Ro-Kyu-Bu!/Awesome

Ro-Kyu-Bu!/Awesome

Don't let the Moe Moe aesthetic fool you. True to form as the Distaff Counterpart Spiritual Successor to Slam Dunk, Ro-Kyu-Bu! definitely has its share of awesome moments as a sports series.

Ro-Kyu-Bu!

 * Subaru making 10 free throws in a row in the arcade. While it's not exactly as awesome as it sounds, keep in mind that he has been out of practice for quite a while since his own basketball team disbanded.
 * Tomoka taking on boys her age all by herself during gym class. This single act alone inspired Maho take up basketball and form the Keishin girls' basketball team.
 * Tomoka challenges Subaru one-on-one in their first ever practice session together with the condition that he continues coaching her team if she wins. He proceeds to wipe the floor with her without even jumping to block. Though to be fair, he did place a handicap on himself not to jump, and she did not take any jump shots either, so all of her shot attempts were drives to the basket that he can easily defend against with his experience and size advantage.
 * However, when Subaru learned of Tomoka's back story, he was so moved by her dream to play basketball with her newfound friends even if she has to quit playing otherwise it got him back to basketball and he decides to stay on anyway to protect it.
 * The boys vs girls match is arguably the first Crowning Moment of Awesome in the series. Without the game ending up like it did, the story would have ended then and there.
 * With a bit of trickery, he had Airi feast on the boys' non-existent frontline to draw double teams on her, freeing up either Maho or Saki for an open jump shot. If that fails, it's down to Tomoka going one-on-one on Natsuhi, and if that fails, Hinata's Innocent Charm should do the job.
 * With the game and her team on the line in the final minutes, Tomoka once again takes on the boys by herself. But when they triple-teamed her on the last play, it was Maho of all people who won the game for the team at the buzzer!
 * It was stated by Mihoshi that Subaru managed to take his weak middle school team to the regional final the previous year. Then he topped that by training a bunch of cute little girls, most of whom know nothing about basketball at all, with nothing but the basics to beat the boys' team, which was all but stated to be the defending regional champions. A bunch of cute little girls defeated the best boys' basketball team in the region!
 * Tomoka taking on Mihoshi's challenge to make 50 free throws in a row so that Subaru can keep coaching the girls, and with massive persistence, eventually pulling it off in the rain! Shiny Gift, indeed!
 * In Episode 7, Tomoka would have managed to get past Subaru for the first time ever, if only she did not trip over her worn-out shoes.
 * In Episode 8, with Subaru's place in the team on the line, Airi managed to block Aoi's potential game-winning shot, and... lands on her boobs.
 * The practice match between Keishin and Suzuridani at the latter's training camp.
 * Saki proving to be a very effective Point Guard, allowing Tomoka to focus more on scoring. She may have failed to win the game for her team in the end, but it was thanks to her and Subaru's strategy that Keishin managed to hold their own against the best girls' basketball team in the region.
 * Manaka calling out Miyu for constantly underestimating Keishin despite getting stomped by Tomoka and Maho.
 * "Keishin is strong. If you have no intention of taking them seriously, go home."

Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS

 * The first of many duels between Tomoka and Mimi. The French girl showed off skills beyond most elementary schoolgirls, but Tomoka's experience won her the day.
 * With the fifth graders' collective asses getting kicked, Subaru's father Ginga takes over as coach and cooks up a strategy where they take turns shooting the ball, and he is able to persuade them to stick through it far smoother than Subaru ever did with the sixth graders. This allowed the fifth graders to compete so well for a hastily-formed team, but Tomoka and co. hold their ground to win the dojo match in the end.
 * When you realized how badass Ginga was both as a player and as a coach and Subaru had to get his own skills somewhere, you now know where the awesome comes from.
 * Subaru's Heroic Rematch with Ryuichi and his gang.
 * After at least a night of bonding with Tomoka, they are now in perfect sync with each other, allowing her to successfully receive his backdoor pass she couldn't before.
 * Airi finding the courage and strength to finally defeat the center player in Ryuichi's gang, with a little bit of encouragement from Banri.
 * Subaru spamming his newly-mastered scoop shot to finally defeat Ryuichi one-on-one.
 * While the ForM exhibition tournament isn't as great as the regional tournament later on, it also has a good amount of awesome on its own.
 * The two Keishin teams and the Suzuridani B-team easily making through the semifinal is a true testament to the strength of these two teams.
 * The Keishin fifth graders run-and-gun strategy courtesy of Aoi is pretty much taken straight out of Mike D'Antoni's "Seven Seconds or Less" playbook with the Phoenix Suns. This allows them to set up their offense before the defense could react, and cruise to a halftime lead against the sixth graders.
 * Subaru proceeds to turn the tables on them by reducing their offensive rotations to only three players and have the Saki and Airi duo focus on defense. He has Airi roam around the area just short of the free throw line to deter penetrations from Mimi and TsubaHii, forcing them to pass to Masami, who will always attempt a long-range jumpshot. Saki then proceeds to slowly take her outside of her shooting range by forcing her farther and farther away from the basket.
 * Masami making the long range shot from near halfcourt with Saki breathing down her neck.
 * Tomoka wins the semifinal game with her own version of the scoop shot, complete with angel wings sprouting out of her back.

Miscellanous and Meta

 * Hinata's Character Development is definitely a Crowning Moment of Awesome in itself. To wit:
 * She made the game-winning shot against the boys' team, this time in the inter-class tournament.
 * The BOSS HAND reverse shot against Suzuridani in their practice match, which she does again in their official match.
 * In SS, she managed to curb-stomp an opponent who was giving her a hard time before.


 * While Ro-Kyu-Bu! almost certainly did not influence the rise of Japanese basketball the way Kuroko no Basuke does today, it may not be a mere coincidence that the Japanese women's national basketball team managed to win the Asian championship three times in a row since the anime series aired in 2011.
 * The above three-peat by Japan culminated in an amazing championship run by their B-team in 2017, with American coach Tom Hovasse as their own Subaru.