First Impressions / Kuroko no Basuke

「お前のバスケ」 (Omae no Basuke)
“Your Basketball”

Sometimes when it comes to sports shounen, weird is good.

While I’m still not 100% sold on the character side of Kuroko no Basuke yet, what’s becoming clearer as we progress is that this is a series with a decidedly weird sense of humor. In a genre where one of the biggest potential pitfalls in blandness, that’s a good thing – not enough to carry a series, maybe, but a good start at separating it from the pack a little. And of course, Kuroko is at the center of that weirdness. I haven’t decided yet if he works as a main character, but there’s no denying he’s an odd duck.

I’ve been trying to think what series KnB reminds me of, and it finally struck me this week – Over Drive. Mind you the MCs could hardly be more different, but there’s a certain shared fondness for unusual line delivery and odd, random sidebars that seem unrelated to anything that’s come before. Where Over Drive’s Mikoto was earnest and enthusiastic to the point of absurdity, it’s Kuroko’s intentionally bland façade that drives much of the absurdity here. I’ve yet to figure out just whether he’s trolling his teammates (and us) or not – take his “check out these guns” comment to Kise and Kagami as they scolded him for almost getting beaten up. Is that Kurko’s idea of deadpan humor – or is that just Kuroko being totally literal? I have no idea yet, which is sort of novel with a male lead after five episodes of a series.

In terms of on-court action, after official review Kagami’s alley-oop dunk beat the buzzer, and the Seirin win over Kaijo stands (unrealistic though it may be). I found myself wondering if Kise’s “For the first time ever, I lost” comment was meant to be taken literally – Hayakawa’s scolding indicated he certainly didn’t think so, but I suppose it’s possible that the GoM was so dominant that Kise never lost a game from middle school onward. He certainly took it hard enough, breaking down in tears after the match – and his conversation with Midorima didn’t improve his mood much. We get just a teaser about the GoM’s “best shooter” – he’s left-handed, blood type B, tapes his fingers, and respects Kuroko’s game but doesn’t get along with blood type A people like Kuroko. His school is apparently the one Seirin will have to go through for Kise to get his chance for revenge at the inter-high tournament.

The rest of the ep was more or less dedicated to some random but amusing nonsense – the Seirin team members trying to finish giant steaks to avoid having to pay for them (Kagami to the rescue), pickup basketball with bullies, (including this clever moment), wrestling submission holds by Riko. If these detours told us anything, it’s that Kuroko has a well-developed sense of justice (which ties in neatly with his expressed dismay with individualistic basketball) and that he left the GoM on bad terms with the coach. It was interesting to see he and Kise play together (I’m thinking we may see that again) and to ponder Kise’s warning that Kagami, once his talents have matured, will place himself above his teammates and become a different person. History says he’s probably right, but this is shounen manga so I suspect Kagami and Kuroko are stuck together for the duration.

Sorry, Fujoshi – no shounen-ai end card for you this week. Just shounen – no “ai”!

 

Preview

25 Comments

  1. I’m really enjoying the animated version of KnB so much.

    The newest chapters have been so intense and the character’s developed to be so lovable.

    Honestly a great series to watch.

    Really2D
    Reply

  3. First off, what is with the GoM (and Kagami) and having different coloured hair? Everyone else has the natural black, dark brown, and brown, and then there is all of them with blue, purple, green, yellow (which I guess could be blonde, but it’s too bright for me. xD), etc.

    The second half of this episode was really entertaining. I’m amused by Kagami and Kuroko’s bantering. 😀 And I feel like there was enough shounen-ai in what they were saying about eachother. Buuut, that’s just my interpretation. ;P

    Looking forward to the next episode!~

    IntricateRadiance
    Reply

    2. The names of the GoM has colors attached to them.
      Kise – Kiiro(?) – Yellow
      Midorima – Midori – Green
      Kuroko – Kuro – Black
      Aomine – Ao – Blue
      Forgot the names of the remaining two members but I know they have colors too.

      belatkuro
      Reply

      1. I will help you with that.

        Kise: Ki (Yellow)
        Midorima: Midori (Green)
        Aomine: Ao (Blue)
        Murasakibara: (Murasaki (Purple)
        Akashi: Aka (Red)
        Kuroko: Kuro (Black – but this implies his way of playing being the shadow, not the color of his hair)
        Momoi: Momo (Pink – She’s the manager)

        P.S. Sorry some spoiler there. 🙂

        mainavidesu
        Reply

  6. One thing that is clear about KuroBasu anime is that they are following the manga closely. Which is nice to know but as we are only in the 5th episode we won’t know for sure if this continuous. Hope so!!!

    When it comes to funny scenes I would say I prefer the manga, though I’m ok with the way they animated those funny moments in the manga still for some reason I can only giggle with those scenes un-like the manga that those scene makes me laugh so hard. LOL (Well that just me comparing the anime and the manga).

    P.S. I’m loving Kuroko – “check out these guns” in the manga he says “Please look at these biceps”. LOL either way it is still funny! :))

    mainavidesu
    Reply

  8. this series brings out my yaoi-wild fangirl moment with those hidden BL goodness and macho-ness with all those basketball moves. The part where Kagami says “You’ll always stand by the light” feels like a confession. My heart went doki, doki and I mentally shouted at Kuroko and Kagami to kiss already. ehe… (=’_’=)<3

    razzler
    Reply

  10. I’m still kinda amused by the events of last episode – why wasn’t Kise wasn’t given a penalty for %&*ing blood out of Kuroko’s forehead?
    …and Kagami as well, for using Kuroko’s head as a height support. Are you even allowed to do that? wwwwww
    Enjoying the series a lot nonetheless. Great fun to watch.

    Meredith
    Reply

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