| “ | The only one who can beat me, is me. | ” |
—Daiki Aomine | ||
Daiki Aomine (青峰 大輝 Aomine Daiki) was the ace player of the renowned Generation of Miracles and was the former partner/light of Kuroko in Teikō. He currently plays as the ace of Tōō Academy. He and Kagami are sworn rivals after their clashes in the Interhigh preliminaries and in the Winter Cup. He was the main antagonist until the first round of the Winter Cup.
Appearance
Aomine's brown skin is darker than most of the other characters. He has navy blue hair that is quite short. His hair is parted on his right side. He often has a frown on his face, with his dark blue eyes slightly squinted. Aomine is very tall and muscular.
He wears the black and red Tōō High jersey with the number 5. His casual summer clothes consist of a loose, white tank top and tan cargo pants. In the winter, Aomine is often seen with a light woolen shirt, a black hoodie and a dark bodywarmer.[1]
Personality
Before he gained immeasurable strength, Aomine was out-going and even friendly. He often fooled around with Kuroko and Kise. Momoi stated that the old Aomine was very similar to Kagami; he loved playing basketball and was very good at it too. However, he kept training and getting stronger, to the point that he often completely crushed his opponents' will to play basketball. He was initially sad about this, and searched for his equal on the court, but he never found one.[2] Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he is simply the strongest and that "The only one who can beat me, is me". He also cast his feelings towards his opponents aside and now views them as weak and wants to crush them. He often seeks to humiliate them in the worst kind of fashion. He has also become very lazy, only coming to training when he wants to, and slacking off even during matches, sometimes abusing his teammates in the process.
A big fan of Japanese idols
Aomine also has a short temper and some kind of admiration towards Kuroko even after his "change", as he threatened a Tōō player with physical violence when he badmouthed Kuroko. Also, when Haizaki stole food from Kuroko, Aomine told him, irritated, to get his own.[3] He is also a big fan of Japanese idols. He appears to be interested in that field of entertainment and knows about many idols. He has also said he likes models with big boobs.[4]
Aomine is shown to be very protective of his former teammates in Teikō Junior High, something his current teammates in Tōō Academy refer to as Aomine's "soft side". This was first shown when Aomine attacked one of his teammates in Tōō after he badmouthed Kuroko's style of play. After Kise's match against Shōgo Haizaki ended, Aomine confronted Haizaki in order to make sure he does not attack Kise later on or get in the way of Kise's and Kuroko's match at the Winter Cup.
History
Young Aomine
Aomine began playing street basketball before recieving any type of training. It was seen that he often played with Momoi, revealing how they were childhood friends. As he grew up, he began to play against streetballers. This was the developement of his ever-changing flexible streetball.[5]
Aomine and Kuroko at Teikō
Aomine attended Junior High school in Teikō for three years. He joined the basketball club as a first-year and was put into the first-string team immediately. One day, when Aomine stayed behind to practice, he was forced to go to another gym because the regular gym was full of other players. He was warned by Momoi (who was the team's manager at the time) that the gym was haunted by a ghost, but Aomine did not believe her, making fun of her for it. He entered and heard basketball sounds, but couldn't see anyone playing, leading him to the conclusion that perhaps there really was a ghost. Kuroko then introduced himself, scaring Aomine. They talk for a while and Aomine compliments Kuroko that staying so late for practice proves his love for basketball. Kuroko and Aomine start practicing together and become good friends. Aomine also persuaded Kuroko to keep playing basketball when he wanted to quit, saying that his determination to practice hard even though he isn't the best has also motivated Aomine himself.[6]
When Kuroko eventually joined the regulars of Teikō, Aomine and Kuroko were perfectly adaptable. Kuroko's misdirection and invisible passes connected with Aomine's strength and the two brought out the best in each other. This was the start of the first "light and shadow" relationship.[7]
Aomine awakened
In his second year in Junior High school, Aomine inspired Kise to play basketball and he became his training partner. Kise was still a complete rookie, apart from his copying ability, and Aomine was obviously stronger than him, but Aomine kept training with Kise, just because he loves basketball.[8] He taught Kise a lot and became his mentor/idol. During that time, Aomine also became the ace of the team.
Aomine drifts away from Kuroko
None of the members of the Generation of Miracles started out as strong as they are now, but Aomine was the first to "bloom", as Kuroko explained. He suddenly became a completely different, amazingly strong player. He took Teikō's victories to a whole other level, crushing their opponents with three to five times the points, once even reaching 200 points. Aomine's share in the points was overwhelming, and he stood out above the rest too much and began to skip practice more often. When Kuroko confronted him about that, he told him that the game has become boring for him. Midorima clarified that Aomine needed a strong rival, but never found one. Aomine also became too strong in comparison to his teammates, too strong for his own good. In games, Aomine began to do just the minimum to ensure his team's victory.[9] Kuroko tried to convince him otherwise and said that he would surely meet his rival one day, and Aomine believed that for a while, starting to try harder again. However, he grew even more powerful, and seeing his mentally crushed opponents, changed his mind. He told Kuroko that he respects his thoughts, but that his rival would never come. Aomine came to think that no one could match him. This is when his present arrogance originated.
Story
Interhigh preliminaries
Aomine's team, Tōō Academy won the entire preliminaries to the finals without any trouble.
Finals
The third member of the Generation of Miracles makes his debut
During the finals in Block A in the Interhigh preliminaries, Seirin vs Shūtoku, Aomine is seen for the first time. Momoi runs into him at the gym, where he is slacking off while the rest are having the preliminaries finals. Momoi informs him about the match between Midorima and Kuroko, with Momoi predictably betting on Kuroko. Aomine hesitates but says that it could be either of them.[10]
After the match, Momoi calls Midorima on her cell phone, which Aomine takes away from her. Midorima warns him to be wary of Seirin. Aomine responds that that's ridiculous and concludes that the only one who can beat him is himself.[11]
Final league
"Your light is dim"
After asking Momoi where Kagami is, Aomine finds him practicing at a street ball court. Aomine challenges Kagami and Kagami rudely asks him who he is. Aomine gives him his name and Kagami realizes that he's one of the Generation of Miracles. Aomine swats away Kagami's further questions and taunts him to take him on, in order to entertain him for a bit. Aomine belittles Kagami, and finally, Kagami takes him on, Aomine's arrogance angering him. Aomine overpowers Kagami and tells him his partnership with Kuroko will fail because Kagami's "light is too dim", before dashing past him and finishing the one-on-one.[12] He meets up with Momoi afterwards, and tells her that Kagami is disappointing.
Aomine kicks Wakamatsu
The team is on lunch break when Aomine returns to the gym. He takes pieces of Sakurai's bento without asking and pulls a lame excuse when he is asked where he was. He gets irritated when a teammate complains about his absence and quickly departs after picking up his idol magazine. Suddenly, Wakamatsu stops him and grabs him by his collar in anger and shouts that he should go to practice. Aomine says that he's not very energetic and that he'll therefore let Wakamatsu off the hook this time, though he does violently kick him in the stomach shortly after. Aomine then picks up a stray basketball and mocks practice, saying that he doesn't need it as long as he performs well in matches. He dunks with ferocious power, breaking the basket. He leaves after stating that they can bug him about practice when they're better than him.[13] Imayoshi later comments than Aomine is forgiven for these acts because he is simply a sport-changing player.
A few days after, the Interhigh preliminaries final league's first day has arrived. The first match is Seirin vs Tōō, and both teams arrived at the gym, with only Aomine missing. Momoi calls him on his cell phone and Aomine is revealed to still be at school, having overslept. Imayoshi then talks to Aomine, telling him to get there as fast as possible. Aomine cuts him off by saying that Seirin's not that big a deal and that it'll be fine.[14]
Aomine shows up to the game moments before the first half ends. He is forced by his coach and teammates to play. As he steps on the court, the players of Seirin recognize his tremendous presence. As the last minute of the second quarter starts, Aomine receives the ball immediately. He breaks past Kagami with ease but Hyuga is there. Aomine spins past him; however, in that moment Kagami catches up to him and blocks him. Aomine is surprised and stumbles, but he reacts quickly enough to block Kagami's fast break dunk. The half ends with him saying that Seirin is actually not that bad, and the crowd is overwhelmed by the confidence he shows while saying this.
Return of Kiyoshi
Summer Training Camp
Interhigh
Kaijō High vs Tōō Academy commences
When Kaijō faced Tōō, Aomine initially overwhelmed Kise as he couldn't overcome his admiration for Aomine, but when Kise began utilising his copy-cat to mimic Aomine's style he was pushed on the back foot. He eventually managed to stop Kise's last attempt as he passed to Kasamatsu. After the match which was won by Tōō, Imayoshi revealed that Aomine had an even higher level. It is noted by Imayoshi that it looked as though he was subconsciously not playing at his peak against Kise because of the "soft spot" he had left in his personality.
Winter Cup preliminaries
Final league
Winter Training Camp
Winter Cup
Aomine reunites with his former teammates
Aomine appears during the Winter Cup when Akashi has summoned the Generation to meet him. He is seen spinning a basketball on his fingers when Kuroko arrives at the scene.[15] Noticing that Kuroko has brought Furihata with him, he makes fun of Kuroko for it. Murasakibara retorts that Aomine always has Satsuki around, to which Aomine tells him to shut up. Kuroko greets them all and Aomine orders Kise to put his cellphone away because the constant ringing irritates him. Kise tells him he keeps getting messages from his fan girls and Aomine tells him to go die. Akashi arrives and greets them. After threatening Kagami with Midorima's scissors, he turns to leave, angering Aomine, who then asks Akashi what the point in gathering them was if they did not confer about anything.[16] Akashi replies that he just wanted to check that they didn't forget their oath, which they apparently did not.
Round 1
Aomine is later seen walking with Tōō Academy onto the Winter Cup court, to prepare for their match against Seirin High, where he is announced as the "Genius scorer of the Generation of Miracles".[17] Both teams enter the court and Kagami approaches Aomine. Aomine notices that Kagami had improved. Kagami admits that he has been practicing, and then Aomine runs into Kuroko. Kuroko declares that Seirin will not lose a second time and Aomine agrees to settle it this time for sure. Seirin and Tōō line up and wish each other a clean match.
Kuroko's pass flies past Aomine
The match starts and Seirin gains possession of the ball. They drive it up court but Tōō's pressure defense stops them. Sakurai steals the ball, dribbles to the other side of the court and pulls up for a three-pointer. But instead of shooting, he passes the ball in front of the basket and Aomine dunks a fierce alley-oop. Meanwhile, Kagami has just arrived and Aomine taunts him. When Kuroko prepares for his Ignite Pass Kai, Aomine recognizes his normal Ignite Pass, but Kuroko says it's a new form of that pass.[18] Kuroko doesn't use his misdirection, which surprises Aomine. He reaches out his hand, preparing to catch the pass, but Kuroko's Ignite Pass Kai repels Aomine's hand. It flies past Aomine, reaching Kiyoshi, and Kagami scores an alley oop. He says to Kuroko that it seems that he got a bit more interesting. Kuroko replies that he had not, it would be disappointing.
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Kagami vs Aomine
The match goes on and Tōō overwhelms Seirin. The ball ends up with Kagami and he decides to go up against Aomine. Kagami runs a simulation of their battle in his head with a high-level tactical battle and eventually passes to Izuki, concluding that he would lose if he went against Aomine now. When the ball goes out of bounds, Aomine laughs and understands that Kagami made the right decision and that the old him would have plunged right in.[19] He understands that Kagami has evolved drastically and that his tactical battle was just the tip of the iceberg.
Aomine stops Kuroko's Vanishing Drive
The first quarter ends in a tie with Hyūga and Sakurai's shoot-out. During the pause, Momoi reveals to her team the secret to the Vanishing Drive. They agree that they have to keep Kagami and Kuroko apart, but Aomine declines. He says that they should just let Kuroko do the Vanishing Drive, that Aomine will definitely stop him. Aomine sneers, saying he is better than Kuroko. Kuroko immediately faces off against Aomine when the match starts again and Aomine says to Kuroko that they really do have a great mutual understanding of basketball. Kuroko agrees and he and Kagami proceed to do the Vanishing Drive. It seems for an instant that Kuroko broke through, but Aomine turns and stops Kuroko.[20] He was closing his eyes, only relying on his sense of basketball and Kuroko's breath to follow him. He says that their mutual sense of basketball is too bad and he steals Kuroko's ball. He drives to the basket and dunks the ball. He then turns to Kuroko and threatens him that he can't beat him and that his effort was futile.
Aomine stops Kuroko's special move
Kuroko gets the ball on the offense and pulls up for an Ignite Pass Kai, in an act of despair. He thrusts the ball with all his might, but the ball gets stopped by Aomine. He is standing in the middle of the court and says to Kuroko that the same move won't work on him a second time. He continues by saying that his effort to defeat him was futile and that he should give up. He passes Izuki and encounters Kagami by the basket. Aomine does his formless shot, with his body almost parallel to the floor, throws the ball besides Kagami, it grazes the top of the board and falls into the ring.[21] Seirin then calls for a time-out.
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Kagami blocks Aomine's Formless shot
After the time-out, Aomine is marking Kagami but when he gets the ball, Kagami passes it to his teammate rather than going into a one-on-one battle with Aomine. After Seirin's attack, Aomine tells Kagami that he looked ready to go after the time-out but instead decided not to. Kagami tells him that Kiyoshi was just in a good position and that it was a better choice. During Too's counterattack, Aomine has the ball and both Murasakibara and Midorima noticed a change of pace in Aomine's play. Kagami goes to block Aomine but he evades and prepares to shoot when Kagami jumps and blocks his Formless Shot.[22] Aomine was surprised and tells Kagami that he underestimated him and that he might be able to enjoy himself and play a little harder this time.
Kagami blocks Aomine again
Aomine has the ball and uses his speed and agility to evade Kagami who is blocking him. He shoots his formless shot which everyone suspects is an alley-loop with Wakamatsu, however, Aomine tells then not to jump to conclusion an instead runs up to the hoop and scores the basket himself.[23] Aomine then faces KAgami who has the ball. Koganei came from behind to use a screen which failed, but Kagami still manages to use his teammates presence and scores a basket. The Seirin players, Too players and the familiar faces in the crowd note what intense battle it is between Aomine and Kagami, seeing how evenly matched they are. On the court, Aomine shoots his formless shot again but is stopped by Kagami, much to everyones surprise.[24] Kagami tells Aomine that he doesn't mind entertaining him, if he still plans to take it easy.
Aomine is pressured by Kagami who is managing to keep up with him. Kagami attempts to shoot a formless shot but is intercepted by Aomine and misses.[25] With this the 1st quarter ends and the break begins with a score of 46 - 48 for Too. Aomine separates from his team and goes outside of the stadium. His teammates note that Aomine has finally found an opponent he can play his hardest against and that he is beside himself with joy.[26] Imayoshi also tells the rest that Aomine still didn't play at his fullest yet.
Kagami passes Aomine with Misdirection Overflow and scores
The game resumes with Kuroko back on the court as Too has the ball. Imayoshi passes to Aomine who passes Kagami easily with his speed. Kagami was taken aback as he thought that Aomine was going all out during the 1st quarter and that he seems stronger now. Aomine advances to the hoop but doesn't notice Kuroko and gains one foul.[27] Kuroko tells Aomine that if he can predict his movements then so can be said for the opposite. Kuroko tells him again that they really do get along when it comes to basketball. Seirin manages to catch up to Too in points due to Kuroko's Misdirection Overflow. Aomine is startled when he came to mark Kagami who disappeared in front of him, having the same effect as the Vanishing Drive, Kagami disappears and scores the basket.[28] The 3rd quarter ends with Imayoshi's shot.
The Kuroko-Kagami-Kiyoshi triple team
Both team's players go back on the court but Aomine wasn't playing attention. Momoi calls out to him and asks him if he was listening to the team plan which Aomine denies.[29] He leaves the bench as Momoi stood still in surprisement. She notes that Aomine is back to his former self, even if a little. She then remembers their time back in Teikō and how Aomine never payed attention when there was a worthy opponent. Both Kuroko and Momoi see Aomine smile.[30]
Kuroko misdirects Aomine's gaze
Both teams score and don't give in. Aomine gets the ball during Too's counterattack when Kiyoshi comes to block him. He jumps and realises this is a fake when Aomine jumps as well making Kiyoshi faul him and scores the basket.[31] Later, Aomine comes face to face with Kuroko, Kagami and Kiyoshi who triple team him. Aomine passes Kagami but is then blocked by Kiyoshi to shoot. Aomine then uses his formless shot but misses due to Kuroko misdirecting his gaze towards him. Everyone was surprised Aomine missed but soon realised it was due to Kuroko.[32] Kuroko tells Aomine that this technique was created to stop him.
Aomine's true power unleashed
Sakurai fouls Hyūga who gains a free-throw. Aomine approaches Sakurai who apologises but Aomine tells him to switch to rebound after this. Aomine concentrates as Hyūga makes his free-throw. He recollects on when he started to think basketball is boring and on the time he started skipping practices. Aomine smiles and thanks Kuroko.[33] After the free-throw, Imayoshi passes the ball to Aomine who passes Kagami in an instant and scores. Everyone was surprised including the familiar faces in the crowd who noticed that Aomine has entered the Zone.[34]
Aomine shoots his formless shot while in the Zone
Seirin has the ball but it gets stolen by Aomine during a pass between Izuki and Hyūga. Aomine evades the other Seirin players who try to block him and scored the basket. Aomine scores again using his formless shot. Aomine has scores constructive points which resulted in the score of 85 - 92 for Too. During the time-out Kagami asks his teammates to let him guard Aomine by himself. Seirin agrees and Kagami goes to guard Aomine facing him in a one-on-one battle.[35] Aomine passes Kagami easily and scores the basket. During Seirin's counterattack, Kuroko saves the ball from going out of bounds, allowing Seirin to score. He tells Aomine that everyone believes in the ace who carries the team's hopes. Aomine faces Kagami again passing him, however, Kagami driven by his desire to win for his teammates enters the Zone as well and steals the ball from Aomine.[36] Aomine tells Kagami that he takes back what he said before and tells him that he's the best.
Aomine and Kagami battle in the Zone
Aomine and Kagami engage in a one-on-one battle while in the Zone. Both players score constructive points during their counterattacks. Their teammates are surprised and notice the intense and monstrous play between the two while they are in the Zone. Both teams rely on their aces to score the baskets. On the bench, Momoi notices that Aomine has returned to his former self and jet how much fun he is having now that he has found a worthy opponent to go all out against. On the court, Aomine prepares to shoot when he remembers Kuroko's words of aces carrying the team's wishes. Aomine shoots but is blocked by Kagami and falls down.[37] Both teams continue, head to head not giving in.
Kagami makes the last basket
There are only 5 seconds left and the current score is 99 - 100, with Too still in the lead. kiyoshi receives a free-throw due to a foul made by Wakamatsu, he misses but Kagami appears under the hoop to save the ball. Kagami is blocked by Aomine surely resulting in Too's victory.[38] Imyoshi was surprised when Kuroko appeared to catch the ball. Believing the Kuroko was trusting Aomine more than Kagami, but Kuroko denies saying he trusted both of them, but he trusts only one to score the basket and that is Kagami. Kagami receives Kuroko's pass and dunks the ball scoring for Seirin.[39] The buzzer beater is rang with the Seirin as the victors.
Aomine after he loses to Seirin
Aomine lost for the first time. He approaches Kuroko who was being supported by Kagami to stand up. He tells him that maybe this was for the best and that the little difference of not giving up resulted in him losing. Kagami tells Aomine that it's not the end of the world and tells him that he will face him anytime.[40] Aomine then faces Kuroko and tells him that it's his victory. Kuroko asks Aomine to fist bump because he didn't return it during their time in Teikō. Aomine agrees but tells him that this will be the last time. Aomine and Kuroko reconcile as they bump fists.[41]
After the match, Aomine separates from his teammates. Momoi searches for him and finds him outside the stadium. Aomine asks Momoi if she has time to go shopping with him for shoes for practice, to which Momoi agrees.[42]
Round 2
Aomine conveys his basketball passion to Kuroko
After their match in the first round of the Winter Cup, Kuroko calls Aomine out again the night after the match. Aomine asks why he called all of a sudden, but Kuroko asks if Momoi isn't with him. Aomine replies that he ditched her. Kuroko then cuts to the chase and asks Aomine head-on to teach him how to shoot. They move to a nearby basketball court and Kuroko shows Aomine his shot and asks if it's any good. Aomine lashes out that he has no clue and gets mad about Kuroko just dragging him in. He sits down and says that he hasn't been able to sleep since that match. He explains that the taste of defeat is bitter, but that he is still shaking from excitement. He says that his passion has somehow revived. He agrees to helping Kuroko out.[43]
Quarter-finals
Aomine and Momoi spectate Yōsen vs Seirin
Some time before the quarter-finals of the Winter Cup, Yōsen vs Seirin, Aomine completes his training with Kuroko. Kuroko has then scored 7 out of 10 shots, which Aomine finds sufficient. Momoi suddenly clings to Kuroko and is surprised about how fast he learned to shoot. Aomine says that he himself didn't do much and explains how the side-effect of his passing speciality refrained him for shooting properly. He adds that by negating that side-effect, he'd be able to shoot just fine. He thinks by himself how it's odd that Akashi, who taught Kuroko his playing style, didn't notice this flaw. He is suspicious of Akashi. Kuroko then sincerely thanks Aomine, but Aomine says that it's not needed, that he just couldn't stand seeing Kuroko suck so much. He then warns him about Murasakibara, he hesitates to tell Kuroko that it's really him who's grateful. He eventually doesn't say that and takes off, but not without saying that they next time they will meet, it will be as enemies.[44]
Semi-finals
Aomine greets Kagami
After the quarter-finals, Kagami's shoes are totally wrecked. Therefore, Kuroko calls Momoi for help and the three meet up at a close basketball court. However, Kagami is surprised to see that Aomine came along as well and asks why he's even here. Aomine answers with irritation. Momoi then says that since Aomine and Kagami have the same shoe size, Aomine said that he'll give Kagami a pair. Aomine denies, but after Kagami sees the shoes in question, Aomine decides that he'll get the shoes if Kagami is able to defeat Aomine in a one-on-one. He adds that he'll give him a small lecture while they're playing... In the end, Kagami loses, but Aomine decides to give him the shoes anyway. He says that he doesn't want to see a crappy match just because Kagami doesn't have proper shoes. Kagami reluctantly accepts.[45]
Aomine and Momoi are absent from the first semi-finals, Rakuzan vs Shūtoku and a large part of the second, Kaijō vs Seirin. The pair is seen in a café, when Aomine asks Momoi if she believes in fate. Momoi is startled and Aomine explains that it's hardly a coincidence that something like the "Generation of Miracles" happened and that they are now facing each other as enemies in a tournament like the Winter Cup and what's more, that Kagami has appeared. He calls Kagami "the miracles who did not become one of the miracles" and that he also partnered up with his fated shadow, Kuroko...[46] At the same time, Kagami manages to overcome Kise in a one-on-one in the actual match.
Aomine and Momoi go to watch the semi-finals
Aomine and Momoi later do enter the gym to watch the last 5 minutes of the match. Aomine is shoved in by Momoi and he says to her that they've come at the right time, as both Kuroko and Kise are about to enter the field for the last showdown. He is then occasionally seen shocked by Kise's vast improvement or commenting on certain plays.[47]
Finals
As with the previous matches, Aomine attends the Winter Cup games and unlike before, he's now in the company of his teammates. When they run into the Yōsen team, Aomine greets Murasakibara for the first time since the opening ceremony. Murasakibara casually asks him who he thinks will win this match and Aomine replies that the third place match is basically set already and that he has no clue about the finals.[48]
Aomine cheers on for Seirin
During the finals match, Aomine observed Kagami's plays and commented on him entering the Zone right from the start. Aomine explains the concept of the Zone to his teammates for better understanding as he continues to watch the outcome of the match. When Seirin lose their spirits, Aomine joins Ogiwara in calling out to Kuroko and Kagami to cheer them on.[49] When he did, Seirin realised the spirits of their opponents which they are carrying.
When Kagami finally opened Zone's second door, Aomine cries in realisation that there is no 'gatekeeper' in front of the gate, but finds out that it was Kuroko all along.[50] Aomine couldn't open the gate as he has thrown everything a long time ago, the concept of teamwork and playing with your team.
The photo in Kuroko's locker
Seirin wins the finals and are announced as the winners of this year's Winter Cup. Aomine leaves with his teammates, determined to train for future tournaments. A few weeks later, Kuroko receives a photo from Momoi which was taken on the day of Kuroko's birthday. The photo shows Aomine with his Teikō teammates posing for a photo after playing street basketball. The photo shows that Aomine along with the rest have renewed their friendship as they play basketball together again.[51]
EXTRA GAME
He watched the Exhibition match of Team Jabberwock vs Team Strky on TV with his teammates. They see Imayoshi with a shorter hair as one of the participants. With the game totally one-sided and totally humiliating, Wakamatsu comments that it's 'way too much'. Aomine answers (as a street ball player himself) that it's common that you provoke and tease your opponent and in fact, with high technique, you look even cooler when you score. However, he notes that they aren't just doing that and feels that they are completely looking down on them, which is also felt by the audience. He was totally silent upon seeing the total humiliation.
He was called by Kagetora Aida along with other Generation of Miracles, Kuroko and Kagami to play for "The Dream Team". Upon meeting, he notes that the latter surely picked up a fight. Then, a rivalry seem to start between him and Midorima, which Akashi insists that they forget. When Kuroko and Kagami arrive, they proceed to start things up.
Skill
| Physical Ability | 10/10 | 
| |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technique | 10/10 | ||
| Stamina | 8/10 | ||
| Mental Strength | 9/10 | ||
| Special Ability | 10/10 | ||
Aomine's speed and ball handling
Aomine blocks Kagami from dunking
As the former ace of the Generation of Miracles, he was regarded as "a monster" in basketball, as he was leagues ahead of anyone that came second to him, even among the talents of the Generation of Miracles. His abilities can be described as extremely fast, extremely strong and extremely skillful. It is shown that Aomine can essentially score the basketball from any position on the court. He is very fast, agile, and powerful which enables him to get past even the strongest of defensive minded players. He accomplishes this by performing insane crossovers, changing his speed and direction of movement at an absurd rate, leaving his opponent behind. On top of that he is also very strong as he can dunk against other centers with relative ease also allowing him to rebound nearly every missed shot. Overall, these well rounded and polished skills make him an amazing player who is often described as "a monster".
As explained by Midorima, Aomine learned to play basketball on the streets without lessons, so while not possessing the basic movements of basketball's play, it is said that Aomine never has a non-changing movement, be it passing, dribbling or shooting. His play is described as limitless.[52] It's extremely difficult to guard him as only a hand-full of players could keep up with him. Kuroko and Kise are shown to capability of stopping Aomine predicting his movements based off their past experiences as teammates.
His other ability, is the control of his animal instinct. This enables him to play purely on feeling and greatly enhance his five senses, making his reflexes and speed top notch. Since Aomine stopped playing seriously his instincts became dull. However it came back slowly during his battle with Kagami. [53]
Agility
Aomine's agility
Aomine is not just extremely fast but his acceleration and deceleration is extremely fast too. As seen in the match against Seirin High he broke free from Kagami with his speed than stopped in front of the defense and shot with a fadeaway in an instant.
As stated by Midorima, Aomine transcends even the rest of the Generation of Miracles when it comes to agility.[54]
Flexible streetball
Aomine's streetball
Aomine has the ability to an array of different movements based on his street ball background. He uses many feints, unnecessary movements and doesn't play a standard form of basketball.[55] With this style of play, he can score many creative baskets from the oddest of places on the court, like from behind the backboard among other places.[56] Putting this all together, Aomine is very unpredictable and can easily crossover and get past Kagami. Kagami compares his style of play to the way they play basketball in the States.
Formless shot
Aomine's formless shot
Apart from his ball handling and speed, Aomine can get a shot off from essentially any position on the court. One of his signature shots, the formless shot is where Aomine lowers his posture to bypass the defense, as he shoots when his body is nearly parallel to the ground.[57][58] It was deemed impossible by many to block such a shot, but Kise and later Kagami were able to stop it.[59]
As stated by Midorima it's not his agility or unpredictability that made Aomine the super scorer even among Generation of Miracles, but his ability to score in virtually any position and angle, even from the behind the board.
Zone
Aomine in the Zone
Zone is a state of being that Aomine can access once he has found a worthy opponent and reached his full potential. Under this influence, he is "in the zone", which means that nobody else can stop him unless he or she is in the Zone as well. When a person is in the Zone, streams of sparks or currents of electricity seem to gather in the player's eyes, indicating that the individual has entered the Zone and gained his full potential as a basketball player.[60]
Zone Aomine vs Zone Kagami
When entering the Zone, one forgets everything and focuses solely on the game. It is a superlative of regular concentration. Only the elite of the best of the best of players are allowed to enter the Zone, and Aomine seemed to have forced his way in. Opening the gate to the Zone means opening the gate to your full potential, the full 100% of one's capabilities and abilities. In Aomine's case, his speed doubles at the least, his power increases drastically. His ability to score from anywhere escalates and Aomine's skills become even more overwhelming.[61]
Because of Aomine's past filled with victories, he hadn't been pressured as much as his match against Seirin High, more specifically, Kagami. He started to enjoy playing against his first real opponent in some time and this feeling of enjoyment and excitement opened the gates of the Zone for him. In other words, his main condition to enter the zone is a "worthy opponent" whom he can give his all.
It is also worth noting that unlike Kagami and Murasakibara, Aomine is the only one so far to have full control of the Zone, being able to access it much easier than the others. He is also much more knowledgeable, and because of this, he was able to give Kagami some information about the Zone.
Relationships
Satsuki Momoi
Young Aomine with Satsuki
Aomine and Momoi have had a very close friendship since childhood since they live close together. As children they often played basketball together.[62] Up until Junior High school, they were very close and were on first name basis (him calling her "Satsuki" and her calling him "Dai-chan"). To his discomfort, Momoi started to call him "Aomine-kun" instead, otherwise "people are gonna talk". Aomine himself said it felt gross that she called him "Aomine-kun". Their relationship grew apart slightly but they continued to go home together every day.
Their friendship was tested when Aomine started to get bored with basketball and his attitude started to cause trouble. Momoi stuck with him through thick and thin and also decided to attend Tōō High with him because she was afraid he would do something if she wasn't there to keep and eye on him. In the Character Bible, Aomine says that he wants to sleep in on his days off, but Momoi forces him to wake up and take her somewhere. It is shown that he does care about her very much but he lets his temper run away from him; when they had an argument about Momoi telling their coach to pull him off the team for injuries, he lost it and said that he didn't want to see her "or her ugly face" anymore.[63] Momoi burst in to tears, flung a clipboard at his face, and ran off, calling him a ganguro. Aomine's reaction implied that he hadn't meant to make her cry and regretted it.
Satsuki and Dai-chan attend Seirin's quarter finals
After Aomine was defeated by Kagami, he regained his love for basketball and asked Momoi to go shopping with him the next day so that he could buy some training gear. She smiles at this and starts to call him "Dai-chan" again, and adds that she will only do that if he buys her dinner.[64] Since then, the two have been shown together more often.
Aomine is neither supportive nor against Momoi's crush on Kuroko, as shown by both the Replace novels and an omake in which Kuroko and Momoi went on a date. He was dragged by Kise to go spy on them and he was the one who worked behind the scenes to get rid of possible interlopers who wanted to hit on Momoi.[65] He was even seen estimating Momoi's cup size (he guessed that she was E-cup at that time) after she made her appearance. After the date Momoi ran to his house to show off the stuffed toy Kuroko had given her as a present, Aomine was completely uninterested and he only responded with a "Yeah, yeah, congratulations." It was implied that Aomine already knows that Kuroko does not return her feelings (or is even aware) but keeps quiet as not to upset Momoi.
Ironically, Momoi is exactly Aomine's type; a girl with big breast's. However, he (nor Momoi) has shown no interest in her (not that it was mentioned though). This was demonstrated when he accidentally saw up her skirt and merely commented, "Are those your battle panties? They're pretty bold."
Tetsuya Kuroko
| “ | When it comes to basketball, we do think alike. | ” |
—Tetsuya Kuroko, to Daiki Aomine | ||
Kuroko and Aomine at Teikō
Aomine was Kuroko's best friend and "light" back at Teikō Junior High School. Aomine was starter at first, when Kuroko was still third stringer. That didn't matter to Aomine, because he saw the same amount of basketball passion in Kuroko that he has. They practiced together after training and quickly became friends to the point where Aomine calls Kuroko Tetsu. When Kuroko was promoted to playing with the starters, his play was very in sync with Aomine.
The Kuroko-Aomine relationship that pretty much mimes the Kuroko-Kagami relationship
Aomine once stated that the two have very little in common but that basketball is what brings their friendship together. Midorima once said their way of play is so compatible to the point of annoyance. Outside of the court they would hangout and grab ice cream together after practices or games.
Over time Aomine changed: he became stronger and eventually lost his passion for basketball because he was too strong for his opponents and winning was no longer fun. Kuroko tried convince him that Aomine would eventually find a formidable opponent, but during the championships Aomine dominated the competition once again and deemed that he can beat himself as everyone else sucked. From then on the two grew more distance between them as they were no longer friends and Kuroko quit Teiko basketball.
When the two were first brought together, Aomine still showed the same attitude he had at the end of his Junior High school days. It was shown that Aomine expressed indifference when Midorima pointed out Kuroko would face him during the Inter-high championships. During the game Aomine overslept and didn't show up till the second quarter, though during the second half of the game Aomine completely destroyed Seirin stopping Kuroko including his ignite pass, misdirections among others. Aomine approaches Kuroko at one point during the match and proclaim that he is disappointed in him because hasn't improved much since playing at Teiko and mentions that his current basketball abilities wouldn't beat him, also bringing up Akashi's prediction that Kuroko's style wouldn't bring winning basketball.
Kuroko and Aomine reconcile
Kuroko and Aomine have met up a few times between the Interhigh championships and Winter Cup, as each time their talks would heat up and challenges would be made. During their match in round 1 of the Winter Cup Tōō still towered over Seirin, but Seirin gradually got better and better over the course of the match. At one point during the match, Kuroko used his Vanishing Drive against Aomine it first worked but Aomine was able to stop it after seeing it a few times. He also eventually stole his Ignite Pass Kai pass, crushing his will completely. The match would then turn into a matchup between Kagami and Aomine as the two now were pretty evenly matched. Unexpectedly, Kuroko comes back into the match and uses his Misdirection Overflow helping Seirin score a few points. Eventually Kuroko also forces Aomine to miss a basket. At the peak of his excitement and gratitude toward Kuroko, Aomine go into "The Zone", the pinnacle state of concentration that only few chosen athlete can achieve takes control of the match. Kagami then follows suit and enters "Zone" as well and during the last seconds, as he and Aomine are stuck in a stalemate until Kagami finally gains the upper hand and eventually win against Aomine. He and Kuroko bump fists once again and promise to compete again. Because of the tough match, Aomine regained his passion and enjoyment and resees Kuroko as his friend. Aomine even agreed to help Kuroko develop his Phantom Shot.
Ryōta Kise
Kise sees Aomine playing basketball
Aomine is the one who inspires Kise to play basketball- having a unique style which Kise couldn't help but admire. He is persistent in his requests to play one-on-one with Aomine back in Teikō Junior High, despite the fact that he was always losing to Aomine. It is later revealed that, during their match together, Kise expresses a subconscious wish where even though he himself wants to win, he doesn't want Aomine to lose- therefore giving him a drawback and not able to copy Aomine. He later manages to overcome his admiration and copy Aomine's style, but eventually loses the match. Aomine was shown to be livid when Kise looked at him with pity (because he had earned a lot of dangerous fouls), and finishes the match by saying that the only one who can defeat him is himself.
In their Teikō flashbacks, Aomine was shown to be often annoyed by Kise's antics like the other teammates, though the two of them still maintained a close relationship. Aomine punched Haizaki in the face to protect Kise after he realizes that Haizaki intended to take revenge for his loss against Kise- not thinking of the consequences and claiming that Haizaki had no right to interfere with the Kaijō and Seirin's match. Kise, during their high-school time, admires Aomine like an idol and sets him as a role-model, but having broken free from that mindset- he managed to attain perfect copy and copy Aomine's style. Both of them claim that they are the ones who know each other best, even if they aren't teammates anymore.
Taiga Kagami
| “ | Your light is too dim. | ” |
—Aomine Daiki, to Kagami | ||
Aomine and Kagami in a one-on-one
Aomine initially mocked Kagami as being Kuroko's new light after having a one-on-one match with Kagami and deeming his basketball unworthy (although Kagami was not fully recovered after Seirin's Match with Shūtoku). During the Interhigh preliminaries, Aomine, playing for Tōō crushed Seirin High's basketball team as well as the player's spirit, causing Kagami and the rest of the team to hamper their performances and lose in the other matches in the final league. After meeting at a sauna rest during training, he mocks Kagami as nothing but entertainment at his stage against him. After training for preparation for the Winter Cup, Tōō plays against Seirin in the first round, Aomine noticed Kagami has slightly gotten better and they eventually fully faced off against each other, both in the Zone, which caused Aomine to grow interest in Kagami, believing he can make him use his full potential. Kagami may have seen Aomine as rival more than the other members of the Generation of Miracles, since both of them are the same type of player, as pointed out by Midorima. Kagami commented that all Miracles are arrogant but even then Aomine was exceptionally arrogant when the Generation of Miracles' ace came to challenge him.
Aomine gives his shoes to Kagami
But in spite of that, Kagami recognizes Aomine for his skill and formidable power, which have reached the pinnacle of basketball. While Aomine was in the Zone, Kagami did not feel fear but rather admiration. After their second match when Seirin finally defeated Tōō, Aomine started to view Kagami as a worthy rival, someone he has been looking for so long to keep enjoying basketball. He even gave Kagami his spare shoes before the semi-final of Winter Cup. It has been said many times that Kagami and Aomine share a lot of similarities, both in skill and personality.
Tōō Academy
Aomine, due to his personality, is distant towards his team-mates. However, he is close to his classmate Sakurai. In the CHARACTERS BIBLE, Aomine says he get along most with him in the team. He loves to taste his food and calls him by his first name Ryō. Sakurai, for his part, feels guilty and responsible for Aomine's absence at training.
Imayoshi doesn't care about his bragging as long as he plays and even allows him to skip training because Aomine is the best. Imayoshi has a complete faith towards Tōō's ace and has no doubt that he could be beaten by Kise or Kagami during their matches against them. The respect seems mutual because Aomine showed him his Zone once. Aomine has also mocked Imayoshi when Kise tried Kasamatsu's turn-around on him. [66]
Aomine is on very bad-terms with Wakamatsu as he cannot accept someone who doesn't train and steals Sakurai's food. Nevertheless, he acknowledges Aomine as the best player of the team.
Quotes
- "The only one who can win against me, is me!"[67]
- "I don't even remember how to receive your passes anymore." [68]
- "I won't lose. A battle's no fun if you don't win."
- "What's with this... It wasn't a gatekeeper or anything. The one standing in front of that door... It was you all along, wasn't it? Tetsu."[69]
Trivia
Aomine's early concept
Characters Bible, "What IF Aomine was a police officer!?"
- In the fanbook, CHARACTERS BIBLE, an early character concept sketch of Aomine is seen. His face and eyes haven't changed, but accompanying a sketch of his original hairstyle, is a sketch of Aomine with longer hair, reaching his eyes and the back of his neck.
- On the first character poll, Aomine ranked 6th, with 710 votes. He went up one place on the second poll, this time with 1021 votes.
- The kanji 青 (Ao) in his name means blue, hinting to his hair color.
- Aomine and Momoi are childhood friends and her nickname for him is Dai-chan.
- Aomine has called Kuroko "Tetsu" ever since they started training together back in Teikō.
- According to the CHARACTERS BIBLE:
- It was stated that Aomine's type are girls with big breasts.
- If Aomine had an alternate job it would be a police officer.[70]
- His favorite food is Teriyaki burger.
- His hobby is looking up gravure idols.
- His specialty is catching small animals like cicadas and crayfishes, and writes his own autobiography.
- As stated by Momoi, his shoe size is similar to Kagami's, 29.5 cm. In fact, they both use the same brand of Air Jordan shoes.[71]
- He is the only Generation of Miracles player to have defeated Seirin so far.
- Aomine resembles Keigo Atobe from the tennis manga/anime series Prince of Tennis, in terms of arrogance and abilities as all-rounder. Further more, they also share the same voice actor, being Junichi Suwabe.
- In Replace Novel Imayoshi points out that everything Aomine writes is in katakana.
- In a Q&A section in the manga, it is revealed that:
- Aomine was 175 cm tall upon entering Teikō.
- He is an only child.
- Aomine hates bees (he was stung by one). One time he put a frog on Momoi's head and made her cry, resulting her to dislike frogs.
- Aomine's best subject (amongst his terrible grades) is Japanese History.
- He hates goya, because it tastes bitter.
- Similar to Kagami's nickname Baka-gami (Kagamidiot), Aomine has been dubbed by the fans as Aho-mine (with aho meaning stupid).
References
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 174, page 11
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 41, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 52, page 7
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 100, page 11
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 49, page 3
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 124, page 12
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 124, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 41, page 6
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 41, page 12
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 33, page 28
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 35, page 16
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 39, page 16
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 40, page 9
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 42, page 12
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 113, page 6
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 114, page 1
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 114, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 115, page 17
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 117, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 119, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 121, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 121, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 122, page 5
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 122, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 123, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 123, page 18
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 125, page 7
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 129, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 130, page 11
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 130, page 18
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 131, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 132, page 11
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 133, page 9
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 133, page 14
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 135, page 6
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 135, page 17
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 136, page 20
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 138, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 139, page 5
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 139, page 13
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 139, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 139, page 21
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 142, page 10
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 145, page 8
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 174, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 190, page 18
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chaper 197, page 12
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 230, page 6
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 269, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 270, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 275, page 17
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 49, page 4
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 127, page 16
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke episode 17
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 48, page 16
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 48, page 18
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 49, page 8
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 71, page 12
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 122, page 15
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 134, page 4
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 134, page 13
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 49, page 4
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 80, page 11
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 139, page 20
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 108, page 21
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 67, page 2
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 35, page 16
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 220, page 17
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 270, page 17
- ↑ CHARACTERS BIBLE
- ↑ Kuroko no Basuke chapter 174, page 11
| v - e - t | Tōō Academy |
|---|---|
| Players | Daiki Aomine • Ryō Sakurai • Kōsuke Wakamatsu |
| Former players | Shoichi Imayoshi • Yoshinori Susa |
| Staff | Katsunori Harasawa (head coach) • Satsuki Momoi (manager) |
| v - e - t | Teikō Junior High |
|---|---|
| Generation of Miracles | Ryōta Kise • Shintarō Midorima • Daiki Aomine • Atsushi Murasakibara • Seijūrō Akashi |
| Other players | Tetsuya Kuroko • Shōgo Haizaki • Shūzō Nijimura • Masaya Kubota • Tōru Sekiguchi |
| Staff | Naoto Sanada (head coach) • Kōzō Shirogane (former head coach) • Daigo Matsuoka (3rd string coach) • Satsuki Momoi (manager) |
| v - e | Team Vorpal Swords |
|---|---|
| Players | Seijūrō Akashi • Daiki Aomine • Shintarō Midorima • Ryōta Kise • Atsushi Murasakibara • Taiga Kagami • Tetsuya Kuroko • Junpei Hyūga • Kazunari Takao • Kōsuke Wakamatsu |
| Staff | Kagetora Aida (coach) • Riko Aida (assistant coach) • Satsuki Momoi (manager) |