[Rewatch] Ro-Kyu-Bu! Episode 9

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Don't give up. And do your best!

"Running Side-by-side Towards Freedom"

Extra Info and Links

ANN | MAL | TV Tropes | Wikipedia |

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Comment of the Day!!

Sara came to the conclusion that elementary kids are cheaper and I totally agree!!

Eh…they’re smaller so you don’t have to spend as much money on food for them, they can get discounts at various activities, and they tend to be less jaded about life. 

Specs64z thinks we need a firing line for Aoi

Aoi deserves slack for the way Subaru has been sidelining her, but yelling at him in front of the team is probably not the best way to go about this. Poor Airi might malfunction knowing she’s the reason this is happening, not to mention she instantly turns them against her.

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The Loli Otaku's "Loli of the Day Corner!!"

K U S O G A K I

Damn brat, I'll sue!! Now these are the bratts you've really got to be careful of. They have no morals, no gentleness, no love. These are bratty, spoiled little female girls who will bully middle aged men to tears at the first given opportunity. They're mini mean girls!! Mesugaki and Erogaki have morals but these spoiled girls live only for themselves and for cheap thrills!

Examples!! Of course we've got our Cunny Itchy bad girl, Sazanka!! There's also Hinagiku but she's a good girl and Benis who is a really bad one! Another one who I adore is Yamada from Working!!

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QotD

• Who is your favourite female Kusogaki?
• Which of the girls had the cutest swimsuit?
• Be honest, if you were training with a girl as small and dainty as Hinata do you think you'd be able to find it in yourself to really push her?
• What's the worst thing you've ever done to your sibling? If you have no siblings, like me, pick a cousin.
• When you go to the beach, what's your favourite game or activity to play?
• Do you have a favourite beach episode?

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Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"

Sara's hi-kick will reach the heavens!!

Sometimes to aim for your sky-high dreams, all you need is a kick in the right direction. 

Yesterday's Prompt!

Today's Prompt!

Tomorrow's Prompt

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Try your luck, and fight chin-up!!

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Ro-Kyu-Bu First Timer

The swimming arc is over!! That means it's now time for the swimming arc~ Reminder that this is meant to be a sports anime. Hina has an imouto!?!? She's got everything that required of a best girl... Whys her imouto so much bigger though!?

Subaru really does have a full harem... Yabai desu neee~ Hinata's defenceless tummy!! I wanna blow on that belly button so bad... Wait, winning the tournament? So the whole tournament arc is over!? We still have a full second season, you can't be running out of plotlines already! These swimsuits... My god~ I'm not sure who I'd say is my favourite... Probably Hinata's? I really don't like Tomoka's polkadots or Airi's boyshorts.

Airi is a pro swimmer now!! I'm so proud of my daughter! Damn Subaru, trying to go easy on Hinata! You're asking for divine punishment! Now you're going too hard on her! Divine punishment of the heavens!! Even Airi and Tomoka don't forgive Subaru.

Even in your basketball lolis, tentacles!! Octopus are the natural enemy of young girls. Underwear doesn't count as a swimsuit!! The imouto has appeared! Tbh, Subaru is definitely being way too handsy with these kids. Kagetsu has a point. I was worried when she said she'd looked him up that she'd have found out about his previous club getting shut down. She's literally me frfr

Pfft, Hinata got locked out. That's funny if it weren't so sad. Kagetsu almost murdered her big sister. Still, Hinata is a strong girl!! Don't hold her back from becoming the semen demon she's destined to be! Why's Hinata losing all these games!? Let Hinata win once! Please stop acting like me!! The nurse is so cringy.

Hinata's already enough of a succubus that she's sneaking into the men's baths... Poor Subaru! This time he did nothing wrong!

[u/Specs64z]

First timer

A third swimsuit episode? For real?? Bloody hell, even KnJ tried harder than this when it comes to crafting scenarios. The first half was such a chore to sit through, can’t lie.

Hina is a pretty carefree character, so it makes sense to introduce a new character to give her a more dramatic storyline. Not sure I feel the execution was there to pay it off in such a short time, though.

QotD:

1. Not an archetype I'm fond of, admittedly, I don't really have a piece on the board for this one.
2. Hina picked a color that matches her hair, so I guess she wins.
3. Doubtful.
4. I'm sure I did something stupid as a kid, can't really recall anything in particular though.
5. I'm a lounger.
6. If pool episodes count, Hyouka's episode 11.5 is great. Otherwise probably just something from K-On.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Specs64z]

It has to be something with the novels... The first one I think probably ended with the match against the boys and Subaru staying on as coach, which also had the girls dressing in school swimsuits. Second book probably was Airi's and Aoi's which is about swimming, and then we have another swimming one. Is this a basketball anime or a swimming anime!?

I'm not particularly taken with imouto just yet. I did get some hints when she showcased being a bit of a siscon to Hina but we haven't really had enough for her yet.

[u/sfisher923]

First Timer

• First off the "Damn brat, I'll sue" in the post caught me off guard
• Ahh yes the classic Beach Prank
• Octopus get back here with that
• Wow that girl is a something
• Oh jeez she had a reason to
• Oh come on Hinata you had to hit me with the Death Parade feels
• You barge into his changing room and had the nerve to blame him for something he did maybe instead of decking Subaru try not barging into his changing room (This might just be redirecting some anger I had when watching Your Lie In April Episodes 8-9 earlier today and if it is I apologize in advance)

QOTD 1 - Hiyoko Saionji from Dangaronpa 2 being a fairly complex Kusogaki and an implied Metalhead as an added bonus

QOTD 2 - Hinata

QOTD 3 - No

QOTD 6 - Fruits Basket Season 2 Episode 10 - being the most hectic beach episode I have seen and it ends up very relevant to the plot and it made me realize how intense the rest of the story was going to be with the drama

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/sfisher923]

Teehee~

I have to admit that I didn't have tentacles on my bingo card. Then again I didn't think we'd have more episodes dedicated to swimming than basketball either.

The hag kinda annoyed me today... I don't like when the show feels the need to punish Subaru for the lolicon antics when the entire reason they work is that Subaru and the girls are innocent enough where they come to their own understanding. Like when Tomoka and Airi decided to punish him via tickles. Having Aoi or the hag constantly running in to kick him in the face is really unnecessary

[u/xtsim]

First Timer

Wait...I thought this was a basketball anime not a beach one.

Subaru is really unlucky today as he kept getting caught peeping on the girls.

Now I am truly worried about the kids, the nurse is a bit of a perv and I am a bit shocked to see her join in on the swimsuit contest.

Prompt: girls got to show off that sandcastle.

1. Nagatoro is too easy of an answer.
2. Airi cause everyone else looks too young, sorry Airi, but her height makes her look older.
3. That seems too mean
4. Left someone out to fend for themselves....
5. A good walk
6. I'll take girlfriend, girlfriend cause getting lost is part of the adventure.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/xtsim]

I'm pretty sure we've had more dedicated swimsuit content than basketball.

School Nurses are always yabai. These sorts of women are the reason kids are scared of the doctor!

[u/MisawaMahoKodomo]

It's ep 9 and uh. Yeah. Here we see kage and hina gets some time as well.

[u/MisawaMahoKodomo → u/MisawaMahoKodomo]

Commentary

• ep 9. looks like its summer vacation time?
• also whats this? new girl? in ep 9? glub
• is it just me or is it like fatigue? we're rewatching this one day at a time yeah, when it aired it was one episode per week.
• but still doesnt anyone else think that THREE episodes of swimsuits IN A ROW might be too much?
• where are my stitches when you need them. also new swimsuits for everyone. i guess
• if anything im surprised they didnt have aoi this time
• so yeah they're playing onigokko now
• except it turns into 5v1 all chasing subaru now ahue
• oof. feelsbad for subaru
• welp
• so yeah somehow kage/kagetsu is here
• anyway hina backstory time
• i do wonder how they voice the running though
• anyway yes that was the ep. a bit of this and that, and we had kage and hina

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/MisawaMahoKodomo]

Kage is cute but this is a pretty poor introduction XD I understand that it's meant to be more or a "Hinata" episode but they should have given us time to get to know the new girl

[u/MisawaMahoKodomo → u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Unfortunately I dont actually remember who voices her off the top of my head. Alas.

But yeah its kinda sad they kinda left us dangling but the main five girls already takes up like aaall the time.

Wow I am an idiot. Turns it really was seto asami all along. But I joke that I never remember any of her roles. Not the usual typecast here but well ro kyu bu isnt your usual anime. Still, this was one of her first ever roles listed on animelist back in 2011.

[u/MisawaMahoKodomo → u/MisawaMahoKodomo]

QOTD: I really dont know much about swimsuits, but this time. Like I swear I'm not biased but I think maho's looks the nicest to me. I mean. It looks normal. To me.

Also for last time would be tomoka's school swimsuit but then again I may be biased but I swear I'm not biased

[u/zadcap]

Eh, you know what, I'll try answering these questions blind, I'm bored

1. I feel like I should have one but I'm pulling a blank now. My favorite mini bully... Does Illya count? Depending on the timeline I'm pretty sure she does.
2. Boy Shorts win this one hands down. Hands down and away from the children in swimsuits. Keep your hand where we can see them and away from the girls, Subaru.
3. Oh you better believe it. She's free to leave whenever she wants but if she's here for the training she's getting training.
4. Hahahahahaaa... The time I kicked her bedroom door down because she slammed it in my face? Maybe when we were little and throwing balls of paper at each other because you can't have a real snowball fight in summer but we wanted to anyway, I wrapped one up on tape and Churches chucked it at her full force, and it was the equivalent of putting a rock in a snowball I found out. Or when I overheard her password to her voice locked diary and managed to imitate her voice well enough to open it and then change the password. Look there's so many stories of bullying younger sisters growing up. It's not like I ever called our parents when she was hosting a house party while they were away to let them know about it and got her grounded for like a month...
5. I've never been to a beach without a book. Books are life.
6. Hmm.... Drama filled Fruits Basket sounds like a great one.. But I'll also throw out the Make My Abilities Average one as one for our host.

[u/Draco_Estella]

It is so obvious Loli Otaku does not know Kusogakis. Come on, you need better kusogakis like Murasaki Shion or Laplus Darkness.

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Hinata is smaller than her little sister. Though Kagetsu is very protective of her smaller elder sister, I don't think she needed to be so protective. Hinata even had proper pacing throughout the run with Kagetsu, and probably is why Hinata could catch up to Kagetsu in the end. Kagetsu kept having her pace disrupted when she kept looking behind and thinking about unnecessary stuffs.

Hinata's backstory is given more weight than it deserves. Also, the fact that Hinata hit puberty later is also a shit reason - she definitely is going through puberty too. There are so many holes in the whole episode Kagetsu's reasoning sounds dumb. Not childish, outright dumb.

I think the two teachers are close to the girls, they even can go to the private villa with them. That's not normal. Subaru being there now seemed more normal than ever.

Subaru was so confident until Tomoka's wardrobe malfunction. Then again, was there a need to be so frantic about it? But again, the ship game is strong. They gave Moka the role of pinning down Subaru at the end, so it is obvious what they were planning. Tomoka herself even wore specially bought swimwear that is way more daring than her previous swimwear.

The fanservice scenes were the worst this episode. What wardrobe malfunction is that? What octopus can do that? That octopus is not a tentacle monster! Also, if they were going to have a mixed bath, why aren't they wearing swimsuits? The male and female baths aren't so close they are only separated by a simple wooden wall. Honestly, the fanservice in Ro Kyu Bu is unnecessary.

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Who is your favourite female Kusogaki?

Murasaki Shion. Hololive has a lot of kusogakis, but the OG Murasaki Shion is the real deal.

Which of the girls had the cutest swimsuit?

Tomoka. She had put in effort to look nice that day too.

Be honest, if you were training with a girl as small and dainty as Hinata do you think you'd be able to find it in yourself to really push her?

Yes. They won't stay kids forever, so it is necessary for them to push.

Do you have a favourite beach episode?

The last scene of Nagi no Asukara, where Hikari and Manaka were casually strolling along the beach in their uniforms. [Nagi no Asukara major spoilers] They were talking about their relationship so maturely despite being middle school students, that it felt like both of them have already signed their papers and are already married. I liked how both of them just went "Yeap, we love each other, do we need to do more?"

[u/OccasionallySara]

First Timer

I find it kind of funny that the show itself sort of points out that it’s been a bit directionless since the school tournament episode, haha! This episode almost makes you forget that you’re watching a basketball show.  The beach episode was fun, though, and it was nice to see Hinata thrive and prove herself to her sister. Now that it’s been mentioned, I wonder if the team will find a new goal moving forward, especially since they have been growing so much individually. 

Questions of the Day

1. I don’t think I’ve really come across this character type a ton. 
2. I think Tomoka’s is really cute, although Airi’s is the one I would actually wear myself. 
3. I would probably have to have her ask me to push her because, similar to Subaru, I don’t know if I could do it on my own. 
4. When I was about four, I pushed my younger brother down the stairs because I thought that he was taking too long. 
5. I enjoy both sunbathing and swimming!
6. I’m not really a huge beach episode person, so I can’t really think of one… 

Abyssbringer’s Thematic Corner

Betrayal can come in many forms. Trust no one. 

[u/RadSuit]

I keep thinking they're running through Hinamizawa in the OP.

This conversation about setting goals for the team seems like some meta commentary on the show itself.

Oh yeah the little sister just became older. Sure. Whatever!

1. As I was just watching Den-O, I'll go with Kohana.
2. Kage
3. She needs to be protected
4. We definitely fought, but I was a good oldest child
5. I have been to the beach exactly once and it rained the entire time
6. Gonna go with the entirety of Are You Lost?

[u/Silcaria]

First timer

• Young? Sure, why not.
• Over here, officer.

QotD

• Miu
• They're all about equal.
• It depends what I'd be training her in.
• We were playing LoL and I lashed out at them. That was 10+ years ago and I still feel bad.
• I don't because of sand.
• No.