It's a basketball manga that doesn't take itself that seriously, and it's pretty funny. So far it's only five chapters long, but it's really interested me so far. Has anyone else read it.
Long-ass synopsis, written by me:
The basketball team of Teikou middle school was an invincible team that utterly dominated that level of basketball in Japan. Teikou's five starters were widely considered to be the five best Japanese middle school basketball prospects, and were known as the "Generation of Miracles." After graduating, the five Teikou miracles each enrolled at a different high school; for the first time, they'd face each other as opponents instead of as teammates.
However, there was a rumor that the generation of miracles was not only five players. There was a sixth "phantom" player, acknowledged as Teikou's best by his teammates, but not remembered by Teikou's fans as one of the five miracles. Is there any way a player like this could exist? The best player of the generation of miracles, completely unknown to anyone other than the miracles themselves?
Fast forward to next year: Kagami Taiga is in his first year of high school, but never attended middle school in Japan. Growing up in the USA, the best country in the world in youth basketball, Kagami is an athletic, powerful, and skilled basketball player. All this talk about the generation of miracles has Kagami fired up. He's determined to take Seirin High School to the top of Japanese basketball, defeating each of the miracles along the way just to prove that he is the best. Seirin's manager, Rika, is ecstatic that a player of Kagami's talent level is attending Seirin.
Kuroko Tetsuya is another freshman at Seirin interested in basketball, but Rika could care less about him. He's below-average in height, speed, strength, and shooting ability. Why is he so interested in playing basketball? Really, the only thing remarkable about him is that he's hard to notice. Rika passed right by him when taking roll at the first basketball interest meeting!
But that's the catch. You see, Kuroko's not just any kid, he's the phantom sixth man from Teikou Middle School. His scoring ability might be terrible, but his incredible lack of "presence" and his excellent passing skills make him exactly what the rumors suggested: a phantom player that is hard to notice and instead excels at making his teammates stronger. After witnessing Kagami's brash determination to defeat his former teammates, Kuroko makes a decision. He'll use his unconventional skills to bring Seirin a championship, but by making Kagami "the light" while remaining in "the shadow." They use that light/shadow metaphor practically once per chapter.
So how does that sound? Pretty cool, right? I love sports manga, and this one's caught my eye recently. It's less believable than Slam Dunk, less dramatic than Real, and less ridiculous than Eyeshield 21, but I feel that it has some good potential. Plus, all of the "were you standing here the whole time!?" gags whenever anyone fails to notice Kuroko are pretty hilarious.