Shintarō Midorima

"Man proposes, God disposes. I am a man that proposes, I always carry my lucky item of the day with me as my horoscope said. That's why my shots never miss."

- Shintarō Midorima

Shintarō Midorima (緑間 真太郎 Midorima Shintarō) was the vice-captain and shooter of the Generation of Miracles. He now plays with one of the Three Kings of Tokyo, Shūtoku High.

Appearance
Midorima has short, dark green hair that doesn't reach his eyes. His hair is parted to the left. He wears black-framed glasses that are framed on all sides except the top. He bandages his left hand outside of matches, so that nothing can influence his left-hand shot. He also files his nails for the same reason. He is often seen with a lucky item, that varies from a stuffed frog to a bear to a potted cactus. Out of games, he wears his school uniform: a black jacket that is strapped all the way to his neck and black pants. He plays with jersey number 6 at Shūtoku.

Personality
Midorima is usually very reserved. He feels no need for fooling around, although Takao tries to persuade him many times (often ending up with him annoying Midorima). Acting kind to opponents is very hard for him, while his friend Takao has no problem with that. Very confident in his ability, he often acts high and mighty around others (mostly his team-mates). He strongly believes in zodiac-signs and horoscopes, even carrying a so-called "lucky item" with him everywhere. He is set at ease when he hears that his zodiac sign, Cancer, will have a lucky day. Takao once commented on his preparation for matches, ranging from filling his nails, taping his fingers, and listening his horoscope, to carrying his lucky item of the day, as some sort of obsession.

Midorima seems unable to stand Kuroko, because he acknowledges Kuroko even though he doesn't have any physicial capabilities and can't do anything on his own. He hates that Kuroko is not ambitious enough  and that he chose a new and relatively unknown team like Seirin. He thinks that Kuroko is stupid to choose a school who cannot use his strength.

Despite usually being calm, he snapped during Shūtoku's match against Seirin High in the Winter Cup. He told Takao to stop fooling around and had the intent of destroying Seirin completely. Takao compared him to a dangerous wild beast. During the same match, Midorima also let go of his pride and began playing with his team. He never relied on others in the past, but now puts winning up front and plays as a true team. In the successful teamplay, he was also seen enjoying the game and laughing, which he rarely does.

Takao often calls him a tsundere, because he always helps people but denies it. Midorima has good insight and is able to understand other people's abilities easily, like Kagami or Kuroko's. He tends to give them advice under the iguise of scorn and criticism. He helped Kagami with his aerial understanding and pushed Kuroko to play by himself, leading to the development of the Vanishing Drive.

History
Midorima joined the basketball team when he entered Teikō Junior High School and because of his exceptional shooting accuracy and shooting range, eventually belonged to the regulars of the team. Some time in those three years, when Akashi was made captain, Midorima served as vice-captain. They held captain meetings, but would often just play shogi in the meantime. Akashi was and still is a shoji-expert and Midorima could not win once against him, a line of thought Akashi would pull through to basketball, but denied by Midorima.

Introduction
At the same time Kuroko joins the Seirin basketball team, Midorima does the same at Shūtoku. Before the practices started, Takao approaches him and introduces himself. Midorima is surprised that Takao knows him, but Takao explains that he's pretty much a celebrity in high school basketball. Takao then makes fun of Midorima's lucky item and his way of speaking, which irritates Midorima. When Midorima stays behind for late practice, Takao regularly joins him. Midorima notices that it seems like Takao is competing with him and he asks Takao about that. He replies that he once played against him and lost. He wanted to defeat Midorima, but when he saw they were at the same high school team, he changes his mind and was now trying to make Midorima recognize him. Takao declares that he'll become better than Midorima and calls him Shin-chan, annoying Midorima.

Seirin vs Kaijō
Midorima is first shown during the match of Seirin vs Kaijō. He is seen sitting in a small open trailer behind a bicycle, which is ridden by Takao. They are riding towards Kaijō High to see the practice game of his Midorima's former teammates.

Because the bicycle was stuck in traffic, Midorima left Takao behind and went up ahead, to just make it in time to see the final plays of the match. After Seirin's victory, Midorima approaches Kise. He tells him it was an unpleasant match and spouts the saying "Man proposes, God disposes". Kise asks if he came to see Kuroko as well, but Midorima responds that Kuroko is not even worth mentioning, because he joined an unknown, barely created and weak school. Takao eventually catches up to Midorima and after saying to Kise that he should give up on his revenge, Midorima leaves.

Interhigh preliminaries
At the first round, Seirin High was playing Shinkyō Academy. Midorima and Takao went to watch and while Midorima says it was to check out the foreign exchange student, it was actually to see Seirin. Midorima and his team won through the first rounds of the Interhigh preliminaries.

At the fourth round, Shūtoku High had to play against Kinka High at the same gym where Seirin had just played their game against Meijō Academy. Seirin won when Shūtoku High entered the court, led by Ōtsubo. Kagami goes to greet Midorima, but Midorima pretends to not know him. Kagami raises his hand and Midorima thinks he intends to shake hands, but Kagami takes Midorima's hand and writes his name on it with a marker, with the motivation to make him remember. Takao joins the conversation and tells Kagami and Kuroko the results of last year's Interhigh final league. Midorima says to Kagami that they will surely lose again. Kuroko contradicts this and says that the match hasn't been played yet. There is tension between Midorima and Kuroko. He leaves them by saying that they have to make it to the finals first.

The team starts warming up and Midorima asks Ōtsubo if he can play today. Ōtsubo is surprised because Midorima previously said that his horoscope was bad. He allows it, but warns Midorima to not try that two more times. In the match, he amazes everyone by shooting three pointer after three pointer. Shūtoku's threat has now spread from the inside to the outside. In the audience, Kuroko tells his team that Midorima never misses ad while he says that, Midorima sinks in another one. While seeing this, Hyūga speculates that Midorima is hiding something more crazy.

Final league
Midorima told his team that he wouldn't go to the final league to watch, but went anyway, although under a "disguise" (he just put on a pair of shades).

Kise found out he was there and recognized Midorima instantly. In his defense, Midorima told Kise that he was just coincidentally there. He informs Kise that Aomine isn't playing yet, but that Seirin is still losing. He also says that while Aomine isn't there, Momoi is the real danger. Kise comments that she had Kuroko as love interest in Junior High school and Midorima didn't know. He then says that it doesn't matter if her team played against her love, she still wouldn't show any mercy.

Winter Cup preliminaries
Midorima is seen sitting in the locker room, taping his fingers, when Takao comes in, telling him that the second-years have already gathered to leave for the Winter Cup preliminaries. At that time, he gets a text from Kise that says "Good luck". Irritated, he responds "Die".

Winter Cup
Midorima is shown to be training for the Winter Cup with Shūtoku High.

Midorima appears at the Winter Cup building when the Generation's captain, Akashi, called the Generation together. As always, he carries a lucky item with him, this time a pair of scissors. Kise asks him to put that away, saying it's dangerous. When Murasakibara is unable to open his pack of chips, he asks for Midorima's scissors, but Midorima refuses. Akashi arrives and after dealing with Kagami, departs again. He leaves the Generation with the words that they haven't forgotten their oath. Midorima is later seen watching the match between Seirin and Tōō. When Kuroko unleashes his new pass, Midorima analyzes this new skill and compares its spiral rotation to that of a gun. He also analyzes Kagami's tactical battle simulation later on in the match. He does the same thing with Kuroko's Vanishing Drive and Misdirection Overflow. Midorima and Takao attend the major Seirin matches and win their own matches as well.

Semi-finals
Shūtoku High is set to play Rakuzan High in the semi-finals of the Winter Cup. This markes the reunion of the GoM's captain and vice-captain. Before the match, Midorima is seen in the locker room with his lucky item, a shogi piece, a strange irony of fate. When Miyaji asks what place his zodiac sign is, Midorima replies with 2nd. They then enter the gym and later line up on the court. Midorima says to Akashi that he will definitely not lose. Akashi replies that it's impossible since he never loses. The tip-off is given and Midorima gets the ball from Takao. He says to Akashi that will teach him defeat and scores a mid-court shot.

During the first quarter, Midorima goes on by shooting normal three pointers. After the time-out for the second quarter, Midorima asks Akashi if he can afford holding back. Akashi replies that he won't reveal his trump card so easily and that it won't even be necessary to. After Midorima gets double-teamed, he gets back on this when Hayama shows his true skills and reconfirms his earlier statement to Midorima.

Later, Mibuchi confronts Midorima about the difference in skill between his teammates and Midorima's team. He states that everyone else is a hindrance. Midorima denies this, knowing how much the others have worked to get where they are. When Hayama gets past Miyaji again, Midorima blocks him. He gets rid of his double team with the help of Kimura’s screen and later lures out Nebuya to send a pass towards Miyaji, who dunks it. Midorima states that not a single member on his time is a hindrance. He later ends the second quarter with a three pointer, bringing it to a 39 – 39 tie.

When going to the locker room, Midorima passes Kise. Kise compliments him on his not-too-bad situation, but Midorima tells him that the real fight has yet to begin. The second half starts and Akashi is guarding Midorima. They stand still for a few seconds, but then Midorima goes up fast and without hesitation, battling with his height. Unfortunately, Akashi foresees this move and slaps the ball out of his hands when it was still at the height of his chest. Akashi goes for a fastbreak and scores.

Skill
Besides his shot, Midorima is also very fast and strong. He is smart during matches and is able to fake his shot very fast and pass his opponent easily. He is also very proficient in defense, in his match against Kagami during the training camp, he surpressed him overwhelmingly.

Shot
Midorima is mostly known for his incredible shot. He shoots the ball from any position on the court and the ball flies with exceptionally high arc. A normal player would have less grasp on a shot if it's that high, but Midorima always scores that way. Another thing that is incredible about his shot is the distance. He has shown that he can score at the height of the middle line and even on the whole other side of the court. He has trained this for at least four years. He always shoots with his left hand. If he is not sure he will score, he will not shoot. He even bandages his fingers in order to not let them affect his shot.

Because his shot is so high and it takes a lot of time for it to reach the basket, Midorima has plenty of time to return in defense, covering fastbreaks and counters from the opponents.

According to Junpei Hyūga rather than the score the true horror of Midorima's shot is the deep psychological impact to opponents. This especially true since most players would freeze on their spot as watching the ball fly with abnormally long air time until it reach the hoop. So far, the only ones who have ever been able to block Midorima's shots, are Kagami and Akashi.

Cooperation with Takao
Midorima and Takao have recently developed a play that uses Midorima's shooting abilities and Takao's accurate and fast passes. This technique consists of Midorima shooting without the ball and during the process of shooting receiving the ball in his hands, passed by Takao. If the pass goes through and the shot is untouched, this play is almost impossible to stop, especially with Midorima's shooting and Takao's passing. This play is a huge gamble though, something Midorima had to overcome by trusting his teammates greatly.

Takao and Midorima made this play to counter Akashi's Emperor Eye, since the height difference leads to Akashi simply not being able to steal the ball because it is out of his reach. The technique is a combination of Midorima's perfect shooting and Takao's perfect passing. However, as Midorima is left-handed, the passes from Takao must come from the left side.

Seijūrō Akashi
During the period of Akashi's captaincy, he would often play shogi with Midorima (who was vice-captain), in which the latter never won any of the matches. Midorima shows much respect to Akashi, albeit appearing somewhat grudgingly, even when he graduates from Teikō Junior High and enrolls in Shūtoku High, where Akashi is no longer his captain. Before the Winter Cup, Midorima allows Akashi to borrow his scissors (the day's lucky item) despite refusing Murasakibara earlier on. During the Rakuzan vs Shūtoku match, Akashi admits that he acknowledges Midorima's skills and in turn, Midorima is also fully aware of Akashi's formidable skills, and acknowledges his strength, something which he rarely did for others. After the match, Midorima offers a handshake to Akashi, though the latter refuses it, wishing to remain as Midorima's enemy. Midorima does not show any signs of anger but merely laments that Akashi was still the same and insists that Shūtoku would emerge victorious the next time they battle again. Midorima also appears to be competitive with Akashi, where he often asked Momoi for her class notes and about the material and quality of her pencils, convinced that it had to do with her good grades and wanting to improve to win Akashi.

Quotes

 * "There's no way I wouldn't be aware of how many shot I'm capable of. My limit... I passed it long ago."
 * ""I'm always right"? Don't make me laugh, Akashi. Don't talk as if you know everything, when all you've had was victory. Come, Akashi. As promised, I'll teach you defeat."
 * "There's not a single player on this team who's a hindrance."
 * "This is a gamble. More than I need to believe in myself, I must believe in my teammates. Even if I do everything I can, it's not enough. But I don't feel any uncertainty. In this team, everyone is doing everything they can!"
 * "... It's not over yet! Don't give up...! There's not shame in falling down...! True shame is to not stand up again...!"
 * "It's really frustrating... Losing."

Trivia

 * KnBCBibleSMidorima.png, "What IF Midorima was a doctor!?"]]On the first character poll, Midorima ranked 2nd, with 1478 votes. His "specially-made rolling pencil" ranked 30th, with 21 votes. He ranked 6th on the second poll, this time with 936 votes.
 * The kanji 緑 (Midori) in his name means green, hinting to his hair color.
 * In the entire series, Midorima has never missed a shot.
 * Midorima is left handed.
 * According to Kise, Midorima has a funny accent.
 * If following the Japanese school year (in which school begins and ends in April), then Midorima would be the second eldest of the Generation of Miracles (Kise would be the eldest).
 * Midorima has rarely been seen smiling in the series.
 * If Midorima had an alternate job it would be as a doctor. He hates cats, because he got scratched. His favorite food is red bean soup, he is shown drinking the canned red bean drink quite often and even drank the chilled one in summer. Midorima's type of girl is one who is older than him. His motto is: "Man proposes, God disposes".
 * Midorima's_cameo.jpgding to the Characters Bible, Midorima's first name was supposed to be Ryōhei instead of Shintarō.
 * Midorima has a younger sister.
 * He has appeared as a cameo in Confession Rehearsal, a Vocaloid song.

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Shintarō Midorima