Ro-Kyu-Bu!

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Basketball has never been this cute.

Subaru Hasegawa's dream of playing with the Nashiba High School Basketball Club came to a screeching halt one day, when the captain of the basketball team ran off with the coach's daughter, who was in grade school. After it was announced that the team is disbanded for a year, Subaru was asked by his aunt Mihoshi Takamura, a teacher at Keishin Elementary School, to coach her school's girls' basketball team. Reluctant at first, he was dragged by his aunt to meet the team one day and was soon captivated by the potential of the team's only experienced player, Tomoka Minato. Convinced that the five-girl team -- Tomoka, rich kid Maho Misawa, unusually tall Airi Kashii, the likewise unusually tiny Hinata Hakamada, and cool-headed Saki Nagatsuka -- has potential, Subaru soon settles into his new career.

Originally a Light Novel series, it also has a manga adaptation and an anime which first season aired in summer 2011, and second season named RO-KYU-BU! SS in summer 2013. Both seasons have been licensed for a North American release by Sentai Filmworks.

Tomoka was chosen to represent RO-KYU-BU! in the crossover Fighting Game Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax published by Sega, with her team assisting her in battle.

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Tropes in RO-KYU-BU! include:

• Accidental Pervert: Subaru to his protégés, and sometimes to Aoi, though mostly due to her highly revealing axe kicks.
• A-Cup Angst: Tomoka, and her friends are not above needling her about it.
• The Ace: Subaru, Tomoka, Mimi, Miyu, and Rena. Deconstructed with Tomoka.
• Adult Child: Mihoshi sometimes borders on this.
• Adult Fear: Airi's dream in Season 1, Episode 7.
• An Aesop
  • Season 1: Stop being "Stop Having Fun!" Guys.
  • Season 2: Basketball is played by five people on a team, and no one player can win a game alone.
• Alliterative Name: Hinata Hakamada and Maho Misawa.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Tomoka in her previous school, though it's also partly her own fault: her zealous drive to win alienated herself from everyone else. It affected her so much that, after learning from her mistake, she'd rather be together with the new friends she made at Keishin than continue playing basketball.
• Alphabetical Theme Naming: The girls discuss how both Airi and Aoi are well-endowed, and somehow came upon the conclusion that it's because both their names start with the letter A.
• Alternate Character Reading: In Season 2 Episode 6, Aoi mistakes youshiya (post office) for youjiya (toddler play shop) out of suspicion that Subaru has become a lolicon.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: Takenaka when he was first introduced.
  • "Chibi-Ribbon" Miyu from Suzuridani near the end of the first season.
  • Ryuichi Suga, Subaru's rival, who treats his teammates as his supporting cast.
  • Rena Ashihara, also from Suzuridani, in the second season, who is basically Miyu ramped Up to Eleven.
• Artificial Riverbank: Where Subaru meets Tomoka in Season 1, Episode 2.
• Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever: Airi fears she will become one.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Rena's playing style. It doesn't matter if there are two or even five defenders in front of her, she would just plow through them no matter what. Needless to say, it failed in spectacular fashion.
• Beach Episode: Season 1, Episode 9
• Beauty Mark: Tomoka has one below her left eye.
• Big Fancy House: The Misawa residence.
• Bishie Sparkle: Hinata makes a drawing of Subaru with these effects.
  • She has some of her own, too, and manages to charm her younger sister with it.
• Big Brother Mentor: Subaru.
• Big Little Sister: Kagetsu to Hinata.
• Blackmail: See, if Subaru refuses to coach the basketball team, his aunt Mihoshi will humiliate him before the entire Internet community about his childhood "I love you, Mommy!" letter.
• Brick Joke: Episode 7 shows us that Subaru is not good with footwork when he's waist-deep in water, causing him to get into an accident with Tomoka. Later in Episode 9, Mihoshi points this as one of Subaru's weaknesses, which the girls exploit in order to catch him in a game of tag...which only leads to another accident with Tomoka.
  • Saki and her issue with making okonomiyaki continues on even after the episode ends, completely removing the "On the Next..." segment.
• Broken Ace: Tomoka. See All of the Other Reindeer above.
• Broken Pedestal: In the manga, Subaru idolized Nashiba's basketball captain, making the latter's lolicon scandal all the more heartbreaking for him. The anime remains ambiguous concerning this.
• Butt Monkey: He's not a Harem protagonist (as far as we know) but Subaru seems to start suffering like one would in the later episodes.
• Cat Smile: Mihoshi's default smile.
• Childhood Friends: Maho, Saki and Takenaka.
  • Subaru and Aoi as well.
• Child Prodigy: Both Subaru and Tomoka in basketball, although it was deconstructed for the latter.
• Class Representative: Saki, according to her profile in Season 1, Episode 3.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Aoi.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Tiny and adorable Hinata, whose lights are not exactly all turned on upstairs.
• Cool Big Sis: Aoi for Airi.
• Covert Pervert: Saki, who suggested the girls to dress in School Swimsuits with aprons on top in order to welcome Subaru back. See also Not So Above It All below.
  • Subaru himself, who looked quite excited while watching a video of the girls at the pool, or when Maho innocently offered him a popsicle that she herself was eating.
• Cowardly Lion: Airi.
• Crazy Prepared: Mihoshi, who has data on the boys' basketball team just in time for Subaru to ask for them (it's implied that she even hacked into the school files just to get them), and having Subaru bring a game console during the training camp as a way of reconciling Maho and Takenaka, both sharing the same passion for video games.
• Cross Dressing Voice: Minako Kotobuki as Natsuhi Takenaka.
• Curtains Match the Window: Plenty of matching colors. Subaru, Nayu (Subaru's mom), Tomoka, Saki, Airi, Hinata and Aoi.
• Cute Little Fangs: Maho and Mihoshi.
• Cute Sports Club Manager: Aoi actually planned to become this for Nashiba's boys' basketball team (where Subaru was also playing), that is, until the scandal that kicked off the series happens.
• Deadpan Snarker: Saki, being the resident Straight Man.
• Detached Sleeves: Aoi in Episode 10.
• Determinator: Tomoka, while trying to get Subaru to continue coaching the team, makes a gamble where he will stay should she make 50 free throws in a row.
• Double Entendre: Thrice has Subaru been mistaken for confessing to Airi.
  • Digging Yourself Deeper: And this does not help:

Airi, you're very important to me. *followed by* She's an irreplaceable existence for me!

• • Maho and her idea to give Subaru a "girl's most important treasure". Saki tried putting her in line as usual, until Maho revealed that her most important treasure is her stuffed toy.
• Do-It-Yourself Theme Tune: The opening is sung by the seiyuu of the five girls who actually formed a Idol group called Ro-Kyu-Bu.
• Dynamic Entry: In Season 1, Episode 9, Mihoshi appeared to Subaru fist-first after the latter accidentally caused Tomoka's top to slip. At the end of the episode, she does it again, delivering a more traditional version (flying kick) when Subaru gets into the bath right when Hinata absentmindedly wandered in.
• Dull Surprise: Hinata and Mayumi from Ryuichi's gang.
• Hair Decorations
• Everyone Can See It
  • Takenaka's crush on Hinata, according to Saki.
  • Tomoka's crush on Subaru.
• Face Hugger: Hinata to Subaru. Twice. In a single episode.
• Fetish: Discussed when Maho asks Subaru what appeals to him. She comes up with some weird ones.
• Five-Man Band:
  • Keishin Starters:
    • The Hero: Tomoka Minato
    • The Lancer: Maho Misawa
    • The Big Guy: Airi Kashii
    • The Smart Guy: Saki Nagatsuka
    • The Chick: Hinata Hakamada
  • Keishin Bench:
    • The Hero: Mimi Balguerie
    • The Lancer: Tsubaki Takenaka (interchangeable with Hiiragi)
    • The Big Guy: Kagetsu Hakamada
    • The Smart Guy: Hiiragi Takenaka (interchangeable with Tsubaki)
    • The Chick: Masami Fujii
  • The Mentor: Subaru Hasegawa, Mihoshi Takamura, Aoi Ogiyama, and Banri Kashii.
• Gag Boobs: Airi, the impossibly well-endowed sixth-grader.
• Game-Breaking Injury
  • Mihoshi's sudden bout with appendicitis.
  • Manaka had to walk with a pair of pimp canes after getting one. She recovered just in time for the regional tournament.
  • Maho had to sit out the fourth quarter of their regionals game against Suzuridani. She eventually came back in overtime.
• Gamer Chick: Maho.
• Genki Girl: Maho.
• Genre Savvy: Subaru.
• Gentle Giant
  • Poor sweet and vulnerable Airi.
  • Suzuridani's 5th grade center Aya Miyakoouji.
• Glass Cannon
  • The entire Keishin 6th grade team in the first season. Though they're a really good team, their stamina almost always give up on them when it counts. It does not stop them from winning games, though. They finally got over it in the second season as they get more experience and members on the team.
  • The 5th grade team is this cranked Up to Eleven, bordering on Fragile Speedster as their offense basically revolves around sprinting all the way to the basket and shoot before the defense could even react, and their team defense is pretty much non-existent (it only worked when Rena tried to play 1-on-5).
• Girlish Pigtails: Maho and Saki (the latter has her hair in braids when she's not playing basketball).
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Hinata has a huge collection of plushies.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Hinata wears panda print panties with her name on.
• Gratuitous English: The opening theme:

Growing my determination Don't give up and do your best Try your luck and fight! Chin-up!

• • It continues with the school nurse and her nicknames for the team (other than Tomoka, who she hasn't had an idea for yet):

Airi: Prismatic Bud Hinata: Innocent Charm Maho: Fireworks Saki: Ice Age

• • Tomoka gets hers: "Shiny Gift", courtesy of Subaru.
  • Also the rules/terms are also said in English.
• Heavy Sleeper: Hinata.
• Hime Cut: Hinata and Hijiri.
• Hot Mom: Subaru's cute-and-cuddly young mother, Nayu.
• Huge Schoolgirl
  • Airi, in height (about the same height as Subaru, a high-school boy) and other areas. She's so worried about it Subaru has to stand on his toes to create the illusion of being far taller than her, to help her overcome her height complex.
  • Aya is a little shorter than Airi, but is still taller than most girls her age.
• Hypocritical Humor: Aoi defends Subaru from their friends' accusations that he's a lolicon, then starts accusing him herself as one, although this is because of the kind of situations she keeps finding Subaru in.
• In Medias Res: The first anime episode starts with the climax of the showdown between the girls and boys' basketball team, then switches to the girls meeting Subaru for the first time after the opening credits.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl
  • Hinata, by virtue of being a Cloudcuckoolander.
  • Aoi too, courtesy of her highly-revealing axe kicks.
  • Maho doesn't seem to have a problem with changing swimsuits while Subaru is in the same room; she even had Hinata stop him when he tried to escape.
• Instant Expert: Maho.
  • Tomoka with video games.
• Kick Chick: Aoi.
• Let Us Never Speak of This Again: A certain incident in Episode 11, where Subaru gets trapped in a sauna with Aoi -- both naked -- in a deliberate ploy by Kakizono to get them closer.
• Little Sister Instinct: Kagetsu to Hinata.
• Lolicon
  • Touko, the school nurse.
  • The captain of Nashiba High School's boys' basketball team, whose affair with a grade-schooler caused a major scandal that earned his entire team a year-long suspension and broke Subaru's heart and will to play basketball.
• Male Gaze: Subaru first meets Touko by focusing on her legs first before looking up.
• Marshmallow Hell
  • Airi does this to Subaru after he rescues her from the pool.
  • In a sauna, Aoi trips and falls then KOs Subaru.
• Marilyn Maneuver: Saki during Maho's infamous Establishing Character Moment in Episode 1.
• Meganekko: Saki and Touko the school nurse.
• Megaton Punch: Well, Megaton Axe Kick to be exact, courtesy of Aoi with bonus Panty Shot. Twice, it actually sent Subaru flying; the first time he was lucky enough to land in the pool, the second time...not so much.
• Meido
  • It's the very first impression that the little basketball girls gave to Subaru. The boy, still reeling from the news of his own team earning a year-long suspension for its captain's affair with a grade-schooler, is none too amused. Done again in Episodes 3 and 12.
  • Hijiri Kuina, Maho's family's maid.
• Momma's Boy: The basis of Mihoshi's blackmail of Subaru.
• Ms. Fanservice
  • Poor Airi, being the tallest and most well-developed of the girls, she bears the brunt of this trope in the first season.
  • Aoi in both seasons.
• Natural Spotlight: Right when Tomoka pulls off her fiftieth consecutive free throw. It's the very inspiration for the nickname for her, "Shiny Gift", although Mihoshi interprets a second, really thought-out meaning from it.
• Naughty Tentacles: The octopus in Episode 9.
• Never Live It Down: In-Universe, Nashiba's basketball captain's scandalous affair with a grade-school kid seemingly earned the rest of his team the unwarranted, undeserved stigma of being just like him. This is best exemplified by Subaru, since Mihoshi (and a schoolmate of his, Kazunari Uehara) start accusing him of being a lolicon as well.
• The Nicknamer
  • Touko the school nurse, who has come up with various English nicknames for the basketball girls except Tomoka.
  • Maho also qualifies. She has "Mokkan" for Tomoka, "Airin" for Airi, "Subarun" for Subaru, "Nayu-chi" for Nayu, "Mi-tan" for Mihoshi, "Yanbaru" for Hijiri, "Gettan" for Kagetsu, and "Aoicchi" for Aoi.
• Nice Girl: Tomoka, Airi, and Aya.
• Not a Date
  • Subaru and Tomoka at the beginning of Season 1, Episode 7. Tomoka insists on the term, but the rest of the club believe otherwise.
  • Season 2, Episode 6. Subaru and Aoi won a trip for two to Kyoto, so she tries to convince her friends Zono and Shouji it's not a date. That doesn't stop them from giving her a red skimpy lingerie as a good luck charm!
• Not So Above It All: Saki, the otherwise cool-headed kid of the bunch, has her moments:
  • In Episode 4, when Maho proclaims that Subaru "proposed" to Airi, Saki tries to calm Maho down...then excitedly comment that "This is a huge development".
  • In Episode 5, when Saki finds Subaru comforting Tomoka, she misunderstands and overreacts, believing they are having a romantic moment.
  • In Episode 7, she joins the other girls in dogpiling Subaru after a little bit of hesitation.
  • In episode 9, OhCrap her reaction to Airi mentioning that her most recent swimsuit doesn't fit anymore.
• Not What It Looks Like: Subaru's Catch Phrase might as well be "It's all a misunderstanding!" Not that it spares him Aoi's wrath whenever she sees him in yet another unfortunate situation involving his charges.
• An Odd Place to Sleep: Airi sleeps in a footlocker that was fashioned into a bed, ostensibly to keep her from growing any further. It's as funny as it sounds.
• Offscreen Teleportation: Mihoshi manages to beat Subaru to his bedroom, although it was shown a second later that she actually snuck in through the room's window. Subaru still thinks that was quite a feat.

"You're not human..."

• Oh Crap
  • Subaru's reaction when he found out Aoi followed him to the Misawa mansion, catching him with the girls at the pool.
  • Subaru again in Season 2 when he found out someone has been taking pictures of him and Saki in a rather compromising position in the festival. Cue him biking all the way to his meeting place with Saki as fast as he can.
• Older Than They Look: Mihoshi and Nayu. Hinata too, especially when compared to her younger sister Kagerou, but it's less obvious.
• One-Girl Army: Tomoka beat the boys' basketball team by herself.
• The One Guy: Subaru; the only other important male cast member, Takenaka, gets Out of Focus after Episode 6.
• Opposing Sports Team: Suzuridani Academy Girls' Basketball Team.
• Panty Shot:
  • Maho thought she'd get more intimate with Subaru this way, so, she flipped everyone's skirts, only to reveal a variety of Modesty Shorts underneath.
  • Mihoshi, though, has no qualms about sitting in an immodest position in Subaru's home.
  • Aoi flaunts hers a lot (hers is striped aqua-and-white, by the way) via Axe kick.
• Patient Childhood Love Interest: Aoi
• Pettanko: The basketball girls (except Airi); so is Mihoshi.
• Power Trio: Freudian type:
  • Maho - Id
  • Saki - Superego
  • Takenaka - Ego
• Rapunzel Hair: Mihoshi, Saki, Hinata and Hijiri (Maho's maid).
• Red Baron: Saki's "Speed Demon". She's not exactly known for speed in basketball, so it might be speed in some other area.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni
  • Childhood friends Maho and Saki.
  • The Suzuridani 5th grade dynamic duo of Rena and Aya.
• Rose-Haired Girl: Tomoka's is pink, and Hinata's hair is a lighter shade of pink.
• Running Gag: in the "On the Next..." segments, the girls discussing anything but what's going to happen in the following episode, and then getting flustered when time runs out.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Saki while making okonomiyaki.
• School Nurse: Touko.
• Secret Test of Character: Aoi's challenge to Subaru's girls, which is actually intended to help Airi overcome her height complex so that she can play her best-suited role.
• Sensei-chan: Mihoshi, Subaru's aunt and the basketball team's advisor.
• Serious Business: Saki sees making okonomiyaki and yakisoba as this, since her father owns an okonomiyaki shop.
  • Returning girls' panties is a life-or-death situation.
  • When asked by Subaru to help stop Maho and Takenaka's constant squabbling, Tomoka really gets into it.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Subaru towards Aoi, and vice-versa. Their friends aren't convinced.
• Shipper on Deck: Kakizono and Manaka ships Aoi and Subaru.
  • Tomoka/Subaru gets support from the rest of the basketball club, especially Saki.
• Shout-Out: In Episode 8, Maho's avatar is dressed like Indiana Jones.
• Show the Forehead: Saki while playing basketball.
• Shrinking Violet: Or rather "Weeping Willow" in Airi's case.
• Silver-Haired Pretty Girl: Touko.
• Skinship Grope: In the showers, to Airi.
• Spit Take: Subaru's reaction to the first part of Mihoshi's blackmail.

"The person who, at five years of age, dirtied my first bra and turned it black, rendering it useless."

• Spoiled Sweet: Maho.
• Sprouting Ears: When Mihoshi's being mischievous, "Sproing!" and out comes a pair of cat ears, with feline behavior to boot.
• Stab the Sky: Maho, with a popsicle.
• Stealth Mentor: Aoi
• Strange Girl: Hinata, who 99% of the time seems to exist in her own little bright and perpetually happy alternate universe.
• Sugar and Ice Personality: Saki has shades of this.
• Super-Deformed: The girls' chatroom is represented by chibi avatars in various backgrounds. These are also the setting of the "On the Next...".
• Supreme Chef: Nayu.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial

Saki: "I didn't hear anything nor did I secretly take any pictures with my cellphone, so don't worry!"

• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Saki has huge potential to be one, considering her seiyuu. Hijiri also qualifies.
• Team Dad: Subaru to the Keishin team.
• Team Mom: The basketball girls have Mihoshi, Nayu, and later, Aoi.
• Tender Tears: Tomoka in Episode 2, touched by Subaru's vow to protect her dream of playing basketball.
  • All the girls in Episode 5, after winning the basketball game with a Maho buzzer-beater.
  • Airi after Subaru said he lied to her, and again near the end of Episode 7.
• Third Person Person: Hinata
• Those Two Girls: Mishouji and Kakizono, Aoi's two friends.
• Through His Stomach: About that "I love you, Mommy!" letter Subaru wrote? Yeah, the read-out-loud part says that it's because she cooks delicious food.
• Token Mini-Moe: Hinata, despite being the same age as her teammates.
  • Overall the trope is inverted even, since most of the cast are adorable girls while only a few are teens.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kagetsu and Hinata.
• Took a Level In Badass
  • Saki moves up to Point Guard after Tomoka proves to be a poor playmaker (she's too polite to hand the ball over to Maho when she asks for it, and tends to announce her moves within earshot of their opponents). She then proceeds to devise a Batman Gambit to effortlessly destroy Suzuridani's 2-3 zone defense.
  • Hinata's Character Development is basically this. She's not even done yet in Season 2, when she utterly stomped an opponent who gave her a hard time before.
  • Maho used to be all-offense in the first season, but went full-on BEAST MODE on both ends of the floor in the second season when she pulled a Wronski Feint on the Suzuridani twin towers and held Rena scoreless in the second half (excluding overtime) of their tournament match when the entire 5th grade team could barely stop her in the second quarter.
• Tsundere: Unusually, the show has two male examples in the form of Subaru and Takenaka, and one female example in Aoi.
• True Companions: Subaru, Tomoka, Maho, Airi, Hinata and Saki; it also includes, to a lesser extent, Mihoshi and Aoi.
  • It's also a major plot point as part of Subaru and Tomoka's Character Development.
• Verbal Tic: Hinata has her "Oh~!"
• What the Hell, Hero?: Maho running out because she didn't like how Subaru (and Tomoka) hid the fact that in order to compete in tournaments, a basketball team needs more than five players.
  • Manaka called Miyu out of her whining for getting beaten by "amateurs" and told her to play seriously.
  • Aya calls out Rena for dragging her team down with her hero-ball antics.
• X Meets Y: Slam Dunk with an all-girls lineup.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Saki's hair is light blue and Aoi's hair is a darker shade of blue.
• Younger Than They Look: Airi (12 years old), who can easily pass for a tall and athletic 16 year old if nobody mentions her age.
• Zettai Ryouiki: Hinata (in her PE outfit), Airi (in her civilian outfit during the Suzuridani training camp) Aoi, and Rena (in her civilian outfit).