Kuroko's Basketball

Last updated: 1 November 2026

About Kuroko's Basketball

Kuroko's Basketball follows Tetsuya Kuroko, the near-invisible 'phantom sixth man' of Teiko Middle School's legendary Generation of Miracles. Now at Seirin High, he teams with fiery forward Taiga Kagami to beat his old teammates and prove teamwork wins. Animated by Production I.G from Tadatoshi Fujimaki's manga, the series ran for 75 episodes across three seasons (2012–2015) and finished in cinemas with the film Last Game in 2017. Kuroko's gift is being overlooked: coaches and crowds miss him completely, and he turns that lack of presence into laser-guided passes that thread entire defences. Kagami supplies what Kuroko lacks, height, power and a hunger to beat the five prodigies one by one. Around them, Seirin is an ordinary team with no history, built on trust by captain Hyuga, injured founder Kiyoshi and their tiny coach Riko. The result is a stylish, emotional take on basketball where every match asks the same question: can a team of friends outplay five geniuses who stopped believing in teams? Fast, funny and surprisingly moving, it remains one of the most popular sports anime of its generation.

Kuroko's Basketball is a TV anime from 2012, first released in Spring 2012. It belongs to the Sports and Comedy genres and is listed as a completed series. The summary above is written by the AnimeYug team in our own words.

Official Trailer

▶「劇場版 黒子のバスケ LAST GAME」本予告（60秒版） · アニメ「黒子のバスケ」公式YouTubeチャンネル

Story & Plot

In middle school, Teiko's basketball team won everything, powered by five once-in-a-generation prodigies, the Generation of Miracles. Few remember there was a sixth player: Tetsuya Kuroko, a boy so unremarkable that opponents simply fail to notice him, who used that invisibility to become the team's phantom passer. But Teiko's winning-at-all-costs culture disgusted him, and when the Miracles scattered to rival high schools, Kuroko chose Seirin, a brand-new school with no reputation at all.

At Seirin he finds Taiga Kagami, a forward raised in America whose talent and temper burn as bright as the Miracles' own. Kuroko promises to be Kagami's shadow: the stronger the light, the darker the shadow. Together they challenge Kuroko's old teammates one by one, the copycat Kise, the perfect shooter Midorima, the lazy genius Aomine, the giant Murasakibara and finally Akashi, the captain who made Teiko what it was. Each match tests Seirin's belief that basketball is played by five people, not one, and tests Kuroko's hope that the friends he left behind can learn to love the game again.

Story Arcs & Episode Guide

The Kuroko's Basketball anime is split into story sagas. Here is every saga in order, with its episodes and years.

Why Watch Kuroko's Basketball

• An invisible hero: Kuroko wins games with passes nobody sees coming.
• The Generation of Miracles: five prodigies, five clashing philosophies of basketball.
• A rivalry ladder that climbs every season: each Miracle is a boss battle.
• Stylised, high-speed matches animated by Production I.G at its slickest.
• A story about teamwork beating talent: the light needs its shadow.

Who Is It For?

A school sports drama with intense matches, comic rivalry and a few mild fanservice gags, but no graphic content or heavy themes. It is aimed at teens and suits sports fans and older children well; the emotional stakes are friendship, pride and learning to lose.

Tetsuya Kuroko

Kuroko's Basketball

Taiga Kagami

Kuroko's Basketball

Junpei Hyuga

Kuroko's Basketball

Riko Aida

Kuroko's Basketball

Shun Izuki

Kuroko's Basketball

Teppei Kiyoshi

Kuroko's Basketball

Ryota Kise

Kuroko's Basketball

Yukio Kasamatsu

Kuroko's Basketball

Shintaro Midorima

Kuroko's Basketball

Kazunari Takao

Kuroko's Basketball

Daiki Aomine

Kuroko's Basketball

Satsuki Momoi

Kuroko's Basketball

Atsushi Murasakibara

Kuroko's Basketball

Tatsuya Himuro

Kuroko's Basketball

Seijuro Akashi

Kuroko's Basketball

Voice Actors

The Japanese voices behind the main characters of Kuroko's Basketball.

• Tetsuya KurokoSeirin's phantom sixth man, a passer with almost no presence
  Japanese voiceKensho Ono
• Taiga KagamiSeirin's powerhouse forward, raised in America
  Japanese voiceYuki Ono
• Junpei HyugaSeirin's captain and clutch three-point shooter
  Japanese voiceYoshimasa Hosoya
• Riko AidaSeirin's second-year coach with a scout's eye for players' bodies
  Japanese voiceChiwa Saito
• Shun IzukiSeirin's point guard, the 'Eagle Eye', and serial pun-maker
  Japanese voiceHirofumi Nojima
• Teppei KiyoshiSeirin's centre and founder, the 'Iron Heart'
  Japanese voiceKenji Hamada
• Ryota KiseKaijo's small forward, the copycat of the Generation of Miracles
  Japanese voiceRyohei Kimura
• Yukio KasamatsuKaijo's captain and point guard
  Japanese voiceSoichiro Hoshi
• Shintaro MidorimaShutoku's shooting guard, whose three-pointers never miss
  Japanese voiceDaisuke Ono
• Kazunari TakaoShutoku's point guard, the 'Hawk Eye' who can track Kuroko
  Japanese voiceTatsuhisa Suzuki
• Daiki AomineToo Academy's ace, the strongest scorer of the Generation of Miracles
  Japanese voiceJunichi Suwabe
• Satsuki MomoiToo Academy's manager and the Miracles' information specialist
  Japanese voiceFumiko Orikasa
• Atsushi MurasakibaraYosen's giant centre, a defensive wall who finds effort boring
  Japanese voiceKenichi Suzumura
• Tatsuya HimuroYosen's shooting guard, Kagami's American 'big brother'
  Japanese voiceKisho Taniyama
• Seijuro AkashiRakuzan's captain, the Emperor Eye point guard who led the Miracles
  Japanese voiceHiroshi Kamiya

Staff & Production

Original Creator

Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Animation Studio

Production I.G

Series Director

Shunsuke Tada

Series Composition

Noboru Takagi

Music

Ryosuke Nakanishi, R・O・N, Alpha Eastman (Season 1); Yoshihiro Ike (Seasons 2–3)

Manga & Source Material

The anime adapts Tadatoshi Fujimaki's basketball manga, with its sequel story filmed as Last Game.

• Written and illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
• Serialised in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2008 to September 2014
• 275 chapters collected in 30 volumes; the manga is complete
• The sequel manga, Kuroko's Basketball: Extra Game, ran in Jump Next! from December 2014 to March 2016 and was adapted as the Last Game film
• More than 31 million copies of the manga were in circulation as of 2020

Music

GRANRODEO are the sound of Kuroko's Basketball, performing six of the seven openings, while Kuroko's own voice actor, Kensho Ono, sings the final opening 'ZERO' and an ending theme.

Opening Themes

• “Can Do”by GRANRODEOSeason 1, first opening
• “RIMFIRE”by GRANRODEOSeason 1, second opening
• “The Other Self”by GRANRODEOSeason 2, first opening
• “Hengen Jizai no Magical Star”by GRANRODEOSeason 2, second opening
• “Punky Funky Love”by GRANRODEOSeason 3, first opening
• “ZERO”by Kensho OnoSeason 3, second opening: sung by Kuroko's voice actor
• “Memories”by GRANRODEOSeason 3, final opening

Ending Themes

• “Start It Right Away”by HyadainSeason 1, first ending
• “Catal Rhythm”by OLDCODEXSeason 1, second ending
• “WALK”by OLDCODEXSeason 2, first ending
• “FANTASTIC TUNE”by Kensho OnoSeason 2, second ending
• “Glitter Days”by Fo'xTailsSeason 3, first ending
• “Ambivalence”by SCREEN modeSeason 3, second ending
• “Lantana”by OLDCODEXSeason 3, final ending

Series Timeline

1. 2008

   Tadatoshi Fujimaki's Kuroko's Basketball manga begins in Weekly Shonen Jump on 8 December.

2. 2012

   Production I.G's anime premieres on 7 April, directed by Shunsuke Tada.

3. 2013–2014

   Season 2 airs; the manga ends in September 2014 after 275 chapters.

4. 2015

   Season 3 completes the Winter Cup and the main story.

5. 2016

   Three Winter Cup compilation films recap the tournament for cinemas.

6. 2017

   Last Game opens on 18 March 2017, adapting the Extra Game sequel manga as the franchise finale.

7. 2021

   The English dub arrives on Netflix in January, introducing the series to a new wave of viewers.

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