「パラダイム銀河」 (Paradaimu Ginga)
“Paradigm Ginga”

Ginga shifts the paradigm of the game (see what I did there? Ahaha! Sorry, I’ll stop), but not enough to pull off the upset. Now, their new coach on the other hand…

For Victory! No–For Ice Cream!

After last episode, the 5th graders had a big point deficit and they weren’t playing like a team, which pretty much doomed their chances in this match. Ginga wasn’t able to change that, but his tactic did wonders for getting them to start working together. Kagetsu seemed especially good at team work, probably because she’s the only one who isn’t on that team due to some personal vendetta. But what I most enjoyed about Ginga’s tactic was three-fold – that he bribed the girls with ice cream, that they actually accepted the bribe, and that Subaru figured out what they were doing. It’s uncommon to have a competent male lead, so to have Subaru + his father be total badasses is a pleasure to see.

But back to the individual players, here are some predictions for how the fifth graders will grow over this season: Kage will learn to shoot up close, Masami will learn to not go for three pointers all the time, TsubaHii will learn to not depend on their twin telepathy quite so much, and Mimi will learn to stop getting tunnel vision when she comes up against a strong individual player. As for the sixth graders, hard to say – I would like to see Airi become more assertive and Maho more patient, but who knows. I do know that they set Tomoka up to win with a floater at a critical moment, so watch for that.

Coach Aoi

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that Ginga was going to finish out the season as the 5th grader’s coach, but I’m pleased that Aoi became their coach instead. She’s a much more central character than either Ginga or Natsuhi, so her being Subaru’s rival gives him someone to strive against as well. I have to admit though, I would have liked to see Subaru vs Natsuhi. More chances for Natsuhi to be all tsundere about Hina, oh~!

In other news, disappointed Aoi was hilarious! I was cracking up when she misunderstood things and thought Subaru was shopping for a gift for her. Sorry Aoi-chan, even with that nice full-body flash you gave him last season, he still doesn’t think of you as girlfriend material. My tip: work on your jump shot. Subaru loves a sexy jump shot.

Tomoka’s Birthday Party of HNNNG!

I very much enjoy the emphasis they’ve placed on basketball this season (though I’m not sure what to think of whatever Subaru and Aoi are putting together at school), but it just isn’t Ro-Kyu-Bu without some hyper-cute romantic shenanigans. Enter: Tomoka’s birthday party! First of all, Tomoka’s mom is totally shipping her daughter with Subaru. She’s going to make sure to teach her how to cook to get her ready, isn’t she? Ufufu~

Also, I could take screenshots of Hina being adorable all day long. What? Nothing weird! Especially not when it leads to Tomoka being adorable. I…I… *massive, crippling nosebleed* Not sure if I can take this level of cute! But I shall persevere. No–I must!

Looking Ahead

It’s weird to consider, but for both the coaches and the teams, the protagonists are actually favored to win. The protagonists are usually the underdogs! It’ll be interesting to see if they can dial up the tension for the later basketball games. Will they have to combine the two teams and go up against an even better team to do it? I don’t know. All I know is this – screw it. Most shows I write for you as much as for myself, but this one is all for me. I know hardly anyone will be reading, but I want to write it anyway. Show picked up. Bring on the basket lolis!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Ginga’s ice cream bribe stratagem works, but not well enough. Meanwhile, Tomoka’s birthday party, sitting on Subaru’s lap, HNNNG~! #rokyubu

Random thoughts:

  • But really, that ice cream gambit was smooth. Ginga really knows how to get little girls to do what he wants. Erh–wait, no, not like that!
  • I just realized – this time, HanaKana is fighting against France-tan? Conflicted!
  • “Hasegawa-san belongs to Tomo today!” OH GODS, OH GODS, OH GODS. MAH HEART, IT CAN’T TAKE IT!!

For more from yours truly, check out my blog on writing, art, and the book I’m working on at stiltsoutloud.com.

 

Preview

39 Comments

  1. Subaru:”Nothing is more important than Tomoka’s birthday.”
    Tomoka:”Fueeeeh!”
    &
    That scene where they plant Tomoka on Subaru’s lap……

    My heart can’t take it…… in the words of Keima from TWGOK…. At least let me see the ending!!

    Euzio
      1. You know, I can only imagine how HanaKana is behaving in the studio around Ogura Yui and Kuno Misaki, especially with them making such cute sounds.

        From the radio shows, HanaKana gets really overexcited around her cute kouhai, to the point of hyperventilating.

        MasterDragonKnight
      2. I’ve heard some of those! KanaHana acts exactly like I would in that kind of situation, which would probably get me called a pervert, but she’s loved for it. How unfair is that? D:

        Stilts
  2. I’m loving Mimi. I love seeing a good rival. The twins are so cute!! (Still can’t tell them apart.)

    I’d like to give a huge shoutout to Saki. She figured out Ginga’s game plan just as Subaru did and she acted on it. She’s a great asset on the team, I gotta hand it to her.

    1. Agreed! While Saki isn’t my favorite character (though I still like her a lot), she might be my favorite player – she’s smart without dipping into that unrealistically-smart-in-ways-that-don’t-make-sense way that so many stories fall into. I appreciate a player that uses their head a bit.

      Stilts
    2. That name… can’t get over the fact his name is Ginga which reminds of the joke at the part where Akio-san decides to change Okazaki Tomoya to Ginga Tomoya and other celestial-themed names.

      Cybersteel
    1. They were talking about getting something together last episode, but I thought it was a get together of some kind, but now it sounds like something basketball related? So I wasn’t really sure either myself. That’s why I mostly ignored it :X Sorry, not doing my bloggers duty! I’m here for the cute girls and the basketball, so until that plot line involves one of the two, I’m not that interested.

      Stilts
      1. I think they are talking about forming a basketball team again, since the “ban” should be over soon?

        Thanks for blogging this. Though I don’t comment much around here nowadays, I still read all your posts :p.

        x
  3. I’ll be reading Stilts! This season is the loli season anyway, so I might as well go with the flow! Anyway, I need a healthy amount of cuteness and moe to even up the scales before I watch Tuesday’s WataMote episodes… /hugs Tomoko

    Tassadar
      1. I wouldn’t say nothing! The lolis over at Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou seem to have their hands full already. Same goes with Illya and her soon-to-be friend Miyu. Not to speak of Ai-chan; she buried her own father! /gasp! Lolis are busy friend! 😛

        Tassadar
      2. Have I seriously blogged all of the loli shows up to this point? I didn’t even want to blog one of them and yet I still ended up doing it for three weeks. This season, seriously!

        Stilts
      3. Now that you are saying it Stilts, you actually did! I just stated those shows that I happen to follow and somehow you have already blogged them all. Lolicon, hentai!!

        Tassadar
  4. Love this Episode, I was very surprised in the previous chapter that an epic loli basketball match happen too early.

    Anyways. I saw how good Hinata is… Wow, she improve so fast. Also I expect a lot more from the new characters too especially to Masami who looks so familiar to someone in a visual novel.

    Trickster
    1. Hey, I agree – the basketball is good. I used to play back then myself (yes, a guy who is now 200cm tall used to play basketball. Gasp!), and still have a pretty good shot because of it. Also, I can dunk, so that’s fun too.

      Erh, anyway, I do enjoy reliving those times, back when I wasn’t too lazy to run up and down the court. Or really, not too busy…damn full-time job! Though if there were girls like Hina around, I never would have quit. Oh~!

      Stilts
    1. I will fight you for her, and Stilts-oniichan never loses when one of his imoutos is on the line!

      (Note: all girls are my imoutos, even the older ones. Such is my onii-chan power.)

      Stilts
  5. as a former basketball player in uni, I’m just wondering why Subaru teach Tomoka such stupid shot like floater from lay up stance? At least, do it Tony Parker style when the ball starts up high so enemy can’t just slap that STUPID shot easily (so much for secret shot that he has been practicing a lot).

    I miss basketball anime when the writer actually know a bit about basketball like Slam Dunk.

    raidragon
    1. Isn’t the point of the floater to release the ball sooner than expected, so that a (presumably taller) defender can’t block it? It’s not a shot I ever learned because A) I stopped playing competitively a long time ago and B) I’m tall as fuck, but it seems like it’s the lay up version of a jump shot, for use when you’ve got momentum on the run (which Mimi had, if memory serves) but can’t get past the defender in order to do a straight lay up.

      If so, it would be useful for Tomoka (who is a shooting guard) and Subaru (who doesn’t look particularly tall). I could be wrong though – I’d focus on developing a hook shot myself. Or, ya know, just dunk it 😀

      Stilts
  6. I expected to see a Riley vs Spoelstra duel with the introduction of Ginga, and now all we got was Van Gundy (Aoi)? France-tan is clearly Kobe expecting some miracle with a third rate Lakers

    SeedStriker
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