Kise vs Haizaki : Kuroko No Basket (SPOILER ALERT)

In my opinion this was one of the most interesting matchups in Kuroko No Basket. Kise Ryouta was the ace of the Kaijo team, while Haizaki Shogo was the best player on the Fukuda team. Both the players knew each other in the past and had beef amongst each other.

Kise and Haizaki were players with a similar playing style. Both of them could copy some other player’s technique after watching it. The difference however was that after Haizaki would learn and perform the technique, the original player whose technique had been copied and used would not be able to perform his own technique after watching Haizaki perform it, while one could still perform one’s technique after Kise would copy it.

Haizaki and Kise both went to the same middle school ie Teiko middle school. Haizaki was originally among the starting 5 of Teiko basketball team. After Kise arrived, his potential was recognized and he was being considered for the team’s starting 5. Kise and Haizaki play a match initially which Haizaki ends up winning. Kise’s girlfriend then enters the scene and finds out that Kise lost to Haizaki. Haizaki is seen flirting with Kise’s girlfriend and proceeds to steal her from Kise. So, their rivalry goes way back in the past.

Akashi notes Kise’s talent and decides to include him in the team’s starting 5 instead of Haizaki. He tells Haizaki to leave the team saying that Kise had far more potential than Haizaki and sooner or later Kise would beat Haizaki in a matchup and when that would happen Haizaki would leave himself as he was full of pride. This was pretty much the story in the past.

Fukuda and Kaijo high school teams play against each other in the quarter finals. Haizaki is seen as a bully who has a very dominating presence. He even slapped his senior on the basketball team which makes us hate him even more. The matchup starts and Fukuda can be seen leading. At first, it seems that Fukuda might win the match. Kise is also dealing with injuries and is not really effective in the beginning. The score at one point of time in the middle of the game is 53-70 with Kise’s team Kaijo loosing the game by a large margin. At that moment, Kise seems to be dealing with the leg injury. Haizaki can be seen as taunting him reminding Kise that he stole his girlfriend and dumped her as soon as he was done with her.

Kuroko who is watching the game sitting in the audience stands up to cheer for Kise saying “I believe in you, Kise”. Kise after hearing that gets up and is filled with confidence to win the game.

Kise speaks to Haizaki and says

“Shogo kun, I will tell you this before I win. You have totally got things wrong, like about that girl. She just plastered herself all over me and started calling me my girlfriend. To be honest, I was fed up with her. She was so full of pride, and all she could do was brag about the status of dating a model. Just because you managed to peel off one girl who flocked on the basis of looks, don’t get carried away.

To this Haizaki replies “You are nothing but a scrap with nothing good left Ryouta”. Kise smiles and answers back “Who is?” and proceeds to attempt a 3 pointer from way behind. He shoots the 3 pointer which appears to be a copy of Midorima’s high projectile 3 pointer.

Haizaki watches the shot go in and is shocked with disbelief. It was at this moment that Haizaki realises that he cannot match against Kise as Kise was even skilled enough to copy moves of the generation of miracle players which Haizaki could not. Kise then proceeds to cover the gap and eventually goes on to win the match.

So, overall this segment was extremely interesting and tells us a lot about Kise’s character. There are a lot of things one can learn from Kise:

Remain calm in all situations

Kise does not really get bothered with the fact that Haizaki stole his girlfriend. He maintains his composure knowing that things will be alright. This is a result of his confidence in himself.

Increase your potential and expand your skills

Kise is able to copy trademark moves of the members of the generation of miracles like the blocks of Murasakibara, 3 point shots of Midorima, etc. This shows that Kise is willing to learn new things and increase his expertise. This is an important quality which one must have if one wants to grow as an individual.

Have confidence in oneself

Kise seems to have high self esteem. He does not loose his mind when Haizaki taunts him and even when his team is loosing the game. His response to Haizaki is cool even at a situation when everything seems to be going against him.

Remain focused on the goal and do not loose hope

Kise does not give up even when things seem to be going out of control.His team is loosing by 17 points at one point of time. Despite having a large deficit, Kise is determined to win against Haizaki and does not let the adversity of the situation break him down. He is focused on his aim to win the game.

Be strategic in your approach to things

For everything in life, we need to devise strategies. Kise knew the importance of planning things and had carefully devised his strategies. He had plans to tackle the worst of the situation. His team comes out victorious even after being down by a large deficit. Kise had saved his best moves knowing that he had a limited amount of time to play them. He carefully executes his plan and is able to win the match for his team.

So, these are certain things that I personally find fascinating about Kise Ryouta which we can apply in our life as well.