Hump Day Husbandos: Taiga Kagami (Kuroko’s Basketball)

It is time for another Hump Day Husbando and I am feeling mostly sentimental with it this time around. Despite having covered the series once before, I am once again returning to Kuroko’s Basketball since it quite simply serves up a high-quality buffet of potential husbandos for life, including today’s subject Taiga Kagami.

We have already covered the most obvious candidate – Aomine – but leaving it at just him is an injustice to the rest of the cast. Especially when today’s husbando is such a central character.

Who is Kagami?

Kagami is the deuteragonist of Kuroko’s Basketball – effectively regarded and mentioned as the light to Kuroko’s shadow in the series itself. This is because Kuroko is a more supportive player in the Seirin High basketball team, who was previously established and well-known (but out of sight) as the Phantom Sixth Player of the Generation of Miracles at Teikō Junior High.

That team would eventually dissolve due to the majority of them growing far too big for their boots with their overwhelming strength as a collective. They had never tasted defeat, and grew bored of the sport they were once both passionate and gifted in. And so Kuroko enrols into Seirin High soon thereafter with one goal in mind: to make his ex-teammates see his play style’s worth — by being the one to defeat them himself.

But not as a one man army. Kuroko fully knows that he is unable to do this alone and strikes an everlasting friendship with Kagami to work together towards their shared goal, since Kagami’s personal aspirations line up with Kuroko’s: he wants to be part of the best basketball team in Japan. And if anyone can achieve it, he can; his untapped potential hints at him being just as gifted as Kuroko, making him a perfect rival for their sworn enemies.

Why we love him

The pair are meant to contrast one another in every single way. As the shadow to Kagami’s light, Kuroko propels Kagami to even greater heights with his supportive playstyle. But the pair’s extreme contrasts and clashes can be seen even outside of this set-up.

Their personalities could not be any further different, and we can even see this through their specific designs’ colour schemes. Kagami tends to always steal the show, acting completely as Kuroko’s foil; while Kuroko is a character who is meant to have literally no presence, Kagami towers over and emits an imposing aura while doing nothing at all.

Kagami is a brash loudmouth. He is yet another fiery redhead (surprise, surprise) who leans heavily into the knucklehead archetype. This is easily noticeable with others often deeming him as a moron, especially when it comes to academics which he fails at spectacularly. On the flip side, he is Seirin’s hero as the ace of the school team, the individual who usually always seizes their victory. He also happens to live alone since his only parent works overseas, making Kagami surprisingly self-sufficient due to his living arrangements. He even teaches Riko how to cook.

The many shocking revelations to his character are always a joy to learn. They’ll tend to blindside you, since his outward appearance could not be any more deceiving compared to his actual nature. His fear of ghosts is the cherry on top – what a big lug.

Why you will love him

If you ask me, Kagami is the most exciting character to watch and see grow across the series, especially since he is “The Miracle who did not become one of the Miracles”. He sees some of the most notable character development, considering just how boisterous and self-centred he is at the beginning of his journey.

There is a nice amount of natural development to his character from this starting point, since he learns to rein in his short temper and simple-mindedness. For example, he eventually appreciates the value of taking on board his team’s input; he listens in for more tactical plays during matches that require the team to use their wits rather than going in headstrong.

Kagami also happens to be at the core of some of the most important and layered relationships throughout the entire show. His match up with Kuroko effectively makes him both a replacement for and a rival to Aomine, and he also enjoys a brotherly bond with Himuro. Each encounter and development of all of these relationships further adds that much more value to each match and the subsequent emotions after every single victory and defeat.

On a final note, Kagami is also one of the few anime characters who can deliver sublime one liners that well and truly deserve to go down in anime history. ‘This is Japanese lunchtime rush’ has no right being as iconic as it is.

You should really enjoy the series if you have not already done so. You can check out the anime on Crunchyroll.

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