Kuroko's Basketball 2 Episode 3 & 4--Legend of the Uncrowned Kings

The Attack on Titan reference jokes write themselves!

 
Sorry for the delay! By the time you will be reading this, I will be attempting to write three papers simultaneously on three different 500+ page books. Grad school is fun! I think I might need to lock my copy of Pokemon X in a safe and hide the key until I rework my homework schedule...

There is a disturbance in the Force

Anyway, a new tournament is finally underway! Episode three seemed to be mainly concerned with hype, which is to say that its purpose was to show off how much Seirin has improved since last time they were in competition. The increase in skill is immediately obvious when you compare it to their games towards the end of the first season, and they were already pretty good at that point. However, this time around we have an uninjured Kagami banging his head on the rim, which is insane on a number of levels. I've gotten used to this show and how it treats skills like superpowers, but I admit that I laughed when the Generation of Miracles simultaneously "sensed" his awakening. That said, it's that level of silliness combined with the serious treatment that keeps me watching.

Damn son

But I think that the real key here will be whether or not Kuroko perfects his unstoppable drive. The Generation of Miracles may be focused on Kagami at the moment while he climbs his way up, but the show isn't called Kagami's Basketball. They say that it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for, and Kuroko has already proved himself to be an important factor to consider. If they forget about him, I think that might prove to be the key to their downfall. He's catching up quickly, and so far only Kagami and Momoi seem to be aware of it.

 
And while the Generation of Miracles continue to be interesting--there are still two we've yet to see in action--the introduction of the Uncrowned Kings changes things up a bit, which I appreciate. If the Generation of Miracles is on the crazy tier, then it only makes sense that people who worked their way up through talent and dedication would be right below them even if they are ignored. At least, that seems to be the implication, but I'm not sure what to make of Teppei's counterpart Hanamiya just yet. That guy's character design alone screams "sleezeball."


In any case, we've already got several plotlines going at the start of the Shutoku vs. Seirin rematch. It'll be fun to see what inevitable obstacles will pop up this time!

Images from Crunchyroll.com.