5 Reasons to Watch the 3 Seasons of Kuroko No Basket | Anime Rec

Kuroko no Basket / 2nd Season / 3rd Season
MAL Top Anime List*: #106 / #65 / #49
# Episodes watched: 75 / 75 (25 per season

Aired: Apr 8 to Sep 22, 2012 / Oct 6 to Mar 30, 2014 / Jan 11 to Jun 30, 2015

Comedy, School, Shounen, Sports

Rating:

Teikou Junior High School's basketball team is crowned champion three years in a row thanks to five outstanding players who, with their breathtaking and unique skills, leave opponents in despair and fans in admiration. However, after graduating, these teammates, known as "The Generation of Miracles," go their separate ways and now consider each other as rivals.
At Seirin High School, two newly recruited freshmen prove that they are not ordinary basketball players: Taiga Kagami, a promising player returning from the US, and Tetsuya Kuroko, a seemingly ordinary student whose lack of presence allows him to move around unnoticed. Although Kuroko is neither athletic nor able to score any points, he was a member of Teikou's basketball team, where he played as the "Phantom Sixth Man," who easily passed the ball and assisted his teammates.
Kuroko no Basket follows the journey of Seirin's players as they attempt to become the best Japanese high school team by winning the Interhigh Championship. To reach their goal, they have to cross pathways with several powerful teams, some of which have one of the five players with godlike abilities, whom Kuroko and Taiga make a pact to defeat.

In all honesty, it's been a long while since I've truly been enthusiastic about anime. When I started watching anime around ten or eleven years ago, I could binge watch for months on no end, finishing one anime after the other like it was a contest and I was out to win all the prizes.

But when I got back into reading and writing, that kind of waned. I started keeping mostly with manga, with the very occasional anime watch. In fact, for the last few months since I vowed to try some of the more popular anime out there, I have started and stopped a large number of them, simply because they didn't grab my attention long enough.

And then came Kuroko no Basket. I have no idea what possessed me to give this sports anime a shot, but thank god to that demon/angel because this is the first anime in ages that consumed me to the point of nonstop watching. I finished 75 episodes in a mere week, work and everything. I basically did nothing but watch on my spare time. And now, I'm going to be the demon/angel on your shoulder tempting you to watch this series, using a ton of gifs and quiet a few words!

#1: You Don't Need to Love Sports 

I know, I know. The first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words "basketball anime" is... meh, I'm not really into basketball. Or any type of sports. I thought the same thing. Well, you really don't need to be to love this anime.

In fact, this anime is exactly the reason why normal sports don't interest me. Normal sports don't have special moves that make the ball disappear, or change your eye color, or make fucking lazer beams shot from your eyes, do they?

And okay, all these are just visual aids to make everything cooler. None of the characters really have super powers. But... boy, how cool it is.

And if you already love sports without those super powers, imagine how much you'll love it with them! (just, bear in mind, it's not a 100% realistic representation of the sport. As demonstrated by the superpower-esque situation).

#2: Great Characters and Character Interactions 

You know, the key element to any story is its characters. A boring, weak, or pathetic character can make you indifferent or hateful toward the story. But strong, interesting, versatile characters can bring even the most unoriginal story to life. Combine that with a great plot, and you have a recipe for success.

Well, the characters in Kuroko no Basket are the absolute best. I love them so much it's ridiculous. First we have our trusty shadow Kuroko Tetsuya, the namesake of this series. With such an adorable, admirable and strong main character, how can you not love this show? 

His partner and his "light" is Kagami Taiga. Hot headed, serious, never-backs-away-from a fight. He is loud where Tetsuya is calm and quiet, making them the complete opposites, but you know what they say - opposites attract. It might sound a little gay. A lot of the fangirls (me included) kind of hope it is gay because these two compliment each other so well... but, canonically speaking, there is nothing less than straight about these two. Either way they're great characters.

Individually, all the characters in this show are very strong (and heck amusing), but it's the interaction between them that really seals the deal as a great show. It's funny, it's charming, it's human, and each character develops and builds alone and as a group as the story moves along, creating the coolest basketball team to ever basket (and they have some wicked cool competitors in-series). 

These characters will make you root for them like crazy. You will jump out of your chair in happiness when they win. You will bite your nails as they struggle game after game, never to give up. You will cry with them when they lose. 

Because these amazing characters will make you unable not to. 

#3: FRIENDSHIP IS EVERYTHING... and yet not too cheesy 

Kuroko no Basket is not the first (and it's not going to be the last) anime to focus on friendship. However, Kuroko takes it a step farther while simultaneously taking it a step down.

A step farther? the whole idea behind Kuroko no Basket is team play. "Kuroko no Basket" literally means "the basketball which Kuroko plays". Kuroko is a team player. His biggest role is to support the team and give them the best position to score and win the game. He is a player that cannot play by himself... nor does he want to. 

He believes that a game played "by yourself" relying solely on your own abilities is not a fun game, because even if you win you have no one to celebrate it with - so what's the point? And he's out to prove it to everyone else... which means the opposing teams also get incredible character development! 

Indeed, the whole point of Kuroko no Basket is "Team Play". It's not enough just to be friends to have a good team play (you need to trust each other, to have individual strong abilities but also to understand your role in the group in order to create good 'team play') but friendship is still a key element. 

Taking it a step down? You're not going to find cheesy deceleration of friendships and eye-roll worthy moments around this theme. Or at least, not in the normal way. Everyone fall into an effortless friendship, and every such gesture is timed, fitting and tasteful. Never once did I snicker and thought it over the top, which I think often in anime, sports or otherwise. Kuroko no Basket found the perfect balance between making friendship a focal point but keeping it subtle.  

#4: Exciting, Nail Biting Action! 

These are just basketball games, you say? THESE ARE NOT JUST BASKETBALL GAMES. The amount of tension and anxiety these games gave me is on per with saving the world action. Dear god almighty, my nails! My poor nails! Gone, just like that. Because of a bunch of basketball games.

If that doesn't say you need to watch this series, if only just so you could see how this is possible, I don't know what will. 

#5: THE FEELS

This is just a stupid anime about basketball, Nitzan, you say.
There is no way it can kick you in the guts with feels, you say.
Stop lying, you say.

WELL, YOU'RE STUPID AND NO I'M NOT LYING.

I was drowning in feels.

btw yes, this well known gif is is my babe Kuroko 

 Basketball punched by feels.

It was a feels field day! Ohhh, it starts light enough. You get a hint and a warning of it in the first season, but it fools you into thinking this is just going to be a fun romp in the grass. Season two has some heartbreaking scenes, but it's not full out yet. But THEN... then comes seasons three and WHAM, you're under attack. And you're going to cry, goddammit, and you're going to love it!

Don't mind me. I'll just just sitting here, crying.

*The number detailed here is accurate to the time this post was written on. 

Nonsensical and Ridiculous in the Best of Ways: "Gintama" | #PAP Review

Gintama (2006)
MAL Top Anime List*: #10
# Episodes watched (so far): 26 out of 201
Will I continue?: Yes

Aired: Apr 4, 2006 to Mar 25, 2010
Followed by: Gintama'

Comedy, Parody, Samurai

Rating:

The Amanto, aliens from outer space, have invaded Earth and taken over feudal Japan. As a result, a prohibition on swords has been established, and the samurai of Japan are treated with disregard as a consequence.
However one man, Gintoki Sakata, still possesses the heart of the samurai, although from his love of sweets and work as a yorozuya, one might not expect it. Accompanying him in his jack-of-all-trades line of work are Shinpachi Shimura, a boy with glasses and a strong heart, Kagura with her umbrella and seemingly bottomless stomach, as well as Sadaharu, their oversized pet dog. Of course, these odd jobs are not always simple, as they frequently have run-ins with the police, ragtag rebels, and assassins, oftentimes leading to humorous but unfortunate consequences.
Who said life as an errand boy was easy?

The top anime on MAL (currently) is the latest sequel to Gintama. Originally, I tried watching that. I got 7 minutes into the episode (seven hilarious minutes) before I established that I should watch the original series to fully appreciate it.

Which is how I made my way to the #10 seed, Gintama (2006). 

Gintama is the sort of anime I have a trouble keeping up with... because it has no story arc (so far) to carry the "plot", just nonsensical episodes on episodes that don't really connect unless they joke on past episodes events.

The series revolves around Gintoki, Kagura and Shimura. The description of their job is "odd jobs" - they will literally do anything for money (but they're so outrages it usually ends badly, so they're constantly broke). The anime relies and the dynamics between them, which are ridiculous to watch. A bit like a dysfunctional family.

It's extreme funny (though, just from the first episode of the sequel I can determine that one is even funnier) and you spend most of the episodes baffled and going WTF, but with a teasing smile at the corner of your mouth as your brain tries to figure out what's going on and then decides it's just not worth the headache.

It also relies on references and 'inside jokes'. I don't always get the references (I am not that knowledgeable about popular anime, especially in the last few years), but those I did get kind of killed me.

The strength of Gintama is that I can put it aside when I don't feel up to it (and when there's no overall plot to suck me in, I usually don't feel up to it) and pick it up again when I need a pick-me-up without having to re-watch any of the episodes prior to it.

I will definitely keep up with this show, but it might take me years to finish it - it will all depend on when I'm "in the mood" for random nonsense.

*The number detailed here is accurate to the time this post was written on. 
**The # is also based on the anime page and not the list, as MAL's Top List has a general view that includes movies, OVAs and the likes and a narrowed list of just the Anime. I go by the narrowed list, but the anime page goes by the general. 

Get Ready to Bawl Your Eyes Out With Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki | Manga Review

Pandora Hearts by Jun Mochizuki
Completed at 107 out 107 Chapters, 24 volumes
Reading Status: Finished

Published: May 18, 2006 to Mar 18, 2015
Adventure, Mystery, Fantasy, Shounen, Supernatural
Rating:

The air of celebration surrounding fifteen-year-old Oz Vessalius's coming-of-age ceremony quickly turns to horror when he is condemned for a sin about which he knows nothing. He is thrown into an eternal, inescapable prison known as the Abyss from which there is no escape. There, he meets a young girl named Alice, who is not what she seems. Now that the relentless cogs of fate have begun to turn, do they lead only to crushing despair for Oz, or is there some shred of hope for him to grasp on to?

If you're looking for a funny, cutesy manga to pass your time with, LOOK AWAY BECAUSE PANDORA HEARTS IS NOT THAT. While immensely funny at times, Pandora Hearts is heartbreaking in it's core, weaving through dialogues, characters and beautiful art style an intricate, gut wrenching tale of love, loss and obsession.

From the very beginning, Pandora Hearts engulfs you in this sense of mystery and intrigue. What is going on here? What is the truth? What is the motives behind the characters actions? It piles questions on top questions, wrapping it up with a cast of endearing, funny, sweet and somewhat broken characters.

The main core of the manga are Oz, Alice and Gilbert. And yes, there are some very clear elements of both Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz interwoven into the tale.

Oz is the successor to the house of Vessalius, one of the four dukedoms of this fantasy world. He is a lovable but odd child. He has a hard time believing he is lovable. Believing he is worth something. He doesn't fight for anything, and at times seems oddly detached from this world. Someone might need to literally beat him up in order for him to realize his own self worth.

None of it is helped by his disastrous 15th birthday coming of age ceremony, where the party is disrupted and Oz gets cast into The Abyss, a twisted, eternal prison, for the simple sin of "existing".

The Abyss is what gives birth to "Chains" - strangely toy-like creatures with superpowers who can only exist in the real world by forming a contract with a human... and eating other humans. There, Oz meets Alice - a human shaped chain who offers to help him escape this prison if he forms a contract with her.

Oz does, forming a connection beyong a simple contract with the spunky girl. Alice is a peculiar chain. First of all - she has a proper name. She is human in her looks and behavior - acting a bit like a naughty child; she loves food; she is funny and sweet and innately attuned to Oz's feelings and moods. She tries to cheer him up constantly, because he "is her manservant and only she is allowed to make him sad". In short, she is a delight.

But why is Alice so different? Yet another mystery slowly unraveled by this manga.

cool Gil!

.... Real Gil...

And finally, the person who awaits Oz and Alice in Real Life, working to free Oz on his end - Gilbert. Oz's servant and best friend, he defines himself by his master, he will do anything for him, he is a bit weak and he's very insecure. He balances Oz's devil-may-care and Alice rush enthusiasm perfectly.

These three are squad goals and I love them dearly. Together, they work to find the truth behind what happened to Oz, what happened one hundred years ago... and what is about to happen next.

Around them are funny, odd, sweet, smart and crazy characters; from the Mad Hatter whom I long to give a hug, to Liem and Sharon, the count, UNCLE OSCAR (I love him), Ada, Elliot, Leo and of course... Vincent. Wacked-up, strangely endearing, impossibly impossible Vincent.

Everyone in this manga are such a mess, but a mess I loved.

Now when I first started this series, it was still on-going, and in it's relatively happy-go-lucky, just-fun-and-games stage. So I was not expecting it to punch me in the face suddenly and then keep punching non stop. Seriously, I started crying at around chapter 54 and continued crying up to the end.

I am not okay. This is not okay!

If you're looking for a manga that could really hit you in the feels and make you both engross and interested and completely heartbroken for everyone at the same time, manga with bitter-sweet endings, then... this one is for you.

Otherwise , stay away because this will break you.

Hope this review made some form of sense! lol