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I recently re-watched this in anticipation of the 2nd season. I had forgotten most of the plot so it was interesting to see if my initial impressions of the series remained the same. And fortunately, I feel the same as I did years ago when this aired.

This 1st season is a masterpiece. It's essentially everything I want in an anime and more.

Story:
Getting the right level of mystery is important for keeping the audience captivated. You neither want to reveal too much that the audience puts 2 + 2 together themselves nor leave them so in the dark, they become disinterested or impatient. This has ... been executed perfectly and on top of that, it has been scoped very well. What I mean by this is that, the plot isn't so grand that it is filled with loose ends and unmanageable nor carries so much weight in terms of potential, that it encumbers the storytelling. The success in this area can be attributed to the well laid out exposition, info-graphics at intervals and well structured storyline within season 1.

Art & Animation:
The fight scenes are simply great, well animated and filled with substance. I'm a fan of the thick lines around characters, the facial expressions are consistent too with a high level of polish.

Sound:
A good soundtrack to me is exciting, full of personality and a direct, accurate reflection of the series it is based on. My favourite soundtracks are Tokyo Ghoul, Haikyuu, Gundam Wing and now this (I'm not talking just about OPs and EDs). The music during tense moments, battle scenes and intermittent build-ups is glorious like a theatrical orchestra guiding the world to either destruction or salvation. Some may claim it over dramatic but for me, it enhanced every moment in the anime.


Characters:
There are a lot of anime protagonists who I just hate because they go overboard with their super hero antics and fail to develop at all. Eren is ambitious and stubborn but he chooses to listen to others and decides to learn from his mistakes like people should. The characters are diverse and I look forward to seeing how far they have to go in this beautiful, cruel world.

Enjoyment:
I loved it.

I tried to find a flaw to justify a 9 out of 10 but failed. This anime just did everything right in this.


Story 9/10
It was great. Seeing them go through bootcamp, struggle to find their own groove. Watching Hinata and Kageyama find a new super quick. Watching the 3rd years overcome the fact this is their last year. The story behind the other teams they played, the back stories of the aces too were well thought out and unique.

Art - 9/10
I've seen better but this was very good especially when it mattered.

Soundtrack - 10/10
It's perfect, the OP and ED, the OST gave the most sophisticated ... atmospheric mood within a sports anime. I couldn't stop feeling in awe of how well it fitted into the scenes, the plays and the overall atmosphere. What's so good about the soundtrack, it both sounds good on its own and perfectly in sync with the mood of the series.

Characters - 10/10
EVERYONE got airtime. Do you know how rare fairly distributed airtime on an anime is? And now an anime has it, it made everything so much better. The back stories were great, the triumphs of Tsukki and Yamaguchi were awesome they really came into their own.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Thoroughly enjoyed it, I have NO COMPLAINTS.

This season went by faster than the first I must say.

Story 8/10
The story continues with a different type of tune where you learn more about the characters pasts. Kiyoshi is introduced formally and we got to see how Seirin came to be. You get insight into Kagami's past too along with others. This meant the games were longer, the moments in between were also but they had a lot of story. In my opinion even though this wasn't as hyped as season 1 in terms of play, this allowed us to see beyond the basketball into the psyche of our characters.

Soundtrack 8/10
The OP ... and ED continued to be great especially the second OP.

Art 7/10
I definitely noticed a decrease in quality. And I truly believed they could have done more to make animation a lot more satisfying. It is a shounen at the end of the day and you only have to watch the second OP to understand how far they could have taken the art and animation of the players actions on the court.

Character 8/10
I ended up liking Aomine a lot more this time round. Kiyoshi also proved himself worthy as the founder of Seirin and I understood why Hyuga is such a great captain. On the other hand I didn't like what Akashi did to Kagami because it felt like producers did it to give him a sense of danger. Very pointless. Yousen on the other hand was a revelation during the final game as his personality changed with an unexpected ending. Overall the new characters and the new insights into familiar characters was very good.

Enjoyment 8/10
I didn't enjoy it as much as the first season but I still binge watched it even faster than the previous. This season was important for fleshing out the characters and adding more to the story which may have been a blessing in disguise as too much action could have left the series with less steam to finish with. Now I've started season 3 I'm hoping for a good ending to all of this.

I've already started the second season of Haikyuu!! so I guess that's evidence of how good it is. Although I did hesitate before deciding to dive for some more of Hinata and Kageyama deadly combos. Overall, they did a lot very well but it felt a little cheesy (I know its an anime for a younger audience).

Story 7/10
The set up was great. The characters made the story a lot more better than it was on first impression. I originally gave this a 8 then as I was writing I realised it was the characters that left a strong impression, not the story itself. But that's ... not a bad thing!

Sound 8/10
The soundtrack was awesome and very in sync with the tone of the show.

Character 7/10
I really like how the two main characters eventually become to be great team mates in their mission to be great at volleyball. The side characters all had unique motivations and were well fleshed out through their colourful personalities. The Karasuno team is truly a great bunch of guys to watch from a TV screen. Although the conflicts they were struggling with felt too... cheesy I guess. I get it, they want to play volleyball, they want to be good, they forget they are part of the team but as the season went on, I cared less and less. Hopefully in season 2 we can focus on other things besides how to be a good team.

Enjoyment 7/10
After watching 1st season of Kuroko No Basket I'm gonna make comparisons and unfortunately, it may have tainted my view of this show. They are different in so many ways but KB gave more enjoyment and hype factor. Whereas Haikyuu never reached that level of intensity that made me want to watch another episode straight away.

Overall
Yo!! This is a good show but some personal factors dropped the final scores for me. There are many reasons to give this a higher score but I think its a matter of taste in this case.

Do you have a good understanding of the background to this story? If no, you'll definitely struggle with this. I know I did.

Do you like jazz music? Me neither, so subjectively I didn't like the soundtrack at all. I prefer something more along the lines of Gundam Wing.

Story 5/10 -
I will start with a question to Sunrise - What was the point of this? I mean you have a great setting - adult Gundam pilots in the middle of a war and you decide to squeeze out only 4 episodes? I felt I was thrown in the middle of something that could have been very ... interesting if given more context and background information. If this was at least 12 episodes, then it would be a smooth 8 but the lack of closure, the rushed beginning and lack of context left me lost the whole way through.

Art 8/10 - Love it, it's dark, detailed and mezmerising. Unfortunately the Gundam designs are unimaginative.

Sound 5/10 - I don't like jazz which dominates the whole way through so I'll leave it as that.

Character 8/10 - These characters were conflicted, powerful and motivated. The dynamics were perfected and I was thoroughly disappointed that we didn't get to learn more.

Enjoyment - 5/10 - It was too short lived for me to get anything out of it. this deserved more time to get lost in the universe.

I'm sad because this had all the potential that was brutally butchered by the lack of air time. No time to explore the reasons why everyone was fighting, why certain characters were so conflicted either. The dust never settled and this was a story that lifted off without a foundation to go from.

Objectively this is a 7 at best. Subjectively, it's a 8 FOR ME. And here's why.

I couldn't remember the last time I watched a sports anime but was attracted to the Bleach-esque art style. I wanted an anime that didn't take itself too seriously and was fun to watch. That's definitely what I got. Every time I watched an episode, I considered whether I should watch just one more.

Story 7/10

The storyline is interesting with great dynamics everywhere. You have a main character duo who are polar opposites but bond together to achieve their dreams. You have the "generation of miracles" who all have different styles ... and teach the main characters new things as they attempt to overcome them. The main character's motivation is well positioned going against conventional advice to form his own style. With such a great set up, we are left with the question - how will he and his partner in crime overcome all of these circumstances? The story progresses well with awesome pacing (you know its awesome when the end credits catch you by surprise). And the basketball games were EPIC. Watching characters reveal new abilities felt great and brought an intensity that I didn't think was possible in sport animes.

The humour too is just up my alley with over the top reactions that are pure fun to watch. Kuroko's placid response to everything, Kagami's bullish, thick headed approach and a female coach whose brutal coaching regime complements her failed attempts to be lady-like in awkward moments.

Art - 8/10 - I personally thought it was a perfect fit but obviously not "perfection"

Sound - 7/10 The soundtrack helped create a tense and well suited atmosphere for games that went to the edge.

Character - 7/10 - Consider them a duo, and what I like about Kuroko in particular his lack of personality brings out the best in everyone around him. Don't misintepret his lack of expression for a negative. As it makes for great humour.

Enjoyment - 8/10 - I loved it. Epic, intense and competitive. Loving the energy of this.

You will surprised every time Kagami and Kuroko overcome a near impossible battle and the logic behind the main players' techniques are great to observe while not being overpowered like in a lot of shounen cases. The main duo also don't win all the time nor are they overpowered and every time they exert themselves there's always a "catch". These things are important for me who don't want my suspension of disbelief to be stretched soooo far. It becomes very clear how far Kuroko & co have come and have to go, going into Season 2. And that's what I want to see in season 2, more progression. And the development of the other team mates who are mere side characters this season is much needed to build on a great foundation.

[Minor Spoilers]

If you are already 2 seasons into this, you have finish this and see the famed Akashi in action. Unfortunately, it was not as good as the previous BUT it had a great ending episodes. My main issue was you could tell the show was out of steam at the end. What made Kuroko No basket good was that the shounen abilities had explanations that made some kind of sense. That's until Kagami used ZONE three times that turned an unique ability to something he can unlock any time without consequence. And that's the worst part, there's no consequence which makes it too far ... fetched and forced. I didn't mind Akashi's Emperor Eye being overpowered, but him being able to alley hoop and run from one end to another in a fraction of a second? For Yousen, it made sense. He's tall with long limbs which gave him the extended reach. For Akashi, there was no need or overpower him in every way, his ability was powerful enough.

But once again, there were amazing reveals. Kuroko Quasi Emperors Eye impressed me with how it countered Akashi's. Frankly people talk about Kagami being too overpowered but can we appreciate how well sculpted Kuroko's character is in terms of ability? He has clear flaws and clear advantages which make his accomplishments not so much as an asspull (besides Misdirection Overflow). It just boils down to that he uses his head to maneuver his opponent whereas Kagami just tries harder.

It was still a good season, Akashi was worth the wait. Understanding how the Generations of Miracles came to be was interesting, along with Akashi's role fitted very well. The soundtrack could have been much better because it was average for such an important season. The animation held up well when it mattered although I didn't get the point of all the flashy colours during the deeper ZONE at the end.

Putting Aomine matchup at the start was a bad idea. In my eyes that should have been a show down left for towards the end. And in an ideal world I would love to see Aomine versus Akashi. THAT would've been a better match up.

Story - 9
Yousen and Akashi and how the Generation of Miracles came to be was very interesting

Soundtrack - 5
The Opening and Ending Soundtracks could have been so much better. It was the worst OST out of the 3 seasons, which is disappointing.

Art - 8
It held up well especially at the end and during Kise's bout.

Characters - 7
The antagonists were all great with their own abilities.

Enjoyment - 7
I enjoyed it and the ending was worth it with me but could have been so much better!

Frankly, I think people mistaken the flashy animation for potential because it never had much even once the premise was set.

Essentially, these monsters that isolated mankind were Zombies with gold hearts. Such an enemy for me is too one dimensional but I was hoping for a narrative that would add a new layer to this. Unfortunately, this one didn't. There was no hint at how these came to be and their killing technique failed instill any fear in the audience unless a victim screamed loud enough. Yes, over dramatic.

The protagonist was the typical mouthy, ambitious shounen protagonist who wanted to prove a point. I'm rather ... used to this common troupe, and was ready to put up with this having realised that he was quite intelligent. For example, he made a very cool gun that killed Kabane more easily proving his expertise as an engineer. Unfortunately this is as far as his intellect goes.

There was definitely a political undertone to this that developed as the story went on. At first, it seemed too cryptic for the sake of mystery but once it came to light, it still didn't make sense or hint to something groundbreaking. This brings me to my next point. The motivation of the villain. I didn't understand the liberation he was referring to on episode 9 for example. His reasoning didn't make an ounce of sense nor did Ikoma's reason for being suspicious of him. Regardless of whether he was right, how he came to it didn't make sense.

This is a short anime series, so I didn't expect in an in-depth story. But there's rushing and skipping story elements and then, there's leaving huge plot holes. These plot holes couldn't be ignored, sorry. But okay, the story could have been marginally poor but forgiven if the anime possessed good amount of "epicness". Annndddd it failed at this too.

The fight scenes was basic. You had steampunk guns, half zombies, samurais and the fight scenes were so mediocre. Overall, things were more bright than visually satisfying. Please do not let the unnecessary lights fool you, there was little substance in any of the action. The soundtrack which may have been overlooked by others didn't fool me either. It was the biggest give away that this was put together in a formulaic way to mirror AoT's success. The music fitted the tone rather than the show itself. I personally felt it was very unauthentic.

Frankly I could literally smell the lack of soul in this anime.
Having watched a short show like Dimension W that showed how to cut huge chunks of plot satisfactorily, this was inexcusable. And having watched another AoT "wannabe" in the form of Black Bullet, that actually provided a story that's unique enough to stand on its own. This was a shameless copycat. I have come to realise this didn't do much of anything well. I feel duped by how it was positioned because it never found its own identity but tried to extract different elements to form a winning formula that still produced a poor result.

In summary:
Story 3/10 - It didn't make sense nor did the character's motivations.
Soundtrack 3/10 - Felt forced and overkill.
Art - 6/10 It was ok.
Character - 4/10 - Squandered potential.
Enjoyment - 4/10 -When I realised this was going nowhere, I just wanted to be done with it.

Story 6/10

I mean it is not a bad story but is it really that "great"? A bunch of bounty hunters and a kid link up to go on adventures together while exploring a rather bland world set in space. The stories (episodes) could have been more exciting, with more plot twists, big reveals and emotionally driven. Frankly it was too straight forward for me to consider it anything amazing.

Art 8/10

For a 90s anime it has aged very well. The spaceships are very unique and the environment represent space travel dystopian suited to its time.

Sound 9/10

At first I was like "this OP is garbage and ED ... is okay". Then as it went on, I discovered the soundtrack within the episodes to be the best part of the series for me personally. The songs are varied, the instrumentals are atmospheric and certain tracks fitted with the scenarios perfectly. Although I warn you, I only started to appreciate it later in the series.

Character 6/10

I think I would have touched a nerve with scoring the characters this low but they are mediocre. They are not particularly interesting when you compare them to something like One Piece where every character whether side or main are filled with so much personality. Spike is cool, Ed fluffy, Faye feisty and Jet a boring old man but these are pretty one dimensional (with interesting backstories I guess). But nothing about them gripped me, maybe they were too "ordinary".

Enjoyment 7/10

Now I'll go into detail of what I enjoyed and didn't.

As mentioned briefly, the adventures are not that exciting besides Spike episodes. Luckily he got the most screen time.

Then we hit episode 12 and everything became a little more interesting with Faye's back story just starting then my interest tailed off again. By episode 20 I was a bit discouraged to finish it. Due to its episodic nature you are literally judging episode by episode. One minute it's interesting next minute it's average. It depended on the character in focus a lot of the time. Spike and Faye would captivate me briefly then Jet and Ed would bore me (bar the mushroom episode with Ed was fun).

Although, it ended very strongly - Episode 24 left me with a weird feeling. Seeing that certain characters were potentially leaving made me feel sad. I can't remember when my attachment to them creeped up on me but it just did. The sound track had placed it's role perfectly.

So the last few episodes were great. Suddenly everyone opened up about their true feelings and suddenly the characters came to life. But it was too little too late, it was not worth all 26 episodes. I would have rather just watched Spike/Faye related episodes or a movie that summarised it all.

The Anime does very little wrong. It doesn't engage in fan service or annoying anime tropes. Everything feels authentic and true to itself. If you enjoy the characters interactions you will enjoy the episodic nature and that's the problem. It's episodic so there's no bigger story or world building to keep your imagination turning. There's nothing to get your heart racing, no complex theories to chew over, no back stories to pull your heart strings (wait Faye's nearly had me but they didn't go deep enough!).

It's just every day life in space, well written with just the right amount of action. But I personally don't watch anime for this laid back sort of shows.Thus the wow factor didn't rub off on me. It didn't excite me enough. If I wasn't marathoning it, I doubt I won't anticipate an episode. I'll simply tune in if I had a spare moment.

The premise was promising and had a lot of potential but they didn't capitalise on it. Frankly I don't blame them because it was doomed from the start. What was we expecting from a 12-episode season? That is way too short for such a complex concept. This is a shame because the studio actually did a good job with the task given to them. It felt rushed at times but it was still coherent although the concept of Dimension W was glazed over too much making it difficult to follow. I would actually say they left too much explaining until the end. I would have ... preferred the info dump at the start so I could keep in the loop throughout the series. Now for the other elements of the show..

Character development - 3/5
It wasn't bad, the relationship dynamic started off sterile between the main characters then built up nicely towards the end of the season.

Animation - 3/5
Decent but nothing to write home about. The fight scenes were not thrilling for what they could have been. In the penultimate episode they actually skipped to the end of a key battle which disappointed me a lot.

Story - 3/5
I considered a higher rating purely for originality and potential because everything was set up to be an interesting story but the final reveals were underwhelming. A lot of people will be divided over the conclusion of this season for sure.

The time constraints of such a short series impacted the final product. I got nothing out of it but mild entertainment and a good soundtrack.