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