Fansub TV Forums -> Everyday Life -> Animes

Title: Kuroko no Basket; Kuroko no Basuke; Kuroko's Basketball (English)
Date Aired: Apr 8, 2012
Producers: Production I.G, Bandai Visual, Lantis, NAS
Director: Shunsuke Tada
Genres: Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports
Episodes: Unknown but at least 13 confirmed

Synopsis: Kuroko is a member from the legendary middle school basketball team known as "The Generation of Miracles", and while nobody seems to know about him, the main 5 players of the team all admit that he is a better player. When he joins the high school basketball team, everyone is surprised to find out that he is small, weak, and easy to miss. What is the secret that makes him so strong, and how will he help his high school team?

(Source: MAL, ANN, Mangafox)

My Thoughts: There's only been a few basketball themed anime that I can remember off the top of my head. So being somebody who consumes sports like daily supplements I'm extra interested in this anime. It's good to see basketball getting a shot at some air time by the networks; usually it's mainly soccer and baseball getting the occasional sports anime shows.

This post has been edited by senpai-kun on Apr 07 2012, 06:06 PM

Okay so there wasn't any completely over the top silliness like you would get from a new prince of tennis where they're giving lame names to their shots. I'm hoping they can manage to keep the basketball play somewhat serious and steer clear of tricked up shots or dunks every time down the court. But so far I like how the two main characters style of play compliment each other. Where Kuroko is the point guard who specializes in setting up his teammates with his passing skills. Then you have Kagami who's main strength is to dominate by scoring the basketball and wants to become the best high school player in Japan.

Sure there was some of your typical shounen sports odd moments when you have Aida a female high school student being the head coach of the team. Plus the scene where she decides she will be able to analyze their abilities by having them take their shirts off But coming into this I was prepared for a few head scratching scenes like that. Overall I can see the potential at least for those who're interested in watching a basketball anime.

At first I thought it might an anime about "fried chicken in a basket" but after taking a looksee at your commentary, I realized....a sports themed anime related to basketball.
Were I into such, I would so be watching but because I am silly and like to have a little poke here and there...hope you don't mind my crashing in and taking a few liberties? Have fun watching, Ossan! A female coach who studies washboard abs to determine their moves? Sounds a tad risque if you ask me...

Well yeah if they changed the Kuroko part of the title to Kentucky (no Basket) then we would probably have our very first ever fried chicken themed anime I bet many carefully placed ads and product placement spots during the show would have people suddenly feeling hungry and running to their local KFC to feed the need Feel free to crash at your leisure you won't get any complaints from me. To be honest who knows if anybody but me will be watching this one. Sports anime don't seem to be that popular here on FTV.

But now that you mention it the female coach kinda reminded me of you. The way she examined those guy's chests and abs combo with her *wink wink* analytical eye I couldn't help but think that there might have been a little more than meets the eye if you catch my drift. Although somewhere along the way in that previous sentence I'm not 100% sure where I was going with that.

This post has been edited by senpai-kun on Apr 07 2012, 10:05 PM

It is funny but now that I think about it I have really missed a sport anime to follow. I really miss shows like Hajime no Ippo, Overdrive and even Giant Killing.

Ofcourse, Basquash had the potential to be bigger and badder then them all and failed rather spectacularly mainly because it was not really about basketball.

This show has to add something more than the ironic unlikely guy wins. That old trope has already been put to good use. Will give a looksy when I find time though.

Well, I'll be watching this, since I for a while have also been longing for a sports anime to watch. And I didn't want to go with s2 of Prince. So, I'll e hanging around this thread for a while at least

Finally a basket theme anime since Dear Boys and I'll Crazy Kouzu B/C ! It's a good anime to watch when you want to relax and not being stressed/nervous. I'm kinda surprised to see the secret talent of Kuroko. I mean, being able to suppress his presence to do some awesomely phantom pass is just crazy !! I thought he would have some special shots or a good speed but no...he his just a wimp but he can do some crazy pass xD

I will watch this as it is kinda rare to have a sport anime and mostly, an anime about basket !

I don't know how I made it through six episodes but after that point I just couldn't take anymore. Too many bishounens running around yelling out ridiculous shot names for my tastes. It's a shame because I made it through the whole prince of tennis series and ova's but sometimes you just gotta let it go.

Well anyways I'm glad that Kuroko no Basket has hit the scene. Because after this second episode I really feel like this is going to be a keeper. I especially liked the scene where high school female coach Riko haha made the first years go up to the roof and announce to the whole school there reasons for playing basketball. I'll have to admit I thought Kagami was pretty cool when he claimed the top player in Japan title as his goal without hesitation. Although I couldn't help but notice that with one misstep on the railing he leaped onto and well that grandiose proclamation would have been a moot point. I was initially disappointed when Kuroko broke out that megaphone but was interrupted before he could announce his goals to the school. But it was a nice set-up for Kuroko's best team in Japan written out in huge letters on the schoolyard grounds -- as you can see the chalk evidence on his sleeve.

So it'll be interesting to see those two and the team begin to take on the Generation of Miracle members and their respective squads. I wonder if they will manage to notch that first victory under their belts or will they taste that bitter pill of defeat. Kagami's over cockiness could cause some problems early on trying to prove he's on the same level or better than the blond hair guy but we shall see.

Just watched the first ep and damn it was great. The two maincharacters a great combo and I really like that Kurokos not the unconfident whimp he made you think he is. He has a unique ability and mastered it to be a great machtmaker. Together with a finisher like Taigi I can see them going far. I there werent the ofther 5 Miracles who will stand in their way.

I hope they dont overuse the "Was he always here?"-joke about Kuroko since that will become lame pretty fast.

So nice to have them get the ball into the basket without hearing anyone mentioning "Reverse-Sakura*" dunks.
*Made up while typing.

Episode two continued as good as the first episode, but a bit sad that they didn't include even the start of the practice match. Can't wait for episode 3

To those who worry about Kuroko's being invisible getting lame and unoriginal pretty fast - at least his game-play part will be getting countered pretty soon, in the practice match between the two teams. This is due to what has already been mentioned but not said straight out yet. Kuroko isn't a ninja or anything, his technique is mostly based on turning the opponents attention elsewhere, amplifying his naturally weak presence, but when he plays too long , people get used to his tricks subconsciously and hence he isn't as "invisble" anymore.

This post has been edited by Nioki on Apr 17 2012, 01:51 AM

The second episode is as good as the first episode maybe even better ! The duo Kuroko-Kagami is really interesting =) I like watching them arguing and Kuroko trying to cheer up Kagami with what he wrote on the school ground. That kind of "friendship" is pleasant to watch.

But the anime reached its climax when one of the Generation of Miracles appeared out of nowhere and was challenged by Kagami. I don't know but at that moment I was like "I hope this anime will last for a long time !" even if usually I don't like anime more then 26 episodes but Kuroko no Basket has, imo, the potential to last more than 50 episodes easily and why not 100 !

So the first one of the Miracles appeared. They did a good job in showing that they are indeed strong with him beating Kagami in strength. But the best thing about that was that Kagami got more fired up. A lot of overconfident characters like him would be totally agravated and whiny after this.

Aidas idea with screaming you dreams was really great to watch. Its really a good way to see who has the guts and who doesnt since especially in Japan something like this isnt a easy thing to do.

The bad thing about Kurokos ability is that the Miracles already know it and so their teams should it too. But maybe he has something else up his sleeve. After all they became stronger so why shouldnt he too.

Kuroko no Basuke is a basketball anime that premiered in Spring 2012 and ran for 25 episodes. It is based on an ongoing manga that features Tetsuya Kuroko, the sixth mysterious and unknown member of the Generation of Miracles basketball team. In high school, Kuroko vows to prove his former teammates wrong that "teamwork" will always prevail over going solo. He meets Taiga Kagami and both decide to partner and take aim at the inter-high school championship where along the way they will contest against Kuroko's former teammates. Kuroko no Basuke was simulcasted on CrunchyRoll.

To start off, my initial impressions of this show was that it tried too hard to be like Slam Dunk from 1993-1996 or even Dear Boys from 2003. Turns out I was half right. This show is definitely better than Dear Boys with its "level of suspense" but nowhere near the epic presentation that Slam Dunk had. Granted that Slam Dunk had 101 episodes while Kuroko no Basuke only had 25 episodes, I felt there was a lot more wasted space in the latter title. Character wise, Kagami and Kuroko were nowhere near interesting characters as the other members of the Generation Miracles, two of which were not actually introduced in the show despite numerous appearances in the OP/ED videos as well as the opening narration in the earlier episodes. While the Generation of Miracles's "skills" are certainly through the roof and too some extent outright impossible, it made the show much more enjoyable than say Kagami's or Kuroko's character. Heck, even their teammates were generally bland and dull. Pacing wise, the show definitely had most of it down until the final few episodes where it decides to end on a very odd yet interesting spot in the story. The show definitely leaves room for a potential sequel and if anything it would be more than welcomed for this show. The weakest aspect of the "story" though is its lack of proper character development and growth. The show goes on a lot about "training" and trying to be better than the Generation of Miracles but we don't really see much aside from Kagami "jumping" higher and higher each time. The rest of the team pretty much gets shafted and the audience is left to wonder what exactly grew in the other team members, including Kuroko. It leaves a lot to be desired yet overlooked because many people like get caught up in the "suspense" of the games.

Art wise is very basic and generic. Characters are not exactly smooth despite being drawn in a bishounen like style . Furthermore, the designs are entirely basic outside the Generation of Miracles and the two leads. Just because they have "special skills" doesn't really mean that one should just make all other characters irrelevant, especially if the story is trying to emphasize Kuroko's teamwork strategy. Last I checked official basketball is played with at least 5 members on each team. Animation is by I.G. Production. Given I.G.'s recent track record, including Guilty Crown, The New Prince of Tennis, Moshidora, Blood-C, and Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san, my standards have been pretty low for them. They seem to be doing more sports titles lately so if we compare say The New Prince of Tennis or Moshidora to this, The New Prince of Tennis is levels beyond this show and Moshidora's quality is comparable to this. That said, I.G. Production really has a lot of room for improvement. They are far from the days of Ghost in the Shell or xxxHolic and are gradually falling to the low levels that J.C. Staff has fallen over time. Visuals wise, it's overly and unnecessarily colorful with the different hair colors of the Generation of Miracles while everyone else's hair are effectively the same color. They don't really need to stand out more than they already do.

OPs are both by Granrodeo. Granrodeo is generally an okay band and their music for this show continues to do just that. The first ED theme is by the "epic" Hyadain who always has the most ridiculous voice and songs. Again, no exception. OLDCODEX does the second ED theme. I've never heard of theme and I'm not really a big fan of the song. Background music is above average with a few memorable tracks, particularly the piano themes. Sound effects are pretty accurate with typical basketball effects. Nothing noteworthy though. Seiyuu wise, the cast is very appropriate. The show casts more experienced seiyuus to take on the role of the Generation of Miracles less Kuroko while casting less experienced seiyuus as the two leads. This helps the show by making the whole experienced vs. non-experienced argument between both actual seiyuus as well as the basketball players/teams in the show. Could use a bit better acting overall though.

Enjoyment? Kuroko no Basuke has been a wild ride to say the least. At points I was definitely feeling Cross Game level suspense and at times I was feeling this series was completely dead in the water with little value. That said, it has certainly done better than a counterpart sports anime known as Area no Kishi, which also tries the "serious" sport with comedy act. Kuroko no Basuke is definitely an interesting watch if you could get into the idea of watching a sports anime by itself. Though, Slam Dunk does this better albeit much lengthier. Cross Game or any other Adaichi works also does it much better with a touch of other genres like romance thrown in. Giant Killing is another show that I would recommend, though this focuses more on soccer/football. Same concept in the end though.

Overall, Kuroko no Basuke is a fair watch and certainly better than a majority of the titles airing these past two seasons. It's a low budget show, however, and I wish they could have at least improved that aspect. Nevertheless, it's worth a try if you can't stomach watching 100+ episodes of Slam Dunk instead. Just don't hold your expectations as high.

Preliminary Score: 7/10
Final Score: 7/10

Sad to see this show ending because its one of my favorites in the last two seasons. Since its an adaption of an ongoing sports-manga I really thought this would be a longrunner, but hopefully we will get a second season where we see the other two Miracles and the new weapon Kuroko is trying to make.

Characterwise this show was an up and down, you had great characters like Yagami, Kuroko and Riko but annoying ones too like Midorima, Aomine and Momoi in her non-manager-personality. And sadly you didnt get to know anything about the other teammembers which is especially disappoint for Teppei because his entrance was making us expecting something big. And you didnt see any growth of them despite all that training.

The basketball itself was quite good, but I dont know if it was realistic. Especially the throws and tricks Aomine and Kise were doing are unrealistic for me, but I never really played basketball myself so I cant say for sure.

Overall a really enjoyable show which gets a 9/10 from me.

I watched all 25 episodes in one sitting, took me less than 12 hours, it was a decent series....not great though. I saw all the scores for it at MAL and I'm a little perplexed as to why it's rated so highly.....I guess its because of the fan-girls rating it highly for all the bishounen running around.

I find the coach kinda cute and there's the hawt chick, who's a pink-haired manager for another team, she sorta reminds of Air Gear's Simca.

I was really hyped up by all the scores, so I'm a little disappointed, the series pales in comparison to Chihayafuru as a sports anime.

The soundtrack for the series such as the "battle songs" were pretty good, might add them to my playlist.

It's a good series, that's enjoyable but I was a little disappointed because I was expecting it to be exceptional considering it's ranked #31 on the top TV series list, which makes no sense to me.

I'm rating this a series a solid 8/10, nothing more and nothing less.

This post has been edited by JCDRANZER on Dec 15 2012, 07:22 AM

2nd season of Kuroko no Basket has just been announced.

Source: http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=536918

This post has been edited by JCDRANZER on Dec 26 2012, 03:36 AM

Unsurprising news is unsurprising Given the way the first series ended, it was effectively a no brainer, especially all the recent "attention" it has been getting from those death threats.

I don't even know why the mangaka is getting the death threats in the first place.....why is he getting them, is there any logical reason or is the guy sending the death threats just mad? Of course he's mad, he's sending out death threats over a manga but is there any real reason of why he's so angry with the mangaka?

After finishing this series, I thought it was mediocre at best but the soundtrack of this series is just great that I'm actually looking forward to a 2nd season.

This post has been edited by JCDRANZER on Dec 26 2012, 04:22 AM

I don't think there is a known reason. There have been many speculations, including "mockery" of basketball, not enough shounen-ai, etc...