ever since slam dunk, i've been waiting for a fun basketball manga that i could read. cross over came out but after a while, it really started to piss me off and i gave up on basketball manga. until i decided to read this. it's fun, its energetic. and characters are interesting enough to actually keep reading.

Not bad. The characters are endearing, charming, and... very, very moe. The interactions between the characters, and their bonds, are strong, deep, and well-written. I liked that Kuroko came from the very top with the GOM (Generation of Miracles) and is a veteran, instead of being a rookie. His past--and the breakdown of the GOM was particularly moving.
Someone criticized the title for being lame or something--but I think it's straight-forward and carries meaning. It's about Kuroko's basketball--how he overcame his weakness of lack of conventional talent, and created his own way of playing the sport he loves so dearly, how he manages to make everyone acknowledge his worth as a basketball player, his wish to play in a real team, rather than a league of one-man teams. All this, and the stories of the people his life that surround and affect him.
I was impressed with how well paced this was. The matches felt like they went faster than the long chapters I was actually reading. The art later on is absolutely fantastic (save for Momoi and Riko--I can't figure out if Momoi is actually supposed to be attractive, or maybe she's just poorly drawn--Alex is the only good-looking female in this series.) The expressions of the characters in this manga are great--especially Kuroko's furious face, and his "we'll win now!" and "even so, it's better than losing here" faces. The humour isn't disruptive, and is funny rather than lame (well, except for Izuki, of course) unlike certain sports manga I've attempted to read.
A lot of people are complaining about the move names, and I have no idea why, because seriously--I don't care what you say, "Right of Postponement", "Ankle Break", "Ignite Pass Kai" all sound super-cool. This is a fictional shounen manga--what's wrong with cool move names?

I do have one major complaint, though. This manga is a huge tease. I won't explain it any further than that.

Okay, so after all the annoying comparisons to Slam Dunk, I attempted to pick it (SD) up again.
But before that, comparing the two is silly. The entire point of KuroBasu is that the main protagonist isn't tall, built, strong, and totally hot-headed. You have Kagami for that--and the character type is so overused he's usually not very high in the popularity polls. Kuroko is a kuudere, and he's just... so different, that it's refreshing.
For all the stunts that the characters do, at least the mangaka cared to put in the tedious effort to explain things in a way that they'd make sense in theory. The GOM are called "Miracles" for a reason--their abilities are supposed to be impossible by normal means. The point is they're not normal, and they're in a fictional universe. This is fiction--isn't one of the main points of fiction being able to escape from the boring reality?
Without all these super-fancy moves, I'm pretty sure I would've gave up halfway into the first volume like I did with Slam Dunk the first time. I'd imagine it took a long time to come up with those ideas, and then apply them to the characters in a way to make them interesting and appealing. I think the work put into that deserves some acknowledgement, at least. By including all these "ridiculous stunts", it creates interest for a much wider audience, for those who would otherwise have better things to read. Slam Dunk's demographic, I'm sure, would be mostly male. For KuroBasu, though the active fandom is pretty much predominantly female, the reader demographic seems to be more or less equivalent in gender.
This is a shounen manga, not a seinen manga, so Real isn't even relevant (not that it isn't amazingly well written and drawn). More than "real sports", this is more like... "moe sports". I do not apologize for well-executed moe. (By moe, I mean the fact that Kagami is the Light, and Kuroko is his Shadow. The promises between characters. Aomine's story.) I find each character, especially the members of the Generation of Miracles (I don't care what you people say, it sounds super cool) much more interesting and memorable than most characters in the other shounen manga you people have so far mentioned in comparison. From the hot-headed sports heroes, one sees their determined faces so often that it's common to get desensitized. With Kuroko, who's normally expressionless and calm--to see his furious face, his extremely determined face, has much more of an impact. I liked that the main team went against the stereotype of having a cute female manager, and instead went with a tough, comedically ruthless, cool female coach. I especially loved that the women in this aren't just Mary Sue pin-up mascots that were just there because there needed to be a love interest. ("Love interest": read "boring, shallow infatuation".) KuroBasu basically has little to no mutual male-female romance, actually...

All that matters is that KuroBasu is interesting. As for the people who say that it's gotten dull, personally I've found it more interesting. The Aomine vs Kagami battle was brilliant, Akashi alone is reason enough to read this, and the Teikou arc is fffffffantastically heart-breaking and moving.

Now, onto re-trying Slam Dunk: So far the humour is painfully lame and old-fashioned (well, it IS old-school manga...), so I don't know what the guy saying that SD humour is better has been smoking. I've seen KuroBasu bloopers funnier than this. I want to throw the witless "romance" out the window. The main character is a dolt and super annoying, and not even the slightest bit likeable--Kagami is much more likeable as a character. Every time anyone says "dunk", they say "slam dunk", and it's so lame I can't even handle it--ugh. "Can't you throw it more softly? Your opponent is still a weak girl." No. KuroBasu has Alex--and here we're stuck with her? SD throws around the "best basketball player in Japan" label like butter. Screw Slam Dunk. Maybe it gets better later on, but I'm not going to approve of a manga that fails to keep me reading from the get-go.

... Last updated on August 31st, 2013, 3:41pm

This basketball manga is interesting and entertaining, it is different from other mangas. This manga truly shows that everyone has their own unique talents and that the weak can also be strong. This manga is very unpredictable since you get used to the idea that the strong will always climb higher and that the weak does nothing. Also the chapters are short that makes you really want to read the next chapter and it doesn't drags or repeat like other sport mangas.

... Last updated on February 21st, 2009, 4:38pm

The manga started out in an interesting and fresh way, but destroyed itself in the process.
It had some original characters and some games were enjoyable, however the second the mangaka brought the zone he got cornered in a trap.
I can understand the need to make the manga more exciting, I can understand some flashy moves, I can understand all of that. But if you have the Zone as something rare and special you can't have all the characters use it in every single game, it destroys the purpose of it being special in the first place. Then out comes the Second Zone?! Not to mention we're talking about high school kids here. The last game was just nonstop ridiculous.
No, this is not realistic, and it's not as enjoyable as most make it sound.
Basketball in manga will always mean Slam Dunk! That's the series you should read. And also Real. Those 2 are absolute masterpieces and pretty much every other work will pale in comparison.

I started this series without much expectations, I just wanted to see what all the praise was about. I normally don't read sports mangas, especially shounen ones because of all the ridiculous superpowers and power ups the characters receive during their training arcs. It took me awhile to realize I actually LIKED this series, in fact I really really liked it.
The story is solid enough and enjoyable, I think the pacing is well done as well as the humor, but the best part of the manga I believe is the characters. They are pretty much what makes the series shine in my opinion. The mangaka has done a great job of juggling the characters and balancing them out, there aren't really any super stereotypical characters that most shounen mangas have, and they have their own personality and depth. What I appreciate the most is that the abilities of each character isn't really supernatural or just outrageously ridiculous. Realistic? No, but the level of ridiculousness the abilities the characters have is controlled and not mind numbingly dumb like they do in another sports manga Prince of Tennis.
I think Kuroko no Basuke is doing just fine the way it is, and it's proven that it still has a lot of potential to grow and get better. So far I don't find that the series is dragging, everything that has happened seemed appropriate for the story to continue or for characters to get stronger. Sure, it still has the whole typical setup of a sports manga but instead of finding that boring, you'll find that you hardly notice it.
If you are reading this series to judge it and compare it to another sports manga you like, then why bother? This series stands out on its own and should be enjoyed without a clouded opinion.

For those who were a bit harsh in your comments, you gotta understand that this manga is FICTIONAL! It has a basketball concept but that's pretty much it! Some of you say that the mangaka is disgracing basketball but he is just putting in his own twist in it! Inagaki Riichiro did the same thing with Eyeshield 21. Sure the situation and sport is different but that doesn't change the fact that both the mangaka are merely drawing what they imagined the sport would be like should it be in a fictional world.

IMO, Kuroko no Basket is fascinatingly fun and a very enjoyable read! The characters are adorable, the plot is the usual, the abilities are cool and it defines an entirely new sport! If the mangaka was disgracing basketball, why is the name of the type of shoots still the same? Why is the timing still the same? Why does the normal rules of basketball still apply? Why is it so hard for some of you to accept this? I myself play basketball, and from the bottom of my heart, I truly hope that this manga will be accepted by everyone.

Not easy drawing a manga so plz appreciate what you've got here! Slam dunk is still the all time favourite basketball manga but don't think low of Kuroko no Basket just because they deviate from the original sport!

I don't know how much different the show is but I am judging this based off the manga.. If I was gonna review the anime I would review it on an anime site not mangaupdates unlike some fools here. From what I can tell from this manga, because of it's main premise people are either mostly going to like it and some are going to hate it. Unfortunately I find myself somewhat in the middle here and see the flaws that this manga has. The matches themselves got awfully repetitive pretty quick, as another review said before it's just really one team powering up than the other team gets a power up and it goes back and forth. Also feel like the tension between the two opponent teams isn't there. Kuroko's special ability as the "Phantom sixth man" was very interesting but boring to read in action, the author just seemed to have a hard time incorporating this idea legitimately in a way that makes sense while losing it's entertainment value. Outside the action of basketball I find it to be more so entertaining, the characters were good as well as the comedy. While I'm not one to call out others, I'm not gonna sit here and imply anyone who dislike the manga a "smartass" or "know-it-all" like some blind fanboy nor am I gonna greatly exaggerate why this manga is bad. Worse where I write the review for the anime version of this series on a manga site. While I wouldn't recommend this manga, I wouldn't say I wasted my time reading this since I did had some fun reading it.

This is a nice basketball manga!! Honestly saying, it's my first time reading a shounen manga. I never wanted to try reading shounen manga mainly because I never liked that genre. But then I found this manga. Although it's my first shounen manga, and my first fully related to basketball manga, I can say that this is a really enjoyable manga. And of course, the one I like the most is Kuroko!!!!!!!

I love the fact that he's hidden, looks calm and then suddenly showing something flashy during the game. But what I dislike the most is how their team always looked shocked whenever their opponents went ahead of them. It's happening too much that I get pissed whenever they go like "How did they-?!" but whenever I see kuroko coming in, I'm so happy! xD

Maybe Slam Dunk might be better (I didn't read it) but this is really nice. It's not too hardcore but it's really intense and I love the drawing! I can't wait to read what happens next! And of course, I hope that the manga won't drag out to long volumes...I'm never patient with ongoing manga.

PS: I have to say though, I kinda liked Aomine. Although he's one hell of a badass. And one more thing, I never liked Kise's tactics. I don't see how copying others is called a "great talent". It's distasteful! If he have at least, his own techniques, then I would say he's a good opponent, but copying other's people technique and using them to win matches is very....fake. It kinda pisses me off although this is a fiction story.

... Last updated on December 13th, 2012, 8:44pm

I don't normally read Sports Manga but this one looked interesting because of Kuroku being unnoticeable, I like the way the two main characters develop. And how it shows despite Kuroku not being amazing at basket ball he resorts to his own techniques that make him amazing. Also it's good that the characters and team is not invincible.

UPDATE: It's starting to go downhill at the Winter Cup, there's too much powering up too quickly, it seems like new skill are being developed like billiow. And the matches drag on.
UPDATE no.2: After a long break I started reading this manga again, the matches still drag and the power ups are ridiculous, but the arc of Kuroko's middle school and the reasons he is out to defeat the generation of miracles is really good, and got me interested again. It makes you understand Kuroko's motivations better.
I am hoping that Serin win the winter cup and the manga ends, I don't want it to be drawn out and ruin it.

... Last updated on September 1st, 2013, 3:54pm

Interesting idea, I like it. I like the whole idea of Kuroko just being the passer.

Storyline is great, but I kinda predicted at one point what was going to happen, but hey *shrugs* it's your typical shounen sport moment.

Anyway, characters are great, although I kinda got overwhelm by so many character by the 2nd volume. I would had preferred that we had more time with the team characters just so we can actually REMEMBER them. I actually had to reread twice from the beginning to realize, "Hey, you did appeared at the first volume."

Looks like Kuroko is gonna evolve, but I'm not gonna review much until I get much deeper into the manga.