Themes in Kuroko no Basket
Friendship and Teamwork
In Kuroko no Basket, the themes of friendship and teamwork are both apparent and closely related. These themes are one of the main plot drivers in the series. Tetsuya Kuroko is the protagonist of the series and finds these virtues of value. In order to play basketball, he believes that the team should a group of great friends and work well together to win matches. His belief regarding friendship and teamwork is so strong that it is one of the driving forces behind the reason he quit the Teikō basketball club at the end of his third year of middle school.
Before the bloom of their abilities, the “Generation of Miracles” were a group of friends and played together to achieve victory for their team. However, after their individual strengths began to grow, the coach began to focus on achieving their victories by the use of individual skills. Slowly, the team's friendship began to drift apart, as well as their teamwork. They began to arrogantly believe in themselves and only trust themselves to score points. To anger Kuroko even more, they even went to the point of humiliating his childhood friend in a match in the finals for the championship. Thus, Kuroko quickly quit the team due to their insensitivity toward him.
Before the bloom of their abilities, the “Generation of Miracles” were a group of friends and played together to achieve victory for their team. However, after their individual strengths began to grow, the coach began to focus on achieving their victories by the use of individual skills. Slowly, the team's friendship began to drift apart, as well as their teamwork. They began to arrogantly believe in themselves and only trust themselves to score points. To anger Kuroko even more, they even went to the point of humiliating his childhood friend in a match in the finals for the championship. Thus, Kuroko quickly quit the team due to their insensitivity toward him.
Also, Kuroko's values of friendship and teamwork led him to enroll in Seirin High, joining their basketball team, despite being a new team with little information. During his last year of middle school, Kuroko needed to return something to one of their players. He caught a snippet of one of their matches and loved their style which heavily relied on teamwork to score. Kuroko easily saw that everyone on the team were good friends and remembered their school so that when it came time to choosing a high school, he could choose Seirin. When he joined their school and team, not only were they accepting of Kuroko, but they instantly became friends and great teammates. In addition to their kindness, Seirin High has a philosophy based around supporting each other. As Teppei Kiyoshi stated, “We don't support each other because we are a team. We are a team because we support each other.”
Not only are the themes of friendship and teamwork related to Kuroko, but they are also related to Taiga Kagami. He starts off not fully trusting his teammates; mostly scoring on his own, thinking is better. However, Kuroko whacked him in the head and tried to instill the philosophy of teamwork into Kagami. Slowly, after that encounter, Kagami began to rely on his teammates more. This continued to the point where they realized that Kagami is on par with the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko realized this and reminded him how is Kagami is different, how he plays with his team. Kagami is seen to fully rely on his teammates during a match where he injured his leg. Also, he is, in turn, fully relied on by his team to stop some of the Generation of Miracles.
“You have teammates, you know. Don’t hold back and depend on them!” (Aida Riko)
Rivalry
The theme of rivalry, in Kuroko no Basket, is another one of the important themes. Rivalry is very apparent in the series because some of the main story arcs focus on rivalries between: Kagami and Tatsuya Himuro, Seirin and Aomine, and Kuroko, Kagami and the Generation of Miracles.
These rivalries are important to the sport of basketball and this story because they drive the plot forward and give the characters a meaning to play the sport. For example, the rivalry between Kuroko, Kagami and the Generation of Miracles gives the story a plot and an ultimate goal that can be accomplished. |
Victory
Victory is an apparent theme in the series, as Kuroko is constantly questioning its meaning. He began to question, “what is victory?”, in his third year of middle school when he was forced to sit-out due to an injury. When he was told of what his teammates did to humiliate his childhood friend, he was taken aback by their reply. They simply said that their opponents were too weak, and without doing what they did, they would not have any fun. After this encounter, Kuroko did not attend school for awhile until graduation where Akashi asks if he has found his answer. Kuroko replied that he has not, but will find the answer soon.
The answer to “what is victory?” begins to unveil itself throughout the series. During a match against Shūtoku, Kagami began to play like the Generation of Miracles - by himself. Kuroko asked Kagami:
The answer to “what is victory?” begins to unveil itself throughout the series. During a match against Shūtoku, Kagami began to play like the Generation of Miracles - by himself. Kuroko asked Kagami:
“But there's no meaning if you win alone! You said you wanted to defeat the Generation of Miracles - but you think just like them! And even if we defeat Shūtoku ‘your way’, no one will be happy! (...) In that case, what's ‘victory’? Even if you have a higher score than your opponent when the final whistle blows... If there's no one happy, is it ‘victory’?” (Tetsuya Kuroko to Taiga Kagami) |
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By the time Seirin faced-off against Rakuzan, Kuroko states that he has found his answer to the question. Akashi tells Kuroko to share his answer through his basketball, but Kuroko replies that he will not be showing his basketball, but Seirin’s basketball. From this, the reader can infer that the meaning of victory is friendship and teamwork, as it is the essence of Seirin’s style. In Kuroko no Basket, the answer to victory is that everyone is content, tried their best, and never gave up until the end.
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