Kuroko’s Basketballis chock-full of interesting characters who all share the same love of basketball. Some love the sport so much that they are willing to do anything to win at it - including replicating a former teammate that had an untouchable skill.
That is exactly what Seijuro Akashi did at Rakuzan High School. to aid in their success as a team, Akashi employed the skills of Chihiro Mayuzumi. What made him so special? Well, he reminds us a little too much of a certain pale-haired shadow of a player namedTetsuya Kuroko.
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Who is Tetsuya Kuroko?
Kuroko was one-sixth of theGeneration of Miracles, the Teikō Junior High’s basketball team of ultra-talented young players. While the rest of his teammates made names for themselves as basketball stars from this school, Kuroko remained invisible. He became somewhat of a myth, Teikō’s “phantom sixth man”. Kuroko was very much present on the court, and he was a silent but strong player.
Each member of the Teikō Junior High team had a special skill, like Kise and his copycat techniques or Midorima with his ridiculous shooting range. Kuroko possessed exceptional passing skills, becoming the team’s secret weapon. He was fast, slick and most importantly, invisible. This gave Teikō an edge when they played, for opponents would not expect a player with such diminished presence to be such a nuisance on the court.
Akashi’s Reign Over Rakuzan
Seijuro Akashi was Teikō’s captain. He was the one who saw Kuroko’s potential among the first string team, and he was right. Akashi nudged him in the right direction to be the star he eventually became. Raised in a home by a strict father who valued over-achieving, Akashi had a winner’s attitude drilled in him, even if it was unhealthily so. He carried this attitude into Teikō Junior High and Rakuzan High, where he was also the captain of their basketball team.Akashi’s dual personalitywas prevalent at Teikō and Rakuzan, which spawned a very cold and terrifying leadership style.
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Obsessed with victory, Akashi’s methods ensured that Rakuzan never lost a game. Not to mention that three of theUncrowned Kingsare on this team. With a strong team and determined leader, Rakuzan were the school to beat in basketball. In the final season ofKuroko’s Basketball, we saw Rakuzan reveal surprise upon surprise in the final match against Seirin High. The most surprising of all, was a player named Chihiro Mayuzumi, a player with the looks and skills of Tetsuya Kuroko.
Introducing Chihiro Mayuzumi
Mayuzumi is Rakuzan’s power forward in their starting line-up. He resembles an older Kuroko, with his pale hair, blank expressionless face and low-and-slow voice. Even the spectators likeAominenotice something eerily familiar about this player.
Identically to Kuroko, Mayzumi also has an invisible presence on the court. Even his own teammates have a hard time recalling his playing style. Previously, he contemplated quitting the basketball team because of the gruelling practices.Akashiconvinced him to stay, as he saw a special talent in him. Eventually, Mayuzumi stayed and became Rakuzan’s “phantom”. Sound familiar?
Mayuzumi vs Kuroko
Both Mayuzumi and Kuroko share the same exterior and misdirection abilities, but those are the only similarities. Underneath, they are polar opposites.
Kuroko stands forteamwork and forming bonds with his fellow teammates, this is the reason he strongly disapproved of the Generation of Miracles methods and attitudes towards victory. He came from a team that was extremely talented, but saw no value in working together. Kuroko is calm and cool in a game, and understands that the path to victory is playing alongside your peers. This attitude served Seirin well, they did make the finals of the Winter Cup, after all.
Mayuzumi, on the other hand, resembles what Kuroko would have turned out to be if he bent to the Generation of Miracles' ways. He is selfish, proud and has anger tendencies. To him, his playing style is only to benefit himself and not the good of the team.He possesses little to no team spirit, and plays with very little heart. Winning is all that matters, on his terms.
What makes Mayuzumi so terrifying is that he too can usemisdirection, just like Kuroko. Both of them have small presences on the court and misdirection skills. Kuroko is essentially facing himself when Mayuzumi is in play. According to Akashi, Mayuzumi is more powerful than Kuroko becase he is a more well rounded player. Mayuzumi has strong foundational skills in basketball, whereas Kuroko excels in his misdirection variations only. However, Mayuzumi can’t use more powerful forms of misdirection like Kuroko can, such as Vanishing Drive or Misdirection Overflow).
Ultimately in a very tense match, Kuroko developed a strategy to beat a player with his own invisiblity. He let him stand out more and more by scoring point after point. Once he became “visible”, Kuroko used his own invisibility to pull the rug out from under him. With the help of the Seirin team, a concept foreign to Akashi and Mayuzumi, Kuroko managed to regain his power on the court and tip the scales in Seirin’s favor.
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