Let’s Go Vorpal Swords!
- Episodes : 1
- Genre : Sports
- Airing Date : March 2017
- Studios : Production I.G
Contains Spoilers
Kuroko no Basket: Last Game Introduction and Story (Spoilers)
Kagami Taiga’s dream is to be apart of the NBA. One day, he gets a call from his American coach, Alexandra. But before we find out what took place during that call, an American team visits Japan to play a street ball match. They’re Jabberwock, and they don’t play by the rules. Jabberwock is known for looking down in their opponents, teasing them, and winning matches in no time.
When Kagami, Kuroko, and the Generation of Miracles see their friends’ rough match against Jabberwock, they decide to band together to defeat Jabberwock themselves. Calling themselves Vorpal Swords, the crew goes into the match assuming that nothing will go wrong. How can it? They are the Generation of Miracles. Little did they know, Jabberwock has a few tricks up their sleeves besides petty teasing. It’s been a long time since the Generation of Miracles played as a team. But they’ve grown since then, and developed even more powerful skills.
Aomine and Kagami partner up to corner the toughest Jabberwock player, Jason Silver. Jason got angry really quick, and blocked every single one of Vorpal Swords’ baskets. They were losing big time, so Kise stepped in to overpower Jason. With Kise using Perfect Copy, and Aomine entering the zone, the two were able to be stronger and faster than Jason. As always, the zone doesn’t last long, and Aomine quickly fell out of it. With energy left to spare, Kise entered the zone while using Perfect Copy, and scored a ton of points. Eventually, Kise passed out and had to be benched.
Jason got even angrier, but Jabberwock’s leader, Nash Gold, was able to calm him down. Meanwhile, Akashi realized they were in a pinch now that Kise was gone. As a last resort, Akashi summoned his other self. With his left eye now gold, the other Akashi had appeared. Akashi ordered Midorima to only make 3-point shots. Therefore, Aomine and Kagami had to make sure Jason wasn’t going to block any of them. Jason had the ball, but he was cornered by Aomine and Kagami. Right behind Jason, came Kuroko, and just in the nick of time. Kuroko smacked the ball out of Jason’s hand and passed it to Midorima. With a clear view, Midorima was able to score a 3-pointer.
This method wasn’t able to work for long, as Jason started getting angry again. Vorpal Swords’ tallest player, Murasakibara, stepped in, but sadly, Murasakibara isn’t very strong, and was pushed down every time. He was starting to get heated, but Akashi calmed him down. After clearing his head, Murasakibara tied his hair back and started to play seriously. With the help of his teammates, he was able to beat Jason and score some points.
It’s the final quarter and Vorpal Swords are winning. Nash decides that it’s time to bring out his trump card. He goes up to Akashi and reveals that he too has the Emperor Eye. It’s a battle between two people who can see into the future. Sadly, Nash was faster, and was able to get Akashi to constantly fall on his knees. Other Akashi talks to the real Akashi, and says that he must go. For the only way to unlock to true power of the Emperor Eye, is for him to disappear.
Other Akashi leaves forever, giving the real Akashi full power. He orders his teammates to the best of their abilities, to score the final point. Even Kuroko was able to bring back the Phantom Shot and score. With a few more seconds left, Kuroko passed the ball to Kagami. Kagami leaps to make his famous dunk, but Jason jumps up to block him. Aomine leaps from behind to help Kagami force the ball inside the basket. They scored the final point, and Vorpal Swords won!
They celebrate at the coach’s house, and all is well. That is, until Kagami reveals to his team that he received a call to move to America to join the NBA. At first, everyone is sad that they’ll never be able to play together again. But they understand that this is Kagami’s dream, and let him go. At the airport, Kagami says goodbye to everyone. He cries in front of Kuroko, saying that he was the best partner he ever had and the two promise to play together again in the future. Aomine admits that he wants to join the NBA too, and hopes to face Kagami again one day. With hope in the viewers’ hearts for a sequel in the long run, the film ends.
What We Liked About Kuroko no Basket: Last Game
With this being the final chapter of the Kuroko no Basket franchise, it was great seeing each character get their time to shine. The movie was short, yet it was able to flawlessly have each of the main characters get enough screen time. We were also surprised to see how well the Generation of Miracles and Kagami work as a team. After the events of the Winter Cup, we assumed that the members wouldn’t get along. Instead, the boys respected each other, and matured.
Aomine trusted his teammates, and passed the ball to them. Murasakibara took basketball seriously, and started to care. Kise got along with Aomine, and we got to see the real Akashi for most of the film. The movie had quite a few throwbacks to the previous series, which made us smile. Like when Momoi knocked down Kuroko, or seeing Hyuga and Riko on a date. Each member did their famous moves, and unleashed some new skills. Needless to say, the film was a hype-fest.
Discussion Time
Of course, no film is without its flaws, and Kuroko no Basket: Last Game is no exception. Sadly, we don’t really care for Jabberwock. With the previous series, the villains were always a major threat. Each opposing team had some sort of history with one of the members of Seiren. Jabberwock doesn’t, so they come off as very cartoony. Just villains who are bad just to be bad. In fact, we don’t even know all the members. Only two players from Jabberwock were focused on, so we have no idea if the other members have any skills at all.
There weren’t any stakes in the match either. In the series, if Seiren lost, they wouldn’t be the best in Japan. However if Vorpal Swords lost, well, that wouldn’t mean much. It wasn’t an official competition, and if they lost, Kagami would have still gone to the NBA.
With a movie budget, you’d think that the animation would be better, but it was the exact same as if we were watching the original series. Not that that’s a bad thing, as the TV series’ animation was excellent. It’s probably a nitpick, but usually when an anime series gets a movie, the animation is far superior. Even though the creator, Tadatoshi Fujimaki, has no plans on continuing Kuroko no Basket, the movie ends on a hopeful note. Perhaps, a few years down the line, Fujimaki will create a sequel series to Kuroko no Basket where Kagami meets up with the Generation of Miracle in an NBA match.
1. The Perfect Send Off
All good things must come to an end, so why not go out with a slam dunk! Not only did we see what a great team the Generation of Miracles and Kagami are, but we also got to see how much they’ve grown. Kagami achieved his dream, and played a game with Kuroko one last time. This movie was practically fan service, as we got to fanboy/fangirl out over our favorite characters. No one gets shafted, and everyone is having fun. From throwbacks to some of our favorite things from the series, to new moves to get hyped about, Last Game is an all-around great time for any Kuroko no Basket fan.
1. You Haven’t Seen/Read the Original
Unfortunately, you cannot watch this movie without watching the original series. There are 75 episodes spanned across 3 seasons, with no english dub. We understand that not everyone has the time to watch all of those episodes. There are recap films for each season, but if you’ve ever seen a recap film, you know that it shortens the story. Many things are cut out, including screen time, funny moments, and fan favorite scenes. You can watch the recap films and then watch Last Game; however, you won’t get the full experience of the series. You won’t be as pumped while you’re watching Last Game, since you don’t know the characters as well as someone who has read the manga or watched the anime.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoyed the Kuroko no Basket TV series, then you’ll definitely love Last Game. It’s a great way to say goodbye, while also leaving a little bit of hope in your heart. Have you watched Last Game? What did you think about the film? Let us know, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Till next time!
Author: Sloan The Female Otaku
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