Kuroko's Basketball 3

Viable setup to hype up the new character, Kise was a new player so of course there had to be room for a miracle that was there before him. It wouldn't have been that big a deal if he got forced out for not being as good as Kise So I can see why they took the direction they did even if it leaves his character rather bland, there is a bigger feeling that he can potentially win the match.

His line "I don't care about basketball" may have been is foot in the coffin though, Late last season, the criteria for entering the zone was love of the game and people gaining the zone was spreading like a fire. I assume Kise fits the criteria and that just might be what pushes him over this douche in the end.

I don't think it will take long for the zone's impact to dwindle, every new found ability in this show only seems to have a game and a half's worth of effective usability before it's countered somehow.

An antagonistic bully character that likes to pick fights with people for unexplained reasons and has no qualms abusing women? No comment. What's next, another antagonistic character that likes to cut peop...... oh.

Midorima v. Kise right out of the gates, but this looks to be good. This guy has already been established as a badass and a total scumbag, looking forward to seeing Kise destroy him.

Yeah, not much to say about this episode since it was mostly just tying up a few loose ends. The new antagonist is fucking awful though, but hopefully on the court he brings more than brute violence. However, I am totally hyped to see Kise play again and in a game that is going to force him to grow as a player. Kise is someone I'd like to be able to hit the zone himself. It'd be nice if he did it this game so he could go into the next match with Kagami with the ability to enter the zone.

The scenes with the new antagonist this episode were all eye rolling though. The guy is a complete psycho and if he's really this violent then I don't even know how he could not be in some juvenile prison. I guess they were trying to characterize the guy very quickly and went overboard. There would have been better ways to show he is a complete brute without making him a complete crazy man with no self control. He does indeed bring back specters of the worst match from last season, but maybe on the court his violence will translate into some interesting play style rather than him just being a cheat or something. I prefer matches where I don't just hate the antagonist, but I guess I'll just have to root hard for Kise to beat this dude's ass hard.

Even with the shitty antagonist I am ready for the action a game brings. I like Kise and I want to see him have his triumph before he inevitably has to lose next round. And I don't think this game will take up more than an episode or two. We're at a point where I don't think the anime can waste too much time on a relatively minor antagonist like this one.

I am also a bit annoyed that this interrupted Kagami's intent to talk things out with Tatsuya. I would have liked for them to have some words there even if the result would have been quite cheesy. I think it would have been better to get that particular piece of business out of the way and then go into this season with the old business clear.

I lost it when the guy imitated the rebound, the style of rebound is based on athleticism, Copying skills is plausible, copying athleticism isn't......

The best thing I can say about this episode is that at least we are getting rid of the shitty side villain early this time around. I'm hoping this game won't drag on for too long because everything about Haizaki is fucking awful. Even in a series filled with ridiculous abilities that border on the supernatural Haizaki's ability is fucking stupid. It's just a more broken version of what Kise does and it must have some equally ridiculous flaw because that will be the only way to beat it.

Haizaki is not even the kind of overblown villain that is fun to hate on. He's just a completely despicable person and it becomes impossible to believe anyone would put up with him for any reason. He slaps his own teammates on the court, runs into them during plays and is generally a completely disruptive force to everyone around him. It doesn't matter how good he is, basketball is still supposed to be a team sport and he's out there playing by himself. The only thing that makes him a threat is his stupid ability which means once that get broken there's going to be nothing else of interest going on. He's a boring one note villain.

It kinda sucks that Kise's big moment is going to be against such a shitty character because he deserves better than this.

Last villain, the Dai Ichi game was at least relatable and pretty much a realistic issue. I remember having one or two similar games, and it was totally infuriating to deal with, so watching the team overcome it was at least a bit satisfying
(although i really hoped they learned the good old trick: bring the ball to your belly, lower your knees, stick out the elbows, and do a little spin on one leg. doesn't break the rules cause with the ball you're untouchable, but easily can hurt pesky offenders. they should do it with the three on one defense too.).

This time the guy is so ridiculous it doesn't even make sense. That copying ability is stupid enough, but the timing shifting? what the hell.
I really just want them to get over with it, and move on to a more interesting match.

I honestly assume Kise is just going to go into the "zone" and Haizaki wont be able to counter it.

AKASHI VS MIDORIYAMA!!!

I know the episode will mostly be set up but I couldn't be more excited to see Akashi finally play after two seasons of teasing. My guess is he'll be an amped up version of Kuroko. He won't have the flashy moves like the other GoM members, but instead will elevate the rest of his team. He won't do it from the shadows like Kuroko though, instead his presence will loom large on the court. He'll probably also have better basic skills than Kuroko. Oh yeah, but I guess I should actually talk about this episode...

Well, all I can say is I'm glad this game is over. Haizaki sucked as a villain and I'm happy we only wasted two episodes on him. It seems Kise doesn't get to go into the zone, but instead just levels up his copy ability. It's cheesy when it happens, but it's nice that he just leaves Haizaki behind because the guy didn't deserve any better. Even when Haizaki tried to resort to underhanded tactics he still ended up getting crushed because he was that inconsequential.

I guess they had to handicap Kise somehow after making him even more powerful, but it was only natural that he would eventually be able to copy GoM skills because that was his arc after his match against Aomine last season. However, he's hurt his leg from practicing too hard so I guess that will be his undoing in the end. I wonder if this means Kise will ever reach the zone or if this is his version of the zone?