List of Kuroko no Basuke characters

This is a list of characters from the manga series Kuroko's Basketball by Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Characters

Seirin High

Seirin High's basketball team was founded only the year before the manga; despite this setbacks and only including freshmen, the team made it all the way to the final league in that year's Inter-High school tournament. This year, the team's notable newcomers include Tetsuya Kuroko, the main character of the manga, as well as Taiga Kagami.

Tetsuya Kuroko (黒子 テツヤ, Kuroko Tetsuya)

Voiced by: Kenshō Ono,^[1] Ami Koshimizu (VOMIC)

He is the "phantom" sixth man of the "Generation of Miracles" (キセキの世代, Kiseki no Sedai) (Teiko Middle School's basketball team). Kuroko is Seirin's secret weapon. Although he was an essential member of his middle school basketball team, unlike his former teammates, Kuroko is largely unknown. This is because he is so small, frail, unnoticeable, distressingly slow, and easy to miss. However, he is greatly respected by everyone. He capitalizes in misdirection, using himself as a relay to redirect his teammates' passes to another free player and make virtually unstoppable steals, getting the ball to and between his teammates faster than opponents can react, while at the same time remaining "invisible" to his opponents. This talent allows him to play a central role in any team. His near-invisibility makes him highly susceptible to on-court injuries however,^[2] and is not effective indefinitely. If he is left in play too long, opponents grow used to his misdirection tactics; as such, he must be placed on the bench at varying points in any match to prevent this. As revealed in the Teiko arc, Akashi was the one who taught Kuroko his playing style. Also, his misdirection is inspired from the book "Techniques in Guiding Lines of Sight" and developed it due to his sharp observation skills. Because he has learned new skills like the "Phantom Shot" and the "Vanishing Drive" , his lack of presence wears out, because these skills require to hold the ball and the crowd turns their attention on the one who holds it. This the reason why Akashi didn't teach him how to shoot. ^[3] During the second season of the anime series and the eleventh volume of the manga, he developed a new technique, called the "Vanishing Drive". As the name states, he makes a drive towards an opponent player and seemingly vanishes in front of their eyes, appearing again behind them. This technique combined with his misdirection makes him a powerful player and is also effective enough to pass through the defenses of Midorima and Takao's Hawk Eye. During the game against Tōō Academy, Kuroko performed his Ignite Pass Kai, an new, upgraded version of his Ignite Pass, which is a very powerful pass that pushes the ball at a blinding speed that it even flies past Aomine's hand when he tried to block it. Midorima stated that the Ignite Pass Kai is much like a bullet being fired out of a gun. Kuroko's special ability is the Misdirection Overflow, where when Kuroko's misdirection runs out on him, his teammates have the ability to do the Vanishing Drive. This techinique is specially created to decrease the accuracy of shots. However, when this happens Kuroko is just a regular member on the court without any special talents. He also is helped by Aomine on his shooting skills, creating a shooting style that uses misdirection- the Phantom Shot. The essence of this technique is to use the palm of his hand to thrust the ball forward, although this will mess up the shooting posture. Instead of shooting above one's head, Kuroko shoots the ball from his chest, because of this, the opponent looks lower because of the ball's position, so that the opponents' field of vision is limited. By following a fast release, Kuroko can shoot through his opponent's field of vision, with the opponent thinking that the ball has vanished into thin air. However, Aomine stated that the shot itself has 70% accuracy, which Kuroko has missed some shots while using it. Apart from his lack of presence, Kuroko acquired his own version of the Emperor Eye- the Quasi-Emperor Eye- that is different than Akashi's in the sense that Kuroko's Emperor Eye cannot predict the movements of his opponents (which Akashi's Emperor Eye can), but rather the teammates whom he is familiar with. However, due to his long-term observation of his teammates and his trust with them, his Emperor Eye surpasses Akashi's Emperor Eye in terms of how far he can see into the future. Also, Kuroko is revealed to be the "gatekeeper" of the Zone's second gate. Kuroko respects but doesn't like Midorima because of his way of thinking; Midorima also has similar feelings toward Kuroko. Kuroko considers himself a "Shadow", whose goal is to help his "Light" achieve greatness. Kuroko calls Kagami "his Light". He also has a tendency to speak and act completely deadpan, and a running gag involves his teammates, thinking they are alone, talking to themselves only for Kuroko to answer them, apparently having been in the area long before they arrived. However, despite his initially kind personality, he gets extremely furious at the sight of dirty play, when his teammates are already injured by foul methods in the Kirisaki Daiichi game. His aura changes so drastically, even Kagami got scared when he saw him get angry. When he gets angry, it gets very hard to beat him, as he is filled up with fighting spirit. Also, when the situation worsens, he seems to turn talkative.

Taiga Kagami (火神 大我, Kagami Taiga)

Voiced by: Yūki Ono,^[1] Katsuyuki Konishi (VOMIC)

A naturally gifted basketball player, Kagami easily makes his way into Seirin's starting line-up as a freshman power forward. When he first returned to Japan, he was disappointed by its relatively low level of basketball skill compared to that in the United States. However, since starting high school, Kagami has been spurred on by his desire to compete with the "Generation of Miracles". While he is a powerful all-around player, Kagami's unique skill lies in his ability to jump to great heights. This skill facilitates not only his most common move, the dunk, but also allows him to defend well against taller players. When he makes a jumpshot, he also stays in the air longer than the blocker, making it almost unblockable. The drawback to this capability is that his body is still underdeveloped thus he often injures himself. Having trained extensively since the InterHigh school championships, he is capable of dunking from the free-throw line: a feat that put him on the same league as the Generation of Miracles. The result of his training is that he is able to jump high enough to touch the top of the backboard. He is also able to jump from far away in a difficult position and still be able to block a shot. Facing Touou a second time, Kagami displayed a never-before-seen skill: a high-level tactical battle. This is a very realistic stimulation of a basketball one-on-one in one's minds by reading his opponents subtle feints or moves. Kagami used this to play a stimulation of a one-on-one against Aomine and accurately determined that he would lose. Like many of the other developed characters, Kagami hosts a signature move. It is called Meteor Jam and was taught by the basketball coach he shared with Himuro in America, Alex Garcia. The technique possesses enough power to even penetrate through Murasakibara's defense and can only be executed while in the Zone, as the Zone enhances his jumping power to gain height rather than distance to throw the ball into the hoop. As Kuroko has chosen Kagami as his new "Light", Kagami is also bolstered by Kuroko's techniques. Kuroko is the one normally to calm Kagami down, normally with hits or punches to get Kagami focused. Kagami is noticeably strong: shown in their practice game against Kaijo, he dunked the ball with ferocious power that the rim was ripped off the backboard. He also has the rare power to enter the "zone", enormously boosting his extraordinary jumping power, allowing him to leap even higher to effortlessly block Himuro's Mirage Shot or out-jump and overpowering Murasakibara, who is taller and stronger than him (even blocking his full-powered Thor's Hammer). Kagami's seemingly wild reflexes is compared to a tiger by other players. Apart from basketball, he is a great cook, and taught Riko how to cook curry when she came for his help. He is also a glutton and is able to eat at least five times a normal meal. It is worth noting that Kagami is the only Zone user to have entered it more than once in a match and the only player to have opened the Zone's second gate, known as the "Direct Drive Zone", the Zone's true form.

Junpei Hyūga (日向 順平, Hyūga Junpei)

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya, Shinji Kawada (VOMIC)

Captain of the Seirin team, Hyuuga is a clutch shooter, his capabilities escalating immensely when the team is in a pinch.^[4] Along with Hyuuga's change in skill comes a change in personality; normally Hyuuga is a collected and calm individual, but when he isn't, he becomes heated and rude. This is called "clutch time" and happens primarily when the match intensifies but he has been seen acting like this outside of games. He is the best shooter on the team, regularly making three-point shots throughout the course of a game. Prior to the addition of Kuroko and Kagami, he was one of the centerpieces of the Seirin team's 'run and gun' play style, catching balls scooped by Kiyoshi near the net to shoot as three-pointers. He is also seen being able to shoot a three-pointer two meters from the three-point line. His special move is called "Barrier Jumper", in which he takes a quick jab step away from the opponent and successfully make a jumpshot. The downside of this technique is that, when used repeatedly, the defender starts to adjust to its timing. Near the end of the 4th quarter of the Seirin vs Rakuzan match, he manages to perfectly copy Mibuchi's "Earth Shot". Notably, he is the only player in the series so far to receive a technical foul (for excessive complaining) and out of all the players in Seirin, he has the highest shooting success rate. Also, prior to the four fouls he received in the finals against Rakuzan, he is also the only player who has almost never been seen subbed out once. This is most probably due to him being the captain and the only shooting guard in the team. He is very big on respect for the seniors.

Shun Izuki (伊月 俊, Izuki Shun)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima, Takashi Ōhara (VOMIC)

Acting as the team's "control tower", Izuki is always calm and collected.^[5] While he has no special physical abilities, he has the "Eagle Eye", a mental skill that helps him visualize the court from any point of view and make accurate blind passes. Izuki's special move is called Eagle Spear, in which he steals the ball from an opponent using his arm to knock it away in their blind spot. His Eagle Eye helps him in doing so, associated with his ability to think ahead before the opponent. His Eagle Eye has developed to the point that he can pass through Yosen High's Eagle Wall and predict Hayama's Lightning Dribble. However, his Eagle Eye has a blind spot unlike the Hawk Eye, which Mayuzumi takes advantage of. ^[6] He loves puns, a running gag being that he makes them quite frequently much to the chagrin of his teammates.

Shinji Koganei (小金井 慎二, Koganei Shinji)

Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi, Atsushi Abe (VOMIC)

Considered a jack of all trades, master of none, Koganei is a fairly skilled all-rounder, having started playing basketball during his first year in high school.^[5] This is driven home when his coach denotes his special skill as 'being able to shoot from any point on the court, with a so-so accuracy rate'; a decidedly normal ability.^[7] He serves as the sixth man of Seirin's team, often coming off the bench for the other players, and has the most energetic personality out of all the players on the team. He is, however, quite intelligent, ranking in the top 20% of his class, though he does not excel in any particular subject. Players compare Koganei's seemingly wild reflexes to that of a feral cat. He is the only non-prodigal player to possess this skill, having acquired it from his experience in playing tennis.

Rinnosuke Mitobe (水戸部 凛之助, Mitobe Rinnosuke)

Voiced by: Fumihiro Okabayashi (VOMIC)

A stalwart player, Mitobe is very quiet and reserved.^[5] Although he is never shown speaking (except for in VOMIC), Koganei seems to understand his gestures and expressions perfectly. A hard worker with excellent defensive skills, he is also an accomplished hook shooter.^[8] He lives in a small house with a very large family, and is tasked with making and serving breakfast. He was the team's starting center while Kiyoshi was injured.

Satoshi Tsuchida (土田 聡史, Tsuchida Satoshi)

Voiced by: Gō Inoue

While a regular member of the team in his first year, Tsuchida now sees little game-time due to the addition of Kuroko and Kagami. Good with rebounds, he is apparently not quite as skilled as the other regulars, but remains a key component of the old team's playing style.^[9]

Teppei Kiyoshi (木吉 鉄平, Kiyoshi Teppei)

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada

The progenitor of Seirin's basketball team and its former ace, Kiyoshi is the last of the original Seirin team members to be introduced, due to a hospitalization for a knee injury he received during a game. Rumored to be very capable, his preferred position is point guard, but since their team lacked any other player with the body size to play center, he offered to fill that hole. On Koganei's suggestion, he tried to play both, despite the inherent impossibility. With big hands that allow him to palm the ball with ease, Kiyoshi possesses impressive ball-handling skills for a center (even capable of shooting a three-pointer), and an uncanny sense of timing that allows him to make a move, observe his opponents' reaction, and then counter it in the last second, all in the blink of an eye. This ability is referred to as the Right of Postponement. Because of his large hands, he uses these for something entirely different: rebounding. Instead of jumping towards the ball with both hands, he has gained the ability to grab the ball with only one hand. This gives him the advantage of recovering the ball in the air quicker and with a longer extension. This technique is dubbed "Vice Claw" and it allows him to compete and beat taller players during rebounds. He is renowned and respected by many players in the realm of high-school basketball, and is one of the few players to have held his own against the Generation of Miracles during their peak. While he is currently able to play, the knee injury he sustained during his freshman year was quite severe: formally speaking it required surgery, but the process would make him unable to play basketball for the rest of his high school career. He instead opted to rehabilitate without invasive procedures, though he would only be able to do so for one year at the most. Despite this setback, he vows to make the most of the time he has. Although Hyuuga thinks he is weird, he respects Kiyoshi greatly. Kiyoshi is the most optimistic of his teammates, often offering encouragement with a big smile.

Among high school basketball players, he is one of the "Five Uncrowned Kings" (無冠の五将, Mukan no Goshō), a group of five prodigal players, though overshadowed by the Generation of Miracles, of similarly great prowess and skill. It was recently discovered that the only ones who can go toe-to-toe with the Uncrowned Kings are Hyuga and Izuki. Known for his stabilizing presence and unpredictability due to the Right of Postponement, Kiyoshi is known as the "Iron-Heart" (鉄心, Tesshin).

Koki Furihata (降旗 光樹, Furihata Kōki), Hiroshi Fukuda (福田 寛, Fukuda Hiroshi), Koichi Kawahara (河原 浩一, Kawahara Kōichi)

Voiced by: Naoki Mizutani, Voiced by: Tetsuo Sasaki, Voiced by: Yasuhiro Yoshimoto

The rest of Seirin's team, Furihata, Fukuda and Kawahara see extremely limited playing time due to the skill of their starters (only the former has ever played in a game) and are mostly found on the bench. However, Furihata played an important role in the second match with Kaijo. They play point guard, center and small forward respectively.

Riko Aida (相田 リコ, Aida Riko)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō, Ayumi Fujimura (VOMIC)

Riko, the team's coach, is a second-year student. One reason for her unique position as a student coach is her ability to immediately scan and evaluate the physical capabilities of players at a glance. She gained this ability from going to work with her father, who works as a sports trainer, and spending her time looking at the muscles of athletes and their related data.^[10] She is very devoted to her job as coach, so she diligently researches other teams to devise strategies against them. Riko even uses her father's sports facilities for the team's unique training, which eschews weights for activities like practicing in the pool and drilling basics. Nevertheless, while extremely intelligent, her emotions are often flighty, switching from intensely heated to happily nonchalant at the drop of a hat. Her punishments on her team are very harsh. She is a very bad cook, almost always adding supplements in the team's dishes.

Tetsuya #2 (テツヤ二号, Tetsuya Nigō)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima

Kuroko's pet dog found in the streets. He was taken in by the team as a sort of mascot, picking up the name Tetsuya #2 for his eerily similar eyes to Kuroko. He is an Alaskan Malamute pup that now wears a Seirin jersey numbered #16. Though Kagami is the only one reluctant to accept their new teammate, he eventually does after the dog proves to be surprisingly helpful and saving Kagami from a possible injury from torn shoes. He now joins the team wherever they go, most often hiding in a bag carried by Kuroko.

Kaijō High

Kaijō is a National-level school that makes it to the Interhigh tournament each year. Although it is the first team Seirin plays, it is not in the Tokyo district like Seirin, Shūtoku, Seihō, Senshinkan and Tōō Academy.

Ryōta Kise (黄瀬 涼太, Kise Ryōta)

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura, Takashi Ōhara (VOMIC)

Now a freshman at Kaijō High, Ryōta Kise was the rookie and the small forward of the "Generation of Miracles". Kise started playing basketball because he wanted to do something that was challenging because he easily mastered whatever he wanted to do. After seeing how Aomine played he decided to join. Akashi chose Kuroko to be Kise's mentor since Kise initially doubted Kuroko's capabilities as a basketball player. Since he only started playing basketball in his second year of middle school, Kise was his team's least experienced member, and notes himself the weakest of the five.^[11] Kise wields the ability to imitate moves of other players, only requiring him to only see a technique once, completely copy it and make it into his own. His copying ability doesn't stop there: as he copies the technique, but plays it with more power and speed than the original. This means that when his opponent makes a move, he can transcend them easily. Also, when he imitates a move, he "stores" them in his memory, enabling him to use nearly every basketball technique there exists, making him a very creative player. This skill grants him abilities comparable to a basketball player with decades of experience. He originally could not copy the special skills of truly exceptional players, like the other members of the "Generation of Miracles". Beyond being a strong player in his own right, Kise takes liberal advantage of his good looks and poses as a model after school. He now seems able to mimic the exceptional: faced against Daiki Aomine, he copied his former ace's nearly impossible style precisely during their game, matching him blow for blow throughout. While he lost when he passed the ball to a teammate, something Aomine himself would never do and could thus predict, he proved his boundless potential. Both Kise and Aomine claim that they are the ones who know each other best, even if they aren't teammates anymore. This is due to Kise always playing one-on-one with Aomine back at Teikou. Later, Kise finally overcame his inability to copy the skills of more skilled players, and gains the ability to unlock his Perfect Copy- an extension of his copying ability- in which Kise can use all the skills of the Generation of Miracles at once (even copying Akashi's Emperor Eye, though it has been noted it is not 100% like Akashi's, but is still capable of predicting movements with astonishing accuracy). This skill alone makes Kise the most versatile player in the series. Upon it's activation, Kise's eyes glows. He can also creatively combine techniques he has copied while in Perfect Copy; he blocked Kuroko's Phantom Shot by fusing both Akashi's Emperor Eye and Murasakibara's block to reenact Murasakibara's defensive area. He also merges Akashi's Emperor Eye again with Aomine's speed recreate the ankle-breaking move. Kise even replicated Kuroko's Phantom Shot by imitating Kuroko's shooting stance and combined it with Midorima's High Projectile Three, along with Kuroko's Ignite Pass Kai and Cyclone Pass. While he is overwhelmingly powerful and almost unstoppable in this state, it only lasts for a short period of time. He is shown to be suprisingly perceptive, though it may be because his specialty is analyzing people's movements and copying them. For this reason, he was the first person to discover Kagami's innate jumping power and whose potential rivals the Generation of Miracles themselves.

Yukio Kasamatsu (笠松 幸男, Kasamatsu Yukio)

Voiced by: Sōichirō Hoshi, Tooru Sakurai (VOMIC)

The captain of Kaijō's basketball team, Kasamatsu is a nationally credited point guard. Possessed of a short temper and often exceedingly serious demeanor, he can become quickly enraged over the antics of his teammates, Kise in particular, and often vents his feelings with sudden fits of violence. As he takes his responsibility as team captain very seriously, he is extremely devoted to his team and does his best to trust in their abilities and lead them to glory. Though crushed that he was unable to take his teammates to the Inter-High School Championship, he repressed his own furious sorrow in front of them in order to spur them forward to prepare for the Winter Cup, later anguishing alone rather than burden his team.

Mitsuhiro Hayakawa (早川 充洋, Hayakawa Mitsuhiro)

Voiced by: Kazunori Nomata

A lively and excitable second-year, Hayakawa excels in offensive rebounds and is a ferocious power forward. Very energetic and modestly immature, he has a strange tendency in his speech to skip over certain letters, making it difficult even for his teammates to understand him.

Yoshitaka Moriyama (森山 由孝, Moriyama Yoshitaka)

Voiced by: Tomoyuki Higuchi

The flirtatious, third-year Shooting Guard of the Kaijō team, Moriyama is a reliable player with a unique shooting form. He is quick to notice pretty women and often claims to fight for them on the court.

Kōji Kobori (小堀浩二, Kobori Kōji)

Voiced by: Yoshihito Sasaki

A tall and muscular third-year Center, Kobori can hold his own defensively against most centers and can score in the low post. He is rather calm and prefers to stay out of the spotlight and out of trouble. He is focused and passionate.

Shūtoku High

Shūtoku High is one of the three "Kings" of Tokyo, along with Seihō High and Senshinkan High- three teams that have made it to the final league, and thus represent Tokyo in the finals, in the InterHigh tournament every year for the past ten years. Beyond the Tokyo finals, in the Nationals they made it to the Final Eight. Last year, the newly established Seirin High was defeated by Shūtoku by three times the points. Now, with a member of the "Generation of Miracles" playing for the team, Shūtoku is more powerful than ever.

Shintarō Midorima (緑間 真太郎, Midorima Shintarō)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono

Once a member of the "Generation of Miracles", Midorima now serves as the shooting guard of Shūtoku High's basketball team. With his great height and unwavering calmness, his weapon is the High Projectile Three, an extremely accurate three-point shot with exceptionally high arc (over 14ft above the ground). Not only he can score from the outside or at the height of the center line, but he can also shoot at the opposite side of the court, with perfect accuracy. It is an incredible feat because in reality, most full-court shooters does it in a girdiron-like throwing motion, while he does it with a normal jump shot, a great testament to his overall strength and stellar endurance because he can execute it more than once. Because the shot is so high and it takes a long time for it to reach the basket, Midorima has plenty of time to return in defense, covering fastbreaks and counters from the opponents. He is also very proficient in defense, in his match against Kagami during the training camp, he suppressed him overwhelmingly. Notably, he is not known to shoot threes from the corners of the three-point line. According to Hyuga, rather than the score the true horror of Midorima's shot is its deep psychological impact to opponents. This is especially true since most players would freeze on their spot watching the ball fly with abnormally long air time until it reaches the hoop. Midorima is so dedicated to basketball that he tapes his fingers when not playing, so that nothing can influence his left hand while shooting. He also files his nails for the same reason. So far, the only ones who have ever been able to stop Midorima's shots, are Kagami by jumping high enough to block it, Kuroko by blocking his dip off a pump fake and Akashi by stealing the ball before Midorima can bring it above his head. Midorima also believes in the absolute nature of fate, so he frequently checks the horoscope and follows its predictions and recommendations to the letter. Kuroko once bluntly stated that Midorima is smart but is sometimes dumb when arguing over the best basketball move with Kise. In Kuroko's opinion his three-pointers are amazing but the worth of points only goes so far, and that dunks that brings up the team's morale can't be measured in comparison. So far, he is the only Generation of Miracles member not to be seen dunking nor making lay-ups (because he prefers to get more points by shooting threes). Amazingly, in the entire series, Midorima has never missed an untouched shot.

Due to his superstitious nature, he doesn't like to talk to Kuroko, as Kuroko has A' blood type and he has B' type (it's said that people of those two types don't get along with each other). Also, he doesn't like Kuroko because Kuroko chose Seirin. Midorima states that Kuroko is better than them. Takao often calls him a tsundere, because he tends to help people, but denies in doing so. He sometimes gives them advice under the guise of scorn and critcism. Midorima has good insight and is able to understand other people's abilities easily, like Kagami and Kuroko. He helped Kagami with his aerial understanding, motivating Kagami to improve his left ball-handling, and pushed Kuroko to play by himself, leading to the development of the Vanishing Drive. Furthermore, he shared his theory about Akashi's dual unique ability to Kagami.

Midorima's superstitions and the seemingly resultant success he experiences from carefully keeping with his beliefs extend even to his normal life. Beyond being lucky in games of chance, like the flipping of coins, Midorima owns a carved pencil, which he sometimes uses on tests. Rolled randomly to give an answer to a multiple choice question, the pencil is correct the vast majority of the time. Midorima's Zodiac sign is Cancer. His birthday and zodiac sign may hint at why he is very dependent on luck (July is the 7th month of the year, and he was born on the 7th day).

Kazunari Takao (高尾 和成, Takao Kazunari)

Voiced by: Tatsuhisa Suzuki

A freshman at Shūtoku High, Takao is much like Kuroko in that he is a passing expert. However, unlike Kuroko, Takao has none of Kuroko's invisibility. Instead, Takao possesses the "Hawk Eye", a mental skill superior even to Seirin's Izuki's Eagle Eye. Like the Eagle Eye, it also enables him to make blind passes.^[12] The main difference between the Hawk Eye and the Eagle Eye is scope; the Hawk Eye has an even wider range of vision, allowing the player to see everything on the court without focusing on anything. Because of this, Takao is not fooled by Kuroko's misdirection, which utilizes both Kuroko's naturally invisible nature and techniques to divert the attention of those trying to focus on him in particular. Takao's Hawk Eye only weakness results from when Kuroko purposely draws attention to himself, which forces Takao to unconsciously focus on him. This allows Kuroko to use misdirection successfully and disappear from Takao's view. He and Midorima have developed a play that utilizes his own accurate passes and Midorima's shooting. They made this play to counter Akashi's Emperor Eye, since the height difference leads to Akashi simply not being able to steal the ball because it is out of his reach, even though he can see the move beforehand. It consists of Midorima shooting without the ball and during the process of shooting he receives the ball in his hands, passed by Takao. However, as Midorima is left-handed, the pass course must always come from the left, making the passes somewhat predictable as showcased by Akashi.

Takao often hangs out with Midorima in his spare time, as he is constantly seen driving Midorima around in a rickshaw-like cart attached to his bicycle. Although they always play paper-rock-scissors to determine who will drive the other, Midorima wins every time. Takao possesses a funny and mischievous personality, contrasting Midorima's tsundere demeanor.

Taisuke Ōtsubo (大坪 泰介, Ōtsubo Taisuke)

Voiced by: Kensuke Satō

Shūtoku's third-year Center and captain, he was largely responsible for the team's success the previous year.^[13] Possessed of a size and skill that surpasses most other Centers in high school basketball, he can devastate opposing defenses single-handedly and control the inside of the court with impunity.

Kiyoshi Miyaji (宮地 清志, Miyaji Kiyoshi)

A third-year Shūtoku regular and the starting small forward. He dislikes Midorima's attitude and special status greatly; whenever Midorima makes an outlandish demand he frequently responds with a violent threat, often asking if anyone has a pineapple or durian, assumed to be for throwing at the object of his dislike. He is hardworking and skilled, and is known as the most intimidating of the upperclassmen by the first-years.

Shinsuke Kimura (木村 信介, Kimura Shinsuke)

A third-year Shūtoku regular and the starting power forward. He shares Miyaji's distaste for Midorima, and frequently offers support of the latter's violent proposals, often offering to help Miyaji acquire fruit to throw. He shares a similar history with Miyaji, being very hardworking and having entered the Shutoku first string his second year, having been placed in the second string during his first year. Despite his height and position as a power forward, he is apparently unable to dunk.

Tōō Academy

Daiki Aomine (青峰 大輝, Aomine Daiki)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe

Aomine Daiki was the former ace player of the renowned "Generation of Miracles". Embracing an aggressive and liquid style, made even more powerful by Kuroko's misdirection.^[14] However, other players like Wakamatsu dislike him, and his style of playing in particular; his extremely skilled " flexible streetball ". As explained by Midorima, Aomine learned to play basketball on the streets without any lessons, so while not possessing the basic movements of basketball's play, it is said that Aomine never has a non-changing movement, be it passing, shooting, or dribbling. His play is described as limitless. Despite his already supreme skill, he is capable of more, under the right circumstances; when faced against an appropriate opponent, he can enter his "zone", where he is able to exert 100% of his capabilities. In this state, Aomine's speed doubles at the least, and his skill to shoot from anywhere escalates. Though players of a certain caliber can all do this, only he is said to be able to do so at least partially of his own will. It is noted that out of the Zone users, Aomine is the only one so far to have full control of Zone, being able to activate it much easier than the others. He is also knowledgeable about it as well, as he was able to give Kagami some information about the Zone. However, despite being masterful enough to enter the Zone on his own, he couldn't open the second gate of the Zone, due to his lack of team play and promotion of individual play as an ace. A naturally born streetballer, Aomine's strength lies in his unpredictable nature, as well as a unique, near-inhuman ability to shoot from virtually any position and angle, even scoring from behind the backboard among other places; gifted with unmatched speed coupled with surgical acceleration/deceleration, as well as considerable agility (even Midorima stated that Aomine exceeds even the rest of the Generation of Miracles when it comes to agility alone), very few can block and keep up with him, and only Ryōta Kise, a fellow member of the Generation of Miracles, along with Kagami when he too was in the Zone, have been able to successfully pass him. His signature move is the Formless Shot, in which he lowers his posture mid-air to bypass the defender, with his body nearly parallel to the ground; deeming it nearly impossible to stop, but Kise and later Kagami were able to block it. Despite being very unpredictable, Kuroko and Kise have shown the capability of stopping Aomine by predicting his movements based on their past experiences as teammates. As a middle schooler, he had a pure love of basketball; but during his second year his talent and skills suddenly blossomed, once single-handedly bringing his team to victory in point leads of up to 200. As his skill grew more renowned and feared, many players would simply give up in trying to stop him. Coming to the conclusion that he would never find an opponent capable of matching him in skill and that the only one who can beat him is himself, Aomine has grown very jaded and sardonic, skipping practice altogether and arriving late for important games. He has been barred from playing in the last games of the Inter High-School Championship due to injuries he sustained in a match against Ryōta Kise, who pushed Aomine far harder than he expected was possible. When Seirin defeated his team, Aomine started to regain his love for basketball. He is the one who taught Kuroko how to shoot and inspired Kise to play basketball. Notably, Aomine has been calling Kuroko "Tetsu" ever since they started training together back in Teiko. His seemingly wild instincts have been compared by players to that of a black panther. Aomine and Kagami respect each other and think of each other as a worthy rival. It has been said many times that Kagami and Aomine share a lot of similarities, both in skill and personality.

Satsuki Momoi (桃井 さつき, Momoi Satsuki)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa

Formerly the manager of Teikō's "Generation of Miracles", she is now the manager of Tōō Academy's team. Proclaiming herself to be Kuroko's girlfriend, she harbors a vivid fascination for her former teammate, hugging him with extreme glee whenever they meet; Kuroko never fails to return her advances with kindness (though in rebuke).^[15] Shrewd, calculating and observant, Momoi is renowned for her exceptional ability to plan nearly flawless strategies. She is able analyze every ability of the player and predict their moves. So far, the only person she cannot predict is Kuroko, because of his lack of presence. Just like Riko, she is also a bad cook. She served uncut lemons to her team as well.

She is Aomine's childhood friend, calling him "Dai-chan" and one of the few people he makes any effort to behave jovially to. Though she expresses devotion to Kuroko, she cares deeply for Aomine's welfare and state of mind, and is heavily concerned about his opinion of her.

Shōichi Imayoshi (今吉 翔一, Imayoshi Shōichi)

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai

Tōō Academy's captain and Point Guard, he is a well-spoken and superficially kind on first glance, but hides a somewhat darker personality that more subtly reveals itself in conversation. Speaking in the typically polite Kansai dialect, Imayoshi laces what would be pleasant conversation with slight jabs at others' weaknesses and understated but absolute expressions of his own confidence. While he displays no unique skills, he is a highly effective captain, culling the collective efforts of the Tōō team (widely known for being composed of individuals with very specialized styles and poor compatibility with other teammates).

Ryō Sakurai (桜井 良, Sakurai Ryō)

Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki

A first-year of the Tōō team, Sakurai is the team's Shooting Guard and 'Preemptive Strike Leader', and is skilled at releasing the ball in the middle of a jump shot with great accuracy. He possesses a very weak and delicate personality, frequently feeling blame for things out of his control and apologizing for them frequently and comically. Facing Seirin a second time, it is revealed that like Hyuga, he has another personality that is the exact opposite of his true self. The same as Hyuga, his shots also gets better and more accurate.

Kōsuke Wakamatsu (若松 孝輔, Wakamatsu Kōsuke)

Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi

Second-year regular and center of the Tōō team, Wakamatsu is easily agitated and extremely loud. Being a player of notable stature, he performs commendably on the defensive, and scoops up rebounds with relative ease. He despises Aomine and frequently expresses his distaste for the latter's lackluster attitude and special treatment within the team, both out of personal jealousy and concern for their team's longevity. He is on very bad terms with Aomine, as he cannot accept someone who skips practice and eats Sakurai's food. Nevertheless, he acknowledges Aomine as the best player on the team.

Yōsen High

Atsushi Murasakibara (紫原 敦, Murasakibara Atsushi)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura

Formerly playing center for the "Generation of Miracles", he does the same now for Yōsen High School. Beyond possessing shoulder-length, purple hair, Murasakibara is immediately recognizable for his great height. Though his ability as a basketball player has never been disputed, he claims he finds the sport uninteresting, simply playing the sport because he is excruciatingly good at it. He has always told others that he dislikes, is bored by, and even hates players who passionately play basketball, even when they are losing, which Kuroko disagrees with. Mildly sadistic and bemusingly childish, he is easily riled though generally laid-back, and can often be found with some form of candy in his mouth. It is also mentioned that Murasakibara spends every single penny he has on all kinds of junk food. His abilities have yet to be seen in full, but no one debates dubbing him the greatest center among high school players in Japan. However, he is seen crying when Seirin defeated his team, confirming that he does have a burning passion in playing basketball. He likes to rub Kuroko's hair whenever he sees him, much to Kuroko's displeasure. He also has a tendency to be with people who can make decisions for him. In Teiko, he was always obedient to whatever orders Akashi gave him. In Yosen, he is seen listening a lot to Himuro's advice. He often tells players "I will crush you."

His true abilities are shown during the match between Seirin and Yōsen. Using his incredible height of 208 cm (roughly 6 feet 10 inches- the average height of a center in the NBA), top-notch reflexes, and monstrous strength from his weight of 95 kilograms (roughly 210 pounds) to dominate the area around the basket, he is able to tower any opposing player and block any attempts of jump shots, layups, and dunks without even jumping. He has been seen blocking shots from Hyuga and Kagami when the ball is underway, so much higher than the take-off. In offense, he utilizes his strength and height in conjunction in order to break free of any defense regardless of the players on defense, and overwhelm the opponents. It was discovered that, in contrary to seemingly sluggish attitude and his colossal size, he is deceptively fast; able to easily sprint both short and long distances up and down the length of the entire court. He even outran Izuki and got back to defense easily. His strength is seen when he forcibly screens out 3 defenders and at the peak of his destructive power, he was even able to bring down the entire backboard. He has also been seen doing reversal dunks with ease: a feat that requires more power than a normal dunk; facing away the rim requires more strength to compensate for the lack of momentum gained from running towards the basket on a normal dunk. His special move is called Thor's Hammer, a tremendously powerful two-handed dunk combined with a mid-air spin easily capable of overwhelming 3 defenders simultaneously. This makes it clear that despite proficient at defense, his actual specialty is offense, as stated by Kuroko. He even added that Murasakibara set a score of 100 points in a single game when he got serious. Along with Kagami, Aomine, Kise and Akashi, Murasakibara also possesses the rare ability to enter the "zone". According to Aomine, Murasakibara is incredibly strong that even he has difficulty bypassing him.

Tatsuya Himuro (氷室 辰也, Himuro Tatsuya)

Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama

The other ace in Yōsen's basketball team and shooting guard, Himuro was Kagami's mentor and rival in the United States. Originally around the same level of skill as Kagami, he has since apparently evolved to equal the members of the Generation of Miracles. Though little of his playing has been seen, he possesses uncannily beautiful shooting form, and the ability to make pro-level fakes that are so real that Kagami and even Aomine fell for it, allowing him to easily slip through an opponent's defense. His signature move is the Mirage Shot, in which he shoots and the ball seems to pass through the defender easily, by combining his perfect fakes and throwing the ball in the air twice, fooling the defender that Himuro simply shot twice. Himuro himself stated even if the blocker figures out the trick behind the move, jumping later with the goal of blocking the real shot is useless, as Himuro can see that, adapt and shoot sooner, which the blocker will be too late for- making the move as Himuro's advantage. Aside from basketball, he is also a skilled fighter. Usually collected and quietly friendly, he is said to be willing to do anything to fulfill his objectives. In America, they call each other brothers, Himuro being the older one. However, when Kagami starts to beat him in games, he doesn't want to be the big brother. After Kagami discovered the secret of the Mirage Shot, deeming it useless, Himuro had an emotional fest; believing he could never surpass his " younger brother". He admits that he is jealous of Kagami's abilities. He dislikes the fact that despite being the one who introduced Kagami to basketball, he himself is not naturally "gifted" like Kagami. Kise also said that he lacks enough talent to enter the "zone". However in the Winter Cup, Kagami and Himuro make up and happily accept one another as rivals and brothers.

Rakuzan High

Seijūrō Akashi (赤司 征十郎, Akashi Seijūrō)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya

He is the leader and the point guard of the "Generation of Miracles". He stood at their head as captain, leading the team to uncontested victories during the three years he played for Teikō Middle School. He is uninterested in winning, simply because victory in his eyes is an absolute given, requisite to his own life as much as breathing. But he has grown tired of victory in the absence of a chance of defeat; thus when it became clear that Aomine would not be able to participate in the final rounds of the Inter-High school championship, he also withheld himself from playing and demanded Murasakibara to do the same, wanting to make the games at least a little interesting. He upholds an extreme 'winner-takes-all' philosophy, believing that victors are granted absolution in all things, while losers are denied everything. He claims never to have lost at anything, and as such he believes himself right in all things; he is incredibly unstable and grows violent towards those who thus defy him, attempting to stab Kagami with a pair of scissors when the latter refused to leave even when told to do so. However, Kagami later revealed that Akashi already knew he could dodge it. Respected and feared by the Generation of Miracles, they assemble as he demands, and can't help but heed his words. His signature ability is the Emperor Eye, which gives him the foresight to see all the possible outcomes of a given situation, allowing him to predict the movements of his opponent before they even happen, and by timing his own movements perfectly, Akashi can effectively sabotage whatever tactics the opponent tries to execute. It also widens his field of vision, covering his blind spots and easily see openings in defenses, allowing him to avoid a screen from Kimura and pass through Takao's guard. Not only he uses this ability for ankle-breaking, but also to strengthen his other moves like passes or steals. This ability also destabilized Akashi's already fragile ego and eventually caused him to retreat behind the split personality seen for most of the series. The reason why his second personality manifested was due to the fear of the original Akashi fearing that he will be left behind by his Teiko teammates (who were acquiring their newfound abilities), and due to the amount of pressure put his life had put on him to strive for absolute excellence. It is shown that Akashi's mother died when he was young, and she had inspired him to play basketball. However, his father did not approve of the sport and told Akashi that in order to keep on playing, he must win all the time. In the game against Seirin, Akashi finally resurfaces from the depths of his consciousness after his second personality was defeated by the teamwork of Kuroko and Kagami and to take over his rightful place. When he resurfaced, he started using the Emperor Eye to perfect his passes to his teammates. That way, those in his team no longer worried about receiving the passes, since Akashi calculated the speed, strength and trajectory of said passes beforehand to the point that those who received it could think of their next move and start moving before even touching the ball, and thus, Akashi could improve their performance, though not the usual 100% granted by the Zone but only 90% of their full capabilities. Midorima notes this is Akashi's true power: to bring his teammates into the Zone with his perfect playmaking. Even Takao compliments him as the "ideal point guard", even if his shooting were not to be mentioned. Like Aomine, Kagami and Murasakibara, he possesses the ability to enter the "zone" after he witnessed Aomine activate it willingly, but is noticeably faster than Kagami, (who was also in the Zone), on long distance. Like Kagami's Zone, his Zone possesses a defensive sphere but is even larger than Kagami and Murasakibara because its domain is almost the entire half court. This is because he combined it with his Emperor Eye, making him a more difficult opponent to handle than Aomine in offense or Murasakibara in defense. Also, the prediction ability of Akashi's Emperor Eye when he enters the Zone increases drastically, enabling to stop Kagami from starting his Meteor Jam. Even though Akashi is short for a basketball player (173 cm/5'8), he can still dunk, declaring that it is not a move used by only big players. Also, his mental prowess when judging a scenario and making split-second decisions is supremely fast. This allowed him to switch from a lay-up to a pass almost instantaneously against Midorima. Akashi's plays are extremely well-designed; as it was revealed in their match against Shutoku that everything that occurred was all a part of Akashi's plan. It would seem that his personalities have their own special abilities, making him the only Generation of Miracles member with two unique abilities, while the rest only have one. Off the court, Akashi is capable of discovering people's hidden skills, being the first to recognize Kuroko's potential talent for misdirection.

Kotarō Hayama (葉山 小太郎, Hayama Kotarō)

Voiced by: Toshiki Masuda

Hayama is one of the Uncrowned Kings. He is very energetic and often fools around carelessly. His specialty is dribbling, with his ball control on such a high level, that he actually presses the ball downwards with enough force for it to explode perfectly into a quick cross-over. Because he slams the ball so fiercely onto the ground, it becomes too fast for the eyes to follow, making it very hard to steal. It is seen when he dribbles, he only uses his fingers, channeling the strength of his whole body to his fingers to dribble with more force. It is also shown that the noise his dribble made is loud enough to be heard by spectators that forced them to cover their ears. It is called the Lightning Dribble. He can also perform a near-perfect double clutch, dive under the defender and lay it in. His seemingly wild reflexes have been compared by players to that of a cheetah's. Being too conceited and underestimating his opponent, Hayama was beaten by Izuki Shuun and became bathed in rage, affecting his play negatively. Furthermore, he is the only one who laughed at Izuki's puns.

Reo Mibuchi (実渕 玲央, Mibuchi Reo)

Voiced by: Wataru Hatano

Mibuchi is another one of the Uncrowned Kings of Rakuzan. Mibuchi is pretty uptight. He likes to keep things in line and gets annoyed easily when others fool around or act weird. He criticizes them and tries to correct them, but is not always successful. He is Rakuzan's best shooter, and one of the best in the series, only surpassed by Midorima. Hyuuga patterned his shooting style to him, to the point of being in awe of his shots. It seems that Mibuchi wants as many points as possible, as he commented that he is quite greedy and can make 3 or 4 points in one play. He has three types of shooting forms, which are named: "Earth", "Heaven", and "Void". The "Heaven" is a simple fade-away shot, while the "Earth" shooting form is a foul-drawing technique. The "Void" is a shooting form that disables the defender from doing anything, however, Mibuchi only uses this when he faces an opponent he acknowledges. Because of his acknowledgement to Hyuga, he used his "Void" to gain the upper hand. However, it doesn't end there, as Hyuga discovered the weaknesses of his shooting forms and managed to fight back. Reo's sexuality is questionable.

Eikichi Nebuya (根武谷 永吉, Nebuya Eikichi)

Voiced by: Takahiro Fujiwara

The final member of the Uncrowned Kings of Rakuzan. He is 190 cm tall and has a well-muscled body, as he believes that brute strength is enough to beat his opponents. Nebuya is a glutton who is shown to be able to eat comparable amounts to or even more than Kagami, and owes his spot to Akashi, who discovered and exploited his potential. He claims that he gets more power when he eats meat and even overeats before a game. Also, he believes that "muscles improve everything"- the main reason he decided to get buffer. He is often called "Muscle Gorilla" because he loves to add the word "muscle" while playing such as 'muscle screen-out', 'muscle rebound' and 'muscle dunk' though it appears that these are just normal plays but with extremely high power, which gives him great advantage in the post, allowing him to easily overpower centers like Kiyoshi or Otsubo. He also has a decent speed to back up his strong build.

Chihiro Mayuzumi (黛 千尋, Mayuzumi Chihiro)

Voiced by: Ryōta Ōsaka

Mayuzumi was put on Rakuzan's strong team for a sole reason: he possesses the rare ability of misdirection. Akashi trained him to be like Kuroko, but with finer skills. The reason for this is that Mayuzumi has solid basketball fundamentals whereas Kuroko's general basketball skills are below average, this allows him to score normally, when Kuroko can't. However unlike Kuroko, Mayuzumi doesn't use flashy moves, enabling himself to draw less attention to himself. Mayuzumi claims to pass only for himself and is short-tempered. Without misdirection Mayuzumi is an average player and becomes his teammates' topic of insult, affecting his abilities negatively.

Kirisaki Daīchi High

Makoto Hanamiya (花宮 真, Hanamiya Makoto)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama

Hanamiya is the coach and captain of the Kirisaki Daīchi team and the final Uncrowned King. An intelligent and shrewd point guard, his dishonest and underhanded playing style has earned him the nickname "Bad Boy" (悪童, Akudō). He was the cause of Kiyoshi's knee injury in the previous year. Hanamiya's skill is analyzing the possible passing and attack patterns of an opposing team he has observed, swooping down the passing line and stealing the ball. He can do this by narrowing down the pass courses with the help of his fellow teammate Kentaro Seto positioning himself in the main passing lanes in order to force the opposing point guard into a risky pass course Hanamiya can predict, allowing Hanamiya to steal every single ball. This is referred to as Hanamiya's Spider Web. According to Kiyoshi, Hanamiya's stealing accuracy is insanely high, even stealing Izuki's passes, a possessor of the "Eagle Eye". His foul methods and underhanded play have misled players to underestimate him in offense, but Hanamiya has proven this to be wrong, even pulling off a difficult teardrop shot. He claims that he that doesn't want to win that badly with his foul methods, and that is to simply make the other suffer.

Others

Kagetora Aida (相田 景虎, Aida Kagetora)

Voiced by: Shinichirō Miki

Riko's father, he used to play on a Japanese professional basketball team. He has the same ability as his daughter Riko, to estimate a person's capability, from height to muscle mass and flexibility, just by visually scanning their body.

Alexandra Garcia (アレクサンドラ・ガルシア, Arekusandora Garushia)

Voiced by: Yuki Kaida

A charismatic American who was Kagami and Himuro's basketball teacher when they lived in the US. She is a former WNBA player and now teaches kids basketball in the local neighborhood. She studied the Japanese language with the help of Kagami, and can speak Japanese fluently with ease. She traveled to Japan to watch Kagami and Himuro face off in the Winter Cup. She has a habit of greeting people with a kiss, surprising all but her former students. She treats her two students as if they were her own sons and loves them both because they inspired her to teach basketball to kids.

Shigehiro Ogiwara (荻原 シゲヒロ, Ogiwara Shigehiro)

Voiced by: Hayashi Yuu

Kuroko's childhood friend who quit basketball after being severely defeated by Teiko's Generation of Miracles. He is kind and supportive to Kuroko, telling him to continue playing even though he, himself, quit basketball. In the final of the Winter Cup, Ogiwara is the one who changes the game's momentum; yelling encouragement to Kuroko when Kuroko was at the brink of defeat. Kuroko then discovers that Ogiwara regained his passion for basketball and is overjoyed.

References