise, Midorima, and Aomine than on Kuroko. I guess that is consistent with his near-invisible ability.

The animation is beautifully done especially the matches. Even the opening and ending themes are action-packed. The pace is fast and the matches aren't always stretched in several episodes. There are few commentaries or analyses from bystanders on court during matches but the players themselves explain and show enough of the special moves that viewers can appreciate. Exaggeration of characters' on-court abilities of course is to be expected. Overall, the series has lived up to its hype.

Kagami and Kuroko

Rating: 9 out of 10