So, this show’s story is completely bonkers. We start with a girl who can measure basketball players’ power levels by asking them to take their shirts off. What is this, an RPG? Numbers actually appear on their different body parts.
Our lead character has the power to turn invisible and make super passes without being detected, a.k.a. he’s a ninja. Ninja techniques are the only way the Japanese can compete against the superior American basketball players (no, I’m not making this up, it’s in the show!). He befriends the really tall guy who went to American middle school and is therefore the best basketball player in Japan, since he learned from the source.
Despite all that, this show did manage to keep my attention for the entire episode. So despite the silly premise, the story is well told. I’ll stick with it another episode at least. But I really cannot stand sports anime so I’ll probably drop it. I still haven’t finished Giant Killing back from when it was airing…
I’m a huge sports anime fan, so I was excited when I heard they were going to make a new basketball anime. I’m surprised there aren’t more of these around. Slam Dunk (as detestably racist as it was) drew good reviews and it seemed to be very popular in Japan.
I haven’t seen the first episode, so I’m basing my comments on what you’ve written in the preview. Kuroko seems a lot like Moshidora. The second screen shot (and the plot) lead me to believe this series is targeted more toward a female audience. Do you think so?
It will be interesting to see how the female protagonist reacts to her power. Is she more of a fangirl or does she take this basketball power level thing seriously? I’ve seen a few reverse harem anime – all of them terrible – but never anything involving sports. I guess I’ll give the first episode a shot, but this series has disappointment written all over it.
I’ve never seen Slam Dunk, but now I’m really curious hearing that it’s racist. It always surprises me how people can be racist against groups that are basically non-existent in their own country…
I wouldn’t say it’s too similar to Moshidora. Moshidora was more about managing and the chemistry behind the team rather than about basketball. This show is decidedly all about basketball. I would say it’s intended more for a female audience, though, based on the bishounens. I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned into some BL thing by the end.
She’s not a fangirl at all, she takes her power seriously. She’s actually the team’s coach. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be a reverse harem yet— BL seems more likely— but it’s hard to say at this point.