Ro-Kyu-Bu!
Ro-Kyu-Bu! is a Japanese light novel series written by Sagu Aoyama and illustrated by Tinkle. ASCII Media Works published 15 novels between February 2009 to July 2015. The series follows a high school freshman Subaru Hasegawa who becomes the coach of a grade school's girls' basketball team after his own basketball club is disbanded for a year due to a scandal. Three manga adaptations and three PlayStation Portable visual novel games were produced. A 12-episode anime television series, animated by Project No.9 and Studio Blanc, aired between July and September 2011. A 12-episode second season titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS, animated solely by Project No.9, aired between July and September 2013.
Plot
High school freshman Subaru Hasegawa is forced to stop playing basketball at his school for a while when the team captain gets himself involved in a scandal for being suspected of sexually abusing a little girl, and the club is disbanded for a year. His aunt, Mihoshi Takamura, then assigns him to be an elementary school girls' basketball team coach. Initially, he agreed to train the girls just for three days, but after learning of their circumstances, he decided to keep coaching them. Thanks to the girls, Subaru's passion for basketball is reignited as his efforts to improve their skills come to fruition and he becomes close friends with them.Characters
Keishin Academy
Coaching staff
;Subaru Hasegawa;Aoi Ogiyama
;Mihoshi Takamura
;Touko Hatano
Sixth graders
;Tomoka Minato;Maho Misawa
;Saki Nagatsuka
;Airi Kashii
;Hinata Hakamada
Fifth graders
;Kagetsu Hakamada;Mimi Balguerie
;Tsubaki Takenaka and Hiiragi Takenaka
;Masami Fujii
Suzuridani Academy
;Miyu Aida;Aya Miyakoōji
;Rena Ashihara
Others
;Kazunari Uehara;Natsuhi Takenaka
;Nayu Hasegawa
;Ginga Hasegawa
;Shinobu Minato
;Kaori Minato
;Banri Kashii
;Ryuuichi Suga
;Ogasawara
Media
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 Works' 15th Dengeki Novel Prize in 2008 and the novel won the Silver Prize. ASCII Media Works published 15 novels under their Dengeki Bunko imprint between February 10, 2009, and July 10, 2015.Manga
A manga adaptation, illustrated by Yūki Takami, began serialization in the October 2010 issue of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Magazine. The manga ended serialization in the magazine's May 2014 issue and was transferred to Dengeki G's Comic starting with the June 2014 issue. The first volume was released on April 27, 2011; 12 volumes were released in total. A four-panel comic strip manga, titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! Yonkoma and illustrated by Futaba Miwa, was serialized from June 2011 to October 2013 issues of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Moeoh magazine and compiled into two volumes. The first volume was released on April 27, 2012; the second followed on September 27, 2013. A spin-off manga, titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! Halftime and illustrated by Yūki Takami, began serialization in volume 26 of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki G's Festival! Comic on October 26, 2012, and ended on August 29, 2015. It was compiled into three volumes. The first volume was released on August 27, 2013.Anime
A 12-episode anime television series, animated by Project No.9 and Studio Blanc, aired in Japan between July 1 and September 24, 2011, on the AT-X network, and was later rebroadcast on KBS Kyoto, Tokyo MX, TV Kanagawa, Sun TV, Chiba TV, TV Aichi, and Teletama. The series is directed by Keizō Kusakawa with Michiko Itō as script supervisor. The opening theme is "Shoot!" and the ending theme is "Party Love "; both songs are sung by Ro-Kyu-Bu!, a five-member group consisting of Kana Hanazawa, Yuka Iguchi, Rina Hidaka, Yui Ogura, and Yōko Hikasa. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime for simulcast, though were later requested by the production committee to relinquish home video rights. The Anime Network aired the series in the United States. An original video animation, titled Ro-Kyu-Bu!: Tomoka no Ichigo Sundae, was bundled with the release of the PlayStation Portable game Ro-Kyu-Bu!: Himitsu no Otoshimono on June 20, 2013.A 12-episode second season titled Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS, animated by Project No.9 and directed by Shinsuke Yanagi, aired between July 5 and September 27, 2013. The opening theme is "Get goal!" and the ending theme is "Rolling! Rolling!"; both songs are sung by the five-member group Ro-Kyu-Bu!.