One of the things I wondered was: could we have had more different teams featuring an Uncrowned King? For example, imagine if Rakuzan had only two Uncrowned Kings instead of three, and the third one was a member of a different high school team—much like Hanamiya with Kirisaki.

I've also always really liked the concept of Haizaki, a former Teiko player who was kicked off the team. I wonder if we could have had teams featuring former Teiko players—like the ones from Nijimura's year—since I've always been curious about what became of them.

At the same time, though, I understand the decision to focus on teams that include a member of the Generation of Miracles. Otherwise, it would have taken too long just to show high school teams that were inferior to the likes of Rakuzan, Tōō, and the rest.

For me, it's probably Kagami and Ogiwara. It's actually a bit of a shame that Ogiwara didn't appear in the special episode for Kuroko's birthday.

And also, Hanamiya with the Rakuzan trio, for sure. I suppose I would have liked to see the 5 Uncrowned Kings interacting all together at the same time.

I just want to reassure myself that I'm not the only one who forgot that detail. But it's crazy how the entire Winter Cup (excluding the qualifiers) lasted only... seven days in total... That is absolutely wild. You feel like this competition lasted more than two weeks.

Out of context, on the first day, you see Akashi attempt to attack Kagami with scissors. On the seventh day, you see Akashi shaking hands with the Seirin players after the final. As the saying goes, people can change in such a short time.

Why are Kuroko no Basket fans probably the only ones who REALLY understand the sport?

Haikyuu and Blue Lock fans simply do not understand how the sport works, when they actually dont have even read the manga.

But Kuroko no Basket fans always seem to understand how the positions work and even what is or is not a foul in basketball.

For example, Himuro Tatsuya's Mirage Shot, everybody in this community talks about why this skill is a fault in real basketball, but nobody seems to question how inexplicable Hinata's constant quick attacks are or how unrealistic every shot from Nagi is.

But it’s not as if Kuroko’s Basketball bothers explaining rules or positions, or even aiming for realism, like Ao Ashi does, the fandom simply know how the sport works.

Can someone explain this to me?

Re-reading the manga, I had forgotten just how late Akashi was actually introduced in the series. I suppose that makes sense, given that he’s essentially the manga’s final boss, but I’d forgotten what a long wait it was before his first real introduction at the Winter Cup.

But I think it was fine, considering Akashi actually gets quite a bit of screen time—especially since Rakuzan vs. Seirin is the longest match in the manga, plus all the Teiko scenes. So, I don't mind that he was introduced so late.

On the other hand, Murasakibara... he’s definitely the least developed of the five Generation of Miracles members. He only has one match with Yosen, and—aside from Akashi—he’s the one introduced latest (without getting nearly as much screen time as Akashi). It's also due to the fact that we didn't see any matches involving Yosen or Rakuzan during the Inter-High. I'm actually kind of glad we got to see a bit more of Murasakibara in Extra Game.

First to get 21 points wins.

Kise and Aomine

VS

Nash and Silver

Streetball rules

"Loser's Outs"

It's practically wishful thinking at this point since it's been 10 years but I really wish they could've adapted the Teiko summer training camp story from the Replace novel into an OVA or something.

If you don't know, the story went like this:

Teiko had a tradition of holding their training camp in Hawaii. They also held practice matches with the local schools there. While sneaking away to play at the beach, Kuroko and Aomine met Tiki, the SF from one of the rival schools that Aomine befriended during the previous training camp. While Tiki is an excellent player, he has a disadvantage in playing basketball in America since he's not particularly tall compared to the average American basketball player. But this year, Tiki was offered a scholarship to one of the schools in Japan under one condition; he has to win against Teiko during the practice match. This makes Aomine feel conflicted, as Teiko winning the match would mean Tiki need to give up basketball in the future.

Unlike most of the stories in the novels, the training camp does features a basketball match. Not only that, the match was:

- from a time when GoM still works/function as a team. The main series Teiko arc is quite fast-paced and I feel like we don't see them much.

- a match where Teiko was disadvantaged greatly. They were affected from jetlag + morale is down because most of the audience were friends and families of the rival school, so they were cheering for their opponents instead.

- likely the last ever time Aomine genuinely enjoyed playing while in middle school. As the training camp took place after his talent awakened but before he had his "the only one who can beat is me" mindset.

- the first ever time cyclone pass was used in a match. As Kuroko developed it just one night before the practice match (though they did mentioned that it was still imperfect at the time).

The manga adaptation of the novels, Replace Plus, only shows a bit of the scene of GoM in the airport. So I really wish there's a visual adaptation of the basketball match against Tiki.

I have to admit I'm surprised. I believe the only "UK" members who actually appeared were Kiyoshi and Hanamiya (once they were already in high school) and Murasakibara mentioned them one time. Otherwise, nothing else.

Their opponents were primarily players who appear only during the flashback, such as the Genius Twins or Inoue.

GROWN UP VERSION BTW
Rendered > sketch > reference

I understand the author's decision to make them a team devoid of any human qualities. They are sort of like the evil version of the Generation of Miracles. And given the limited screen time, it was a bit hard to find time for more characterization of the American players—especially since we're supposed to be rooting for the Vorpal Swords.

Nevertheless, I’ve always appreciated the Jabberwock team as antagonists, even though I would have liked to see more of them. I particularly enjoyed the brief moments that gave us a glimpse into Nash's past; I suppose I’m curious to see how Nash and Silver met, for instance, or to get a look at basketball in the United States.

Hmm... let's see...The 5 Uncrowned Kings should be on 5 different teams.

For me, it's probably:

Kiyoshi -> Yosen (Although we saw Kiyoshi play primarily as a center during the series, we also saw him play as a point guard—specifically against Yosen—creating a mismatch against Fukui due to the height difference. That said, with Kiyoshi, Yosen would truly have been a team of giants.)

Hanamiya -> Fukuda Sogo (I don't know why I chose this, but I wonder what it would be like to have Haizaki and Hanamiya on the same team... considering Hanamiya actually respected his teammates and played as part of a team with them—unlike Haizaki, who would even slap his senpais.)

Nebuya -> Shutoku (I think Nebuya could be an interesting addition to Shutoku, even if he's basically just a mountain of muscle... After all, we did see him dominate Otsubo throughout the Rakuzan vs. Shutoku match...)

Hayama -> Too (Technically, it's a bit redundant, seeing as Aomine is also a dribbler. But I think Hayama at Too could be intriguing.)

Mibuchi -> Kaijo (It's a bit of a default choice. Especially since Mibuchi is clearly an upgrade over Moriyama as a SG)

At first, I thought Blue Lock couldn't be topped as my favorite sports anime..

BUT, THE MOMENT I DECIDED TO WATCH ALL 3 SEASONS OF KUROKO?, THIS SHIT IS STRAIGHT FUCKING HEATTTTTTTTTTTTTT

EVERY GAME THAT HAD A GoM JUST GOT CRAZIER & CRAZIER, THE STAKES GOT HIGHER & HIGHER, I THOUGHT AT TIMES "Yea they are LOSING", BUT SEIRIN I ABLE TO PULL OFF THE MOST RIDICULOUS COMEBACKS IVE EVER FUCKING SEEN

(Kaijo vs Seirin in the Winter Cup was a plot victory imo, but I'm not gonna kill the mood with this-)

Like DUDE, I was watching Season 1 with my favorite Twitch streamer right?, the MOMENT Aomine appeared on screen for a FEW SECONDS, EVERYONE in that chat just came out of hiding JUST TO HYPE HIM UP.

(the fact his VA is Barou & Sukuna's makes it better, I called him Dark-Blue Barou near the end of Season 3 js for fun-)

Like this man is just doing shit and it WORKS, I thought HE was broken

then we have the other Miracles bro..

Midorima is a Human Auto-Goal (Mr. Green fn also works)

Kise is a Potential Man (but he actually used his potential, man)

Murasaki is lazy as fuck but holy SHIT that man's defense is insane
(also, fym you have a dunk named "THOR'S HAMMER" 😭)

and Akashi. fucking. Seijuro.

That theme.
THAT. GODDAMN. THEME.

God's Chosen Emperor WHO?

Michael Kaiser WHO?
(this is heavy glaze but go with it 🙏)

Akashi was SUCH a great final antagonist, Rakuzan's team not being fully reliant on their obvious strongest card was also rlly nice to see for a change.

He 100% has the most funniest moment in the show, and its during the serious part of the finale 😭
He was in the Zone Infront of both Izuki & Junpei, and I thought they were gonna do the usual

"fall on your ass" technique, right?.

He starts talking.

"You've defied me this long.."
"It is not enough to merely have you sit."

I say "What that mean?"

He proceeds to say, "On your knees."

THEN THEY BOTH FALL TO THEIR FUCKING KNEES, AS HE GETS BY KAGAMI WITH FUCKING EASE?.

I COULD NOT HAVE LAUGHED ANY HARDER THAN I DID SEEING THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME, GENUINE DISRESPECT ON RIDICULOUS LEVELS.

And another thing, the "New Phantom Sixth Man" reveal was UNEXPECTED.

Like tf you mean Kuroko's Character Development, Undeveloped??

Kuroko got betrayed by his own Character 😭

One more thing before I go..

The Direct Drive Zone.

I have no words.
Straight. PEAK. The entire time.
(Kurona would be jealous asf, they pulled off a full team Planet Hotline 😭🙏)

All & all man, this show was an insane 1 time only experience, like, I feel like you REALLY have only one chance to experience this show in all its glory to have every single moment of hype hit hard asf.

KNB solos BLLK in terms of.. basically near everything tbh

KNB is better than BLLK overall for me, but id rewatch BLLK more than KNB
(does that make sense?-)

Alright I'm gone, 10/10 sports anime, bye!

It’s the first time I’m not complaining about something, bruh, because I complain A LOT when I watch a show. But I think it’s partly because I really liked how the author handled the MC and the 2nd MC. Idk if Kagami is actually considered the 2nd MC or not, but I’m just gonna refer to him like that because that’s how he felt.

Kuroko is like an actually realistic MC who stayed relatable until the end. He really is an important character overall, and I rarely like MCs but he is genuinely a good one. He’s as realistic as a shonen MC can be, maybe even more. (I’m not saying he didn’t have plot armor sometimes, but again, that’s extremely common for shonen MCs, so it’s nothing particularly special or annoying.)

Kagami was awesome too, I have to say. I really liked the way he was written as someone who is genuinely talented and has great potential, but is still struggling because he hasn’t reached his full potential yet. I like that he was talented AND worked hard to reach where he was supposed to be. He wasn’t some ass-tier underdog who suddenly surpassed everyone just because he was a hard worker.

Anyways, my favorite characters are definitely Aomine and Midorima. Also, I was SO caught off guard by how polite and sweet Akashi was. Talk about a shocker. 😭

Loved Generation of Miracles and momoi's bonding.

Also I’m glad that the writing and growth of the other players weren’t sacrificed just for the MC’s growth. Every player had some important role to play during the games. The captain was actually treated like a captain, and even the players on the opposing teams got their own moments.

Usually main characters and the main teams/organizations in shonen anime are made to ragebait me but this one definitely didn’t do that. 😭