Kuroko no Basket - 44

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The latest episode of Kuroko no Basket pushes competition to the backburner so Kagami and Kuroko can train a bit more for their game against Yosen High.

As Seirin heads to Kagami’s place to unwind from the game against Touou, Riko decides to cook for them again.  Her cooking turns out better this time, despite the fact that she includes fruit in the hot pot.  At least it’s palatable, though!  (Even if it knocks them all out later.)

While the others are inside eating, Kagami and Kuroko chat on the balcony.  It’s these little scenes with just the two of them that show how much they play off each other, and just how important that codependence is for both of them.  Kuroko helps mellow Kagami out, and Kagami helps Kuroko reach for new heights.

This episode of Kuroko no Basket also introduces us to Alex Garcia, Kagami’s basketball coach from America.  She’s a retired WNBA player who took Kagami and Himuro under her wing when they were both living in America as kids.  Because she’s from America, she speaks mainly English when she is first introduced.  Fortunately, she knows Japanese, too, as she’d majored in it in college.  Alex is a lot older than I’d originally thought, given how Kagami talked about her.  I was expecting her to be in college, but since she’s already retired from the WNBA, that means she’s probably at least in her late 20s, but could also be in her 30s.

After watching Shutoku’s next game, Alex reveals to Kagami that Himuro is basically on par with the Generation of Miracles, now.  She offers to spend the next day helping Kagami learn something she hadn’t taught him yet so he can get closer to Himuro.  That way, Seirin’s game against Yosen will be more fair, according to Alex.

Meanwhile, Kuroko asks Aomine to teach him to shoot.  It turns out that Riko’s father may have been helping him learn to shoot after preliminaries, as well.  I’ve been wondering how long it would take Kuroko to learn that the next step in his training would be to learn to shoot.  Aomine agrees to help Kuroko learn to shoot, and Kagami and Kuroko spend their day off training to give Seirin an advantage in the rest of the Winter Cup.

The next episode will begin the game between Seirin High and Yosen High.  We’ll finally get to see Murasakibara in action!

Kuroko no Basket Episode 45 Preview

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