“It’s the ace’s job to lead the team to victory, but don’t bear responsibility if we lose. That’s the captain’s job. All you have to do is keep looking forward.” -Kasamatsu Yukio
One of the few lines out of Kaijo's short-tempered captain that actually comforts as opposed to threats or scoldings (Poor Kise T_T). You've got to admire this character for his amazing leadership skills that, in all honesty, the real world I think, is really lacking. These words can typically remind you that you don't always need to carry the burden of a failure or a loss on your own. The people around you who actually care are there for you to turn to you when you need them, and no one should ever feel as if they are truly alone.
When you think about it, probably one of the worst things about losing or failing would be that gut wrenching feeling of letting down both yourself, and the people that supported you. Maybe your friends who helped you along the way, or maybe your parents who expect so much of you. I've got to say that this is one of Kasamatsu's most tear jerking moments in the whole series, when he's comforting Kise for the devastating loss of the Kaijo Basketball team and trying to act as tough as he can, attempting to shoulder the loss of his team the best he can in his already beaten down state of mind.
Generally I'd suppose, when you fail and you can tell that those around you are concerned, you'll do your best to smile and laugh it off, maybe lay it on thick and reassure them with words like, "I'm fine", or "I'll just do better next time". Inwardly though, you'll be beating yourself up. Scolding yourself and typically lowering your self-confidence just that much more, making it even harder to try again and making it so that getting your self-esteem up again is just about impossible. Kind of brings to mind the saying of "rubbing salt on the wound", I guess. Maybe it's just me, but I'd say that having a senior who can inspire and reassure you like that is pretty hard to find. In all honesty, who wouldn't kill for a senior, friend, companion to etc who'd do or say something like this?
Now I'm not exactly saying that you should just completely ignore a major loss and just keep forging ahead, in pite of anything you still need to learn from mistakes in order to grow as a person in everything you do. In all honesty, this kind of inspirational quote is far to cheesy for real life, but I suppose you should just be there for everyone, a team will win as a team, and lose as a team. There will never really be a one person win within a team, and thus there would never be a one person lose within one either. You've got to be strong for one another, be there for one another and most importantly comfort and support each other. Not everything revolves around you, ya know.
Don't think that you alone have to bear the responsibility for losing, there will be people there in your life that are willing to share in that burden, and just keep looking forward. Wouldn't that basically be what Kasamatsu said, though in a much more general sense? Keep looking forward, don't necessarily disregard the failure, but refrain from talking yourself down and convincing yourself that you are incapable of doing whatever needs to be done. Remember that no one can be completely alone in this world, never think that you have to go through every little hardship on your own because there will always be someone that is willing and able to share the burden.
“The only one who can beat me, is me.” -Aomine Daiki
Yes, we all love that one pompous, arrogant, egotistical character in the entire Kuroko no Basket series, A(ho)mine Daiki. Though, out of all his cocky, perverted and hot-headed acts, his catchphrase really has got to take the cake. I mean, I get that he's honestly and truthfully, inhumanly good at basketball, and I like him too, but a little humility honestly doesn't hurt anyone.
Hasn't everyone, at least once in the series, face-palmed at that moment when Aomine says that quote, for I dunno, the hundredth time? "The only one who can beat me, is me." Let's just say that there are several things about this phrase that annoy me. Firstly, what kind of genius does it take to beat yourself at something? I mean seriously, especially in this case, you can't play basketball against yourself. Sure, you can obviously practise on your own but do you really see some lunatic running back and forth like a freaking headless chicken trying to shoot while also defending against themselves on a basketball court? While I do understand what he means in a figurative sense, still, who says that? Secondly. If anyone in real life ever musters the courage and nerve to say that to my face, I'd slap the fudgin arrogance right out of the guy. No one is invincible or unbeatable. That's just how life really is. Even once someone steadily makes their way to the top, they have to keep at their game and fight in order to defend their own place. Thus, why I'd get really irritated if someone ever went around declaring themselves unbeatable.
This obnoxious quote from Aomine can kind of be seen as an example of how you should not act. Humility is an important characteristic that not only keeps you down to earth, but will also generally stop you from getting smacked by every person you irritate the hell out of by being a jerk. Before Aomine's loss to Seirin, the guy generally repeats this line to just about anyone that bothers to stand up to him. You can pretty much see though that after the loss, he became a little more down to earth, and just that much more bearable.I guess you could take this as an example of what losing, and consequently humbling can do to you. As a result of learning that no, he is not in fact unbeatable, Aomine also somewhat reconciles with his ex-basketball partner/best friend and restarts a slightly awkward and shaky friendship with him. He also becomes much less of an unbearable person to be around, and even his teammates seem to view him as less 'isolated', for lack of a better word.
In a way, I'd say that most people could relate to this. By not being so arrogant and overly self-confident, other people may find you easier to be around, because in all honesty, no one wants to associate themselves with people who decide to place themselves on a pedestal so high that they leave behind the rest of the world. As cheesy as it sounds, humility is an important value that a lot of people tend to disregard. Never think that you are the absolute best, or that no one else in the world exists that has even the slightest chance at being better than you, because the moment you think like this and start relaxing, you're giving someone else a chance to overtake you.
STAY HUMBLE GUYS it is an important virtue to have, especially in a society like ours, where people are no longer like this.
