Can you do Riko, Alex, Murasakibara and Himuro and as many of your OCs as you would like? 😁
Ooh, what an interesting set of characters, thanks a lot! 🩶
Riko
How I feel about this character
Riko is da best KnB girl for me. Smart, driven, not too girlish, not too tomboyish, just the right amount of everything. Plus unapologetically fond of cute stuff all while bossing around a bunch of guys twice her size, lol More on my thoughts on her here
All the people I ship romantically with this character
Teppei! Kiyoriko was actually my first knb OTP, and I still LOVE these two. How they kind of complete each other character-wise. Fujimaki dropping a bomb that they used to date made me feel both vindicated and sad, cause WTF did you mean 'used to'? Touched on them more here
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Alex. I honestly wished they'd have more interactions on coaching methods and the game in general.
My unpopular opinion about this character
That she and Hyuuga are a shit couple, both too much of the same stubborn, hot tempered and not exactly flexible folks. I could see them dating but it will not last.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
I think she and Momoi should've gotten along more than they did, and their whole 'boob' rivalry was a dumb trope to put these smart ladies thru.
Alex
How I feel about this character
I like Alex. Coach-wise she feels like one of the most competent ones in the series, especially given the joy of the game she managed to share and preserve with Kagami and Himuro. Something that isn't granted, especially in knb, where every other basketball club is a torture chamber for the willing, lol More on her here
All the people I ship romantically with this character
None? I'm sure some of the people in the manga have a crush on her, but I don't really see her with anyone.
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Riko here, like mentioned above. Alex's less dogmatic view on basketball could really widen Riko's perspective on the game.
My unpopular opinion about this character
I'm very disappointed in the reading comprehension of those accusing Alex of inappropriate behavior towards Kagami and Himuro. People, please, for the love of fucking whatever you hold dear, read about comic relief and making fun of stereotypes based on ones nationality.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
I would honestly love to see her interactions with Araki (Yosen's coach), cause it has such comedy potential. One proper serious Japanese lady, and the other is a cheerful, carefree American one. Kind of Kagami and Kuroko vibes from these two.
Murasakibara
How I feel about this character
My lovely giant purple hamster :D I think he's great. Dude just trying to put his physical abilities that he didn't have a say about to play to his advantage. Being this tall at his age in Japan must be all levels of hell inconvenient. Plus, it tends to come with a bunch of health issues, so no wonder my guy is just willing to chill all the time, lol
All the people I ship romantically with this character
I don't think I actually have any sort of ship involving Mukkun
My non-romantic OTP for this character
No OTPs but I do think both Akashi and Himuro kind of 'adopt' Mukkun in terms of dragging him around. And Okamura (Yosen's former captain) teaching him moves was kinda touching, so I headcanon him keeping tabs on him after graduation/
My unpopular opinion about this character
I don't think people honestly understand how good of a player he is, and what a monster of a player he could be.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
I wish Fujimaki expanded on Mukkun's conscious effort not to injure others. It is very hard to do in the heat of the game, and requires a very good control of your body and spatial awareness. Oh, and he should've wear ponytail more often, lol
Himuro
How I feel about this character
Our resident emo-boy, lol Himuro is a bit weird to me. I dislike how Fujimaki really tried hard to make him Mr. Perfect as opposed to Kagami's Mr. Chaotic. A little too cool, too pretty, can fight, can play the ball, you name it. And only one bad quality is him being completely shitty with directions\maps, lol
Himuro, all while being this Mr. Perfect somehow ignores all his virtues and focuses only on his shortcomings, which is losing to Kagami in basketball. And given his pride and diligence, it must've hurt, all those efforts were still not enough to tame a wildfire that is Taiga. But what I find to be a very nice little thing, how Himuro, despite being the one to call Kagami brother, is the one that was not able to truly be happy for the growth of his younger brother, even knowing that Himuro was, in many ways, the inspiration to Taiga (an interesting parallel here with Miyaji brothers where we see Yuuya following Kiyoshi’s footsteps faster than he did, and Kiyoshi being chill, at least source material had exactly zero instances of Miyaji showing any sort of jealousy towards his younger brother, unlike the situation with Himuro\Kagami). This tells on how inadequate and insecure he feels deep down, and I always wondered why. Because this insecurity plays very well into him constantly trying to put on a spotless facade, so that others won't start to poke holes into his wounds. And Kagami's superior presence does just that, reminding Himuro of his shortcomings.
All the people I ship romantically with this character
Nobody
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Mukkun, I feel like he's a pretty inoffensive guy for him to drag along, keeps his ego mostly intact, and can be bribed with chips, lol. And I kind of have him and Fukui keeping contact after graduation. Still undecided on his interactions with Niji
My unpopular opinion about this character
That as soon as Himuro would resolve his inner problems, and just let himself be, and would rediscover his love for the game, and would reconcile with Kagami, he would only then unlock his full potential and go on GoM's level, in the zone, etc. He is THAT good, that skilled, that diligent and gifted. But his weakness isn't physical, it's mental and it fundamentally hinders his development because he himself can't let it go.
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
Fujimaki is an absolute ass at portrayal of non-GoM characters. Doing all the hype-up for the hard work over talent only for it to be miserably defeated by talent either way. And while yes, talent+work often renders better results than just repetition\muscle memory\hard work (I get now why compared Himuro to Sen, the same muscle memory skill) oftentimes talent tends to slack at work. And in sports there're just too many variables: injuries, health conditions, mentality, luck, etc. So having this big of a gap between talent and lack of it is unrealistic and sends a shitty message. So Himuro here, alongside pretty much all 3rd years should've had WAY more flowers given to them. And GoM and Seirin should've had more problems with others and lost more often.
I also wonder if Kagami ever called Tatsuya as "Tetsuya" by mistake and what was Himuro's reaction, lol
As for OCs, I'll limit myself here with one OC and one semi-OC from KnB, and given our recent Takao talks, I'll go with Reina (drop me a message if you want me to do the other main two ladies ;)
Reina
How I feel about this character
Reina is the second KnB OC that came about 4-5 years ago as reflection of how unstoppable talent and hard work capitulate under the life's circumstances one has zero control over. I just wanted basically a female equivalent of GoM in a different sport, but her path was brutally cut short right before one of the main events of her life, The Olympics (yeah, we're shooting to the stars here). And bam, suddenly all of your hard work, talent, success and aspirations are gone down the drain, they're no longer applicable to you, so what's left? What's next? How does one adjust to life after life? I wanted it to be both depressing and uplifting, lol
All the people I ship romantically with this character
First of all, Takao. Unlike most other ladies around him, she understands what a laser focus on smth is, and can even offer guidance on certain aspects of the sports regimen for him not to suffer as much physically. She's very... disillusioned, but in a tired\scared not bitter way. Is very calm, kind of socially awkward. A lot of similarities with Midorima here but she's way more cohesive in human interactions, and will not be attached to Takao in a semi-permanent fashion cause it just gives me suffocating vibes.
And secondly, her former junior at kindergarten, with whom they share a peculiar parenting pattern and somewhat similar 'exotic' hair color (different shades of red, Reina's being more into orange territory) - Akashi. She was often a role-model to him, but she moved out of country at a young age to train and they lost contact, only to meet again in high school with a big "holy shit what the hell happened to you" vibes. :D
My non-romantic OTP for this character
My two other OCs: Mika, her childhood friend and Shutoku's manager, and Chiya, her classmate. Akina too, they'll meet in physical therapy and will keep in touch, especially after Akina becomes Kaijo's manager. And Midorima, cause they both kind of facepalm from Takao to different degrees.
I guess the other two questions aren't applicable here but here's Reina picrew to compensate. ;)
Yuuya Miyaji
How I feel about this character
Not an OC but we know very little about him in canon. Yuuya is someone constantly fighting for recognition and his own self. He's only a few years younger than Kiyoshi but is always the "junior", in the shadow of a very loud, memorable brother that is hard to keep up with cause Kiyoshi is over-achiever (the only guy in Shutoku being allowed to train during exams in canon). Yuuya picked up basketball cause Kiyoshi was forced to look over his younger bro and started to use him as a training partner eventually. So most of his basketball stuff used to be Kiyoshi's, his basketball pals knew him as Kiyoshi's younger bro, in Shutoku he is Miyaji jr. till Kiyoshi's graduation, you get. HOWEVER, this gave Yuuya an edge of starting earlier than Kiyoshi and with tougher opponents from the get go (most were his brother's age), which lead to Yuuya going into sports-oriented middle school that Kiyoshi did not, and that's why Yuuya was a starter in his first year and captain by his second (this differs from canon because I couldn't just keep a 7 month birth difference between Kiyoshi and Yuuya that is somehow canon, and Yuuya is magically a Shutoku's captain in 3rd year despite us not seeing him even once in knb... What is planning, amiright, Fujimaki-sensei? :D) Yuuya also really tries to differ from Kiyoshi in other areas, different style in hair and clothing (more of a sporty looks than Kiyoshi's classic one), music preferences (hates j-idols), food, hobbies (even though both of them like video games), etc but at some point he has stop and think if those are his actual preferences or something he choose to differentiate from his older brother? Yuuya and Kiyoshi bicker on a semi-permanent basis with superficial physical fights but it's just their norm. They genuinely care and admire one another but will absolutely not acknowledge that in any public way, lol
All the people I ship romantically with this character
Tae Ootsubo and Chiya. This will be the most non-dramatic, awkward yet truly caring triangle with hints of longing, regret and sadness. With a happy ending for everyone involved ;)
My non-romantic OTP for this character
Takao and Kimura's little brother. With Kimura's bro they met in that sports middle school and have been pals since then but Yuuya is 1 year older. With Takao they're classmates, on top of being teammates, plus their gfs at that time were friends, and they have a shared love for card games, so they do hang out together a decent amount.
My unpopular opinion about this character
I don't think he has any popular opinions to begin with, lol I guess that I made him the same age as Takao and Midorima, otherwise he'd be only 7 months younger than Kiyoshi, which is problematic, given that pregnancy lasts for 9 :D
One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.
Him actually being shown as a part of the team like Nakamura in Kaijo? As a frequent sub and not as an afterthought in epilogue. And wish we had something on him and Tae in canon other than him having her photo ;)
I was thinking about Kiyoshi and Murasakibara. Two characters who are shown to be very big and also have a complicated relationship with their heights and how it influences their relationship with basket in completely different ways. Kiyoshi and Murasakibara other than sharing the fact that they're both tall, they also share the same position as center, they've also been given titles that were pretty big for boys their age, Murasakibara was kind of mystified and even been called a "monster" for how powerful he is and everyone always talked about how the entire group didn't feel like they were middle schoolers, Kiyoshi instead has always found himself not liking the title, saying that it didn't fit an high schooler, and how it makes him uncomfortable being called like that, which is pretty interesting to see how they're both similar and different at the same time.
Kiyoshi always had a complex because of his build and height, think about how Hyuuga was scared of him upon meeting up the first time, but then Kiyoshi revealed to be pretty armless, a "gentle giant" as they put it. But thanks to basket he found a place where his height isn't a problem, it makes him happy that he can use it for something that is also pretty fun for him. Which contributed to his love for basket, he can go all out, he is able to protect, both in a game sense and his team sense (the Kirisaki daichi game for example), thanks to his build and height.
Murasakibara on the other hand doesn't get that. They tell him he should play basketball because of his height, whether or not he actually wants to, his height and build scares people a lot, but, unlike Kiyoshi, that also happens in the game. We get a reveal that he does actually love basketball, but since he can't go all out, because his build could actually hurt someone if he actually put some effort into it, he ends up resenting a sport he likes, and that type of resentment builds up and he ends up lashing out on people who love basketball but are generally not as good as him, everyone can love basketball, give it their all and they don't even get to half what Murasakibara is capable of, so he tells them awful stuff that makes them quit, because he resents the fact that he can't go all out while other people can.
Which is also why Murasakibara and Kiyoshi especially end up clashing out like that, even though they're very similar, and maybe that's exactly why Murasakibara can't stand him specifically. In a general sense they should be able to understand each other, but since Kiyoshi for better or worse doesn't reach the build Murasakibara has, he still can't understand Murasakibara anyway. Kiyoshi is a big guy but he can still play to his full potential, at least he could before he got hurt, Murasakibara still doesn't get that until "Extra game"
Probably in the kitchen of like a Mcdonalds pretending that it is a 5-star restaurant
I want those fries looking CRISPED
At first glance he acts like Mcdonalds Gordon Ramsay but is actually more like spongebob
His boss loves him beause he gives everything 110%
Except he sucks at talking to customers
Aomine:
Works at a gas station that nobody goes to
Teaches new drivers how to pump their own gas because watching them try to figure out the machine is literally unbearable and also his older brother mode gets activated
Spends most of his shift actually doing nothing/eating the snacks sold at the corner store
Throwing crumpled up receipts at his coworkers
Customers are usually truck drivers on long trips or new drivers trying to avoid busy gas stations
Usually works the nightshifts
Kuroko:
Works as either a babysitter or at a daycare
Usually comes home covered in stickers and hair ties
Will occasionally get recognized by children while out in public which throws off his friends everytime
Gets a little too into the games he plays with the kids
No timmy I can’t have milk in my pretend tea I’m lactose intolerant
Has been the princess/prince/horse/dragon but his favourite is definetly the princess because he milks the shit out of it
Kise:
Part time model and part time barista and he makes sure everyone knows it
Chats up customers while making their drinks and listening to their problems like a cliche bar tender
If you think he wouldn’t draw little festive doodles on all the cups
Sings at work
Will karaoke whatever is on the radio
Always smells like coffee
Midorima:
Works as like a receptionist at the hospital or some kind of job that is very hard to get as a teenager but he making BANK
All his friends make fun of him for his receptionist speed typing
Answering phone calls in an unfriendly but very professional voice
Takao likes to sit in the waiting room of his work and Midorima likes to pretend he doesn’t know him
Spends the majority of his time faxing things like an old man
Akashi:
Doesn’t have a part time job
But frequently visits his friends jobs
Pulls up in his expensive car to the sketchy gas station Aomine works at to tell him he’s doing a good job
Frequents murasakibara’s bakery and the old lady that works there with him thinks he’s such a dream boat and makes sure murasakibara knows
Murasakibara:
Works at a local bakery and loves every minute of it
Is absolutely a terrible employee but his boss is like a small old lady and he loves her and she loves him
Trying to decorate small cakes with his big hands
Professional taste tester
Works at a quiet bakery with maybe 2 other employees and his boss and they’re like one happy/chaotic family
Actually loves watching small kids come in and get excited over all the different treats
Is a sucker for giving out free samples because he soft
Also if you yell at any of his coworkers he will step on you
kagami would've loved frank ocean i think. he always blasts nostalgia ultra when him and aomine have one-on-one's together and on principle, aomine has to hate on whatever it is that kagami likes, but unfortunately he was extremely moved by strawberry swing
and ofc kagami has a shared playlist with kuroko, and when channel orange comes out, he basically adds every song to the playlist. kuroko listens to thinkin' bout you on loop into the late hours of the night just thinking about kagami...
The overt theme of knb is the break and make up of a childhood friends group over basketball and all of the messy love within that. The underlying but still there theme of knb is Kuroko repeatedly looking at everyone around and against him and saying “i have worth” despite their attempts to convince him elsewise. But what people don’t know is the underlying underlying theme is apparantly these fuckass coaches who were in the national team together but now run different teams with their own ideologies which they seemingly use to try sticking a point to each other ‘my fair lady’ style
Mibuchi loves singing whether its just random tunes as he goes on his day to day business or karaoke and has a lovely voice. Kotaro also loves singing and he sounds like an enthusiastically dying chicken
Kagami getting a fever for the first time in Japan and tearing up bc Himuro and Alex arent there to watch over him any more and he feels so alone even as the rest of Seirin bring him soul food but nobody else knows and he cant bring himself to tell them
