It's An Anime Thing, You Wouldn't Understand.: Happy Birthday To Taiga Kagami From Kuroko no Basket

Taiga Kagami (火神大我 Kagami Taiga) is the deuteragonist of the Kuroko no Basuke series as well as the ace and power forward of Seirin High. He is Tetsuya Kuroko's basketball colleague and friend. He is determined to defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the best in Japan.

Kagami has exceptional basketball talents and has been called "The Miracle who did not become one of the Miracles".

Appearance

Kagami is very muscular for a high school student. He is very tall, giving him an overwhelming aura, which some say is like the intensity of a wild tiger. He has two-toned dark red and black hair and red eyes. His eyes are pointed and narrow and his eyebrows are quite thick and split in two, which Murasakibara does not fail to remark on. He wears the red, black and white Seirin High jersey with the number 10 and wears black and red basketball shoes. He is also occasionally seen with a shiny metal necklace with a ring on it, which represents his brotherhood with Tatsuya Himuro. When he wears his school uniform, he keeps his gakuran unzipped, while wearing a white shirt underneath.

Personality

Kagami is very ambitious, stubborn and determined. He refuses to give up in a difficult situation and he is also very head strong. He is well known for his undying and furious fighting spirit. Kagami enjoys to play against strong opponents and sees no point in playing basketball when there are no challenges; this was evident when Kagami faced Kuroko Tetsuya for the first time. The down-side of this, is that he is also very hot-headed and has a short temper.

When Kuroko brought Tetsuya #2 to training, it is revealed that Kagami is scared of dogs and suffered Cynophobia. This fear originates from his time in America, where he was once bitten by a dog. He overcame this fear when he realized that Tetsuya #2 is good motivation for the team. He is also a glutton and is able to eat at least five times a normal meal. He is shown to be a great cook when Riko Aida tried to cook for the team to save money, but ended up almost killing everyone with her food, leading to Kagami cooking instead and teaching Riko how to cook too.

During the series, and especially after the Interhigh and during the Winter Cup, Kagami matured a lot. Instead of going up against every provocation and loosing his temper quickly, he thinks before he acts and has developed some sort of hindsight that lets him simulate a possible one-on-one battle. Even though he still hates losing, he has somewhat accepted peace with it. Now, he has become a much more clever player that doesn't plunge into battles without thinking first.

History

In third grade, Kagami moved to the States and attended school there. He had a hard time making friends because of his foreign appearance, but he met Tatsuya Himuro, who invited him to play street basketball with him. Kagami accepted and made his first friend. Kagami, who was still a beginner back then, admired Himuro's talent in basketball and how he made friends through basketball. When he asked Himuro how to make friends, Himuro told him it came because of basketball, and asked Kagami to play basketball, while allowing Himuro to train him. So after a while, Himuro taught him a lot and Kagami quickly improved, while making many friends along the way. Himuro and Kagami grew closer to each other, and Kagami saw Himuro as an older brother. In an act of kindness, Himuro bought two rings, gave one to Kagami, and told him that those rings were the proof that they were brothers.

Not long after, the two asked Alexandra Garcia, a retired WNBA-player who spent her time at betting courts, if she could train them. Alex reluctantly accepted and was annoyed by them at first, but as her two pupils got more and more enthusiastic, Alexandra began to enjoy teaching them.

Three years later, because Himuro was one year older than Kagami, Himuro graduated before him. They lost contact with each other for some time, until they reunited one year later. Kagami was seen playing basketball and he was invited by some boys to play with their team. They told him he'd be of great value in the competition against another team, with the winner getting the court. The boys tell him that the other team recently got a strong player and Kagami is interested. He decides to join their match and is amazed when he sees Himuro there. Himuro tells hims to play fair and square, hinting that he shouldn't go easy just because they know each other. Kagami agrees and he wins against Himuro for the first time.

After that, they played every week and they each lost and won the same amount. After 98 games, Himuro tells Kagami that if he loses the next game, he won't see Kagami as his little brother anymore, because the big brother is always stronger than the little brother. In the 99th game, Kagami finds out that Himuro has injured his wrist. Himuro shoots, misses and Kagami runs for the fast break. He goes up for the lay-up, but couldn't bear to win against Himuro and misses on purpose.

Story

Introduction

Kagami is first introduced at Seirin High School's opening ceremony, when he walked in on Koganei and brought him back to the basketball booth. He fills in a registration paper but doesn't write his future goals. When Riko asks him about that, he simply says that Japanese basketball is easy, and leaves.

On the first training, he is seen standing with the other Seirin players. Riko orders them to take off their shirts and she uses her Scanning Ability to examine their bodies. When she arrives at Kagami, she sees that his stats are exceptionally high and is very impressed. So impressed, that she even drools at the sight of his muscles. Riko gets her act together and doesn't see Kuroko anywhere. Kuroko reveals himself and Kagami is very surprised to see a supposed member of the Generation of Miracles who looks this weak

After the training, Kagami goes to a fast-food and orders around 15 hamburgers before sitting at Kuroko's table, without noticing him. Kuroko frightens him and Kagami asks what he is doing here. Kuroko replies that he is just watching people. This is due to Kuroko's lack of presence, later on Kagami asks him to tag along somewhere, when he finishes his food.

Kuroko and Kagami go to an empty basketball court and Kagami explains that he's searching for strong basketball players in Japan. He tells Kuroko that he knows he's from the Generation of Miracles team and asks what he is hiding. He challenges Kuroko to a one-on-one, because he wants to see for himself. Kuroko accepts. When Kagami and Kuroko play, Kagami sees that Kuroko is desperately weak. He thinks that Kuroko is still hiding something, but Kuroko denies this, saying that he knows Kagami is stronger than him. Kuroko tells Kagami that he only agreed to play to see Kagami's strength. Kagami gets ready to leave, saying he won't play weak guys. He tells Kuroko that he should just quit basketball. Kuroko refuses and reveals his true fighting spirit. He says that his strength is different than Kagami's strength, saying that he is a shadow.

On the next training, Riko suggests a match, the freshmen against the second-years. Kagami motivates the team by saying that he'd rather play against strong opponents than weak ones. The match begins and Kagami immediately dunks. The match goes on to 11 - 8, with only Kagami scoring. Meanwhile, when Kuroko has the ball, it gets stolen right away. Kagami is very irritated about Kuroko's weakness. After Kagami blocks a shot, the second-years decide to shut him up and triple-team him when he's on the ball. Even when he's not in possession of the ball, he is still guarded by two men. Kagami can't move freely anymore and the first-years fall back to 15 – 31. Furihata and the other freshmen don't see anymore hope for them, but Kagami gets mad and yells that they haven't lost yet. Kuroko suddenly appears behind him, gives him a knee bump and calms him down. In a way...

Kuroko then starts showing his true colors and commences his invisible passes. Kagami is amazed by Kuroko's talent and eventually gets the ball and makes another shot. From there onwards, Kuroko can connect his passes to Kagami and the first-years catch up the score. In the last play, Kuroko steals the ball and drives it up court. He goes for the lay-up, but misses. Kagami suddenly grabs the ball and dunks it in, closing the game with the freshmen's win.

After training, Kagami meets Kuroko in the Maji Burger. Kagami throws him one of his burgers, as a sign of sleight respect. They go outside together and Kagami asks Kuroko about the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko tells him that he is nowhere near their level. He also informs Kagami that one of them will most likely be on top soon. Kagami decides that he will beat them all and become the best player in Japan. Kuroko is skeptical and says that it's impossible. Impossible, unless Kuroko helps Kagami get there. He makes a vow as well, to make Kagami the best in Japan. Kagami agrees with their mutual goal.

The next morning, Kagami is practicing on his own at a street ball court and is thinking about the Generation of Miracles and how strong they really are. He gets fired up and can't wait to play in a match. At school, Kagami asks Hyūga if he can play in a match, but Hyūga redirects him to Riko. Kagami bursts into Riko's classroom and scares her by suddenly asking if he can join the basketball club for real. Riko tells him she met Kuroko earlier and accepts his request. But before Kagami can leave, she tells him that she will only truly accepts his application next Monday, 8:40 am on the school's rooftop. Kagami leaves and passes a cabinet where an article is displayed about Seirin's basketball club last year's results. He stands still and mumbles that the story is actually amazing. Kuroko suddenly appears besides him and responds, freaking Kagami the hell out. Kagami yells at Kuroko and becomes violent. He thinks by himself that it's strange that such a legendary player joined a no-name school like Seirin but before he can ask Kuroko, Kuroko already left the scene unnoticed.

The next Monday morning, Kagami, Kuroko and the other freshmen are greeted by Riko on the school's rooftop. It turns out that Riko wants to test the new players and she makes them shout their goal and resolve from the rooftop to the hordes of students down below. Kagami is unfazed and leaps onto the fence, to the surprise of Riko. He yells out his name, class and shouts that he will defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the number one in Japan. Shortly after, the group is caught and lectured by the school principle, again like the previous year. Later that evening, Kagami encounters Kuroko at his fastfood restaurant, where he is told that since Kuroko wasn't able to fulfill the requirements on the rooftop, Kuroko is worried that he won't be able to join. Kagami reassures him that he can join anyway and asks him why he didn't join a well known basketball team instead of Seirin. He wonders what Kuroko's motive is to play basketball. Kuroko tells him that Teikō Junior High was a team that only cared about victory and that he has found something in Seirin that he missed, some sort of ambition, and that he now only strives to help Seirin and Kagami the best he can. The next day, Kagami sees that Kuroko has written a message on the school's track ground, his way of registering in the basketball club. Kagami is pleased.

Seirin vs Kaijō

After hearing about how great the Generation of Miracles are, Kagami can’t wait to play against them. He gets his wish when Riko announces that they’re going to play a practice game against the Kaijo boys. The day before the game, Kagami can’t fall asleep because he’s so excited. The next day Kuroko notices how red his eyes are from lack of sleep. At Kaijo High, everyone is impressed with the school’s sports facilities. Kise comes to meet Kuroko, and Kagami is annoyed when he ignores him. However, Kise says he’s interested in the one who has changed Kuroko so much (Kagami) and issues a subtle challenge to him.

When Seirin arrives at the courts, they are surprised and angry that they’re only playing on the half court. Kise says that if they prove they’re good enough, his coach will allow him to play on the full court. As soon as the game starts, Kagami scores by dunking the ball through the basket so hard that the basket breaks. Furious, Coach Takeuchi orders Kise to enter the game and authorizes the full court’s usage. Kuroko comments that they should offer to replace the hoop, surprising Kagami.

Completely fired up, Kise and Kagami rapidly score against each other. After five minutes, Kuroko asks Hyuuga to request a time out because the game’s fast pace will ruin them. He also wants Kagami to cool down, because the better he plays, the better Kise also plays. During the timeout, Kagami insists that he’ll be able to defeat Kise, so the coach should continue to let him mark him. However, this is still not enough. Kise states that Kagami can’t beat him-a member of the Generation of Miracles. Kagami bursts out laughing, overjoyed that he’s found a worthy player in Japan. The last time he heard someone say this to him was in America. Kise is impressed that Kagami played basketball in the States, but Kagami points out that he has found his weakness-the one thing/person he can’t copy, Kuroko. Kise answers that that that’s true, but it still won’t change anything. Kagami claims that it will.

As the game continues, Kise keeps scoring by copying Kagami’s moves. Nonetheless, Kuroko and Kagami team up to defeat him since they are no match for him individually. Using varying styles and passes they are able to stay on even footing. During a fast break, Kise suddenly injures Kuroko accidentally, and he has to be subbed out. Izuki and Hyuuga order Kagami to defend like his life depends on it while the second years go on the offensive. Still, Seirin needs an “edge” over Kaijo; to provide that Kuroko steps out once again because he promised Kagami that he would be his shadow.

Kagami and Kuroko team up again and end up tying the game. Realizing he’s about to lose, Kise unleashes even more power determined to win. Nevertheless, Kuroko and Kagami continue to work together to pull off a buzzer beater. Kuroko shoots the ball, shocking Kise because he knows he can’t shoot. However, it’s actually a pass to Kagami for creating an alley-oop. Kise’s shocked to see how high and powerful Kagami’s jump is. He realizes he possesses a power that can rival the Generation of Miracles. Kagami yells that he doesn’t need to repay Kise later because he’ll end it right here, scoring the point that wins the game.

The team is ecstatic that they defeated a powerhouse like Kaijo. Before heading home, Riko takes the team to a restaurant where they’ll be able to eat for free as long as they can finish a serving of the café’s giant steak. Although everyone gives up, Kagami loves it and is able to finish everyone’s shares, so they won’t be burdened with the bill. After eating, Riko sends Kagami to look for Kuroko, so they can head home. When he finds him, he lightly hits him telling him he shouldn’t wander off. When he’s talking to Kise, Kuroko wanders off again, ending up challenging some bullies who had been harassing some boys playing street ball. Kagami and Kise can’t believe he’s so reckless. Nevertheless, the two of them rescue Kuroko, and then the three of them team up to defeat the bullies in a basketball game that will decide possession for the court. Victorious (and safe) Kagami yells at Kuroko about his behavior. Kise laughs, stating Kuroko hasn’t changed at all, calling Kagami Kagamicchi for the first time. Although Kagami is annoyed, Kuroko comments that this is a good thing since it means that Kise now respects him. Finally, Kagami tells Kuroko that he overheard his conversation with Kise. Furthermore, he’ll never leave Kuroko because Kuroko will always stand next to the light (Kagami).

Arc Trivia

In this arc, Kise calls Kagami Kagamicchi for the first time.

The “bullies” are members of Meijo Academy, a team Seirin quickly defeats in the Interhigh Preliminaries.

Kuroko’s reckless behavior against bullies happens again when Kuroko goes to talk to Team Jabberwock; then the entire Generation of Miracles and Kagami go to rescue him.

Kise discovers Kagami’s power that can match the Generation of Miracles-his jumping ability.

Interhigh

Preliminaries

The entire team is excessively exhausted after playing against Kaijo. Riko notes that she’ll have to change their training regiment to build their stamina. The second years treat the first years to a special type of bread that is rarely served in the cafeteria. The cafeteria is crowded-prompting Kagami to speak in English calling the situation “Japanese Lunch Time Rush”. The four first years try different ways to reach the front of the line but are unsuccessful. However, Kuroko says he bought one. Kagami grabs his collar, asking him how he did it. Kuroko replies that he was pushed to the front of the line; he left some money on the counter since no one noticed him and took the bread. Using Kuroko, they are able to buy a whole bag full. On the rooftop, they hand it over to the second years, but they tell them to enjoy it. Kagami’s sandwich is a super long 100cm, 1000yen BLT.

Afterwards during practice, Hyuuga discusses the Interhigh with the entire team. He explains how all the schools are chosen, and if they lose even one game, they are out of the tournament. Kagami corrects him, saying that the schools are not chosen—they win a place in the tournament. Everyone agrees with him. Hyuuga adds that their final match will probably be against Shutoku-the King of the East who has Shintaro Midorima. Kagami asks Kuroko about his strength, but Kuroko answers that the other four aside from Kise are on another level. He can’t imagine how he’s changed.

Riko returns after witnessing a game against their first opponents-Shinkyo Academy. She assesses that they won’t have to worry about Shutoku if they can’t defeat them. Recently, their opponents have acquired a player from Senegal who’s incredibly tall. While the others are worried about how to handle him, Kagami is unimpressed saying that he’s only tall. Izuki ends up writing a pun with the nickname that Kuroko gives him (Otou-san/Papa) that makes everyone laugh. However, Riko immediately tells them that until May 16th (the day the Interhigh begins) she’ll be training them relentlessly. Kuroko and Kagami, she adds, will also have a separate, special training schedule.

On the day of the first game, Kagami again can’t sleep, and Kuroko notices his red eyes. While they’re warming up, Papa comes in and bumps into Kuroko. He lifts him up telling him children shouldn’t be on the court. He adds that the Generation of Miracles are all children too, and they will easily be beaten by him. Kagami and the others laugh even harder, but Kuroko claims he’s getting tired of being called a kid.

In the starting jump, Kagami is shocked when Papa easily reached higher than him. At first, Papa’s height advantage overwhelms the entire team. Nevertheless, because of the special training that Kagami did with Mitobe(who’s 5’11’’) he learned how to block/defend against a player who’s taller than him. Mitobe also trained Kagami how to make his opponents’ miss a shot. Kuroko passes well, and Kagami tells Papa that the “kid” may be more trouble than anyone. Annoyed, Kuroko asks him to stop calling him a kid.

Kagami handles Papa while Kuroko is subbed out. As the game continues, Papa gets fired up-telling Kagami that he won’t lose. Kagami responds that he’s glad the he’s finally getting serious, and this is making him excited as well. Kuroko reenters the game using his passes to let Kagami score. Kagami ends the game quickly, telling Papa he’s good, but the Generation of Miracles are stronger. The final score is 67-79, Seirin wins. When they’re about to leave, Papa admits his defeat, but ends up calling Kagami an idiot repeatedly, annoying Kagami exceedingly. Hyuuga and Kuroko are left speechless as Papa’s captain drags him away.

The second game is against Jitsuzen High; Kuroko is benched the whole time. Seirin crushes them 118-51. The third game is against Kinga High. Kuroko is benched again although he is restless watching the other play. Seirin wins 92-71. The fourth match is against the bullies from Meijo Academy. Seirin easily beats them because Meijo is afraid of them the whole time. While the team is talking after the game, the Shutoku team comes on to the courts. Kagami announces that he’s going to go greet them, and Hyuuga is unable to stop him. Kagami offers his hand to Midorima; thinking Kagami wants to shake hands (akushu), Midorima gives his left hand to Kagami (his right hand is holding his lucky item). Kagami writes his name in his palm. Surprised, Midorima looks at Kagami; he explains that he did that so Midorima wouldn’t make up some excuse about being unable to remember his name. As they talk, Takao mentions that the three kings all tripled the score in their games against Seirin last year. Kagami is shocked, and Midorima answers that this year will be the same. Kuroko immediately joins the conversation, telling Midorima that nothing is decided until the end. Midorima responds that he’ll show Kuroko what he means when they watch is next game. As Seirin watches Shutoku’s game, Kuroko explains Midorima’s skills. Everyone acknowledges Shutoku’s and Midorima’s strength, even Kagami.

After the game, Kagami is surprised when Riko tells him they have another game today (the fifth and last game before the semifinals; she also calls him “Bakagami” for the first time). They agree that they’ll probably be playing against Seiho in the semifinals and Shutoku in the finals. Kagami is fired up at the prospect of playing two strong teams in one day. Kuroko is as well, making everyone question whether he’s caught Kagami’s germs. Kuroko replies he hopes not (annoying Kagami), but he feels that things like this light a fire inside him. Everyone, especially the second years, feel the same way.

Semi-Finals

In school the next day during lunch break, Kagami comments on how less Kuroko eats; Kuroko is shocked that Kagami can eat so much. Riko shows up and asks them to carry some DVDs for her back to the club room. As they’re walking, Kagami asks why they have to do it. Riko asks if they expect a maiden like her should carry them. When Kagami asks to see this maiden, Riko hits him.

In the afternoon when Kagami is looking through his club locker, he is startled when he sees Kuroko since he didn’t notice him earlier. They both see the Seiho DVD and watch it. Kagami notes that the players, especially the bald one, have strange movements. Kuroko tells him that he knows the bald guy from Middle School-Tsugawa Tomoki. Kise had just started, but Tsugawa stopped him. Kagami can’t believe it. He is present when the entire team watches the DVD as well. Although the other players are worried, Hyuuga announces that he has a plan.

While Seirin is warming up before the game with Seiho, Midorima and Kagami stare at each other across the court. Hyuuga immediately turns his head, telling him he’s staring down the wrong opponent. He’ll look like an idiot if they lose against Seiho and are unable to play Shutoku. Riko points out their key players-third years Iwamura (Captain) and Kasuga (Playmaker). Tsugawa comes over to Kagami, commenting on how red his hair is. He yells across the court to his captain that Seirin doesn’t have any strong players except for him. Iwamura hits him on the head, apologizing to Hyuuga for Tsugawa who talks without thinking. Hyuuga, who is standing with an impassive Kuroko and an annoyed Kagami, says there is no need to apologize since they’ll win; last year isn’t the same as this year. Iwamura replies that that won’t happen because Seirin is weak. He leaves with a grumbling Tsugawa.

The Seirin locker room is quiet. To boost everyone’s morale, Riko promises to give them a kiss on the cheek if they win. Since no one reacts ecstatically to this “reward”, she yells at them that they have to pay Seiho back for last year. Hyuuga addresses everyone, telling the first years that after their loss last year, they hated basketball so much that they wanted to quit. However, they’re over that now, and they definitely going to win this. As they walk out, Kuroko asks Kagami if he’s ever hated basketball. Kagami replies no, but Kuroko tells him he has. He says that it’s painful to hate something one loves. He adds that he really wants to win this game for his senpais. On the court when the game is about to start, Kagami recalls what Kuroko said. He admits that he can’t understand how Kuroko felt about hating basketball. But he knows he wants to win.

When the game starts Tsugawa has completely boxed Kagami; the score quickly becomes 12-0 with Seirin being unable to score because of Seiho’s strong defense. Moreover, Tsugawa taunts Kagami. Without thinking, Kagami charges and earns his second foul. Everyone wants him to calm down. Riko calls a timeout and tells the boys that Seiho is using old martial arts for their defensive techniques. One of their styles is namba running. Nevertheless, Kagami says he will stop Tsugawa because Tsugawa is only human. Kuroko and Izuki note that he’ll do what he has to do to stop him. Up against Tsugawa again, he’s determined to defeat him. Breaking past Tsugawa, he yells that basketball is basketball no matter what tricks Seiho uses. When he scores, Seirin is overjoyed whereas Seiho is shocked.

However, Seirin is still amazed by Seiho’s passing style. Kagami earns his third foul, annoying Kise (who has come to watch the game with Kasamatsu) and putting Seirin on edge. Tsugawa suddenly bumps into Kuroko, asking where he came from. Kagami sees that Tsugawa doesn’t remember Kuroko even though he played in Middle School. Kuroko introduces himself and says that he’s been here all the time. Tsugawa boasts that last year his team was 20 points ahead of Seirin at this time; this year he wants to make it 30. He tells Kuroko that he hopes Kuroko won’t be disappointed. As he jogs away, Kuroko replies that he’ll try not to be. In the next play, Kuroko passes back from behind the defense, shocking Seiho. Kagami stops Kasuga from scoring by blocking his shot. Kuroko also stops Tsugawa, making him lose control of the ball. Kagami catches the ball and passes it to Hyuuga who scores. The score is now tied 19-19.

During the time out, Riko instructs Seirin to continue with the attack. She is also frustrated because Kagami has three fouls; this will make him more cautious than before. Nevertheless, because of Kuroko’s strong passes, Kagami is able to score. Still, Tsugawa doesn’t care; he’s planning to do something that will make it even more painful for Kagami. He comments that no matter how good their teamwork is, only one of them can score.

During the next play, Kagami feels that something is not right. When he’s about to take a shot, Hyuuga yells at him to stop, but it’s too late. Kagami bumps into Tsugawa and earns his fourth foul. Seeing Tsugawa’s smiling face, Kagami realizes he did it on purpose. Kise comments that now he won’t be able to make anymore risky plays. Kagami tries to reassure everyone that he won’t make anymore fouls. Hyuuga, however, is unconcerned. He tells Kagami and Kuroko that they had already planned to bench both of them during this time. The second year’s pride is at stake, and they want to get revenge themselves for last year. Hyuuga also says that they need to conserve their strength because only they can defeat Midorima. He adds that Midorima has already been benched in his game earlier on. Kagami is about to protest, but Kuroko says they should trust their senpais. On their bench, Takao notices that Seirin has benched Kuroko and Kagami; he questions whether they’re throwing the game. However, Midorima replies that it’s the opposite.

Kagami wonders if they’ll be all right; Riko assures him that they’re good. As they play, Riko explains everything to Kuroko and Kagami. They all use their new skills-Mitobe’s hook shot, Koganei’s ability to shoot from any angle (no guarantee of accuracy though), Tsuchida’s rebounding skills, and Izuki’s Eagle Eye. Watching from the bench, both of them are impressed by their senpai’s skills.

Nevertheless, Seiho proves they’re good as well when Iwamura uses a scoop shot to score. When Kasuga shoots as well, Izuki note how flexible he is compared to Iwamura. During one of the plays, Koganei injures himself. Kagami wants to enter the game, but Kuroko insists that the one with four fouls should stay back, and he’ll get revenge for him. When Kuroko steps back onto the court, Tsugawa is disappointed, saying he was hoping to face Kagami. Kuroko answers that he’ll defeat Tsugawa in Kagami’s place.

Kuroko tells Tsugawa that he asked to play; if the senpais have their will, then the kouhais have their respect. He will defeat him to support them. When the game restarts, Seiho is unable to figure out Kuroko’s passing style. Watching from the bench, Kagami is even more impressed by how amazing Kuroko is. Riko tells him he’s always like this, and she’s surprised he just noticed. As Seirin is able to keep up with Seiho, they realize that they have been completely studied. They quickly close the gap between their points. Nevertheless, Seiho insists they won’t lose. They switch to full court man-to-man defense, intensely focused in the last seconds. However, Mitobe blocks Kasuga and lets Izuki pass. He passes to Kuroko; simultaneously from the bench Kagami yells his name. Completely in control, Kuroko passes it to Hyuuga, and he scores. Seirin wins 73-71. Kagami celebrates with his entire team.

Tsugawa is shocked and upset that Seirin won, claiming it’s impossible for a team that only formed a couple of years ago to defeat a king. Iwamura tells him that the strongest team doesn’t win—the team that wins is the strongest.

Finals

In the Seirin locker room, Riko instructs the boys to take care of themselves before the next game as she massages Hyuuga’s feet and legs. Although Hyuuga admits he’s tired, he tells her he’ll be all right. Riko suddenly notices Kagami sleeping on the floor, and wants to wake him up, afraid that he’ll catch cold. However, everyone feels that he’s not sleeping; he’s just conserving all of his energy before the next game. Koganei also feels he must be feeling guilty about his four fouls. Later, Kuroko wakes Kagami up-telling him it’s game time.

In Seirin’s huddle, Hyuuga is in a rather lackluster mood because he’s tired; but, he insists that this is it—afterwards they can rest all they want. They have to fight now with everything they’ve got. The finals begin.

Midorima talks to Kuroko, telling him it’s an illusion—fighting together can’t achieve victory. He’ll confirm that Kuroko made a mistake to go to a weak school. Kuroko replies that Seirin isn’t weak. Takao asks him if he has anything to say to Kagami; Midorima replies that he doesn’t have anything to say to someone who played such a disgraceful game. Kagami replies that Midorima is right; he is angry at himself for those four fouls. However, he’s turned that anger and frustration into fighting spirit to defeat Midorima.

When the game starts, Izuki thinks that they had planned to score first and fast, but Shutoku’s defense is too strong. He passes to Kagami who tries to score, but Midorima easily blocks his shot, telling Kagami his level is too low to defeat him. More than two minutes into the game, neither team has scored. Seiho’s players along with Kise and Kasamatsu realize that the first quarter will go to the team who scores first.

Suddenly, Midorima has the ball and gets ready to shoot. As Seirin panics, Kuroko asks Kagami to start running. He’s shocked by his request, but he complies. Once Midorima scores, Kuroko takes the ball and passes it right across the court, past Midorima’s face, to Kagami. He instantly catches it and scores. The crowd goes wild after seeing such an amazing play. Midorima glares at Kuroko who answers he can’t allow Shutoku to take the first quarter so easily.

On the court, Takao thinks that he can’t allow the crowd to think that this is all it takes to shut them down. Nakatani orders Takao to mark Kuroko now. When Takao comes over to Kuroko, he states he had a feeling that they would face each other since Midorima and Kagami are doing the same. Since they are so much alike, Takao feels that that in a way he hates Kuroko. Kagami asks Midorima what he’s planning; no matter how fast Takao is, he can’t stop Kuroko. Midorima replies he’s fully aware of Kuroko’s abilities; Kagami will soon understand.

Midorima tells Kagami that he shouldn’t lose focus and Shutoku won’t lose. A time out is called. At Seirin’s bench Kagami asks Riko to let him and Kuroko go on like this. He adds that he’s ready to challenge Midorima after the timeout.

After the timeout, Kuroko tries to pass again, but he is still blocked by Takao. Kise comments that it’s not like Kuroko to make the same mistake twice. Midorima orders Kagami to be serious and defend since Shutoku is doing all they can. His shooting range is not so short; he shocks everyone by making a shot from the half court line. This way he can counter Kuroko’s pass. He adds that no matter what they do, it’s useless. His shoots threes; all of their shots are only worth two points apiece. Therefore, the point gap will only get wider.

After Midorima’s shot, Kagami faces him again. He shoots the ball outside his normal shooting range, surprising Midorima. However, he immediately chases after it, thinking if it goes in-great; otherwise he’ll just jam it in himself-a one man alley-oop. The crowd is amazed by his play. Midorima replies that this is still not enough; he shoots the ball across the entire court, revealing that the entire court is his domain. Kagami can’t believe that he possesses such ability.

The first quarter is over. Riko asks Kuroko if Midorima has always been able to shoot like that. Kuroko answers this is the first time he has seen him shoot from across the full court; he knew he could shoot from the half-court line. Everyone on the Seirin bench is worried. Once the game resumes, Kuroko first tries to stop Midorima; however, he is still unable to break free from Takao. Kagami realizes Midorima isn’t just good at shooting but fast as well.

Since Kagami is unable to score, the second years work together to score. Still unfazed, Midorima tells Seirin to give up. He once again shoots from the full court line. Kagami jumps to try and block him but is unable to. However, Kise is watching Kagami who’s acting strangely. He feels his power is just awakening.

The first half is over. The score is Seirin 27; Shutoku has 45. Seirin’s locker room is quiet. At a loss for words, Hyuuga asks Riko not to say anything stupid just to try and cheer them up. No one can come up with a good game plan. Kuroko studies a video someone made of Takao. He claims he’s trying to come up with something. He states he has thought about winning, but he has never wondered if he can win or not. He adds that it’s possible that if they even lose by 100 points, a meteor could strike their opponent’s bench in the last second, and they’ll end up winning. Hyuuga yells that that will never happen. Kagami is listening throughout this conversation.

When the game resumes, Kuroko is benched. Midorima feels that Seirin hasn’t given up, and Kagami’s aura feels strange. When Midorima gets the ball and shoots, Kagami jumps to try and stop him. He realizes he has to get higher. In the next play, Takao thinks to himself that Kagami is not marking Midorima closely enough. When Kagami goes up against Midorima again, he recalls Kuroko’s words. He feels if Kuroko gives everything he’s got and doesn’t win, he accepts the loss. However, Kagami doesn’t feel this way. Facing strong opponents excites him, but in the end he wants to win. As he blocks Midorima, he almost gets him because the ball doesn’t sink immediately but wobbles around the rim before going in. Midorima is shocked by what happened, and he asks Kagami what his sign is. Kagami says Leo (Oh-Asa warned that Cancers should be wary of Leos today). Midorima comments quietly that that horoscope is always right.

Now that Kuroko is benched, Takao can block Kagami so Midorima can shoot freely. However, Kagami states that this has become their weakness since they let him see this play so often—the longer the shot-the longer it takes to make the shot. He breaks free from Takao, and once again jumps to stop Midorima. His finger touches the ball, and this time, Midorima misses. Nevertheless, Oostubo succeeds in slamming the ball in. Riko orders Koganei and Mitobe to double team Oostubo.

Takao passes to Midorima, but Kagami stops him again. Catching the ball, Izuki states their play has another weakness—since Midorima shoots from so far away, once Kagami blocks him, Seirin can easily counter because the ball is close to the Shutoku net. Kise notes that Kagami’s strength that can rival the Generation of Miracles is revealed-his jumping ability. Oostubo tries to score, but Kagami stops him as well. Kagami thinks to himself that he’ll win, even if he has to do it alone. Everyone thinks Kagami is amazing, but Kuroko responds negatively—he has a bad feeling about what’s happening.

Everyone comments that Kagami’s jumps defy common sense. Miyagi is angry that everyone is feeling that only Midorima can score and prepares to shoot himself. Suddenly, Takao yells at him to stop, but it’s too late—Kagami blocks him as well. When Kimura faces Kagami, he is also defeated and wonders how long he can stay in the air. However, Nakatani is not that worried, and he feels that they will continue like this. He states that Kagami’s time is almost up.

Finally, Midorima faces Kagami once more. He acknowledges his strength, but he states that Kagami won’t be able to stop him anymore. As he shoots, Kagami tries to jump, but he is unable to. Kasamatsu tells Kise that everyone on the Seirin team is tired, especially because they were exhausted earlier by Seiho’s defense. Tsugawa is annoyed that Kagami is letting that stop him now. Angered by his weakness, Kagami attacks aggressively in the next play. Although Hyuuga tells him to wait, he doesn’t. Midorima blocks his shot and Shutoku easily counters and scores. At the end of the third quarter, Kuroko has been watching everything.

On Seirin’s bench, Hyuuga tells Kagami he should have passed instead of going ahead alone. Kagami retorts that he’s the only one who could have scored—what could have been done by passing. Everyone is shocked by his selfishness. Kuroko suddenly punches Kagami. When Kagami angrily grabs his front shirt, Kuroko tells him he can’t play basketball by himself. Kagami yells that teamwork isn’t enough to win. Kuroko answers that there is no point if he wins alone. Kagami yells back that he’s naïve about winning like that and punches him. Kuroko then asks him what victory is. He states that Kagami wants to defeat the Generation of Miracles, but he’s thinking just like them. It’s only better if they win as a team. Kagami still doesn’t admit that Kuroko is right. Kuroko finally points out then if they don’t win trusting each other, then no one will be happy. A victory like that is worthless. Kagami softly apologizes, agreeing with Kuroko that he does want to win happily as a team rather than by himself. Once he’s calmed down, they discuss their next game plan. Kuroko gets ready, stating all he can do is pass; however, he can take it up a level.

Kagami apologizes to Hyuuga for his behavior. Hyuuga answers that he’ll deal with him later. Since it’s the last ten minutes, he’s completely entered clutch time mode. Takao acknowledges Kuroko who’s returned to the game. Kasamatsu notes Kuroko on the court and wonders what he’ll do to counter Takao. Midorima notices that Kagami has cooled down thanks to Kuroko. Nevertheless, he believes that there’s nothing to worry about since Kagami can’t jump anymore. Before stepping out, Riko notes that Kagami only has about two super powered jumps left although he insists he can do more. She instructs him to save one for the deciding moment of the battle and the other when Midorima takes his first shot in the quarter. When he uses it, Midorima is shocked that he can still jump. Izuki quickly gets the ball and scores.

In the next play, Kagami catches Kuroko’s Ignite Pass. He then moves to shoot; Midorima jumps to stop him. Kagami thinks this is an “important” moment—he has to do something big now rather than later. He jumps higher than Midorima and dunks the ball in shocking Midorima. Seeing the pass, Kise comments that this is the pass that only the Generation of Miracles could catch. Kasamatsu adds that Kagami loves to show off just like Kise. This wasn’t the time to force a dunk, but it had a good impact on the team. Running back to their side, Kagami tells Kuroko he hates to admit it, but he can’t jump anymore. He’ll continue to mark Midorima, but the rest is up to him. Kuroko happily agrees.

Midorima can’t believe Seirin caught up. Kuroko tells him that it’s true his shots are amazing. However, inspirational and encouraging dunks like the one Kagami just made are exceptional as well.

Shutoku takes their last time out; only two minutes are left in the game. When the game resumes and Miyagi passes to Midorima, Riko says she thought they would do that. By thinking that Kagami can’t jump, they are basically telling Seirin where they will pass. Kuroko quickly passes the ball to Hyuuga; however, Oostubo stops him from scoring. Shutoku’s goal is to defend until they can find an opening to let Midorima score.

Suddenly Midorima gets the ball and scores with one minute left in the game. Now Seirin is five points behind them. Hyuuga shoots a three and scores. With only fifteen seconds left, Oostubo marks Hyuuga. However, Kagami blocks Oostubo, so Hyuuga can score a three again. The score is now 82-81. Kagami thinks they’ve won, but Midorima gets the ball from Takao in the last three seconds. He tells them why he always insists on shooting buzzer beaters—he always is doing the very best he can. This is what he means by “Man Proposes, God Disposes”.

Seirin looks on desperately as Kagami jumps no matter how much stamina he has lost. Everyone is shocked that he pushed his limit; however, Midorima is unfazed. He comments that he knew Kagami would jump despite his fatigue. He suddenly lowers himself, changing his stance as Kagami watches speechless.

Suddenly Kuroko speaks. He states he knew that Kagami would jump; he also knew that Midorima, believing in Kagami, would lower the ball once more. Kuroko knocks the ball out of his hands; Seirin wins 82-81. Seirin’s shock turns to joy as they celebrate; Kagami also is seen with a smiling face. Shutoku is speechless because Seirin managed to defeat two kings in a row.

In Seirin’s locker room, Riko tells the boys that they should leave now. Hyuuga begs her to give them a few minutes; they are extremely tired after playing against two kings. Kagami, however, can barely walk. She replies that they can’t stay here, so they should head to a nearby restaurant. Based on rock-paper-scissors, Kuroko has to carry Kagami. However, he drops him in the mud right before reaching the restaurant. Although he apologizes, Kagami is extremely annoyed.

In the restaurant, they meet Kise and Kasamatsu. Kagami and Kuroko join them while Seirin’s second years toast their victory. Takao and Midorima unexpectedly come in as well. Kagami asks them what they are doing her. Takao says that they lost their senpais while Shin-chan was crying, annoying Midorima. He immediately tells Takao they’ll eat elsewhere and exits. However, strong winds almost blow Takao’s umbrella away, so they come back in. Takao suddenly acknowledges Kasamatsu and asks him to move to Seirin’s table so they can discuss their basketball positions. Kasamatsu asks Takao if he’s okay with that since Seirin is celebrating right now. Takao replies he doesn’t mind at all; Midorima takes Kasamatsu’s seat. Kuroko, Kagami, Kise, and Midorima are now all seated at the same table. Riko and the others watch, wondering what will happen.

Fortunately, the four of them behave quite normally. They order their food; Kise and Midorima can’t believe Kagami can eat so much all by himself. Kuroko assures them that he can finish it all. Midorima also comments that Kise can eat such revolting food; Kise retorts that must Midorima use every opportunity to insult him. Eventually, Midorima asks Kise how he can eat with them when he lost to them. Kise replies that it’s okay because he will get his revenge the next time they play. Kagami tells him to bring it on. Kise adds that he’s now enjoying playing with Kaijo. Midorima notes that he’s reverted to his former Teiko self. However, he doesn’t play basketball for fun. Kagami states that they are over thinking things—of course they play basketball because it’s fun. Midorima darkly answers that Kagami shouldn’t tell them what to think when he doesn’t even know them. Suddenly Takao’s okonomiyaki lands on Midorima’s head. Angered, Midorima tells Kagami that they’ll finish this discussion in a moment; he then goes to beat up Takao.

After eating, Midorima tells Kagami that there are two members of the Generation of Miracles in the Tokyo area; the other one is Aomine, Daiki. His style of basketball is just like Kagami’s. Kagami deduces that Aomine’s strong as well. Kuroko adds that he doesn’t like his style at all. When Midorima is leaving, Kuroko suggests that they play again. Midorima answers that they will, and next time he’ll win. Finally, Seirin is forced to pay a huge bill because Kagami ate too much.

Final league

Kagami is forbidden from practicing because his legs still haven’t completely healed yet. However, Rikoconcludes that they should be fine before they have to play their first official match. However, Kagami can’t bear sitting around and doing anything, so he decides to practice. A voice calls out that he’s really here—Satsuki’s information network is incredible. When Kagami asks him who he is, he replies he’s Aomine, Daiki.

Kagami tells Aomine he doesn’t feel like playing with rude people. Aomine laughs derisively and tells him he doesn’t care how Kagami feels. He isn’t looking for something that doesn’t exist like a player who is better than him. He just wants to see how much Kagami will be able to entertain him since he’s bored right now. Kagami notes that all of the Generation of Miracles love to irritate him. Out loud, he tells Aomine he’ll crush him.

Later, Kagami is shocked and exhausted; he couldn’t defeat Aomine. Aomine is severely disappointed. He can’t believe Kagami defeated Midorima. He tells Kagami his light is too dim, and he’ll be able to draw out Kuroko’s true power.

Kagami is sitting on the steps downcast. He feels like he can never win against Aomine. The only other time he’s felt this way is with Kise.

A week later, he arrives for practice. Riko immediately notices that he was playing basketball instead of resting—his legs have not healed. Yelling, she orders him to go to the nurse’s office on his hands. When Hyuuga tells her she didn’t have to yell so much, she answers she’s frustrated because they won’t have Kagami against their first opponent-Too.

Kuroko excuses himself, claiming he has to go to the bathroom, to talk to Kagami. He asks Kagami why he would recklessly play basketball. Kagami answers he met Aomine. He realized that Aomine and Kuroko weren’t ordinary teammates, and he wants Kuroko to tell him what happened between him and Aomine.

Kuroko tells Kagami that they’ll talk while walking back. In middle school, they were not amazing players. However, Aomine blossomed first in their second year. During the games against Youmi and Yoneya, Aomine racked up point after point all by himself. No one could stop him. The other Generation of Miracles also couldn’t believe his strength. After practice, Kuroko and Aomine walk home together. Kuroko asks Aomine why he’s skipping practice. Aomine answers that it’s all right. The more he practices, the more boring basketball gets. Plus, he’s also deciding to start skipping games as well. Putting his ice down Aomine’s back, Kuroko tells him he can’t do that. It’s true that he can’t understand how Aomine feels. However, he would never want, as Aomine’s opponent, want Aomine to go easy on him. Furthermore, he’s sure that a truly great player will show up eventually to rival Aomine. Shocked by his outburst, Aomine fist bumps Kuroko and agrees with him.

However, in the match against another power forward Inoue, Aomine sees that all of the players have given up and have no desire to even try and engage him. Crushed by despair, Aomine tells Kuroko he tried, but it’s no good—the only one who can beat him is he himself.

Kuroko ends the story. That year, Teiko swept the tournament because of Aomine’s strength. Everyone else also became more powerful after that. However, Kagami is increasingly annoyed. Imitating Aomine’s famous one-liner, he yells out loud that Aomine shouldn’t get ahead of himself. He states that Aomine can “boil coffee in his belly”; Kuroko corrects him by telling him the word is tea instead of coffee. Fist bumping with Kuroko, he tells Kuroko that they should go and bring Aomine back to his senses.

The day of the match against Too, all of the Seirin members are getting ready in their own way. Kagami feels that his legs have gotten better. In Seirin’s locker room at the arena, Riko addresses Seirin. She tells them to give everything they’ve got. Hitting Koganei, she states there’s no way they can slack off and think it’s okay to lose a game. Kagami is present throughout her speech.

On the court when both teams are warming up, Kagami notices that Aomine isn’t there. He asks Wakamatsu about him; Wakamatsu replies that “the self-centered” Aomine isn’t coming until the second half. Imayoshi adds that they are just the opening act. Once the Too players walk away, Izuki asks Kagami if he’s disappointed. He also asks if this will affect his fighting spirit. Kagami replies that it’s the opposite. He is so angry right now that he’ll rapidly score and make their ace look like an idiot. Aomine won’t be able to catch up no matter how hard he tries. Kuroko agrees; Aomine is dangerous, and they should score as much as they can before he arrives.

However, once the game starts, Seirin realizes how wrong they were. Too Gakuen is strong and fast even without Aomine. Seirin won’t be able to score that easily. Hyuuga tells Imayoshi that he’s pretty evil to say they’re just the ‘opening act’. But Imayoshi replies he didn’t lie; Seirin will find out once Aomine gets here.

Still, Izuki states that Seirin is a team in which everyone acts together. Kagami blocks Imayoshi, and Hyuugashoots. Hyuuga tells Sakurai he doesn’t plan on losing, and Sakurai should inform his captain. He also calls Sakurai an ‘apologetic mushroom’. Sakurai is surprised and confused by Hyuuga’s attitude. Furthermore, Too can’t easily keep track of Kuroko. He tries to intercept a pass from Imayoshi to Wakamatsu, but everyone knows he can’t do it because he’s too short. Annoyed, Kagami tells Kuroko not to try things he knows he can’t do. Grabbing the ball, Kagami passes to Izuki. Kagami adds that Kuroko should wake up. They are now playing Too Gakuen; this isn’t his middle school team.

On the court, Kagami notices Momoi, and he tells Kuroko she’s just like any other girl. Kuroko quietly replies she is-as long as she’s not playing a match. Kagami is slightly confused by his answer.

Momoi’s information gathering skills and data analytical skills damage Seirin. Nevertheless, Riko states they’ll continue like this. Momoi is naïve; there are two players on the court whose data is limited-Kuroko and Kagami.

When Kuroko blocks Sakurai so Hyuuga can shoot, Momoi is surprised. Sill she thinks to herself that that’s why she loves Tetsu—she never knows what he’s going to do. The score is now Too 21-Seirin 15. However, Kagami feels that his legs may be troubling him.

During the timeout, both teams discuss game strategy. Riko tells Seirin that Kagami and Kuroko will start the attack now; she orders them to give it all they’ve got. When the game restarts, Kuroko and Kagami work together. Imayoshi can’t believe that Seirin immediately decided to go for that play. Since they know what’s coming next (Kagami’s dunk), Too can easily defend. However, because Kagami is such a powerful jumper, they are unable to stop him. After scoring, Kagami yells that he’ll show Too his strength.

Still, Too’s coach points out softly that Kagami shouldn’t misuse his body like that; he can injure himself permanently. Suddenly, Riko notices something and orders Koganei to substitute with Kagami. Irritated, Kagami sits down on the bench. Riko tells him she noticed that his legs haven’t completely healed yet. Kagami doesn’t respond; she then adds that she’ll tape them up so he can reenter the game.

While Kagami is out of the game, Seirin struggles against Too. Midorima, who’s watching the game, points out that the players are too all, and Momoi has studied all the second years completely. The point gap will only get wider. Kagami silently prays that Seirin will hold on until he returns. When Riko finally sends him out, she apologizes. She doesn’t want to send an injured player, but she has no choice. Kagami answers that this isn’t like her; besides, she already does too much for the team. He asks her to say something cool and spirited—she tells him to go get them. The second he is about to step onto the court, Aomine arrives. Casually putting his arm around Kagami’s shoulder, he tells Kagami to show even more spirit so he can have a little bit of fun. Furious, Kagami knocks his arm away. Aomine smirks and says he’ll play although there is only a minute left before the first half ends.

Seirin’s players acknowledge Aomine; they can all tell he’s extremely different from normal players. Riko thinks that this is probably the words time for Aomine to show up. Ignoring everyone, Aomine goes straight to Kurokoand speaks to him. He tells Kuroko it’s been a while; he had wondered what kind of face Kuroko would have, but he’s glad to see he’s ready to face him. Kuroko answers that he is because he promised Momoi. Aomine retorts that he’ll hear Kuroko’s words after he beats him. As Aomine walks away, Kagami growls that he’ll show Aomine.

Both teams choose “isolation” for their next play, giving their respective aces space for battle. Aomine breaks free from Kagami; nevertheless, Kagami manages to stop him, surprising Aomine that he caught up so fast. Midorimaand Kise are shocked by how high Kagami is able to jump. In the next play, even though Kuroko uses Ignite Pass and Kagami catches the ball, the counter attack is too slow. Kagami tries to dunk the ball in, but Aomine immediately knocks the ball away. Everyone is shocked at the speed of their plays. Suddenly, the first half is over; Aomine lazily says he can’t believe it. He turns toward Seirin, telling them they’re not bad. He had planned to score at least once before half-time; moreover, he adds that he thought that they were weak because they were ten points behind. He’s glad that he was wrong.

In Seirin’s locker room, Kagami offers Kuroko some lemon, but he states that he’s all right. Kuroko asks Riko to let him play in the second half as well, so he can face Aomine. Izuki and Hyuuga think it’s a bad idea since his misdirection is already fading. When Kuroko insists again, Kagami grabs a lemon and stuffs it into Kuroko’s mouth. He tells Kuroko to practice what he preaches—basketball is a team sport; therefore, he should rely on his team. Riko agrees; she says she’ll let Kuroko play in the final quarter-as long as they are not too far behind. When they are walking out, Kuroko warns Kagami that, like Midorima and Kise, he has no idea of Aomine’s growth; Kagami should be careful.

As soon as the game begins, Aomine begins his attack. He notices that Kagami has a nice aura, but he adds that it’s not enough. Kagami is unable to match Aomine’s speed, and Aomine scores. As Midorima and Kise watch, Midorima comments that out of all the Generation of Miracles, Aomine’s “agility” is the best. Still, Kagami is determined not to give up and counters quickly. He jumps to try to dunk the ball in, but Aomine blocks it. Although he mocks Kagami, Aomine wonders if he was seriously trying to dunk after jumping from the free throw line. Out loud, Aomine states this is boring; honest basketball just isn’t his style. Kagami faces him once again. However, when he sees Aomine’s style, he realizes it’s akin to street ball-a style he encountered in the States. Kagami stumbles and falls down as Aomine dribbles ahead. Mitobe, Tsuchida, and Hyuuga try to block his shot, but Aomine effortlessly scores from behind the hoop. After seeing him score such an unbelievable shot, Seirin is overwhelmed by his power.

Seirin is unable to stop any of Aomine’s impossible shooting styles—the shots defy common sense. Midorima comments the trump card of the Generation of Miracles, Aomine Daiki, is limitless-an unstoppable scorer. Nevertheless, Kagami refuses to give up. He jumps high once again to block Aomine. Aomine mockingly acknowledges that Kagami can jump high. But he instantly proves that it’s meaningless against him. Everyone is shocked as they watch Aomine shoot with his body almost parallel to the ground. After he scores, Kagami admits to himself that Aomine is too unpredictable; he can’t even match Aomine’s speed. Therefore, he tries to score by jumping higher. Aomine easily knocks the ball away. He tells Kagami jumping high isn’t enough; Kagami is too slow, so he’ll be taking the ball.

In the next play Kagami chases after Aomine, but when Aomine is about to shoot, Kagami accidentally fouls him. Unfazed, Aomine adds “insult to injury” by scoring by tossing the ball effortlessly from behind his back. Seirin is completely shocked and helpless. They can’t believe that Kagami isn’t able to do anything to counter Aomine although he was able to succeed against Kise and Midorima. After scoring, Aomine tells Kuroko to “come out”. Kagami isn’t enough; he wants to see the true power of the new light and shadow.

When Kuroko steps onto the court, Kagami apologizes to him—he wasn’t able to defeat Aomine alone. Kuroko replies that they had already decided to defeat him together; they should start by taking back the ten points Seirinhas lost. Everyone, including Riko, is silently depending on them.

Kuroko starts the game with his cross-court pass. Catching the ball, Kagami notices Aomine catching up to him. Nevertheless, Kagami had anticipated this, so he immediately passes back to Hyuuga. The first years start praying that he’ll score, annoying Hyuuga as he shoots. After scoring, he turns toward them and tells them they should only celebrate whenever he shoots. Kuroko helps the team score again as well. However, Aomine states this isn’t enough for Kuroko’s basketball to win. In the next play, Aomine proves how correct he is by easily catching Kuroko’s Ignite Pass, shocking Kuroko. Grabbing the ball, he easily passes three of Seirin’s players. The second he is going to score, Kuroko and Kagami both jump to try and stop him. However, they are unable to and both of them fall to the floor. Looking at them, Aomine sadly states that it’s too bad, but Kuroko’s basketball can’t defeat him.

The fourth quarter begins. Aomine’s plays become even more erratic, making it impossible for Kagami to keep up. Suddenly Riko notices something and pulls Kagami out of the game. Although Kagami strenuously protests, Riko orders him to sit down and sends Tsuchida in. Her tone even surprises Too’s players. Looking at Kagami, Riko can tell he’s been unconsciously shifting the weight off of his damaged leg and putting more pressure on his other leg. She realizes she won’t be able to use him for the rest of the tournament. Wakamatsu notices Kagami seething on Seirin’s bench. He’s shocked by Kagami’s behavior because people usually give up in front of Aomine. Kagami, however, looks like he’s ready to kill someone.

Kagami watches helplessly with a towel draped over his head as Seirin struggles valiantly, but still loses to Too. The final score is Too 112-Seirin 55.

In Seirin’s locker room, Riko tells the team not to give up since they have more games to play. She instructs Kagami to immediately go to the hospital. When everyone leaves, Kagami speaks to Kuroko. He tells Kuroko that in the face of such overwhelming odds, their cooperation isn’t enough to win. Saying this, he walks out. Completely dejected, Kuroko is unable to say anything.

Return of Kiyoshi

After his defeat against Aomine, Kagami becomes distant from Kuroko, stating that combining their power is not enough to win. Everyone on the team notices his cool and reserved attitude; however, during practice, he still gives it his all. He is present with the other first years when Kiyoshi is introduced. Kiyoshi immediately challenges him to one-on-one for the starting position. After Kagami wins, he leaves since practice is over. The first years also play a practice game in which Kuroko and Kagami still do not work together to score. Kiyoshi insists that he’s doing this more to make Kuroko realize something rather than let Kagami learn the importance of teamwork which he feels he already knows.

After Kuroko speaks to Hyuuga (who tells him that Kagami believes in him; that’s why he’s training so hard so he wouldn’t have to be a burden on Kuroko), Kuroko rushes over to speak to Kagami. He is practicing by himself, visualizing different plays to improve his technique. Kuroko reaches him out of breath; until he can collect his thoughts, Kagami suggests that they play a little one-on-one. While they’re playing Kagami recalls that the first time they played together was similar to this. Kuroko explains why he chose Kagami—because he needed someone strong enough to defeat the Generation of Miracles and make them acknowledge his style of basketball. Kagami says that he knows he’s just like them, but Kuroko interrupts that he’s not—he really loves basketball from his heart, and he respects and admires his open love for the game. Kuroko adds that he’s figured out what Kagami really meant—he didn’t want to leave Kuroko the way the other Generation of Miracles did; he felt that they should individually get stronger, so they could combine ever greater strength. Kagami responds that that was his intention all along. Both of them feel that they’ll be stronger by the Winter Cup, and they will become the best in the country.

Summer Training Camp

Once Kuroko and Kagami have patched things up, they act like their usual selves. The entire team is relieved; however, another crisis is looming—Hyuuga announces that they’ll have to do their own cooking. Unfortunately, the coach is the worst cook (the team won’t be able to move, let alone cook, after such intense training). Luckily, Kagami quickly solves this problem by training Riko how to make curry. Everyone discovers that Kagami is a great cook and are overjoyed that he can train her.

This crisis averted the entire team first heads to the beach. Riko instructs them to play a form of basketball on the sand. Kagami trains alongside everyone else; he specifically notices that it’s harder for him to make his jumps. After training on the beach, they practice indoors. Everyone notices improvement in their movements.

Later, at the inn, during the regular stretching, Kuroko mentions his concerns to Kagami about trying to develop his new style. Kagami doesn’t know presently how to help him. In the morning, Kuroko and Kagami run into Midorima and Takao. Midorima accuses them of enjoying their vacation here. However, he soon finds out about their training camp. Coincidentally, the Shutoku team is also staying here (it has been a long tradition for their school to stay here and train). For the rest of their stay, both teams play practice matches against each other. However, during this time, Riko instructs Kagami to run to the convenience store across the beach 500 meters away and get drinks for the team-one drink at a time.

Once practice is over, Kagami returns with drinks for the Seirin and Shutoku teams. Riko is shocked that he trained so hard. He continues this ritual throughout the remainder of their trip. After the practice games with Seirin (Shutoku won all the games) Coach Nakatani comments that Seirin has become stronger since they almost won each game without Kagami’s help.

On their final night, Kagami tells Riko he can’t understand what the point of his coming on this trip was if all he did was run on the beach. Riko shows him his jumps have become higher without him even realizing it. With his right legs his jumps are better; this training has helped with that—now the rest is up to him. Kagami feels that he can finally defeat Aomine in aerial combat. Midorima, however, comments that that’s not enough to beat Aomine, and that he’ll prove that to him. He tells Kagami to try to score against him even once out of ten. Kagami loses each time; unable to understand why, Midorima yells at him to notice already—he can stop him because he knows that he’ll dunk. Also, he’s insulted that Kagami thought the only thing he could do was shoot threes—his defensive skills are also peerless. Midorima leaves Kagami to his thoughts and goes indoors with Takao, instructing Kuroko(who was watching alongside Takao) not to disappoint him in the winter.

Later when Kagami is running on the beach to cool his head, Kuroko also runs with him. Kagami is frustrated that Midorima made him realize two things 1. To strengthen his legs and hips 2. To improve his left ball handling skills so he’ll be able to move at will in the air. While he’s talking with Kagami, Kuroko also realizes a way for him to improve. In the morning, on the ride back, Kuroko tells Kagami that Midorima has a message for him—“Even a flea can jump; I only taught him a lesson because he’s so stupid. Don’t disappoint me in the winter.” Kagami is annoyed by Midorima’s choice of words, but he responds that he won’t.

Interhigh Quarterfinals

Riko informs the entire team that the reason they stayed at this inn was because they were close enough to go and watch the Interhigh Quarterfinals between Too and Kaijo. Kagami watches and comments on the match along with the rest of the team. He asks Kuroko if he thinks Kise can win; Kuroko says anything is possible, although Kise has never won once against Aomine in a one-on-one. Like everyone else, he is amazed when Kise is able to copy Aomine’s style and when Aomine refuses to back down once he has four fouls eventually defeating Kise. ^[112] He realizes that this is the power of the Generation of Miracles, and he has to get stronger. He wants to stay and watch the other matches, but the team doesn’t have money for a hotel. Hyuuga adds that Riko’s dad will kill them if they extend their trip any longer. As they’re leaving, he notices a huge player wearing the Yosen uniform (Murasakibara) and wonders who he is.

Pre-Winter Cup

Kagami holds his chopsticks in his left hand so he can improve his left hand’s coordination. He is slowly but surely getting better. Furihata suggests that they go to a streetball tournament on their day off. The first years rarely get a chance to play; this way they’ll also have a chance to participate. Kuroko and Kagami agree to go with them. On the day of the tournament, Kiyoshi also joins the first years.

Although Kagami is surprised to see Kiyoshi, he soon gets over it as they enter the outdoor arena. Looking around, Kagami feels that this environment is similar to the experiences he had in the States. He comments that it’s an impressive tournament. Just when Seirin is going to register, they meet Seiho’s players. Even though they are stunned to see each other, they are soon chatting normally. Iwamura explains that other than Tsugawa, they have retired; Seiho won’t be proceeding in the Winter Cup because they lost to Seirin. Although they are disappointed, they hope today to vent off some of their frustrations in a game against Seirin. Iwamura also acknowledges Kiyoshi’s return; Kiyoshi replies that they should go easy on him since he just got back. Seiho leaves, telling Seirin they’ll play later.

As Seirin is walking together, Kuroko asks Kagami what he’s thinking about. He noticed that Kagami has been fingering his ring a lot. Kagami replies that he’s thinking about the old days and the boy that taught him how to play basketball.

Later, Seirin is late in getting to Seiho’s match because Kagami had to get more food. When they arrive, they are shocked to see that Seiho lost. Recognizing one of the other team’s players, Kagami cries out, asking what “he” is doing here.

Both Himuro, Tatsuya and Kagami speak to each other in English. Tatsuya states that he’s shocked to see Kagami here; Kagami retorts that he doesn’t look surprised at all. Tatsuya responds lightly that his expression is always like this. When Kiyoshi speaks to Himuro in halting English, Himuro promptly switches to Japanese. He explains that he’s Taiga’s older brother. Kagami remembers his past (refer to Kagami’s History). Presently, after seeing Tatsuya again, Kagami is unsure about how to react. Kuroko suddenly uses Tetsuya #2’s paw to hit Kagami in the face. Kuroko tells an irritated Kagami that he was wrong—no one likes it when their rival goes easy on them in the game that they love. Moreover, their battle is still unsettled because of HImuro’s injury. Finally, even if one of them wins, Kuroko explains that their relationship really won’t change. Kagami regains his resolve after hearing Kuroko’s words. He tells Tatsuya that this is the perfect moment to settle their score. Tatsuya agrees with him. He suddenly turns to Kuroko and asks him who he is. Kuroko introduces himself; recognizing his name, Tatsuya tells Kagami he’s found an interesting partner. Kagami is shocked that Tatsuya knew about Kuroko. Tatsuya explains that he has an interesting player on his team too; he told him about Kuroko.

Seirin and Tatsuya’s team both get ready for the final game of the tournament. Tatsuya thinks that he just joined this team impulsively; it may be difficult to win. However, he’s confident he can crush Seirin on his own. Simultaneously, Kuroko speaks to Kagami. He tells Kagami he’s not trying to be rude or insult Kagami’s skills; however, Himuro smells just like one of the Generation of Miracles. Kagami laughs and agrees; nevertheless, he’s happy because he loves facing strong opponents, and he can’t wait to see what Tatsuya will do. When the ball is tossed to start the game, someone suddenly places a candy bar on top of it, shocking everyone. Tatsuya acknowledges him, asking him if he got lost again. The boy replies that he did and apologizes. Kuroko suddenly speaks to the boy, addressing him as Murasakibara-kun. Kagami can’t believe this is the Generation of Miracles’ famous center. Murasakibara turns to Kuroko, surprised to see him here. He states Kuroko looks as serious as ever—Kuroko looks so serious that he just wants to crush him.

However, his outstretched hand lightly ruffles Kuroko’s hair—Murasakibara also tells Kuroko he’s joking. Piqued, Kuroko brushes his hand away, asking him not to do that. Seeing that Kuroko is angry, Murasakibara apologizes. Kagami excitedly can’t believe that the Murasakibara is right in front of him. Murasakibara tells Himuro they came to Tokyo because Himuro wanted to go sightseeing. Instead, he decided to play street ball; Himuro apologizes, saying he thought that it would be fun. Everyone wonders why Murasakibara is here and mention the Interhigh. However, Murasakibara states he didn’t play because “Aka-chin” asked him not to. Kuroko explains that he’s referring to the Generation of Miracles’s former captain. Murasakibara goes on to say that he came to stop Himuro from playing because Yosen doesn’t allow its players to play in unofficial games.

When he’s about to leave with Himuro, Kagami suddenly stops him, thinking he can’t allow Murasakibara to interfere in their showdown. Murasakibara suddenly plucks one of Kagami’s eyebrows, stating that it’s too long. After Kagami yells at him, he calmly continues to eat his snacks. The other first years are puzzled by his behavior. However, Kuroko explains that some players are like this—they are incredibly talented in the sport they play, but they are clueless about other matters. Murasakibara is nonplussed and is about to leave when Kagami starts taunting him, saying he’s afraid so it’s better if he runs away. Annoyed, Murasakibara tells Kagami he’s not afraid or running away. Himuro calls him “Ishii-kun” and gets him a T-shirt that proves they’re on the same team. Furihata can’t believe that Himuro just tricked everyone like that. Kagami explains that Tatsuya doesn’t mind doing slightly underhanded things like this as long as he can achieve his goals. Although Kagami and Murasakibara continue to call each other names, Kiyoshi eventually stops them. He instructs Kagami to mark Himuro; he’ll handle Murasakibara.

Himuro tells Murasakibara that he’ll handle the offense while Murasakibara will take care of defense. Murasakibara agrees and tells Himuro to “do his best-whatever that means”. When one of the other players questions Himuro about this plan, Himuro responds that he alone can handle Seirin. Up against Kagami, Himuro uses such a beautiful technique that Kagami and everyone else are left speechless. Once he scores, Kiyoshi immediately tells Furihata to restart the game—they can’t stand in awe of his shot; they have to continue playing. Kagami gets the ball and charges in. Murasakibara thinks he’s a reckless idiot that can easily be crushed by him. Feeling his aura, Kagami realizes that Murasakibara is a dangerous player.

Suddenly, it starts raining, and the game is halted. Tatsuya states it’s too bad, but they’ll have to save their match for later. Kagami insists that they can keep playing. Tatsuya replies that they shouldn’t because his senpai (Kiyoshi) may get injured again on the slippery court. Himuro also shows Kagami his new technique as something that Kagami can look forward to when they meet again. Kagami is shocked that he cannot do anything to stop or block it. Kiyoshi adds that the next time they meet will be at the Winter Cup. There they can settle their score.

As they are drying off, Kagami receives a text message from Riko, telling them she wants to see them. They wonder what’s happening that she called them out of blue. Furthermore, Kagami states there seems to be some bad history between Kuroko and Murasakibara. Kuroko replies that it’s nothing like that at all. On the train ride back, Kuroko explains that he likes Murasakibara; they just have differences when it comes to basketball. Murasakibara started playing basketball in grade school; because he was tall, some kids invited him to play with them. Since he was naturally talented, he never started liking the sport before he started playing it. Therefore, he can’t understand other people’s passion for basketball. However, Kuroko states he loves to play basketball with Seirin; he also loves it that they love basketball as much as he does. When they arrive at the gym, a crying Momoi meets Kuroko.

After she’s calmed down a little bit and the second years have returned from their run, she tells her story. In the Interhigh semifinals and finals, she stopped Aomine from playing. She told the coach that he had injured his elbow in his match against Kise. Kuroko explains that the Generation of Miracles have one weakness—their talent is too great; if they exert too much, they may damage their bodies. An enraged Aomine later confronted her about it. He told her she shouldn’t have interfered—he didn’t need her to protect him. She tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t listen to her and finally told her never to show her “ugly face” around him again. Upset, she threw her books at his face and ran away. Although Aomine called out to her, she still didn’t turn back.

After hearing her story, a confused Kagami speaks up. He tells her if she loves Kuroko, it shouldn’t matter what Aomine thinks of her. Momoi bursts into fresh tears, stating it’s different from the way she likes Tetsu—she can’t leave Aomine alone since there’s no telling what he’ll do. All the boys accuse Kagami of making her cry. Kuroko sighs and tells Kagami he lacks the delicacy to handle these situations. Kagami can’t believe Kuroko is also lecturing him about girls. Kuroko softly pats Momoi’s head and tells her that Aomine doesn’t hate her. It’s all right, and Aomine’s probably looking for her right now. He’ll accompany her back. Kagami stands alongside the entire team as they watch Kuroko taking Momoi home.

Winter Cup Preliminaries

As the Seirin High team was gathering to leave for the Winter Cuppreliminaries, Kagami is seen playing with a ball with his left hand. Furihatasays that his left hand got a lot better and Kagami replies that he had trained it a lot, even by eating with only his left hand. Furihata also notices that Kagami still can't sleep before a match, by looking at Kagami's red and bloodshot eyes.

At the Winter Cup, Seirin's best of 4 determination match is about to begin and Kagami is a starter. The match commences and Kagami lines up for the jump ball. some time in the game, Josei High is leading with 8 points and Kagami is shown to be completely stuck with two players guarding him at all times. Kagami gets his ball stolen and can't do a lot during the match. Kiyoshitakes the initiative and gets the points and Kuroko is eventually able to pass his Ignite Pass to Kagami on the other side of the court and Kagami jumps so high that he hits his forehead on the rim. The first quarter ends and Kagami is dragged to the bench.

During the latter part of the match, Kagami is still guarded by two men and his frustration is piling up. He is put to his senses by Kuroko, who points out that Imayoshi and Sakurai from Tōō are watching and that Kagami should show something good. Kagami agrees and when he gets the ball, he sees the demotivated defense and breaks through. He is immediatly guarded by Narumi, but that is useless, as Kagami jumps from the freethrow line and dunks the ball. This extraordinary feat, the lane-up, brings Kagami closer to the Generation of Miracles and breaks an imaginary gate of the geniuses.^[130]While dunking the ball, Kagami loses his balance and falls on his back. Kuroko helps him up and the match eventually ends with Seirin's win.

As the Seirin team is leaving the WC building, Kuroko and Kagami stay behind. They go to a street basketball court. Kuroko asks if Kagami can be his practice partner for his new Vanishing Drive. Kagami lines up for defense and Kuroko suddenly passes him. Although the ball does slip from his hand, Kagami is amazed and admits that his new drive is unstoppable. He grabs Kuroko's ball and notices that it's completely slippery and worn out. Kuroko says that it's the sixth ball already and Kagami is impressed by Kuroko's intensive training.

Final League

The next day, the final league commences. Seirin plays against Senshinkan High and overwhelms them with their growth over the past months. The match is dominated by Seirin and in the last play of the match, Kuroko uses his invisible pass to reach Kagami under the basket. Kagami jumps and scores a powerful monster dunk. He ends the match with Seirin's win.

Winter Training Camp

As the rest of Seirin was training in the mountains with Kagetora, Kagami went back to America in order to meet his old basketball master, Alexandra Garcia. While in America, Alexandra gave him the assignment to play gambling basketball for one week. The bet for each match was 10 dollars and his starting money was also 10 dollars, forcing Kagami to win from the bat. Alexandra explains that he has to play like his life depends on it (because it probably will). Kagami played against gangsters and thugs for money to regain his animal instinct. Kagami played basketball in the States to train his animal instinct and when reaching that, his five senses will be heightened as well as his reflexes, speed and his jumping ability will be brought to the extreme. After that week, Alexandra trained him personally.

Winter Cup

When the Winter Cup started, he forgot about the time difference between the US and Japan and missed the opening ceremony. He re-appears when Kuroko is meeting with the Generation of Miracles. He stands up for Furihata when he was told to go away by Akashi. Akashi approaches and attacks Kagami with Midorima's scissors. Kagami dodges at the last moment. Akashi lets him off the hook, but threatens to end his life if Kagami disobeys him again. It is seen that Akashi's scissors grazed Kagami's face, bleeding a bit. Akashi later leaves.

Round 1

Kagami is seen in the locker room before the match against Tōō Academy. Kuroko tells him it's time and looks worried about him. Kagami says that it's fine, that he was only shocked about Akashi but that he is only thinking about Aomine, and nothing else. The match begins and both players enter the court. Kagami encounters Aomine and he senses that Kagami has gotten better. Kagami agrees, telling him that he got a little better.

The match begins with the tip-off and Seirin gains the ball. Izuki dribbles the ball up fast and Seirin prepares for a fast and strong offensive, but a strong defensive Tōō awaits them. The ball gets stolen and Aomine eventually dunks the first point. Meanwhile, Kagami has just arrived at the basket and is taunted by Aomine. Kagami brings the ball back in the game by passing to Izuki. The ball goes to Kuroko and he uses his new Ignite Pass Kai and is able to pass to Kiyoshi, who goes for the dunk. However, Wakamatsu appears and almost blocks Kiyoshi. Kiyoshi is still able to pass behind him to Kagami, who suddenly dunks and repays Aomine's favor.

Tōō outruns Seirin and Kagami receives the ball, going up against Aomine the first time since the Interhigh. Kagetora understands that the outcome of this one-on-one will determine the flow of the match and that Kagami must absolutely win. Kagami keeps standing still, but battles Aomine in his head, using a high-level tactical battle. In this simulation, Kagami drives to the basket, makes a cut and loses Aomine for an instant, but Aomine is still able to steal the ball when Kagami pulls up for the shot. Back to reality, Kagami senses that he will lose if he goes up against Aomine now and passes the ball to Izuki. He concludes that he can't beat Aomine, yet.

The match goes on with the shoot-off between Hyūga and Sakurai and Seirin goes into the second quarter with a tie. Kuroko decides to use his Vanishing Drive on Aomine and Kagami helps him by screening Kuroko's guard, Susa. As always with the Vanishing Drive, Kagami directs the attention of Aomine to him while Kuroko drives past him. When the drive and later the Ignite Pass Kai both fail against Aomine, Kagami tries to block him, but Aomine shoots besides him and scores. Seirin takes a time-out and while Kuroko is subbed out and is feeling despair, Kagami tells him that his effort wasn't futile, that he will handle Aomine untill Kuroko comes back.

While stepping back on the court, Kagami is thinking that this time, he will save Kuroko instead of otherwise. In the first play, Kagami passes to Kiyoshi. Aomine is dissapointed, but Kagami tells him he has no intention of running away. Tōō's offense and Aomine carries the ball. He prepares for his infamous change of pace, but Kagami suddenly dives forward and goes for the ball, in an attempt to steal it. Aomine pulls it back just in time and passes Kagami. He pulls up for a shot, but Kagami reacts quickly and jumps behind Aomine for the ball. Because of Kuroko's absence, he was able to unleash his true power and he slams the ball away.

Seeing an awakened Kagami, Aomine aknowledges him and starts to get serious. He speeds up, but Kagami can still keep up. Aomine then bounces the ball through Kagami's legs, high up in the air. Aomine amazes everyone when he takes the ball from Wakamatsu and scores with his back turned to the ring. In Seirin's offense, Kagami gets the ball and takes Koga's screen. He dribbles to the right, but Aomine shifts past Koga and is right on Kagami's tail. Kagami sees this, does a crossover to the left and takes off for the shot in front of Koga. He dodges Aomine's block and scores the shot. He later says to Koga that his screen wasn't really necessary and that he should take Aomine on his own.

Back in Tōō's offense, Aomine goes for his infamous formless shot, with Kagami jumping in front of him. The ball was supossedly out of Kagami's reach, but his new strength enables him to block Tōō's ace on his full power shot. Kagami finally begins to surpass Aomine. He later taunts Aomine that he doesn't mind entertaining him, if he has that wide of a margin.

The match goes on with face-off after face-off between Kagami and Aomine, with Aomine almost breaking through, but Kagami's defense stays steady. He amazes everyone in the audience with his strength and especially the other Generation of Miracles. The reason why Kagami is able to keep up with Aomine's top speed is because he is only relying on his animal, raw instinct. Not only against Aomine, Kagami is also dominating in rebounds.

When Kagami grabs another rebound, Seirin's fastbreak begins. He passes the ball to Izuki, who passes it back at the other side of the court. Kagami goes up against Aomine and surprisingly takes off for a shot. His stance is similar to Aomine's formless shot and the shot takes off, but only for Aomine to graze the ball for an instant. The ball flies towards the goal, bounces off the board, circles around in the ring and flies out. Half-time is reached and Seirin is only two points behind.

During half-time, Kagami seeks for Kuroko and finds him outside. He throws him a vest for warmth. He urges Kuroko to get back inside, but Kuroko asks Kagami if he enjoys basketball. Kuroko then tells Kagami his history with Aomine and Teikō and how they became friends. He concludes with telling Kagami that he really wants to see Aomine smile again. Kagami says that it's not sure that he'll change if they win, but that winning gives a better shot than losing.

The third quarter begins and Tōō starts its attack. Aomine gets the ball with Kagami guarding him. Aomine immediately speeds up and is even faster than before. He drives past Kagami. Kuroko then jumps in front and gets an offensive foul out of Aomine. Kagami helps him up and thanks him. After Kuroko gets sealed by Imayoshi, Aomine challenges him to a second round of their duel.

Because of Kuroko's and the upperclassmen's inability to act, Kagami decides to do it himself. But before he can, he feels angst from an image of defeat earlier on in the game. In that moment, Aomine lunges forward and steals the ball. He drives towards the basket and Kagami catches up after Aomine had to pass Hyūga. Aomine goes for the dunk, but spins around his axis past Kagami and dunks it. As Aomine walks ahead, Kagami does not feel fear or frustration, but a pure feeling of respect and admiration, since Aomine has reached the highest point of basketball skills.

Seirin High has reached the point where it has exhausted all its options and is likely to lose. But then Kuroko activates his Misdirection Overflow and gives his teammates the possibility to use the Vanishing Drive. After Izuki and Hyūga, Kagami does it too, against Aomine, successfully and dunks. The third quarter ends with an 11-point difference and at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Aomine goes up against Kagami with a smile... Yet again, Aomine triumphs and scores. Kagami is troubled about how to stop Aomine, but Hyūga sets him at ease by telling him that the current restraint is good as well. During Tōō's next attack, Aomine gets the ball from Sakurai, does a fast crossover and passes Kagami. He later gets a three-point play due to a foul by Kiyoshi. Kuroko then asks Kagami and Kiyoshi to triple-team Aomine.

Round 2

Defeated Nakamiya South with a score of 83-77, Kagami and Kuroko were on the bench for the whole game.

Round 3

Defeated Morizono North with a score of 87-82, Kagami and Kuroko came out of the bench during the last 57 seconds of the fourth quarter and led Seirin to victory.

Quarter-finals

At the morning of the semi-finals of the Winter Cup, Kagami wakes up in his bed and is shocked to learn that a naked Alexandra is laying next to him. He throws clothes at her in the same way as his new move, the Meteor Jam, resulting in a comedic effect. Kagami moves on to make breakfast and asks Alexandra about Tatsuya the day before. She says he's fine and that she knows Tatsuya also wants to remain friends. She says that Kagami should focus on the next match before Tatsuya and asks if he's ready. Kagami replies affirmative, but soon learns that his shoes are broken. He calls Riko and after being yelled at, is told to go along with Kuroko to shop for new shoes. In the city, Kagami is having trouble finding good shoes because of his large size. When he enters yet another shop, someone suddenly appears before him on stairs and jumps over Kagami in a somersault. The stranger apologizes and leaves, but Kagami sees that he is wearing a Rakuzan High jersey. Kuroko then calls Momoi to help him with his shoe problem.

Kagami and Kuroko meet with Momoi and surprisingly, Aomine also came along. Kagami is irritated by Aomine's presence, a mutual feeling. Momoi gives Kagami a shoe box, with inside the same basketball shoes as Kagami used to wear, but with different colors. Apparently, they are Aomine's spare Jordans. Aomine says that he can have them, but only if he defeats him in a one-on-one. Kagami is destroyed, but Aomine gives him the basketball shoes anyway. Aomine explains that it's for the sake of playing against Kise, that he shouldn't be at a disadvantage because of bad shoes. Kagami accepts them. When Kagami and Kuroko arrive at the WC building, they learn of Rakuzan's line-up, with one Generation of Miracles member (Akashi), but also with three Uncrowned Kings, one of which Kagami met earlier.

The Seirin team goes to watch the first semi-finals, Rakuzan High vs Shūtoku High. At half-time, Seirin and Kaijō enter the court to warm up. Akashi comes face to face with Kagami and Kuroko and he greets Kuroko. Kagami towers before him and tells Akashi that he will definitely crush him and Kise too. Akashi replies that he certainly acknowledges his strength, but that only those who serve him are allowed to look him in the eye and gives him a warning that no one who opposes him is allowed to look down on him. He uses his Emperor Eye and presses on Kagami's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground. Akashi leaves and Kagami is shocked.

As Rakuzan High emerge victorious, it is now time for their own match against Kaijō High. Both teams are warming up quietly, though they are burning with fighting spirit. Kasamatsu breaks the uneasiness and tells Kiseto give them a greeting. Kise happily agrees and dunks a Lane-up copying Kagami. He points to Seirin that it is a declaration of war. Kagami and Kuroko return the favor by doing Lane-up Alley-oop. The match then commences. Both teams bow and Kise approaches him telling him that his previous loss is still on his mind and realizes he will do anything for basketball and for winning. Kagami bluntly calls him soft and says to get started already, grinning. At the tip-off, Kuroko uses his two trump cards immediately with the thought of getting ahead before Kise uses his Perfect Copy. However Kise sees it differently activating his Perfect Copy using Midorima's signature shot. Kise turns to Kagami and says there is no way he has gone soft.

During Seirin's next attack, Kise was able to block Hyuga's shot using Murasakibara's block. Getting the ball back, Kise tries to pull up for a half-court shot but Kiyoshi was there for a block so he fakes using Aomine's agility and change of pace to drive beside him. Kise then proceeds to the free throw line where Kagami is waiting. Kagami, yet unable to enter the zone heightens his five senses using his animal instinct. Kise does not care and uses Akashi's Emperor Eye to anklebreak Kagami. As he falls to the ground, Kise makes the next shot. Seirin is still fired up and the ball ends up with Kuroko who pulls up for his Phantom Shot. Hyuga thought Kise won't stop it since Murasakibara couldn't. But these were proven wrong as Kise combined Akashi's Emperor Eye to read the direction of the ball and Murasakibara's block to swat the ball away.

Kise continues to use the Generation of Miracles' techniques anklebreaking Kuroko and overpowering Kiyoshi and Kagami using Thor's Hammer, the signature dunk of Murasakibara. 3 minutes in the game, and Kaijō is up by 13. Kise comments that Perfect Copy is tiring and deactivates it to reserve it's last 2 minutes for later. He says that he has completed his mission and the flow is now on his team. One of the next attack, Kagami goes up against Kise, drives and switched to a fadeaway shot. Kise is surprised but confident that it will miss and it does, knowing that Seirin is rushing too much. Later Furihata enters the court.

The focus of the match shift to a battle of point guards, Izuki vs Kasamatsu. When Kasamatsu fails to attack, he decides to pass it on Kise, once again facing Kagami. Kise copies his drive and fadeaway but because his leg is still hurting, he failed to reached the decent height of his jump and was blocked by Kagami. In the following fastbreak, Kagami reaches the basket for a dunk but suddenly gets blocked by a returned Kise. Both aces ask their respective PGs, to leave it to them. Kagami is in the offense and their showdown will decide the flow of the match. He starts his dribble with incredible speed, drives past Kise and dunks it.

Kise reflects on his first meeting with Kagami; a feeling that turned into a suspicion and now he's sure. He calls Kagami a part of Generation of Miracles who chose a different path, who has this so-called "instinct". His determination to defeat Kagami grows stronger. The ball goes to Kise in the next offense, having shook off his mark with a screen and pulls up for a jumpshot but because of his injury and the fact that Kagami has avoided the screen, blocks him again. Kagami goes up against Kise again in the next Seirin's next offense and passes him with speed. A gap seems to be opening between the two aces but Kise does not give up. However Kaijō's coach, Takeuchi suddenly calls for Kise's substitution to Nakamura.

Kagami feeling bad for Kise says that they won't hold back because it's the same as looking down on them. In the next offense, Kagami gets the ball and suddenly is double-teamed by Hayakawa and Nakamura. Hyuga recognizes Nakamura as one of the top 8 defensive players last year signaling a threat and demands the ball from Kagami and passed it to Kuroko who scores with the Phantom Shot. As Kuroko was subbed out, he says that they have a reliable ace referring to Kagami who dribbled past the double team then dunking on Koborisaying that he feel like he can't lose. Kagami continues to dominate Kaijō until the match reaches halftime. The score is tied and both teams go to their respective locker rooms. Coach Riko couldn't say anything but 'attack all-out' then turns to Kagami who says that he will attack all-out. Kagami then asks Kuroko if he still has anything else up his sleeve now that the Phantom Shot has been stopped. Kuroko replies nothing but says that he'll figure something out and can't stay depressed.

The match resumes and as the game progresses, Seirin steadily increases their lead over Kaijō leading by 15 with 4 minutes left. Kise refusing to sit on the bench any longer demands to be put in until their coach finally gives in. Kise is finally put into the match along with Kuroko and intimidates Kagami when their eyes meet. Kagami says that it looks like he can't let his guard down for a second. When Kise receives the ball, he hardens his resolve and activates the Perfect Copy to drive past Kagami combining Aomine's speed and Akashi's ankle breaker. He meets Kiyoshi under the basket but posterizes him with a dunk. Kuroko and Kagami attempt to make a quick counterattack by doing a Lane-up but is blocked by Kise using Aomine's speed and Murasakibara's block. Surprisingly, the ball goes back to Kise who shocks everybody by pulling off an Ignite Pass Kai and sending the ball across to Kobori. It seems that the Perfect Copy is unstoppable.

Seirin call a time-out. the match continues and Kagami takes Kise on a one-on-one but before he can dribble, Kise taps the ball out of his hands using Akashi's Emperor Eye. The ball is saved by Kuroko but Seirin can't make a play and turns it over. Kise pulls up for a shot this time copying Kuroko's Phantom Shot combined with Midorima's high arc shooting pattern and scores. Sometime later, when Kise broke free once again, Kagami pushes him behind. Kagami says that this is their show and that they decide what happens. After a time-out, Kise scores both free throws. Wanting to observe Kise's reactions, Kuroko orders Kagami to go fullpower which he does in a drive to the basket. However, Kise reacts with Aomine's speed and blocks Kagami when he makes a jump-stop and attempts to shoot it. Both teams continue to give it their all until Kise's Perfect Copy manages to bring Kaijō with a 1 point lead 40 seconds remaining on the clock.

However Seirin initiated a quick a Run & Gun offense and the ball ended up with Hyuga who was unable to shoot and instead opted for a drive. Kise using Aomine's speed rushes to guard him and reaches for the ball. Kuroko suddenly taps it out of Kise's reach towards Kagami who pulls up for a mid-range shot. Kise attempts to block it slightly grazing the ball but still went in taking the lead back. For Kaijō's next offense, Kise is the go-to-guy and grabs the ball but is shocked to see that he is guarded by Kuroko. Kise passes Kuroko using Aomine's speed. Kagami then takes Kise who performs two Akashi-style crossovers anklebreaking him and continues to drive inside. Kise then encounters Kiyoshi and Hyuga inside and is about to jump for Murasakibara's Thor's Hammer but Izuki slaps the ball out of Kise's hands using his Eagle Spear. However Kise still managed to reach the ball and passes it to an open Kasamatsu who scores and takes the lead back.

This was all part of Seirin's plan that if Kaijō scored, they plan a quick counter explaining the quick Run & Gun earlier. With seconds left, Kiyoshi throws a full court pass to Kagami who looks to have a clear path since Kise is forced underneath the basket at the other end. However Kise is still able to catch up with his speed regardless, also the fact that Kiyoshi was pressured on the throw. Kagami was initially going for a Meteor Jam, as he did against Yōsen but Kise challenges the shot. But with only a few seconds left, Kuroko calls out to Kagami who looks like he will the miss the shot because he has not perfected it outside the zone and is about to release the ball. Instead he passes the ball off the backboard bouncing towards Kuroko who scores with the Phantom Shot and made the winning buzzer beater. Kise could do nothing about it.

Kise congratulates Seirin after the game saying how surprised he was to lose to them a second time. He tells Kuroko and Kagami that they gave their all and he has no regret. They part ways and both look forward to next year.

Finals

After the match against Kaijo, Kagami realises that his ring was lost so he came back to the court, there he saw Midorima. Midorima warns Kagami to understand what he's up against, in which Kagami replies Akashi's teammates. Midorima tells him Akashi doesn't need his teammates. Takao along with Kuroko find Midorima and Kagami together. Takao calls Midorima over telling him they have to leave. But before the two leave, Midorima tells Kagami he relies on one person while Akashi is not one, but two people. Kagami was curios about Akashi and asked Kuroko about it, but Kuroko tells Kagami that he will tell the story to everyone. On the night before the finals, the Seirin team gathered in Kagami' s house. Kuroko then tells his new teammates about his past. From the time his basketball passion started to the time he spent with the Generation of Miracles in Teikō. After hearing Kuroko's story everyone knew that their next opponent, Rakuzan, would not be easy to beat. With Akashi and three of five Uncrowned Kings, it would be near impossible to win. However, Seirin musters up the courage and everyone decides that showing Seirin's true strength is enough to win the match.

Before the finals, Himuro is called by Kagami, to talk about what they couldn't because of Haizaki. He tells that he's sorry about what happened to America and he wants them to become brothers again. Himuro cuts him off. He says he is the one who should asks forgiveness and apologizes to Kagami, as he desires them to be playing again as enemies and brothers. He understood he was the one at fault by talking to Alex that night, even if he didn't want to hear it. Himuro apologizes again as he was selfish and caused him a lot of pain. He'll be there to cheer on him in the finals to see Kagami become the No. 1 player. He then takes his leave. The tip-off commences as Kagami and Nebuya jump for the ball. Due to Kagami's high jumping ability, he was able to get the ball and pass it on to Izuki, who then passed the ball to Kuroko, who then used his Ignite Pass Kai, to pass the ball further to Hyūga. Hyūga doesn't catch the ball as Kuroko used too much strength. The ball dribbles under the hoop but luckily Hyūga manages get it, attempting to make the basket when he is stopped by Mibuchi who was guarding him.

Rakuzan counter attacks, as Akashi passes the ball to Nebuya, who then heads to make the basket. Kiyoshi who tried to intercept him, was stopped by Mayuzumi. As Nebuya was about to make the basket, he is stopped by Kagami who steals the ball again and goes for a counterattack. As Kagami runs to the basket, he is stopped by Akashi who went to guard under the basket. However, due to Kagami's strong will to win with his teammates, he was able to enter the Zone and use Meteor Jam to score. As Kagami has entered the Zone, he has managed to score baskets with two consecutive Meteor Jams. As Mayuzumi attempts to score, he is stopped by Kagami who has taken on the position of both offense and defense.

As the match progresses, Kuroko is subbed-out for Mitobe. Seirin plans to let Kagami focus only on the offense, leaving the defense to the rest of his teammates. As the match resumes, Kagami passes Hayama who was guarding him and advances to the basket, where Mibuchi and Nebuya were guarding. However, Kagami uses a fake evading them, scoring the basket. As the match goes to Seirin's favour, Akashi decides to swap marks with Hayama, intending to guard Kagami himself.

Mibuchi scores a three-pointer which increased Rakuzan's score, however it is still 11-5 for Seirin. Seirin counterattacks with Izuki passing the ball to Kagami, who at the time was marked by Akashi. As Kagami faces Akashi, Akashi uses his Emperor Eye to try and stop Kagami, however, Kagami passes and heads for the basket. Kagami missed the shot. Akashi then goes on to tell him that he was looking down on Akashi who lead Kagami into a trap. Akashi made Kagami take one more step in order to pass him, this resulted in Kagami missing the shot due to the angle the shot was aimed at.

Akashi has the ball and uses a screen to advance further to the basket. He is stopped by Kagami but Akashi uses his Ankle Break make him fall. Akashi passes Kagami and advances further to the basket. Izuki uses his Eagle Spear to try and steal the ball from Akashi, but Akashi evades and passes the ball to Mibuchi. Mibuchi advances to the basket but then Kiyoshi appears, marking him. Mibuchi, however, uses a double clutch and passes Kiyoshi, shooting the ball. Just when he was about to score, Mitobe blocks him, stopping him from scoring.

As Seirin counterattacks, Kagami has his doubts on whether he can actually beat Akashi, but seeing his teammates support him, Kagami got back in the game. Izuki passes the ball to Kagami who was being blocked by Akashi. Kagami passes the ball to Mitobe, knowing he can't beat Akashi in his current state. During the player substitution, Hayama approaches Akashi and asks him for another chance at marking Kagami, as he wants to return the favour. As the game continues, Seirin is in control of the ball as they pass it to Kagami who is marked tightly by Hayama. Kagami makes a crossover but leaves the ball in place for Kuroko to pass it through to Hyūga. Hayama is marked by Kagami in return, but he uses his four fingers to power-dribble the ball, resulting in him passing Kagami and scoring the basket. Just as Hayama is going up for the basket, he is stopped by Kagami. Mibuchi later on catches the ball and scores two points for Rakuzan.

As Furihata marks Akashi, he tries to steal the ball, however, Akashi easily gets past him and continues forward to the basket. Suddenly Kagami appears blocking Akashi and trying to steal the ball. Meanwhile on the sidelines, Murasakibara comments that now Akashi cannot use Ankle Break in his current location. The players and the familiar faces in the crowd quickly realize the purpose of Furihata guarding Akashi, and that is to force Akashi into a position where he cannot use Ankle Break, and then have Kagami stop him.

Despite Seirin's efforts, Akashi passes Kagami and advances further to the basket. However, when he tries to score, he is stopped by Kagami. The rebound was taken by Rakuzan resulting in them making the basket. The score now is 21 - 30 for Rakuzan. Mayuzumi is marked by Furihata, but despite this Mayuzumi decides not to pay much attention to Furihata on defense. Kiyoshi passes the ball to Furihata, who then makes the basket, surprising Mayuzumi. The score is now 23 - 30 in favor of Rakuzan.

The game continues with Seirin on defense: Furihata marking Akashi, Hyūga taking Mibuchi, Kagami going against Hayama, Kiyoshi on Nebuya, and Izuki guarding Mayuzumi, sealing him from using Misdirection. Meanwhile, Akashi uses Ankle Break on Furihata and scores the basket. Despite Furihata's poor performance, the familiar faces in the audience, as well as Rakuzan's coach, notice Furihata's determination and willingness to put everything on the line to keep Akashi from getting past him. He also comments on Riko's skills, which exceed most other amateur coaches.

Noticing these things, Rakuzan's coach calls for a time-out. During the time-out, Rakuzan decides on their attack focus which will be on Mibuchi. Meanwhile, during the time-out, Furihata falls down on the bench due to his stamina being drained. Riko and everyone else is surprised as they know that Furihata's stamina should still not be out yet, then they realise that this must be due to the pressure exerted by Akashi. Seeing Furihata's condition Fukuda pleads Riko to put him in the game instead of him. Everyone agrees as the players go back on the court. Riko tells them that they should now focus on offence and shrink the difference in points this way.

Rakuzan is on the offense, as the audience comments that it seems that Seirin is the one that is always on the defense. Hayama has the ball and Kagami guards him. Hayama tries to get past Kagami but notices that he has caught up to him with speed. Hayama soon passes the ball to Nebuya who scores the basket and again, completely pushing Kiyoshi aside. The familiar faces in the crowd, namely Himuro comments that even though he made fun of Nebuya's statement from before, he starts to think if there is really anyone who can match up to him with power. As the match continues, Izuki notices just how much Kiyoshi is sweating.

Hayama now tries to take on Kagami again. Hayama does a cross over and drives past Kagami for a simple layup. However, in the next possession, Hayama got caught in a screen and allowed Kagami to make a mid-range jumper to pull one basket back for Seirin. Seirin could not manage to score in the next few possessions, while Rakuzan continued to score, increasing the point difference. In the final possession for Rakuzan in the second quarter, Akashi, who is just 173 cm, dunks an alley oop from Mayuzumi, making the whole Seirin team feel helpless. Murasakibara then comments that if Seirin wants a miracle to happen, they will definitely need Kuroko. However, he states that it may already be too late. Even if Seirin subs Kuroko in now, the score might not change even with a miracle. The first half ends with Rakuzan leading by 25, 62 - 37.

During the interval, Seirin had come up with a plan to give the ball to Hyūga in order for him to score as many three-pointers as he can for Seirin to catch up. Riko agrees but then tells Kagami to take care of Akashi because he will have the ball during Rakuzan's counter attacks. Meanwhile, Rakuzan, predicting Seirin's moves, have decided that Mibuchi will be guarding Hyūga and Akashi will take care of Kagami.

The 3rd quarter begins as Seirin have their loud cheer. The Rakuzan players noted that they have done this to protect their hearts from the darkness of despair. On the bench, Furihata feels as if his will is being crushed, even now, and that even after watching the recordings of the first half of the match, Kuroko was not able to come up with a solution just yet. Kagami heads to the court and Kuroko tells him that he is counting on him, and Kagami replied with confidence. As the match starts, Seirin has the ball and they use a screen to let Hyūga get the ball and shoot a three-pointer. The ball goes in and raises Seirin's score. The score now is 40 - 62, still behind Rakuzan by 22. Seirin goes on to defense, while the Yōsen players in the audience commented on how Seirin has little to no chance of winning. Murasakibara, however, tells them that Akashi is not strong only due to his abilities, but also for his tactical play. Aomine as well, tells his teammates from Tōō, that Seirin has no chance of winning because Akashi is there. His style of play is to strangle out life out of his opponents until there is absolutely no chance of them winning.

Shūtoku have come to watch the match, commenting on how unfortunate the situation is. Midorima then tells them that he can't really blame Hyūga, as it really shows just how desperate he is to win. Meanwhile, Kaijō have come as well, as Kise tells them that there is still a small glimmer of hope, which is Kagami. As Kagami gets the ball, the benched Seirin members plea as Kagami is their last hope. With Akashi marking him, Kagami hopes to enter the Zone and take the points. However, the door to the Zone never opens to the ones who need it. Taking his chance, Akashi uses his Emperor Eye and steals the ball from Kagami, scoring the basket. Seirin then calls for a time-out.

Imayoshi then comments that Kagami's block is just a coincidence. He also comments that the current Seirin already has no energy to stop every single attack from Rakuzan, and Seirin have no plans to counter them. Mayazumi is one level higher than Kuroko in terms of basketball, but is the weakest in the Rakuzan team. Therefore the plan is to let the player who has the highest tendency to miss in the Rakuzan team, Mayuzumi, to attempt to score. Mayuzumi also realises this plan, thinking that Seirin are underestimating him, therefore he has decided to play with his all, without the need to play with mercy.

Mayazumi then scores the next basket, and then taunts Kuroko that the old Phantom Sixth Man will not win the new Phantom Sixth Man. Kagami then scores the next basket to keep Rakuzan's lead to 23 points, 46 - 69. Kuroko then talks to Mayuzumi, who is holding the ball, about what Takao has told him before during their first encounter, which is about the hatred for the same kind. This sentence led to Kuroko saying that he will not allow the Phantom Sixth Man title to be given out yet. Mayuzumi suddenly lost sight of Kuroko, when Hayama tries to pass to Nebuya. However, this pass is intercepted by the suddenly appearing Kuroko, who shocked the Rakuzan team as to what Kuroko has done to get Mayuzumi and the rest to lose sight of him.

Kuroko steals the ball for Seirin and passes it to Izuki. Seirin goes for counter attack as Izuki passes the ball back to Kuroko, who dribbles to Rakuzan's hoop. Hayama appears before Kuroko trying to stop him. At the time Hayama was cautious that if Kuroko has gotten his Misdirection back, he now has a chance to use the Vanishing Drive. However, Kuroko passes the ball to Kagami who then dunked, scoring for Seirin. The score now is 48 - 69, still with Rakuzan in the lead. The benched Seirin members, as well as the players on the court rejoice as they have finally scored. Kuroko and Kagami bump fists, showing that their determination to win has not vanished. The Rakuzan players, as well as the familiar faces in the crowd were surprised as to how Kuroko managed to disappear.

On the court, Kuroko faces against Mayuzumi in a 1-on-1 battle again. It is now that Mayuzumi realises what Kuroko is doing, and that is overwriting him. Meanwhile on the sidelines, Midorima explains, in summary, that Kuroko is making Mayuzumi stand out more than himself, and that this way Kuroko is getting his Misdirection back. On the court, Mayuzumi passes the ball to Hayama, who attempts to shoot, but due to the pass being too low, he misses which results in a rebound battle in which Kiyoshi wins. It's Seirin's ball and Izuki dribbles to Rakuzan's hoop. He passes the ball to Koganei, but the pass is intercepted by Akashi who steals the ball. As Akashi dribbles the ball to the hoop, Kagami appears before him marking him. Having found his new determination to win, Kagami enters the Zone again to face Akashi.

In the faceoff, Akashi and the rest of the Rakuzan players are very surprised that Kagami is actually standing quite a distance away from Akashi. The crowd thought that Kagami was letting Akashi open, and Nebuya called Akashi to shoot a 3-pointer. However, Akashi could not do anything, remaining at the same position. Aomine then said that Kagami's Zone has gone deeper, and Alex is impressed of the "wildness" of Kagami's Zone, resembling a beast. Just then, Mayuzumi quickly gets out of Kuroko's sight and gets Akashi to pass to him, with the Seirin bench thinking that Kagami was a step too late. Nebuya then hits a layup to put Rakuzan's lead back to 23 points. It is then seen that Kuroko's overwritting of Mayazumi is still incomplete, and the latter has realised that if he just don't try to make himself obvious, then the overwritting will not be complete.

In the next Seirin's possession, Mibuchi is surprised by Koganei's simple but effective pick and roll and the latter makes a simple basket to cut down the lead again. Akashi faces a Zone-possessed Kagami again, but then he passes to Mayuzumi, who is guarded by Kuroko. Mayuzumi feels annoyed at how loose Kuroko's defense is, and that there is no one behind him ready to help. The five second rule is almost going to be called, and so Mayuzumi dribbles, but he actually drives past Kuroko, which he didn't intend to do. Mayuzumi then shoots the ball, but gets blocked by Kagami.

With the overwriting process completed, Kuroko's pass from Misdirection has managed to find Kiyoshi, who then takes on Nebuya. Kiyoshi ferociously posterised Nebuya, with the crowd cheering and at the same time, surprised at Kuroko's pass. Rakuzan's lead is down to 19, 52 - 71. For the current Seirin, in defense, Kagami has his Zone to pressurise Akashi, and in offense, Kuroko's passes has contributed the most, hence the Light and Shadow combo, Kagami and Kuroko, gave hope for Seirin, despite having little chance of winning.

Rakuzan has asked for a time-out, despite still leading by 19, with Kagetora also thinking that he would also make the decision given the situation of a fierce Seirin fightback. The Generation of Miracles sitting with the audience are thinking that Rakuzan would substitute Mayuzumi out, as Kuroko has completely overwritten him. If Mayuzumi gets subbed out, Kuroko would be useless again, and allowing Kuroko to overwrite Mayuzumi is a big sin. Mayuzumi was discouraged about how his teammates treated him when he lost the battle to Kuroko, but Akashi came to him with something, giving Mayuzumi a surprise. Meanwhile, Seirin have came far to push for a comeback, and they need Hyuga's 3-pointers soon, so that the fightback can be possible.

Timeout is over, and it's Rakuzan's possession. The crowd are very shocked that Mayuzumi is still in the court, instead of being subbed out, which was what most have predicted. Midorima and Kise disagreed that Mayuzumi can use Misdirection Overflow as Mayuzumi only knows how to divert attention away from him, instead of drawing all the players' attention to him, which is the purpose of Misdirection Overflow. Meanwhile, flashback to the recent timeout, Akashi said that he has a use for Mayuzumi's power, and while Kagami is still in the Zone, Akashi's movements would be limited, hence he wants to use Mayuzumi's passes as offense.

Back to the court, Kagami's Zone has his super wide area defense made. However, Kagami got startled as the basketball suddenly disappeared and Mibuchi manages to score a 3-pointer, extending Rakuzan's lead to 22, 52 - 74. Another surprise is that Mayuzumi actually did not do anything during this play. The only use that Mayuzumi has now is to divert Serin's line of sight due to the fact that Mayuzumi can be easily seen now. Hence, now Mayuzumi has one purpose in court and that is to be a tool to let passes go through.

Aomine then comments that the Zone-possessed Kagami can still be beaten by Akashi, but the latter may have difficulties to mercilessly defeat Kagami. Hence Akashi would have to follow his style: to use tactics that have possibilities of failing. This means that even if the current Seirin is playing very well, it is not to the extent that will force Akashi to use those tactics. Seirin are currently frustrated that even though they are now into the game and managed to grab points, but Rakuzan don't seem to get shaken by it, and commented on Rakuzan's use of Mayuzumi being heartless. Mayuzumi's only use now is to get caught by Kagami's sight, which is already a very big hit on basketball players. However, he managed to do it, as he is still on the court bearing the Rakuzan jersey, and that he still has that little responsibility as a basketball player, that made him move himself without any emotions. Next possession for Seirin and Kagami makes a mid-range shot to once again put the lead to 20.

Koganei misses his shot but Kagami saves the ball and scores the basket. On the sidelines, the other teams comment that Seirin cannot afford to make a mistake due to their difference in points. If Seirin doesn't catch up within the time they have remaining, they will lose the game, On the court, Hayama has the ball again with Izuki marking him. Hayama goes again for his dribble when suddenly, Nebuya warns him of Izuki's next move.

As Hayama passes Izuki, he notices Kuroko who suddenly appears before him. By observing Hayama, Kuroko noticed that Hayama's dribbling hand is under a large amount of stress and that when he turns there's a moment of rigidity. Hayama tells Kuroko that he was expecting him to pull of something like this, and suddenly passes him. Izuki appears, using his Eagle Spear to try and steal the ball again. However, due to his speed, Hayama dodges. The players on the Seirin bench are surprised as Hayama even evaded in his blind spot. Izuki asks Hayama if this is really all right, since he has entered the no trespassing zone of a beast. Hayama is surprised when suddenly Kagami appears blocking his shot. Seirin stopped Rakuzan's offence and now it is time for Seirin's counterattack.

Kuroko has the ball and uses his Ignite Pass to pass it further to Koganei who attempts to shoot a basket. Izuki, however, tells him to pass the ball behind to the left. Koganei does as Izuki told him and notices that Mibuchi was about to block him if he were to shoot. Izuki then attempts to shoot, however, Hayama suddenly appears to stop him. Noticing him with his Eagle Eye, izuki stops his shoot and passes the ball further to the back, where Kagami catches it and dunks. Seirin's points rise as the Seirin bench is rejoiced. Hayama notices that Izuki is not only calculating ahead in defence but also offence. Izuki approaches him and tells him that he cannot beat Hayama due to their difference in skill. However, tells him that he is glad that Hayama is not as smart as he is, which angers Hayama.

Hayama has the ball and needs to pass it to his teammates under the 5 second rule. He has difficulties as all of his teammates are marked by Seirin. he notices that Mayuzumi is free and decides to pass it to him. Mayuzumi tells himself that Hayama is an idiot for passing to him, having forgotten who is marking him. Hayama realizes his mistake, as Kuroko appears and steals the ball. Kagami dunks again, raising the score for Seirin. The score now being 64 - 80, with Rakuzan still in the lead, however, the audience comment on how Seirin is slowly catching up as they have scored consecutive points.

Rakuzan now goes for the attack, with Akashi taking on Kagami, who is still in the Zone. However, this time round, Akashi is just outside the defensive range of Kagami and shot a 3-pointer over Kagami, which goes in. Aomine said that Kagami is naive, that the latter always assume that Akashi would just pass the ball and forget about the 3-point shooting ability of Akashi. Akashi advices Kagami that if the latter wants to stop his movements, he should watch the opponent closely and not letting his guard down. He also said that Kagami managed to enter the Zone at a higher level, but soon his energy will be drained. Akashi then said that himself entering the Zone merely returned to his condition before, and there would not be much change in the Akashi that Seirin is playing against. However, he also warned that his other 4 teammates that there is a need to worry, as it is shown that the other 4 players have entered the Zone too.

In Seirin's possession, Hyuga receives the ball but is confronted by a Zoned Mibuchi and decides to pass the ball but is stolen by a Zoned Hayama. Hayama uses his five fingers against Kagami but can't pass him and instead passes the ball to Akashi who passes it to a Zoned Mayuzumi. Reluctant at first, Mayuzumi gives an alley-oop to a Zoned Nebuya but a persistent Kagami tries to block him. Akashi notes that 'the air is not a place for him anymore' as Kagami fails to reach Nebuya who dunks on him. Clashing with 5 players in the Zone all at once proved to be too hard for Kagami as he runs out of stamina and can barely stand. Hyuga attempts to shoot a Barrier Jumper against Mibuchi but is blocked and Nebuya rebounds the ball. Hayama passes Izuki but Kuroko tried to help but ended up fouling Hayama because he doesn't have the speed to keep up.

Rakuzan's overwhelming strength left Seirin in despair again and everything seems to be futile despite all of their efforts. Shigehiro, who appears to be watching from the crowd shouts at Kuroko and refuels his spirit. He is also shown to be carrying a basketball signifying that he has regained his love for the sport. Kuroko cries in happiness after seeing his childhood friend again. Aomine also stands and shouts, followed by Kise and Midorima and everyone else who came to watch. Kuroko weeps his tears and everyone in Seirin regains their fighting spirit. Reaching his limit, Kagami is determined to open the 2nd door of the Zone.

The game continues and Kagami is determined to open the 2nd door of the Zone. The familiar faces in the crowd note Kagami's intentions but question if he can really enter it, as it is Seirin's last chance to win. On the court, Akashi notices a change in the Seirin players. There is no notable change in them but the immense pressure they are giving off. Akashi passes the ball to Hayama who receives it and tries to shoot. He is, however, confronted by Kagami who tries to block him. Hayama notes that Kagami has entered the Zone for the third time. Knowing it could happen, Hayama predicted it and evades but is blocked by Hyūga instead. Rakuzan is surprised by Seirin's tactics.

Akashi notices that Seirin is synchronizing their plays to match Kagami's and wonders how they are able to do that. On the sidelines, Aomine realizes what the real Zone is, something which Akashi realizes as well. Aomine laughs in realization that there is no 'gatekeeper' before the 2nd door, but actually Kuroko who is standing there. Aomine sheds tears as he understands the reason he himself could not open the 2nd door, as he has thrown away everything long ago.

Kagami finally enters Zone's 2nd door from which all of his teammates emerge from. Kagami and Kuroko continue their coodirnation play along with the rest of the team, which is the Direct Drive Zone.

In order to keep up with Kagami's Direct Drive Zone, relying on thinking will not work, but instead believing in their intuitions would be needed, which means trusting their partners better. As this promise has been made, Kagami quickly passes the ball to Kiyoshi, who immediately switched the direction of the ball, to create an opening for Kagami, who dunks it in ferociously. 98 - 103, 5 points down for Seirin. This basket is made so quickly no one in the audience could catch up.

Rakuzan are astonished by the way the Direct Drive Zone works for Seirin, as a team. They are also surprised at the fact that the Direct Drive Zone is the real identity of the Zone. The next possession for Rakuzan is a must-stop for Seirin, or else it'll be over.

It's Hyuga against Mibuchi again, and Mibuchi goes for the Heaven shot, Hyuga tries to block, but then realised the former faked him. Going past Hyuga, Mibuchi tries to shoot again, but Akashi shouts at him to pass, as Mibuchi has fallen under the trap of Kagami, who tries to block. Mibuchi felt annoyed that he'll get blocked, so he passes to Nebuya, but the ball got stolen away thanks to Kuroko's Quasi-Emperor Eye.

Now Seirin counter attacks, and Seirin are still under the Direct Drive Zone from Kagami. The ball ends up with Hyuga, going for the three, but missed. Although the basket missed, the advantage still goes to Seirin, as the team attack with the help of Direct Drive Zone would be way faster than the reaction of Akashi's Emperor Eye. All Seirin has to do is to stop the next attack from Rakuzan and Seirin can get 2 points, reducing Rakuzan's lead to just 5.

With 48 seconds left, Akashi takes on Kagami. Kagami falls from the Ankle Break from Akashi, who knocks down the jumper, and said that the eventual winner will still be him. 98 - 105 now, with only just 41 seconds left, Seirin are really critically hit with the jumper from Akashi.

Back to Seirin's attack, Rakuzan have applied intense pressure of defense on Seirin, and they have decided to double-team Kagami. As Izuki cannot pass to Kagami, Kiyoshi called for the ball, and goes to the post against Nebuya. With less than 30 seconds left, Kuroko called for the ball from Hyuga, then the latter and Kuroko made a laternal Long Pass, which Seirin have also used before on Yosen.

Kagami eventually received the ball, and shoots a 3-pointer, with Hayama and Mayazumi's hands on his face. It went it, and it's 101 - 105, still 4 points down with about 27 seconds left. Now Seirin has to stop this ball no matter what. However, it's Rakuzan's attack and they decided to just use the clock. Everyone else is tensed up at this moment, but only Izuki is still calm and cool. Izuki kept telling himself to calm down, as he analysed Rakuzan's plays at this moment.

Izuki then guessed that since Kiyoshi is at his limits, Rakuzan would find a way to get the ball to Nebuya to score, which is correct. As Mibuchi passes to Nebuya, Izuki intercepted it. With only 8 seconds left, Seirin are pulling a final fast break.

After stealing the ball, Izuki is in the possession of it as only eight seconds of the game remain. The crowd note that this is Seirin's last attack. Izuki intends on passing to Kagami but Kagami is guarded by both Akashi and Mayuzumi. Hyūga calls out to Izuki instead as Izuki passes the ball to him. Hyūga receives the ball and prepares to shoot. Mibuchi decides to maintain Rakuzan's pride and tries to stop Hyūga and his shot. Hyūga realises that the best choice at the moment is to copy Mibuchi's shot, which he has seen many times during the game. Hyūga manages to copy Mibuchi's Earth Shot and successfully scores the basket. This surprised both of the teams.

The basket counts and Hyūga receives one free throw due to the nature of the Earth Shot where it forces the opposite player to foul the user, in this case; Mibuchi. Seirin still has a chance of winning as they overjoy over Hyūga's shot. Meanwhile, Mibuchi regrets his decision to guard Hyūga and apologises to his teammates. Akashi reassures him not to worry but to focus on the rebound.

Kiyoshi gets the rebound and the Rakuzan players wonder who he will pass the ball to. Mayuzumi notices that when he thought of who d

idn't go for the ball, he thought of Kuroko instantly. As Kuroko receives the ball. The Rakuzan players remark that Kuroko did not shoot during the match at all and realise that it was for this very moment. Akashi appears as he tries to block Kuroko from shooting. Akashi tells him that this is the end, but Kuroko tells him it is not and adds that he is a shadow.

Kuroko performs an alley-oop with Kagami as the latter dunks and the buzzer beater is heard. Seirin emerge as victors of the match.

Streetball

The Seirin basketball team is training in the gym when Riko informs them of Team Jabberwock, a USA streetball basketball team which was invited to Japan to play against a Japanese university team. Instead of joining the group for a break, Kuroko and Kagami continue to practice, which their teammates note is due to the team's Interhigh results. Riko dismisses the team to continue training while inviting one of them to watch the match with her, which will be Hyūga.

On the day of the match, Kuroko and Kagami watch the event through TV, but when Team Strky - the Japanese university team, is defeated in a mocking way, Kuroko and Kagami as well as all of the basketball players in the region are angered by the mocking gameplay of Team Jabberwock.

When Kagetora proposes a rematch, Team Jabberwock accept to face the new team in a month's time. Later on, Kagetora gathers the Generation of Miracles as well as Kuroko and Kagami and forms the revenge team, Team Vorpal Swords to defeat Team Jabberwock. Before the team begins their practice, Kagetora introduces Momoi and Riko as the team's manager and assistant manager, but also the substitutes which are Hyūga from Seirin, Takao from Shūtoku and Wakamatsu from Tōō. After the introductions, the team begins their training. During practice, Riko notices how strong the team is but comments on their synchronisation which is poor.

The team takes a break to get briefed on Team Jabberwock's gameplay and style of play. Momoi informs them on Silver who has massive strength, speed and jumping power. She also informs them on Gold, who didn't reveal all of his capabilities yet. The team meeting ends with the team getting excited to face the strong opponents. Meanwhile, Kagetora excuses himself to go pay for Team Jabberwock's expenses.

After six days, the team's synchronization has improved but its still not perfect. Riko, however, notes that as they don't have anymore time, the only thing left for them to do is to trust the team. Kagetora excuses himself again to go to the club where Team Jabberwock is. As Kagetora leaves, Kise and Kagami remember the time when they faced a group of bullies at a streetball court. When Aomine asks them where Kuroko is, the two notice that he is missing.

The rest of the team run to Kuroko's help, each expressing their amazement at Kuroko's actions. When the rest of the team arrive, they witness Kuroko being mocked by Gold which almost results in a fight. However, before it could happen, Akashi tells everyone that they will settle everything on the court, something to which Kuroko agrees. The team leave Team Jabberwock with a warning that they will be the ones defeated.

On the day of the match, the Generation of Miracles are chosen as the starter members as the tip-off begins with Murasakibara getting the ball and passing it to Akashi who further passes it to Aomine who scores the first points of the match, getting Team Vorpal Swords in the lead, however, the team is still conscious of Jabberwock's strength. After the break and onto the second quarter, Silver begins to show his true skills, overwhelming both Aomine and Murasakibara.

After getting behind on points, Kagetora calls for a time-out and decides to member change Akashi and Midorima for Kuroko and Kagami in order to gain more strength to combat Silver. Murasakibara disagrees but after Akashi's persuasion, the giant agrees and the team goes back on the court. he match resumes and with the team play of Kagami and Aomine, they manage to stop Silver and his advances.

Silver receives the ball again but struggles to get past Murasakibara. When he does, he is marked by Kagami who tries to stop his dunk. Not being able to stop him alone, Aomine joins him as the two succeed in stopping Silver's advance. Murasakibara receives the ball passes to Kuroko, who is unnoticed by the Jabberwock players.

Skill

Physical Ability - 10/10

Technique - 8/10

Stamina - 8/10

Mental Strength - 9/10

Special Ability - 10/10

Kagami is a incredible basketball player he has been said to be equal to the Generation of Miracles multiple times by many people, even some of the miracles themeselves. He is a naturally gifted player that trained in the States prior to coming back to Japan. Kagami is a very powerful and fast player that is able to execute the fast cuts that can foil even Aomine and Kise. His reflexes are top-notch, as he is able to react extremely quickly when facing a ball handling expert such as Aomine, and in the Zone Hayama's five finger dribble was not fast enough to pass even while Hayama himself was in a zone like state. He could also block Aomine's formless shot due to his reflexes and sheer skill. While being marked by a double team of two Tsugawa level defenders, Kagami was able to easily pass them both. Kagami is so skilled he has beaten Kise of the Generation of Miracles in a one on one isolation play.

Kagami's skill drew the attention of scouts in America who believe he can make to the NBA, Kagami has moved back to America to achieve this goal and become an NBA player.

At first, he is a poor shooter who only relies on dunks, lay ups and his jumping ability. But as time progresses, he has improved this and is able to shoot mid range shoots with amazing accuracy.He also trained his left hand enabling him to pass the ball at the last second to Kiyoshi during their match against Tōō and win. During his Match against team Jabberwock he along with Aomine is called the "double ace" of team vorpal sword (a team made up of the generation of miracles).

When Kagami is in the "zone" his style of basketball becomes similar to Aomine's, somehow imitating his flexible streetball. Another reason for his sudden peak in ability, is the control of his animal instinct. This instinct enables him to play purely on feeling and greatly enhance his five senses, making his reflexes and speed top notch. His instincts have been compared to that of a tiger.

Jumping Power

While he is a powerful all-around player, Kagami's unique skill lies in his ability to jump to great heights, his jump is said to get higher and higher as a match progress. This skill facilitates not only his most common move, the dunk, but also allows him to defend well, get rebounds against taller players such as Wakamatsu and Otsubo; he even used it to break Midorima's perfect shooting. When he makes a jumpshot, he also stays in the air longer than the blocker, making it almost unblockable. While he generally jumps with his left leg in order to allow him the use of his more dexterous right arm, his right is far stronger, allowing him to touch the top of the backboard (while tired) as opposed to just hitting the ring.^[155] The drawback to this ability is that, like certain members of the Generation of Miracles, his body is still too underdeveloped. Thus prolonged use of his jumping prowess can cause damage to his body.

Having trained extensively since the Interhigh school championships, he can now dunk from the free-throw line, a feat that may have put him on a level with the Generation of Miracles. He is also able to jump from far away in a difficult position and still be able to block a shot. In the Zone, he can jump even higher that he can effortlessly block Himuro's Mirage Shot or out-jump Murasakibara, who is taller than him and was also in the Zone. Murasakibara compared his jumping ability to Michael Jordan's Airwalk.

Self Alley-Oop

A normal alley-oop is when a team-mate throws the ball up high and the scoring player catches the ball and scores without having to fall. Kagami has found a way to do this by himself, that is instead of receiving the ball by passing, shooting the ball himself, grabbing and dunking the ball when it misses. This was a response to Midorima's shooting spree in Seirin's match against Shūtoku High. He tried this again in the match against Tōō Academy, but was screened out by Susa, Kagami being unable to reach the goal. This is also the one obvious weakness of the skill.

Lane Up

A lane up is a dunk from the free-throw line. Kagami had the ability to dunk normally and very high, but in the Winter Cup, against Josei High, he ended the game by breaking through their defense, jumping from the free-throw line and dunking. A lane up is very difficult, because being able to reach the basket after jumping such a distance is only possible with an extraordinary jumping strength, the kind that Kagami possesses. With the development of the lane up, he forced open the "Gate" and awakened his true abilities, reaching the same level as the Generation of Miracles. This is also called "Airwalk", which was made famous by retired NBA legend, Michael Jordan.

Meteor Jam

A new dunk Kagami learned from Alexandra. While in the zone, Kagami prepares the dunk by leaping from the free-throw line, however; instead of following through with a lane up, Kagami uses his jumping power to gain height rather than distance. At the peak of his jump, he then hurls the ball into the basket which possesses even the power to penetrate through Murasakibara's defense while he was in the Zone. Kagami's way of throwing the ball directly into the ring is similar to a meteor crashing into earth (hence the name).

Although the meteor jam has the capability of being an unrivaled dunk, it is a delicate technique that requires Kagami to calculate the location, height, and angle of his jump along with the balance and ball control after that jump which explains the reason why he needs the zone's assistance. Though, even with the zone, the distance from the basket drastically affects the accuracy of his shot.

Vanishing Drive

Kuroko's signature skill is, in fact, a collaborative effort between himself and Kagami. Kuroko ducks in and flies by his opponent with quick cuts while Kagami provides the necessary distraction needed to draw attention away from Kuroko and onto himself. These conditions make for a successful Vanishing Drive.

Tactical Battle

In Seirin's match against Tōō in the Winter Cup, Kagami displayed a never before seen skill, a high level tactical battle. This is a highly realistic simulation of a basketball one-on-one in ones minds by reading his opponents subtle feints or moves. This is only possible when the player possesses a skill to accurately read the opponent's strength and movements. Kagami used this to play a simulation of a one-on-one against Aomine and accurately determine that he would lose.

Zone

The Zone is a state of focused attention and energy that enhances one's performance. Kagami first experienced 'being in the zone' during the 4th quarter of 1st round match of the Winter Cup, playing for Seirin against Tōō. The combination of intense oppositional pressure from Aomine (ace of the Generation of Miracles) and sheer tenacity was enough to push Kagami into the Zone.

When a player enters the Zone, electricity shoots and streams from their eyes and their true physical prowess can be expressed. Kagami experiences these same effects while in the Zone, with his reflexes, speed and especially jumping power, and strength being greatly augmented. He gains a greater field of vision similar to the eagle eye and hawk eye, His shooting accuracy noticeably improves, as evident from his successfully three-pointers while playing Point Guard in the match against Yosen. Kagami is even able to perform a perfect fake better than Himuro's. Riko even said that Kagami's Zone could counter Kise's Perfect Copy.

Operating at such a high level of performance gives Kagami an incredible field of influence from which he can respond and react to the actions of players on the court with extraordinary speed and technique; even players of Akashi's caliber, completely stopping Akashi from, doing anything other than passing, even with his Emperor Eye. Those who are inside the sphere will be reached by him because it means that it's Kagami's territory. Kagami does this by combing his animals instincts with his Zone.

Kagami like Aomine is (by the time of the Rakuzan game) able to willing enter Zone. The main condition for Kagami to enter the zone is "the will to fight for his teammates".He was also able to enter it again even though Akashi managed to shut it down earlier in the match. With the return of Kuroko, motivating him, he is able to enter the Zone twice during the match. Moreover, the second time he entered, he is able to stay in it, pressuring Akashi with his large sphere of defense due to entering it at a "deeper" level.

Kagami's skill with the Zone is so great that he can it limit to his usage of the Zone to specific moments in order to converse stamina. During his match against Rakuzan, he only used the Zone for offense and not for other things such as escaping from a double team.

Kagami entered the Zone again during the match against the Team Jabberwock. In this state, he is able to both dunk on and block Jason Silver repeatedly.

Direct Drive Zone

Kagami gained access to this second door when he have reached his limit and his teammates starts to synchronize with him. The gatekeeper is revealed to be Kuroko all along who opened the door for him containing his teammates inside. This second level of the Zone is all about teamwork. The presumed reason for the name "Direct Drive Zone" is due to the uninterrupted play Kagami shows while in this state which makes use of his teammates coordination. The main reason this becomes unstoppable is not only the Zone user but the others are involved as well and the ball rotation creates a lot of openings, leaving the defense stunned.

Kuroko-Kagami Alley-Oop

A move that Kuroko and Kagami often execute. One of the opponents tries to pass, but Kuroko intercepts the ball. He smacks the ball onto the ground in the direction of the basket. Kagami jumps high in the air, grabs the ball and dunks it in. They have first showed this in the match against Shinkyō Academy and did it again in the game against Seihō High.

Pressure Defense

During the match against Shinkyō Academy; Kagami had to defend against Papa Mbaye Siki, a foreign player who is 10 cm taller than Kagami. Before the match Riko had Mitobe teach Kagami how to defend against a player taller than yourself. This technique is simply putting a lot pressure on the regular defense, with the thought "I won't let you play as you want" in your head. When a player is pressured like this, he will experience playing a lot harder and won't get ready as easily. Tanimura called this pressure killing intent. Kagami also uses this against Okamura, another player who is 10 cm taller than Kagami.

Relationships

Tetsuya Kuroko

Kuroko and Kagami are good friends. They met when they both joined the Seirin basketball team and after discovering that their different plays complement each other, they make a promise to become the best in Japan. When playing together they understand each other perfectly, which makes them a "lethal rookie duo." Kuroko describes his partnership with Kagami as "shadow and light." Kagami is the light and Kuroko supports him as his shadow; when the light becomes stronger, the shadow grows as well. They have often won matches due to their cooperation play. Satsuki has also mentioned how seeing Kuroko and Kagami together reminds her of how Kuroko and Aomine used to be during their early days in Teikō.

In the Character Bible both Kagami and Kuroko have cited each other as the teammate they get along with the best, with Kagami responding, "I spend most of my time with Kuroko". They often hang out together at school, with Kuroko acting his usual self and Kagami responding with comically exaggerated anger or annoyance.

Tatsuya Himuro

Kagami and Himuro became friends in the USA when they were kids, sharing a mutual passion and talent for basketball. They were very close and considered themselves brothers, with Kagami being the little one. As a token of their brotherhood, each have a matching ring that they keep as a necklace. They also became the first pupils of Alexandra, after a long time of pursuing her to become their teacher.

They briefly split but later re-found each other when they were separately playing for a street basketball team in the same city. As the two teams were rivals, Kagami and Himuro played against each other a lot, but the win-lose ratio stayed the same. At 49-49, Himuro stated that if Kagami won the next match, he would no longer be consider as Himuro's little bro. Kagami lost on purpose, angering Himuro. He wouldn't accept it and the ratio stayed 49-49. They were separated another time when Kagami moved back to Japan.

A long time later, when Kagami and Himuro were both back in Japan and both joined a strong basketball team, they reunited at the Street Basketball 5 on 5 event. They would not reconcile and continued their rivalry, facing off at the finals. However, they were unable to finish the match due to bad weather, but Kagami did promise Himuro that they would meet and face off against each other again at the Winter Cup. Both boys advanced to the quarter-finals and found themselves against each other yet again. It was then revealed that Himuro was always resentful of Kagami's talent that Himuro didn't have. He became jealous and foremost frustrated that he as an "ordinary person" could not reach the level of genius like Kagami is doing. Himuro also regrets that Kagami sees him only as a brother and not as a rival.

After a long struggle, Kagami emerges victorious. Despite Kagami clearly being better than Himuro, Himuro faced and accepted it. With the help of Kuroko, Kagami has now come to the conclusion that they can just be brothers and rivals at the same time. Even though Kagami hasn't been able to convey his feelings, he is aware that Himuro feels the same way. Before the finals, Kagami reconcile with Himuro who apologizes for his behavior, realizing he was the one at fault.

Alexandra Garcia

Alexandra, a.k.a. Alex was Kagami and Himuro's basketball instructor when they were still in elementary school in the States. Kagami is often exasperated by Alex because she has the habit of kissing the people she likes (including him), wandering around his house completely naked, and being rather show-off. Kagami does, however, respect her and her basketball skills and listens to her when she lectures him. Other than the kisses she treats Kagami and Himuro as if they were her own sons. She loves them both because they inspired her to teach basketball to kids. She is currently living in Kagami's apartment with him for the duration of her stay in Japan.

Generation of Miracles

While Kagami doesn't really get along with any of them, he mentioned that it would also be weird if he got along with any of them because they are competing. He has also said that while he respects their skills, he finds that they are arrogant people who get on his nerves. Since Seirin defeated most of them, each one of them started to acknowledge Seirin as a strong team, especially him who is on par with them.

Ryōta Kise: Kise was the first member of the Generation of Miracles Kagami met, immediately realizing that Kise's skills far exceeded his expectations of the Miracles. Kise first acted unfriendly toward Kagami due in part to Kuroko's refusal to join him in Kaijō, but after Seirin defeated Kaijō in a practice match, Kise acknowledged Kagami and started calling him "Kagamicchi". Ever since then, Kise has been seeking for a rematch. In the semi-finals of the Winter Cup, the long-awaited rematch between Kaijō and Seirin finally happened after Kise defeated Haizaki to fulfill his promise to Kagami and Kuroko. This turbulent match eventually ended in favor of Kagami, but Kagami admired Kise for his unstoppable and bottomless skill. Kise admitted defeat and looked forward to their next match.

Shintarō Midorima: Kagami admits that Midorima is the kind of person he has difficulty dealing with and Midorima shares the same opinion with regards to Kagami. Kagami's dislike of Midorima resulted in him becoming severely depressed when he was able to pass his tests in Seirin only with the help of Midorima's apparently lucky rolling pencil. In spite of their tense relationship, Midorima and Kagami acknowledge each other as formidable rivals after their first match. Midorima even went as far as giving tips to Kagami to improve his skills and point out his mistake so that Kagami won't be defeated again until they have their rematch.

Daiki Aomine: Kagami may have seen Aomine as rival more than he did the other members of the Generation of Miracles, especially because both of them are the same type of player, as pointed out by Midorima, as well as Aomine being Kuroko's 'light' prior to their meeting. Kagami commented that all Miracles are arrogant but even then Aomine was exceptionally arrogant when the Generation of Miracles' ace came to challenge him. But in spite of that, Kagami recognizes Aomine for his skill and formidable power, which have reached the pinnacle of basketball. While Aomine was in the Zone, Kagami did not feel fear but rather admiration. After their second match when Seirin finally defeated Tōō, Aomine started to view Kagami as a worthy rival, someone he has been looking for so long to keep enjoying basketball. He even gave Kagami his spare shoes before the semi-final of Winter Cup. It has been said many times that Kagami and Aomine share a lot of similarities, both in skill and personality.

Atsushi Murasakibara: They first met at the Streetball 5 on 5 Tournament when Atsushi came to stop Himuro from playing because of their school's rule. Kagami tries to make Murasakibara play but he refuses. He notices that the latter seems to be childish so he acted child-like provoking Murasakibara and finally played. Kagami doesn't interact with Atsushi as much as with the other Generation of Miracles, possibly due to Murasakibara's antagonism towards Kiyoshi and Kagami's rivalry with Tatsuya Himuro. However Kagami was shown to be furious when Kiyoshi collapsed from exhaustion from the match and Murasakibara berated Kiyoshi when helping him up. With Kiyoshi temporarily gone, Kagami proceeds to clash with him under the basket until Kagami enters the zone then Murasakibara.

Seijūrō Akashi: Their meeting wasn't a good one, when he introduced himself to Akashi, Akashi used Midorima's scissors and attacked Kagami for not following his orders to leave. During their second meeting, Kagami declares that he will crush him should they meet in the finals. While Akashi does acknowlege Kagami's talent, he refuses to allow Kagami to look him in the eye, easily pulling down Kagami and telling him to know his place. In the finals, Kagami manages to dunk over him with a Meteor Jam entering the zone but because he became hot-headed, Akashi manages to lure him into a trap and proceeds to anklebreak him shutting down the zone. However, with the help of Furihata, Kagami manages to slightly graze the ball, making Akashi miss for the first time though the miss was putbacked by Nebuya.

Seirin team

Kagami, like any other freshmen of Seirin, fears their coach Riko Aida and their captain and would cower in fear whenever any of them are on a rampage. He was seen not particularly close to any of them but respects them as seniors in his own awkward manner, especially when in a couple of times he forced himself to speak in polite manner to Riko. However, it has been noted that Kagami trusts them very much as the series progresses and strives to protect his teammates at all times, as seen when Kagami entered the Zone multiple times because of his team. Kagami recently seems to be especially closer with Kiyoshi like Kuroko and admires the older teenager for his perseverance and skill.

Trivia

'Kagami' can mean 'Mirror' In Japanese.

Kagami's abilities might be taken from the NBA player Michael Jordan because both of them have crazy air time and can dunk from the free throw line.

According to the CHARACTERS BIBLE:

Kagami would become a fireman if he had an alternative job.

His type of person is someone who's stable.

His motto is: "Eat well, play well".

His favorite food is cheeseburgers.

His hobby is surfing.

His specialty outside of basketball is cooking. He could even teach Riko to successfully make curry.

In the CHARACTERS BIBLE, an early character concept of Kagami is seen. He was still tall and muscular, but his hairstyle was completely different. Instead of red and dark red, it was black with a wide stripe of blonde in the middle. His hair was also short and spiky. His name was originally Shigehiro Akibara. Shigehiro Ogiwara's name shares the same kanji as Shigehiro Akibara (荻原シゲヒロ), It is only pronounced differently.

His name, Taiga, is a common Japanese way of pronouncing and writing (in katakana) "tiger".

While Kagami's name is associated with the "tiger", Himuro's name means "dragon". In Chinese mythology, the Azure Dragon of the East and the White Tiger of the West are eternal rivals. This rivalry is further expressed in their surnames: "Hi" means "ice" while "Ka" translates as "fire".

On the first character poll, Kagami ranked 3rd, with 1116 votes.

He went down to 4th place on the second poll, with 1036 votes.

Apart from basketball, his skills also include walking on his hands.

Kagami has been given the nickname Baka-gami (lit. idiot-gami, freely translated as Kagamidiot), due to his simple-mindedness and short temper.

Kagami does traveling (which is a violation of the rules) when he is running along with Kise in the first opening.

As revealed in the novels, Kagami is afraid of ghosts.

Kagami is known for his huge appetite.

Kagami wears Michael Jordan's signature shoe, the Nike Air Jordan I. He previously wore the same brand, in a black and red color scheme, but he broke that pair and received a new one from Aomine, this one having the original Air Jordan scheme, white, red and black. As stated by Momoi, his shoe size is similar to Aomine's, 29.5 cm.

Based on his growth and still growing skills, it seems that he resembles Michael Jordan in his early years.

Murasakibara compared Kagami's Meteor Jam to Michael Jordan's Airwalk, but historically, the first free throw line dunk was performed by Julius Eriving.

Kagami has the most NG-Shū apperances. (18 times, as of Chapter 162)

Kagami has many similarities with Hanamichi Sakuragi from the basketball manga/anime series Slam Dunk. Both are power forwards, red-haired, jump high and wear the same jersey # 10. But Kagami is more skillful than Sakuragi as he can shoot anywhere and even shoot 3-pointers. Kagami also has signature skills due to the manga's concept, as every player has their very own signature skills. But Sakuragi has a stronger physique and stamina than Kagami.

Kagami lives alone while his father live overseas in America. It was mentioned that he was supposed to live with his father but due to work he was unable to stay in Japan, leaving Kagami to live by himself.

In Kuroko no Basket: Game of Miracles it is shown that Kagami is surprisingly popular with older women (college girls), who call him 'cute'.

Kagami's grades are atrocious, failing every subject, including English even though he has lived in America.

He reveals that he doesn't like dogs after meeting, who is now called, Tetsuya 2.

According to KUROFES:

Kagami only has a father.

He is an only child.

Kagami's family is rich.

His father works as a consultant for big companies in America.

The best dish he can make is gyouza, and he makes more than 100 at a time, which he then freezes.

The players he has his eyes on are the Generation of Miracles.

When they were younger, Taiga and Tatsuya always went to eat hamburgers after playing basketball. Taiga had a habit of giving his pickles to Tatsuya.

Kagami hates the cold.

Amazingly, the two most important people in Kagami’s life have only one letter difference in their names: his brother and rival, T(a)tsuya Himuro and T(e)tsuya Kuroko, the shadow to his light.

Kagami and Himuro always address each other by their first names; the only exception was the Seirin High vs Yosen High game during the Winter Cup.

Kagami's dunking style resembles Blake Griffin as well as Michael Jordan, from the first dunk sequence copied by Kise, to his Meteor Jam.

Kagami’s grades are pitiful; however, after he uses Midorima’s lucky pencil (which Kuroko gave him), he scores well on his exams (90th out of 308 students).

Kagami knows how to surf.

It's An Anime Thing, You Wouldn't Understand.

Thursday, August 02, 2018

Happy Birthday To Taiga Kagami From Kuroko no Basket

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