Just when Seirin thinks they’re holding their own, Shutoku shows off its true power.
What They Say:
Seirin is holding their own against Shutoku, but in the 2nd half Midorima and Takao’s abilities are unleashed, shutting down Seirin’s game completely.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While we didn’t get a lot of the game between Seirin and Shutoku in the previous episode, there was some good lead-up to it in getting to know who is who and some of the rivalries are and their general attitude. For Seirin, their challenge is not just Shutoku but also themselves after their last game that happened just before this one that wore them down. They did put some good moves into play to try and ease off how it could go so that they’re not entirely tired, but there’s still something to it. What seemed like a game changer at the end of that episode though was seeing the way Kuroko and Kagami made a completely improbable move and totally shocked the Shutoku players, a psychological move that could go a few different ways.
It does change the dynamic pretty well since Shutoku knows they can’t play in the same way, and they obvious do a lot to try and mark Kuroko so that he’s not completely able to be invisible as he usually is. The game had a good feel before this but now it’s taking on even more intensity as more of their true skills are being brought to bear in order to outdo the others newly revealed skills. The most important thing that Shutoku is dealing with though is trying to take down Kuroko’s ability, which they have a fair bit of success with since Takao has his hawk’s eye view of the game kind of ability. That changes things a good bit and allows Shutoku to go a bit more all out than they were at first in order to secure a greater lead should something happen. But there is a respect coming from some of the Shutoku players about just how good Kuroko is.
While everyone is giving their all, winded as they’re becoming, the real truth here is that the game does depend on Kuroko and Kagami. The team under the captain has decided that they must win at all costs this year even if it means changing their entire dynamic to suit Kagami and Kuroko, which we’ve seen happen already. So while the seniors are definitely slowing down a bit here or at least feeling the effects of the double game, they’re doing their best to support the other two. But as one would expect, everything that Shutoku does in the end inspires Seirin’s players to go further and even Kagami comes up with a trick or two that’s amusing and fun to watch unfold.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to like throughout the first quarter that dominates the game here as we see Seirin step up its game a good deal and provide some surprises for Shutoku. The progress made is both in score and psychological, but all it does is let loose on of Shutoku’s star players who has a lot of skill and some significant surprises to bring to the court. Seeing both teams struggle in different ways is pretty exciting and there are some surprises that are just a lot of fun to see. With Shutoku being one of the big teams, one of the kings of the game, seeing Seirin struggle against them and do their best to overcome is exciting, even if Midorima is playing in an unbelievable fashion with three point shots from the complete other end of the court.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.