Kuroko no Basket gives me such a passion for basketball, that it almost makes me want to play the game IRL. I know that sounds crazy. An anime fan wanting to play basketball? However, all it takes to put down that dream and to shoot it back down into the depths of my teenage mind is to recall how hard I got destroyed in a 1v1 of basketball with my friend. I mean he just threw the ball between my legs and went behind me. It felt like a Generation of Miracles player wrecking an average player. My friend does not even play basketball sigh.
Anyway, Kuroko no Basket's story is pretty good. It seems what anime would produce out of a sports series. We have these chosen gods of basketball and yet there's this one underdog among them. He will be our protagonist. In season 1, a large portion of the story is this summer tournament. The team of Seirin featuring our protagonist, Kuroko, and a super tall red-haired center, Kagami, must attempt to surpass regionals and enter the Inter-High, where they will face teams all over Japan. This sounds like standard affair, yet, the storylines of the characters and their ambitions enrich the storyline.
The story itself is not the best, but the characters definitely push it up there.
The character cast is flourishing with a variety of bizarre characters. Kuroko is an interesting protagonist that is very likable and charismatic. His quiet tendencies and surprising shenanigans appearing out of nowhere never seem to get old. Kagami as another main character proves to be weaker than Kuroko. A problem with his character is that we never know his backstory or history. The viewer only knows that he played basketball in America. What else about him can make him a more compelling character?
The supporting cast is flourishing with likeable characters as well. The Generation of Miracles players are super badass and you want to see every single one of them completely destroy people. The team that the main characters are on has some nice personalities too. The captain is decent. Overall, solid characters that could use some backstory. I mean a supporting character (a Generation of Miracles member) has more description and childhood knowledge than our main characters! What's up with that?!
I'll put Art and Sound together because they are both around the same: very good. The art is generally solid. In and out of games characters look good, but not exceptional. I wouldn't say that they just "get the job done" with animation. It's definitely a level higher than that because they are no remarkable errors within it. There is never a moment of inconsistency. Sound is also great. Granrodeo makes some amazing OPs and the EDs are better than expected. The OPs help cement pure hype in the viewers with its electrifying guitar rifts and passionate vocals.
Enjoyment is where Kuroko no Basket shines. The heat of the games and the stakes of them increase tenfold every time. Each match becomes more exciting as both sides break out new aces and new tricks up their sleeves. The swift passes of Kuroko and the epic skills of Aomine (character later in the second half) make for some exhilarating moments. I mean if you really get into it, you might have some basketball tendencies. I joke with my friends when we throw an object and it lands unexpectedly in the right place. We then say "Anywhere in the court man!" a reference to Kuroko no Basket.
Problems I have with Kuroko no Basket are as follows:
-Weak first half, Kuroko no Basket takes a while to get going to its fullest potential. There is also not enough exposition for the training for their first tournament. Without all of the practice montages, the games at the beginning felt less impactful than they could have been. Once it gets going, the anime improves drastically, but I can't ignore that fault.
-Main characters needing more backstory, I'm really curious on how Kuroko enters the basketball scene or how Kagami is treated in America as a Japanese player. How did their experiences shape who they are? (lame ass high school topic right there)
-SOMETIMES too much talking in between hype moments, look. I'm watching anime and I can handle some surrealism. However, sometimes Kuroko no Basket takes it a bit too far. I kinda facepalm when a ten second conversation passes over one single jump battle. I mean just slam it or defend it already! I like knowing the thoughts of the characters in the heat of the moment, but it can drag on and on, detracting from the hype.
-Weak comedy first half, for some reason, the comedy was pretty mediocre at the beginning. As the characters grew on me and I knew about them a bit better, the comedy was a lot better and worked on me.
-Sometimes a bit predictable, don't want to spoil what happens, but how games turn out can grow stale and repetitive.
A nitpick that others have, that doesn't apply here:
It's too fake! The powers are too broken, BOOHOO! Anime can be a great place for imagination to go wild. It's great that the creators are letting their brains rack up these crazy ideas to entertain the viewer. Anime is where anything can be put to life. Unlike real life videos, they do not have the boundaries created by equipment, physics laws, etc. Let Kuroko no Basket blow you away. If you accept how crazy it can become, how overpowered some characters appear to be, how over the top, a high school basketball game can be, watch it! You will definitely be pumping your hands in the air at a three pointer or a crazy play!
