Ro-Kyu-Bu!
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese sports comedy light novel series written by Sagu Aoyama with illustrations by Tinkle. The series is about a high school freshman Subaru Hasegawa who becomes the coach of a grade school's girls basketball team after the high school team's captain was suspected for being a lolicon
. The novels are published under ASCII Media Works
's Dengeki Bunko
imprint, and eight volumes have been published since February 2009. Ro-Kyu-Bu! has been adapted into two manga
series, an anime
television series and a PlayStation Portable
visual novel
.
, despite his love for the sport, when his school's team captain was suspected of hitting on a girl much younger than him and the club is disbanded for a year. His aunt, Mihoshi Takamura, then assigns him to be an elementary school girl's basketball team coach. Initially, he accepts to train the girls just for three days, but after learning of their circumstances, he decided to keep coaching them.
' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize
in 2008 and the novel won the Silver Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009 under their Dengeki Bunko
imprint. , eight volumes has been published.
. The first tankōbon
volume was released on April 27, 2011. A four-panel
comic strip
manga titled illustrated by Futaba Miwa began serialization in the June 2011 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Moeoh magazine.
announced that an anime adaptation was in the works in February 2011. The series will be directed by Keizou Kusakawa with Michiko Itō has script supervisor. The series began its broadcast run in Japan on July 1, 2011 on the AT-X network and rebroadcast on KBS Kyoto, Tokyo MX, TV Kanagawa, Sun TV, Chiba TV
, TV Aichi, and Teletama. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime for simulcast.
visual novel
titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! developed by Vridge and published by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa Games will be released on October 27, 2011.
Lolicon
, also romanised as lolikon or rorikon, is a Japanese portmanteau of the phrase "Lolita complex". In Japan, the term describes an attraction to underage girls or an individual with such an attraction...
. The novels are published under ASCII Media Works
ASCII Media Works
is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...
's Dengeki Bunko
Dengeki Bunko
is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works . It was established in June 1993 with the publication of Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania volume one, and is a light novel imprint aimed at a male audience...
imprint, and eight volumes have been published since February 2009. Ro-Kyu-Bu! has been adapted into two manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series, an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series and a PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
.
Plot
High school student Subaru Hasegawa decides to stop associating himself with basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, despite his love for the sport, when his school's team captain was suspected of hitting on a girl much younger than him and the club is disbanded for a year. His aunt, Mihoshi Takamura, then assigns him to be an elementary school girl's basketball team coach. Initially, he accepts to train the girls just for three days, but after learning of their circumstances, he decided to keep coaching them.
Characters
- The main protagonist and a high school student who is tasked by his aunt to coach an all female sixth grade school basketball team. Currently, his school's basketball club had its activities suspended after its team captain got himself involved in a scandal. He reluctantly accepts Mihoshi's offer for him to train the girls for only three days initially, until he learns that the club is at the brink of being disbanded without his help, and he realizes how important it is to Tomoka and her friends.
- The best player of the team and the only one who had played basketball before. It does not take long for Subaru to find great potential in her, and thanks to her talent and dedication he decides to keep coaching them. She has not been in Keishin Academy for long, in her previous school she became so obsessed with winning that it caused her to become isolated and was forced to transfer. In Keishin Academy, she found new friends and realized that winning is not everything. Despite the fact that she still loves basketball, Tomoka is not willing to play without having her friends with her. Of all the girls, Tomoka is the one who gets closest to Subaru and seems to be the one who likes him the most.
- Coming from an extremely wealthy family, Maho is the most energetic member of the team, who is always coming up with ideas that always seem to cause embarrassment for the other girls. She was the first of the girls to befriend Tomoka, as well as the reason Tomoka decided to form the girl's basketball club. She is afraid of the dark. She is also described as Takenaka to be a genius, quickly adapting to any sport she gains interest in. Unfortunately she also loses interest just as fast, which is the source of her split with him due to his seriousness of basketball and her developing interest.
- The most quiet and shy girl of the five. Due to being too tall and well endowed for her age, she has an extreme complex about her height, which causes her to burst into tears whenever any mention of it is being made. She happens to be the oldest girl in the group as well, being born in April. When younger, she fell from a boat into a lake and since then developed a mild case of aquaphobiaAquaphobiaAquaphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of water. Aquaphobia is a specific phobia that involves a level of fear that is beyond the patient's control or that may interfere with daily life. People suffer aquaphobia in many ways and may experience it even though they realize the water in an...
that prevents her from swimming.
- The smallest of the girls who often speaks in a polite manner and has a huge collection of plush toys. Despite looking like she is the most innocent and naive of the team, sometimes her behavior suggests otherwise. She is the youngest of the girls, being born in March (due to the fact that in Japan, schools start term in April). Hinata has an overprotective, younger sister named Kagetsu who is a lot larger than she is.
- The bespectacled and level-headed member of the team, who keeps Maho in check whenever the latter goes overboard with her enthusiasm. She also stops Maho and Takenaka from fighting as well. She works with her father in an okonomiyaki shop.
- Subaru's aunt who was chosen as the advisor of the basketball team and having no knowledge of the sport at all, she blackmailed him by threatening to expose embarrassing moments of his childhood if he would not help her with the club.
- Subaru's mother and Mihoshi's elder sister who was worried about her son after he was forced to stop playing basketball at school, and got herself relieved knowing that his enthusiasm was renewed after he became the girls' coach.
- He is the captain of the boy's basketball team. He is convinced that the girls' basketball club does not deserve to exist as, to him, its members are only playing around instead of truly competing. He harbors a crush on Hinata, a fact known by all his classmates. He is also childhood friends with both Maho and Saki, and fell out with Maho over basketball, although they eventually make up.
- Subaru's childhood friend and also a former member of his school's basketball club, who displays feelings for him despite refusing to admit. She is always prone to help Subaru when he is in trouble or depressed, but for some reason he avoids telling her he is coaching a team of elementary schoolgirls, until she follows him and finds it by herself. She also has romantic feelings for Subaru being that she often blushes when something is said regarding the two of them being together.
Light novels
Ro-Kyu-Bu! began as a light novel series written by Sagu Aoyama with illustrations by Tinkle. Originally, Aoyama entered the first novel in the series into ASCII Media WorksASCII Media Works
is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...
' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize
Dengeki Novel Prize
The is a literary award handed out annually by the Japanese publisher ASCII Media Works for their Dengeki Bunko light novel imprint. The contest has discovered many popular and successful light novelists, like Kouhei Kadono and Yashichiro Takahashi. Originally called the Dengeki Game Novel...
in 2008 and the novel won the Silver Prize. The first novel was published by ASCII Media Works on February 10, 2009 under their Dengeki Bunko
Dengeki Bunko
is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works . It was established in June 1993 with the publication of Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania volume one, and is a light novel imprint aimed at a male audience...
imprint. , eight volumes has been published.
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Yūki Takami began serialization in the October 2010 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's MagazineDengeki G's Magazine
is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and serializes manga and light novels based on such games. The "G's" in the title...
. The first tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volume was released on April 27, 2011. A four-panel
Yonkoma
thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
manga titled illustrated by Futaba Miwa began serialization in the June 2011 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Moeoh magazine.
Anime
Dengeki Bunko MagazineDengeki Bunko Magazine
is a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works . The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine Dengeki hp, and originally was published as a special edition issue of Dengeki Daioh for the first two issues; the first issue was released on December 10, 2007...
announced that an anime adaptation was in the works in February 2011. The series will be directed by Keizou Kusakawa with Michiko Itō has script supervisor. The series began its broadcast run in Japan on July 1, 2011 on the AT-X network and rebroadcast on KBS Kyoto, Tokyo MX, TV Kanagawa, Sun TV, Chiba TV
Chiba TV
, doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neibouring prefectures. It is a member of the Japanese Association of Independent...
, TV Aichi, and Teletama. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime for simulcast.
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
Visual novel
A PlayStation PortablePlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! developed by Vridge and published by ASCII Media Works and Kadokawa Games will be released on October 27, 2011.