English Dub Season Review: Kuroko’s Basketball Season Three

 

Overview:

Following their triumph against Yosen High, Seirin’s basketball team has reached the semifinals of the Winter Cup along with Kaijo, Rakuzan, and Shutoku. Each of these teams possesses a member of the Generation of Miracles, and Seirin prepares to face the largest obstacles on their path to winning the Winter Cup.

In the final season of Kuroko‘s Basketball, Kuroko goes head-to-head with his old teammates once more as he attempts to show them that individual skill is not the only way to play basketball. His firm belief that his form of basketball, team play, is the right way to play the sport will clash with the talents of a perfect copy and an absolute authority.

Our Take:

Now THAT was a wild ride! I’m still shaking from what I just watched. I got legitimately nervous for the final match of this like I was watching a real sporting event. This was always the most recent standard that sports anime was held to and now I can see why. I have very little to nitpick on this show so I will get those out of the way first.

First, you better really like the games and just watching the sport (in this case basketball) because there is very little else here. This show is put down as a slice of life as well as a sports anime but those parts are few and far between BUT they are amazing when they happen. Also, this show is very over the top and not super grounded in real life. It took me to this season to realize these abilities are actually real and not just some explanation for real-world freaks of nature. It’s basically Super Saiyans from Dragonball Z playing basketball at times. Sports anime like Haikyuu!! and Major is definitely more grounded so just keep that in mind.

Honestly, I understand how ridiculous some of the moves are but it’s so awesome that I don’t mind. This season I finally got to see more of the leader of the generation of miracles, Akashi. Akashi has been the one member of the generation I was most eager to learn about, and I love that he is voiced by Aleks Le. What really makes this show fantastic is the characters, and not just the members of the generation either.

We get more background on Kuroko’s time at Teiko Middle School. There are a couple of episodes before the final match that is a giant flashback and they were really awesome. There was a player that was with the generation before Kise showed up named Haizaki but we are introduced to him earlier in the season. The captain of Teiko before Akashi was a guy named Nijimura and he was pretty cool. I loved almost all of the characters introduced in this season, Haizaki was probably the weakest and that’s just because he was a giant douche.

The voice cast for this show is simply amazing. There were so many heavy hitters in this and that is just the returning cast from the previous two seasons. The main ones I noticed were Ray Chase as Haizaki, Clifford Chapin as Nijimura, Bryce Papenbrook as Ogiwara, and Kyle McCarley as Mayuzumi. Adding them to the cast was fantastic and everyone did such a good job with this show.

Production I.G knocked it out of the park with this season. All the animations were jaw-dropping and I was losing my mind multiple times. There’s an ability that utilizes everyone on a team and the effects for it are absolutely stellar. I was watching with a friend and he wondered what was wrong with me I was going so crazy. Suffice it to say this has some of the best animations in anime not just sports anime.

Everything is laid out this season, motivations, friendships, and what really matters to all involved. There’s definitely some “power of friendship” stuff but given the setting, it’s not as eye-rolling as it could be. If you couldn’t tell I really loved this season, it gave me mostly everything I wanted and I am sad it’s over. The “final” episode is a bit weird cause it actually takes place before the ending. On Netflix at least it plays after the end, it was a bit confusing at first so keep that in mind.

I really loved that we got to see the rest of the “Uncrowned Kings” that were touched on in the last season. Kiyoshi and Hanamiya were the two we met last season. Of course, it so happens that the remaining three are on Rakuzan with Akashi. The remaining three are Mibuchi, Hayama, and Nebuya. I have a feeling you will enjoy these characters a lot, they are all quirky in their own way. The only one I wasn’t a huge fan of was Nebuya because he was a classic meathead but his rivalry with Kiyoshi balanced it out.

As far as the final season go this was a pretty good one. There was a lot left on the table that I would like to see but it is also fine how it is. There is a movie that takes place after this but I am not sure if Netflix has plans to dub it at the moment. I would imagine they will and I really hope they do. This has become one of my favorite anime’s and I can’t recommend it more. It’s over the top and crazy but man is it fun. It is by no means perfect but it’s damn close and it’s finally dubbed.