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.
Aomine's noticably 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 left 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.
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
teamates in the process.
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.
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 said he
likes models with big boobs.
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.
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 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 complements 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 "light and shadow"
relationship.[7]
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.
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 beganto 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.
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]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
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.
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]
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 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.
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 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 shows to which Momoi agrees.[42]
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]
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]
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 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]
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 is quite literally "a monster" in basketball, as he is leagues
ahead of anyone that comes second to him, even among 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.[49] 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.
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.[50]
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.[51]
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.[52]
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.
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.[53][54] It was deemed impossible by many to block such a shot, but Kise and later Kagami were able to stop it.[55]
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 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.[56]
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.[57]
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.
Aomine
and Momoi have had a very close friendship since childhood since they
live close together. As children they often played basketball together.[58]
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.[59]
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.[60] 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.[61]
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."
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 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.
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.
Tōō's captain Imayoshi
commented that Aomine didn't go full-force during the match with Kise
because he still had a soft spot for his ex-teammate, thus implying that
Aomine still cares for Kise. In their Teikō flashbacks, Aomine was
shown to be often annoyed by Kise's antics like the other teammates.
Aomine punched Haizaki
to protect Kise after when he realizes that Haizaki intended to revenge
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.
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.
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.
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. [62]
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.
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.
It was stated that Aomine's type are girls with big breasts.
If Aomine had an alternate job it would be a police officer.[65]
His favorite food is Teriyaki burger.
His hobby is looking up gravure/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. In fact, they both use the same brand of Air Jordan shoes.[66]
He is the only Generation of Miracles player to have defeated Seirin so far.
He is the only Generation of Miracles player who hasn't cried after a defeat to 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 175cm 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).
Edit
Aomine's early conceptBy Bereisgreat February 6, 2013
Characters Bible, "What IF Aomine was a police officer!?"By 5zczurzyca February 2, 2013
