Review: KUROKO'S BASKETBALL 2-in-1 Edition Volume 1

KUROKO'S BASKETBALL 2-IN-1 EDITION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tadatoshi Fujimaki
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8771-4; paperback (August 2016); Rated “T” for “Teen”
400pp, B&W, $16.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £10.99 U.K.

VIZ Media is currently publishing the basketball shonen sports manga from creator Tadatoshi Fujimaki, Kuroko's Basketball, in its 2-in-1 editions, which reprint two graphic novels in one paperback volume.  Kuroko's Basketball focuses on the title character and the new teammate that will help him beat his old teammates.

Tetsuya Kuroko is a great basketball player – for reals, y'all!  He was a member of the “Miracle Generation” at Teiko Middle School.  He was known as “the Phantom Sixth Man,” because opponents never noticed him on the court until he did something amazing.  Now, Kuroko is at Seirin Private High School.  One of his new teammates has just returned to Japan from America.  He is Taiga Kagami, and Kuroko wants Kagami to help him take down his old “Miracle Generation” teammates

Kuroko's Basketball 2-in-1 Edition, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 16) collects Kuroko's Basketball Volume 1 (entitled I'm Kuroko; Chapters 1 to 7) and Volume 2 (entitled Your Basketball; Chapters 8 to 16).  Vol. 1 opens at Seirin High where the basketball team meets its two new phenoms.  The first is the diminutive Tetsuya Kuroko, whose plainness hides the fact that on the basketball court he can execute awesome moves without others noticing.  The second newcomer is Taiga Kagami who thinks that he has learned enough basketball in America to put him above his new teammates... until he meets that “invisible guy” from the Miracle Generation.

As Vol. 2 opens, Seirin is in the middle of a tough practice game against Kaijo High.  Kuroko is determined to beat Kaijo because one of its players is his former Miracle Generation teammate, Ryota Kise.  However, it is after the game when Kise really makes his move on his old teammate.  Plus, Seirin gets ready for Inter-High.

[This volume includes the bonus manga, “Kuroko's Basketball – Side Story.”]

I have to be honest about my feelings concerning the Kuroko's Basketball manga.  When I think of basketball manga, I think of the legendary Slam Dunk from creator Takehiko Inoue, which I think is one of the best comic books every published... anywhere.  Kuroko's Basketball lacks the high drama and virtuoso graphical storytelling of Slam Dunk, and the depictions of basketball games in Kuroko's Basketball lack the punch of the legend.

That said, I enjoyed Kuroko's Basketball, and I think that it will improve, as for as drama goes, with each volume (which is about a seven or eight chapter story grouping).  I think the drama will come as Kuroko and his partner Kagami face off against more members of the Miracle Generation and other tougher opponents.  Also, just as an aside, Kuroko's Basketball is the second manga I am currently reading that involves a team participating in the Japanese National High School Sports Tournament, also known as “Inter-High.”  The other is the volleyball manga, Haikyu!!

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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My Hero Academia: All Might

I read My Hero Academia, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.  Follow me on Twitter and Tumblr or Grumble.  Support me on Patreon.

Review: MY HERO ACADEMIA Volume 2

MY HERO ACADEMIA, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Kohei Horikoshi
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: John Hunt
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8270-2; paperback (November 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Mangaka Kohei Horikoshi created a short manga series, Barrage, that I enjoyed when VIZ Media published it in a two-volume set in 2012.  Horikoshi's new series, currently being published in Weekly Shonen Jump, is My Hero Academia, which VIZ Media is also publishing.

In the world of My Hero Academia, 80 percent of the population has superpowers called “Quirks.”  If you want to be a superhero, you enroll in the Hero Academy.  What would you do, however, if you were one of the 20 percent who were born Quirkless?  Middle school student Izuku Midoriya wants to be a hero more than anything, but has no chance of ever getting into the prestigious U.A. High School for budding heroes.  Then, Midoriya meets the greatest hero of them all, All Might, who gives him a chance to change his destiny…

As My Hero Academia, Vol. 2 (entitled Rage, You Damned Nerd; Chapters 8 to 17) opens, Midoriya is about to enter U.A. High School.  The 15-year-old has powers because All Might shared his abilities with him.  His mother is ever at the ready, even fashioning a superhero uniform for her boy.

The first day of school means an immediate course in battle training.  Is Midoriya ready?  He better be.  One of his opponents is a childhood friend/rival.  Plus, the villains arrive!

As a longtime fan of superhero comic books, I am delighted to read the My Hero Academia manga (thanks to a review copy from my VIZ Media rep).  Like Tiger & Bunny and One-Punch Man, My Hero Academia proves that manga can do superhero comic books that are every bit as imaginative as American superhero comics (if not more).

My Hero Academia Volume 2 finds our young hero Izuku Midoriya being thrown into the fire of serious field training.  Series creator Kohei Horikoshi shows that in superhero school, classroom study takes place on the field of battle, where saving lives is every bit as important as battling bad guys.  My Hero Academia has a comic side, but the series' humor does not come from mocking the superhero genre.  Horikoshi takes seriously the idea of being a hero – personal sacrifice to help others, and youngsters trying to learn that makes for good comedy and drama. Fans of superhero comics and shonen battle manga will want to enroll at My Hero Academia.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.