Hello everybody! I’m SquaryQ! I’m now working in the Favourites section of this magazine! Today I will be reviewing two Kuroko No Basket fanfics; The Basketball That She Played by IvyXLacrimosa and Not My Type by Levee_Ayzis.
The first piece I will be complimenting is IvyXLacrimosa’s piece; The Basketball That She Played:
The Basketball That She Played is an amazing read! I honestly stayed up from 1:00 AM until 4:30 AM, engrossed in the intriguing piece that caught my eye due to its beautifully simplistic cover and basic yet clever title reference.
The piece is currently ongoing but I don’t think that that matters. The story is highly original and the writer hasn’t written any of the annoying clichés which I cannot deny that in other pieces I have conformed to myself. IvyXLacrimosa has understood that at a high school competitive level of basketball, males and females cannot compete against one another or alongside one another due to the differences in one’s build. I will praise her here for doing so since I have come across fanfictions under all of the sports animes’ ((that I have watched)) Wattpad tags such as ‘#kuroko’, ‘#iwatobi’ or ‘#haikyuu’, that the female OC insert asks to join the boys basketball and is not refused even though it states that it is a BOYS basketball team ((sorry, pet peeve))
The cannon cast are all in character, which is always a perk. I will again admit that I was wrong here. I had initially been a tad unsure when I realised that Aida Riko would be a main character. ((but that it mainly due to my own struggles with writing her)) However this writer has pulled it off exceptionally!
As a reader and an avid writer myself, I can see that a lot of thought was put into this fanfic and am honestly glad that the piece is on-going so I get to speculate as to what will happen next! I love the cliffhangers and the sudden rush of realisations.
The next piece is Levee_Ayzis’ piece; Not My Type ((even though I am likely to rant about Impetuous Love too)):
WARNING: I have a close relationship with Ayzis so am bound to say a LOT more about this fanfic!
Before somebody points it out, I will admit loud and proud that I am a close friend of Ayzis’ HOWEVER, I have a reason behind wanting to review this fanfic here. And it involves a little secret that will no longer be a secret anymore; I watched an episode or two of KnB when I was first following Ayzis-chan on Wattpad and when I came across Not My Type, I couldn’t resist reading the fic briefly. The relationship that Lia and Dia had at the beginning, I found, was a tad similar to that of the relationship that my sister and I have; polar opposites.
I re-read Not My Type not too long ago. Okay, read is an understatement, it was more like a marathon. I read the whole fanfiction, truly appreciating the flair Ayzis has, particularly with her humour. I love so many things about the story! ESPECIALLY THE CUTE FLUFFY ROMANCES THAT ARE SPROUTING KYAHHH ASDFGHKL *deep breath*…Okay, I’m clam now.
What I was trying to say is that Ayzis always has original ideas and is a really underappreciated talent! Dia and Lia are so flawed that they are relatable! Dia has a stash of Kise Ryouta magazine photos, just like any other fangirl does! I have one! I have one saved onto my computer for my OTP ((irrelevant but whatever; Reigisa XD)) and it contains over one hundred and fifty screenshots, pieces of fanart, GIFs and edits. Most fangirls are highly obsessive and I am so happy that instead of coming across a character who behaves like a possessor to her bae; sinking her claws in and hissing at anybody who gets too close, I found a character who is a lot like me.
Let us also consider another underrated part of Ayzis-chan’s fanfiction: the characters. I adore the OC's that were made for this fanfic. Lia and Dia are really relatable! I relate mostly to Dia; the obsessive closet fangirl-ness, like I've already said. ((The difference is, in Not My Type, Kise Ryouta is an actual person!)) And Lia's attitude is relatable too! I know so many people who act like Lia, Lia's reason for her actions was more convincing than theirs though.
I also love the way that Ayzis developed the relationships between her characters, in Not My Type and it's sequel Impetuous Love. A character that I think god insane amounts of development was Satomi; the gay teenage housekeeper who has lived with Lia and Dia for a while now. The way in which characters react to Satomi show a lot about each characters' personality; Lia and Dia are really comfortable with Satomi and totally accepting of his sexuality, which shows that they are people who are compassionate and loyal to their friends, while in the first few chapters involving the twins' stepbrother Wakamatsu, you can already feel the difference. Wakamatsu was more scornful and mocking of Satomi. NOT nice at all. ((On that note, I loved how Ayzis showed the readers that Lia and Dia didn't like Wakamatsu and that he is a mean character by using Satomi as the subject of the harshness since the readers know that Satomi is really sweet and hasn't done anything wrong!))
Now to the juicy bit; the ships. Kise x Dia and Lia x Kagami. The first thing that I loved was that despite Lia being the colder confident girl, Kise was not interested in her but instead was fascinated by the scruffy tomboyish Dia. The situation is the same with Kagami and Lia! I loved how Kagami only really saw Dia as a friend to tease yet was captivated by Lia's actions. The opposites attract concept really fits here!
I also really enjoyed the way in which the romantic relationships developed in Not My Type. I can't fault it. Ayzis really captured the quirky things that people do with their friends. And I am honestly a sucker for a blushing Kagami. Kise's relationship with Dia, despite being more complicated us amazing also. It's cute and sweet and I love seeing a love-struck Kise. It's adorable to think about!
...I actually almost forgot to commend Ayzis for her epic detective Kuroko! That was funny yet understandable. Kuroko's too smart while Kagami just doesn't notice things.
Man, this was a long review. And I KNOW I didn't say everything I wanted to about both fanfics. I may mention something about old fanfics that I've ranted about if I am suddenly struck by something amazing that a writer did.
I hope that you liked what I had to say about these amazing reads!
~SquaryQ c:
