Anime Review: Kuroko No Basuke

Okay guys, I’m going to be reeeeal honest right now. I haven’t finished this yet. You know why? Because I remembered I don’t like sport-themed shows.

But in all seriousness, I feel like I really tried with this one. I watched 14 episodes, trying so hard to stick with it. Some of the characters I was interested in, but there was one main problem in this for me.

It was about basketball.

Sounds petty, I know. And I know I was really taking a risk by watching something that I had suspicions I wouldn’t like. But hey, I ended up liking Madoka Magica, so I wanted to try broadening my horizons even more.

It didn’t work out well. I had to break up with those pretty basketball boys.

I think my biggest problem with the show is it had something like Naruto/DragonBallZ syndrome – you know, when you come back three episodes later and it’s still the same battle? This show had that, but with a basketball game [okay slightly exaggerated  but you get the idea]. I couldn’t get past the dramatics of each individual move, strategy, basket, miss. It was like watching a bad soap opera to me. I’ve actually looked into how other people responded to this show, and they seem to like the cliffhangers of each game.

So maybe this genre just isn’t for me. Here is one note I wrote around episode 8 [yes I really do take notes when I watch anime, because I have a terrible memory]:

lol this show is so dramatic
its fucking basketball

I feel bad about this, I really do. This show gained a lot of popularity, and I’m wondering if it’s something else, something that isn’t in the show itself. Is the popularity fueled by the all male cast and the endless possibilities of slashing?

Tumblr would definitely suggest YES.

But for me even that wasn’t doing it for me. I didn’t connect enough with any of the characters, I didn’t really see any bromance, and what was with the guy with the kitty face? Can I just say it? He really bothered me.

Seriously, why does he have a cat face. I don't know why this bothers me.

So I think in the end, I will have to table this one aside in my Crunchyroll queue for now and move on to other things. Maybe one day I will finish it, and there is a season 2, but who knows.

For now I think I will just appreciate all the fanart that comes out of this fandom though, and leave it at that.

If you like sports animes though, the word on the street is that this is one of the best ones to have come out recently, so I would still suggest checking it out!

Tagged: anime, kuroko no basuke, kuroko's basketball, sports anime?, sporty anime