Showing posts with label Kuroko no Basuke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kuroko no Basuke. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Kuroko Tetsuya's Voice Actor to Perform Next Kuroko's Basketball Ending Theme


The third 2014 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump revealed that Kuroko Tetsuya's voice actor, Kensho Ono will perform Kuroko's Baskeball Season 2's new ending theme.

The song entitled "Fantastic Tune" will begin playing in the anime in January. The CD single will go on sale in standard and limited editions on February 26. Fantastic Tune was written, composed and arranged by RON (Kure-nai, Psychic Detective Yakumo, K).

[Source: Anime News Network]

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Latest Kuroko's Basketball Nintendo 3DS Game Promo


Namco Bandai Games is streaming the latest promo video of Kuroko's Basketball: The Path to Victory game for the Nintendo 3DS. The game features an original story set before the Winter Cup tournament.

Players can create their own dream teams after they beat a respective basketball team. Players can chose the best players from each high school and continue playing with the "freedom version" feature after completing the main game.


In addition, players can customize their characters by changing their outfits and accessories. Lastly, a playable demo for the game available for download via QR code is printed in an issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.

Lastly, the game will feature a lot of downloadable content after they beat the game. Additional content will allow fans to see what happens after the events in the main game. As a bonus, a player's first download will be free.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

GRANRODEO to Perform 2nd Kuroko's Basketball S2 Opening Theme


GRANRODEO will once again perform the opening theme of Kuroko's Basketball Season 2.

The name of the new song is "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" (Phantasmagoric Magical Star). The single will be released in February 12, 2014.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Sunday, 3 November 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 1 Anime Review


Kuroko's Basketball is an anime based on a manga written by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, which is published on Weekly Shonen Jump. This series is about Taiga Kagami, a talented basketball player and his aim to defeat the Generation of Miracles, a team of talented basketball players. I think I missed something in this short summary.

Teiko Junior High is best known for its Generation of Miracles, a group of talented basketball players whose skills bagged the said school 3 national championships. After they graduated, the five players went on to different schools. But that's not the focus of this series; our focus is on the team's sixth member respected by the five prodigies. He is dubbed the "Phantom Sixth Man" and his name is Tetsuya Kuroko.


Enter Taiga Kagami, a student from the U.S. who transferred to Japan after hearing tales about the Generation of Miracles and his aim is to defeat those guys. This is when everything starts to become interesting, both Kuroko and Kagami joined the Seirin Basketball team and together, Kuroko must beat his former teammates for their school to win the championships. But it will be one long road ahead for our heroes if they wish to defeat the Generation of Miracles one by one.

For starters, I am not a big fan of sports anime because if I will base it on my experience watching that genre, for me to get interested in it, it should be either a) over the top (see Eyeshield 21) and b) has a great balance between drama and sports (see Slam Dunk and Hajime no Ippo). In the case of Kuroko's Basketball, it's a strange mix of both. Some of the basketball moves in the series are a bit over the top and is impossible to pull off by an average human being. By average human being, I mean you and me, not those NBA players; I think they can pull some of those moves seen in the anime.


More on the basketball stuff, what I like about it is that the action is intense and it gets me cheering for the teams. I rarely experience such thrill in watching sports anime and the last time I am cheering on the teams is during the time I am watching Slam Dunk or Eyeshield 21. I feel like I am part of the crowd who is watching the game. My only gripe about the action is that there are times that they make some cuts of the game. Granted, it's for the sake of the series to reach a minimum of 25 episodes but it feels like I am cheated by the producers of the anime. I want to see more basketball action!

Now for the drama bits, it's more focused on the relationships of two key characters per team, with greater focus on Kuroko and Kagami's relationship. Just like most relationships, it didn't start pretty well, but after much interaction and Kagami acknowledging Kuroko's special abilities, the two went along just fine. The growth of their friendship is one of the key aspects of the show that I liked. Their growth of their friendship feels natural and what's great about it is that the two have mutual respect for each other.


One good example is that after they were defeated by one team during the summer cup, they decided to not talk to each other to sort out what went wrong to their teamwork until they are ready to talk about it. The result? Their skills as players improved and with more training coming from their coach, these two are ready for the winter cup. As for the other characters of the Seirin Basketball team, even though most of the time they felt like they are just "there" for the sake of the team to have a team, some of them are interesting characters if you give them a chance to shine. From the team, the only ones that I find interesting are Riko (the coach), Hyuga (the captain) and that guy with a monkey face.

Since I am done talking about Seirin, how about the other teams? The other teams are interesting to say at least, especially how each Generation of Miracle interacts with them. Midorima doesn't mind his teammates, Aomine completely ignores them while Kise; he is the one who cares for them. In short, the only one who has some character development from the five members of the Generation of Miracles is Kise with Midorima coming next since it looks like he is starting to bond more with them.


Overall, the first season of Kuroko's Basketball is really enjoyable. The show has a good mix of drama and comedy, which reminded me a bit of another basketball anime called Slam Dunk and it's not a bad thing. The animation for the series looks great, especially during the actions sequences. Even though Seirin lost, there is still hope for the team to enter the Inter High Basketball Championships via the Winter Cup. With Kagami and Kuroko honing their respective skills, can the duo defeat the three members of the Generation of Miracles that didn't defeat next season?

Special thanks to Random Curiosity for the images.

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 to Have a Total of 26 Episodes


The 45th issue of this year's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine announced how the Blu-ray and DVD volumes of Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 will be distributed.

The first volume will ship two episodes on January 29, 2014. In addition, the remaining eight volumes will ship every month and contains three episodes each. If you do the math, the series will have a total of 26 episodes.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Nintendo 3DS Game Promo


Namco Bandai Games is now streaming the first promo video for the Kuroko's Basketball: The Path to Victory game for the Nintendo 3DS.


The game will feature an original story featuring characters from the popular anime/manga series. Aside that the characters are in their SD forms, the game will also feature voice acting and a mystery character.

Kuroko's Basketball: The Path to Victory will be released this Winter.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 Latest Promo


Here's the latest promo for Kuroko's Basketball Season 2. The new promo features the opening theme "The Other Self" by GRANRODEO. The show's 2nd season premieres this October 5th.

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 to Premiere this October 5th


The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump announced that the second season of Kuroko's Basketball will premiere on October 5th! The issue also featured some images coming from the show's 2nd season.

GRANRODEO will once again perform the show's opening theme with their latest single, "The Other self". OLDCODEX will once again perform the show's ending theme.

Source: Crunchyroll News

Tuesday, 20 August 2013

Kuroko's Basketball: Miraculous Victory Nintendo 3DS Game Latest Info


More info about the new Kuroko's Basketball game called "Kuroko's Basketball: Miraculous Victory" for the Nintendo 3DS is finally revealed.

The new game will have an original story with all of the characters from the famed Generation of Miracles. In addition, the game will also feature new special moves and the screen shows players in a basketball match while the bottom screen lets you choose actions for the players.

Kuroko's Basketball: Miraculous Victory will be released soon.

Source: Siliconera

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Latest Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 Anime Promo


Here's the latest promo video for the upcoming Kuroko's Basketball Season 2, which features the major characters that will appear in the show's next season.

The promo states that it's been a year since the first season ended and that the second season will begin this fall.


The series is about Tetsuya Kuroko aka Teiko Middle School's Phantom Sixth Man and Taiga Kagami's quest to defeat the Generation of Miracles. Now on its second season, Seirin will enter a new competition wherein they will face Generation of Miracles' Atsushi Murasakibara and Seijuro Akashi.

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 tips off this October 2013.

Monday, 12 August 2013

OLDCODEX to Perform Kuroko's Basketball S2 Ending Theme


The official Kuroko's Basketball Twitter account revealed that the OLDCODEX will once again perform the ending theme of the show's 2nd season!

The single for the new ending theme is planned to be released this November 13th. It was previously reported that GRANRODEO will once again perform the show's opening theme with their latest single, "The Other self".

Source: Crunchyroll News

Wednesday, 31 July 2013

New Kuroko's Basketball Nintendo 3DS Game Announced


The 36th issue of this year's Shonen Jump announced that a new Kuroko's Basketball game for the Nintendo 3DS!

Called "Kuroko's Basketball -The Path to Victory-", it will feature an original story and the manga characters in SD (super-deformed) style. More details will be added in the game's official website in later days.

Source: Anime News Network

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Limited Edition Kuroko's Basketball Vol. 25 to Include Original Anime DVD


This year's 35th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine announced that the limited edition versions of Kuroko's Basketball Vol. 25 will include an original anime DVD.

The OAD is based on the "Baka Ja Katenai no yo" story that was featured in the manga's 5th volume. The deadline to pre-order the bundle will be October 18, and the set will ship on December 4. Lastly, this anime will be screened in this year's Jump Super Anime Tour.

Source: Anime News Network

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Kuroko's Basketball S2 Key Visual Art, Opening Theme Revealed


The official Kuroko's Basketball anime website revealed the key visual art for the show's upcoming second season that will premiere in October.

In addition, GRANRODEO returns to perform the show's opening theme called "The Other self". The said single will be released on October 16. GRANRODEO vocalist, KISHOW (Kisho Taniyama) will also play Yousen High's Tatsuya Himuro in the new season.

Source: Crunchyroll News

Monday, 8 July 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 Anime Trailer


Here's the trailer of Kuroko's Basketball Season 2, which features the line-up of key basketball players per team... and screaming fan girls.

The promo states that it's been a year since the "first quarter" ended and that the "second quarter" begins this fall.


The series is about Tetsuya Kuroko aka Teiko Middle School's Phantom Sixth Man and Taiga Kagami's quest to defeat the Generation of Miracles. Now on its second season, Seirin will enter a new competition wherein they will face Generation of Miracles' Atsushi Murasakibara and Seijuro Akashi.

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 tips off this October 2013.

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Kuroko's Basketball Season 2 to Officially Premiere this October


We have previously reported that the second season of Kuroko's Basketball will premiere this September. It was later confirmed by the this year's 24th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump that the second season will premiere this October!

Monday, 8 April 2013

Kuroko's Basketball S2 to Premiere in September


Shueisha's head of comics and contents sales department, Nobuo Sumino reported in the May/June issue of The Tsukuru magazine that the second season of Kuroko's Basketball will premiere in September.

He also added that there is an increase of sales of the manga after the anime premiered. The manga's volumes had initial print runs of 300,000 copies, but it rose to 500,000 after the anime. Between the April rebroadcast and the new season, he muses that the next volume of the original manga could have a print run of more than 1 million copies in August.

Source: Anime News Network

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Kuroko's Basketball S2 First Visual Art Revealed


This year's 18th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump revealed the new Seirin basketball uniforms, which will be used in Kuroko's Basketball Season 2! The release date of the second season is still unknown as of this writing.

Saturday, 5 January 2013

Shonen Jump Celebrates Kuroko's Basketball 2nd Season With 32 Character Wallpapers


To commemorate the upcoming second season of Kuroko's Basketball, the official Shonen Jump website will feature daily illustrations from Tadatoshi Fujimaki's hit baskeball manga as part of a web campaign to commemorate the anime.

The web campaign, which began last January 4th will post a new wallpaper every day featuring characters from the hit basketball manga. Featured below is the featured wallpaper that you can download for this day.


To grab this wallpaper, visit this link from the site and click the purple circle with a white arrow to open the page that features the wallpaper. Take note, you can't download the wallpapers that were released yesterday. The web campaign will feature 32 character wallpapers.

In addition, the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump will feature a 19-page full-color chapter in the issue on sale last January 4th.

Source: Crunchyroll News

Sunday, 30 December 2012

2012 Year End SP: Top 10 2012 Anime Titles


Here is yet another year end blog post and this time, it is about my favorite anime titles for the past year. Unlike the tokusatsu list, it took me quite some time thinking about what are my favorite anime titles for this year. Take note, this list of mine is just my own personal opinion, if you hated my favorites, it only means that we don't have the same taste.


10. Nyarko-san Another Crawling Chaos
The series is basically what if the characters in the Lovecraft Mythos are now moe anime girls, do anime and tokusatsu references and have the main female protagonist madly in-love with the male protagonist. This is the show in a nutshell and I really enjoyed it and I hope the second season is just as fun as the first one! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]


9. Kuroko's Basketball
It's hard to watch some recent sports anime titles for the following reasons: (a) too much pretty boys, (b) more drama less action and (c) if there is action, it's always over the top. I don't mind the 3rd reason since that's the only reason why recent sports anime is fun to watch but that's not what I am looking for in a sports anime.

Kuroko got what I wanted for a sports anime; there is a balance of sports action, comedy, drama and yes, moments of some of the characters going a bit over the top. With the announcement of a second season, I hope that the introduction of the two remaining members of the Generation of Miracles will be really good! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]


8. Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
At first see the series as Akibaranger the anime with more focus on the split-screen comparison between reality and delusion. It gets more interesting when they started talking about the issue of escaping reality via delusions and if it is time for Rikka to face the harsh reality. [SERIES REVIEW COMING SOON]


7. Bakuman Season 2 and 3
The previous season improved a lot in terms of pacing, making the series more enjoyable to watch. Aside that the series is more focused on Mutou Ashirogi's trials in the world of manga like how can they make Detective TRAP last longer and the trials they went through during its run before moving to Tanto then to PCP. The second season also expanded Mashiro and Azuki's love story, especially during the time Mashiro was hospitalized due to some liver complications.

With the third season getting more interesting every week thanks to the introduction of a new rival, guess next year will be one explosive year to the Bakuman anime as it draws nearer to its series conclusion.


6. Mobile Suit Gundam AGE
The concept of generations of Gundam pilots is the first thing that got me into watching this series. Though the series started a bit slow, it gets more interesting in the last few episodes of the first arc. The Mobile Suit designs are interesting and Flit's growth from an innocent young boy into an old man who only wants genocide is something that rarely happens in a Gundam series. I might rank the series a bit higher if it wasn't for the fourth arc. At least Flit is awesome till the end. [PART III & IV REVIEW COMING SOON]


5. Sword Art Online
One of the most talked about anime show of 2012 for obvious reasons, the setting is really interesting and having a game beta tester as the main protagonist made me more intrigue since he is supposed to be the first person who has the knowledge that the game's creator plans to trap 10,000 players in his own video game. So why this show ranked 5th in my list? Simple, they have forgotten some elements that made the series intriguing in the first place and the second arc. I will reserve my thoughts about it my review of the series.


4. AKB0048
To be honest, I have very low expectations about this series. I mean, how can you write a series based on an idol group without making it too cliché? The result: a space opera featuring idols fighting for the rights of every human to experience free entertainment with a major focus on a group of young idols aspiring to become those famous idols. Since the series ended with a message about the General Elections, I can't wait for the second season! [SEASON REVIEW COMING SOON]


3. Hunter x Hunter (2011)
Though I have problems with the series at first for skipping some fun details about the Hunter Exam arc, they were able to make up for it with the later story arcs. Aside that they fixed the issues I had with the 1999 anime, namely the amount of filler content and some of the animation, the 2011 anime was able to compress 90+ episodes of the 1999 anime into 50+ episodes. The reason why I got bored with the later episodes of the 1999 anime is that felt too slow for me that I tend to ignore the important details. The new series made me want to watch more Hunter x Hunter and it's a good thing. The only problem I have right now in the series is if they have plans to change the opening theme.


2. Fate/Zero
The first season is exciting but the meat of the story is in the second season. Seriously, we have the Kiritsugu's back story, an epic battle in some river featuring a Lovecraft-inspired monster, the Holy Grail War drawing closer to its conclusion and finally, how they were able to tie up the events that happened in the original Fate/stay night eroge without making any plot holes like what Star Wars did in its prequel movies. Did I mention that ufotable did a good job in adapting the series and the show had one amazing soundtrack? [SERIES REVIEW COMING SOON]


1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
After 25 years, the adventures of the Joestar family finally has a proper anime adaptation and boy, it didn't disappoint me! The anime series is so amazing that I decided to read the original source material because I can't wait what will happen next in the next episode! The series is currently on Part 2, my favorite story arc in the manga and hopefully, by the end of the arc, we might have an announcement if they will adapt Part 3 and 4!