Kuroko's Basketball is a Japanese sports manga series written and illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki. The title is a direct translation of the original Japanese title Kuroko no Basuke (黒子のバスケ?); the rendering The Basketball Which Kuroko Plays also appears in the artwork of the Japanese version. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since December 2008; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on April 3, 2009, and the 26th volume released as of March 2014. Kuroko's Basketball tells the story of a high school basketball team trying to make it to the national tournament. The manga has been adapted into an anime series by Production I.G which began airing on April 7, 2012. The first season ran for 25 episodes before the season finale on September 22, 2012. The anime was renewed for a second season which premiered on October 6, 2013. The basketball team of Teikō Middle School rose to distinction by demolishing all competition. The regulars of the team became known as the "Generation of Miracles". After graduating from middle school, these five stars went to different high schools with top basketball teams. However, a fact few know is that there was another player in the "Generation of Miracles": a phantom sixth man. This mysterious player is now a freshman at Seirin High, a new school with a powerful, if little-known, team. Now, Kuroko Tetsuya, the sixth member of the "Generation of Miracles", and Kagami Taiga, a naturally talented player who spent most of middle school in the US, are aiming to bring Seirin to the top of Japan, taking on Kuroko's former teammates one by one.