Kuroko no Basuke

But... Kagami is apparently synchronizing the team's movements... how?

LOL the answer is in my earlier post already, teamwork and fluidity.

One team also has teamwork, but they aren't fluid. Take note of who actually made the block...would you be expecting him in particular to do that? If we go "by the book", shouldn't it have been the other big man in the lineup?

I'm reading this because it's interesting. I think. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over.

I'm actually going to wait until the Rakuzan match ends, so...yeah, I don't know when.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

Throwing my hat into the metaphorical ring here.

I've been following this since S1 of the anime then marathon reading until I was all caught up. This match between Rakuzan and Seirin has been...I don't know. It's suitably climactic I think but I feel like it just isn't the "big finish" I wanted it to be yet. I still feel like Aomine was a better built-up villain for his arc then the swing to Akashi just felt like a way to close out the tournament. I like Akashi and all but he just doesn't feel quite as personal in the way Aomine v Kagami/Kuroko did.

I, for one, welcome our new Basketball Z overlords. All hail The Generation of Miracles! (Aomine is the best though)

That's not what I'm asking. How are they doing this? How did their teamwork become fluid?

The author did try by making the Rakuzan team seem insurmountable, which kind of worked. Though we did get asspulls like Hyuuga blocking Kokkuu, somehow.

Still, the return of the old Akashi was better than I expected.

Thinking back on it, I always did think that it would have been better if Seirin fought Yosen first in the tournament.

It's a mentality issue. Look at Rakuzan: "I'm good at shooting. I shoot." "I'm good at dribble-penetrations, I dribble-penetrate."

Look at Seirin: "My teammate jumped for the block, but the opponent is about to make a double-pump layup; I'm a shooter, but since I'm nearby and inside, I will be the help defense."

Heck it's actually been obvious ever since Teppei started playing. He's a big-man point guard, that's as fluid as you can get already.

edited 20th Jul '14 8:09:14 PM by entropy13

I'm reading this because it's interesting. I think. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over.

That... doesn't explain anything. It's not unusual for a shooter on the inside to defend if he can. Yaksha did that a few times in this match.

There's a local show recently about the "science of sports", and in that episode they talked about blocking.

Jumping is obviously key, but not everyone can jump high. Timing is key, but not everyone can time it well. You cannot teach jumping high, but you can teach timing. He had correct timing in the past, he did so again.

His shooting counterpart in the other team hasn't gotten that part properly yet, relying more on psychological warfare rather than timing his jump well. And when he did get to defend inside, it wasn't really "for the block" but rather just "to defend".

Timing and anticipation are something that isn't natural. It's taught. In Rakuzan's case it's hard to "teach" those because they are still seen as individual players. It says a lot when improved teamwork is essentially their "in the zone" mode. In Seirin's case, that's their bread and butter. To get to the next level was just a mental shift for them, especially for their ace.

edited 20th Jul '14 11:16:09 PM by entropy13

I'm reading this because it's interesting. I think. Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, over.

Timing is key in blocking, of course. Midorima said as much when he went one-on-one with Kagami in the beach training session.

I find several parts of your discussion unsatisfactory. First of all, Yaksha does understand timing— it's what let him block Hyuuga's Barrier Jumper. He has also blocked several inside shots successfully.

Furthermore, there is an assumption that Rakuzan does not know teamwork, when we know this is not the case. They only emphasized one-on-ones using the three Generals because, as Mayuzumi said, Kagami's Zone had effectively prevented Akashi from using other forms of play. They also showed excellent team plays in this match and in their match against Shuutoku.

"Improved teamwork" is not Rakuzan's Zone. It's simply Akashi keeping a perfect rhythm allowing his teammates to utilize 90% of their potential. Their teamwork improved because they all improved individually (recall Riko's dad's explanation on how teamwork is not only emphasizing plays for the team).

Lastly, you are positing that the second Zone that Kagami opened is, basically, improved teamwork. And that their teamwork is better because it's their bread and butter. Well, we already know this is a shaky argument, given that it bit them in the ass when they first fought against Touou.

---

Allow me to remedy a mistake in my previous post. It wasn't Kagami synchronizing the team's movements, it's Kuroko synchronizing the team's movements with Kagami. It's essentially an extension of his Pseudo-Emperor Eye. This makes much more sense to me.

edited 21st Jul '14 12:18:51 AM by fillerdude

New chapter out.

Victory in the not-so-grand finale.

Chapter 275 is out. And so it ends.

Or does it? There's something about Next...

Chapter 1 of Kuroko: Next Game is out!

Premise? The Generation of Miracles (plus Kagami) form a team. That's all you need to know.

Hi. Late comer to the series (well, technically I've been a fan since a couple of months ago; been reading it piecemeal and already spoiled the ending and several intermediate events). I have a question about chapter 110. During Riko's scan of Momoi, a couple of numbers popped out: "91" at her chest, and "69" at her shoulders. Are these supposed to be her actual measurements?

Yeah, odd thing to ask as my first ever post here, but it just keeps bugging me.

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Those probably are Riko's estimates of Momoi's measurements.

... Now that I actually tried using them as bra measurements (and assumed that "69" stood for underbust circumference, despite the line pointing at her shoulder)... Yeah, it comes down to E cup in the US system (which is F cup in Japan, Momoi's official size). I wonder why the anime replaced all the numbers with silly icons and a couple of nonsensically five-digit numbers, though. I think they did the same with Kagami and Kuroko's scans by Riko in Episode 1, too; the manga actually gives an RPG-like chart with their basic ability stats and current/max levels (the latter of which is, of course, just a string of "???" in Kagami's case).

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

The numbers are probably just arbitrary. Riko's qualitative assessments are the meat anyway.

True, but the RPG-like chart was nice, and about half the numbers made sense ^note There was his height, weight, and a chart of "power", "speed" and "flexibility" stats that were measured on a score of 100, probably meant to represent how close he was to achieving maximum known human ability in those areas. Which may not mean much, since his current/max level is marked "????" to signify off-the-charts potential ability.. It's the animators taking out the actually sensical numbers (like Momoi's measurements and cup size) and replacing them with nonsensical stuff that bothers me.

edited 20th Mar '15 5:32:50 AM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Extra Game Chapter 2 is out on MangaHere, though the translation quality is subpar. I worry about this deficiency in synching between the Vorpal Swords' members. On a different note, Kuroko once pulls the same apparently-suicidal-confrontation stunt by following Kagetora to Roppongi on the night before the match, in order to meet Jabberwock face to face. I really love the GOM's reactions to this, especially Midorima's and Akashi's.

edited 24th Mar '15 3:41:50 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Hey, I'm watching the episodes of Seirin vs. Kirisaki Daichi (and the flashback to Team Seirin's foundation), and... Well, is it just me, or did Kiyoshi show signs that there was something off with his knee long before Hanamiya engineered his severe injury in their game?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Kiyoshi did seem to know he had knee problems, and that's apparently what Hayama picked up on.

Hanamiya, you mean. And one thing that bugs me is that it seems there's no intention on part of the storywriter to explain just what was wrong with Kiyoshi's knee, or the general nature of his acquired injury. Heck, I'm confused about what the Kirisaki Daiichi player had done to him in the first place; all I got from the still shot is that he sort of applied pressure to the back of Kiyoshi's knee with his own leg when they landed on the ground. How can that result in such a grievous injury that would require invasive surgery to fix?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

I've read the manga, and it seemed to me that the evil Uncrowned guy managed to do just the right thing to push Kiyoshi's injury from "potentially crippling in the future if left unchecked" to "definitely crippling". Like, he made Kiyoshi land with all his weight on his weak knee in the worst possible moment, or something.

The details of the injury are left unspecified so it can be exactly as troubling as the various stages of the plot need, of course. :P

edited 21st Apr '15 2:54:09 AM by Cozzer

Well, putting aside my reservations about that... How different is manga!Kise from anime!Kise? It would help if someone could point me to a particular scene that was done differently in the anime, so that I could see for myself whether or not manga!Kise really is less freely affable than his anime incarnation, as the manga's author claims.

EDIT: Newest episode of Season 3 is out... and I already caught a split-second glimpse of "Direct Drive Zone" in the OP that I had to pause and rewind in order to confirm. Nice. Also, Mibuchi's first name is apparrently spelled "Leo", implying either one of his parents is non-Japanese, or they picked a foreign name for the exotic factor.

edited 2nd May '15 10:53:34 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.

Kise was the one who suggested the 111-11 in the manga.

... And he was also implied to have done so too in the anime, since they retained his one line on the topic from before the match. Besides, I think Fujimaki was more focused on talking about post-Teiko Kise, since he cited his face-off with Haizaki as one example. (Did he really resort to verbal abuse?)

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.