「Don’t wanna cry 泣きたくない…」 (Don’t Wanna Kurai Nakitakunai…)
“Don’t Wanna Cry”

A challenge from Masami ends up bringing the girls together like never before. A very heartwarming episode.

Becoming A Real Team

This actually turned out being a quite heartwarming episode. I started out grumbling about how focused on revenge Masami and the twins are, but Masami’s challenge ended up being exactly what was needed to bring the girls together. First of all, I liked how they finally revealed that Masami actually sees Saki as an onee-san, even if she won’t admit it – I suspected something like this was going on, but they introduced it in full force just in time (though I could have done with a little foreshadowing in previous episodes). I did really enjoy the duality of the imagery (yes, that’s a statement I just said) in Saki holding her hand out to Masami first when she was little, and then during the events of this episode. And when Masami started to cry right before that… *sniffles* It really was heartwarming to see all the girls working together, and Masami telling Saki that they would come to practice the next day.

Oppai, Oppai, Bath Time!

I’ll admit, the fanservice was a little too unsubtle this episode. Sure, I laughed when the girls started groping Aoi’s chest – and especially when Natsuhi got KO’d before he got to see the glorious scene – but it was so abrupt, and the shrimp going down Airi’s shirt + the whole bath scene seemed a little unnecessary. I will say though, I enjoyed watching how all the girls “coupled” off, and actually got along really well with their former rivals – especially Maho and the twins, who were playing in the bath like the genki bakas they all are.

The Opponents They Need

I look forward to Ashihara Rena’s (Hasegawa Akiko) defeat. Not only does she taunt the twins after a crushing defeat, but she ruins Masami’s dish and she doesn’t even have the decency to apologize? What a snot-nosed little brat! Which is good characterization, by the way, because that’s exactly the kind of thing someone her age would say, but it still makes me look forward to her getting curbstomped. And what do you know, but Suzuridani is the first team they have to defeat to advance to nationals! They’re exactly the opponent that the 5th and 6th graders needed to become a real team. I look forward to finally seeing some matches where they swap players, show off new tactics, and above all, crush that little brat!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – After the Suzuridani brat ruins Masami’s dish, the girls finally come together. Next up, regionals! #rokyubu 09

Random thoughts:

  • Mimi calls Tomoka shishou, hng~
  • It feels like Masami’s father never spoke to her because they didn’t want to pay for a seiyuu to voice him.
  • I like how the girls coupled off, but since Maho took two girls for herself, Airi just sort of floated around. Poor Airi, FOREVER ALONE!

I just reached a pretty big milestone in the book I’ve been writing! You can read more on my blog at stiltsoutloud.com.

Full-length images: 07, 10.

 

Preview

25 Comments

  1. (I swore I hit the submit button, so apologies if it ends up as a double post)

    https://randomc.net/image/Ro-Kyu-Bu/Ro-Kyu-Bu%20SS%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    Oh wow, Aoi provides some great quality education to her curious girls concerning the topic of puberty. Or rather, they’re way too eager to learn. LOL (Takenaka has a potential to be a harem master, as long as he stops fainting before getting to the action. )

    https://randomc.net/image/Ro-Kyu-Bu/Ro-Kyu-Bu%20SS%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
    I don’t know whether to be disturbed that Airi doesn’t mind using Octopus tentacles as her mermaid top.

    Poor Airi, FOREVER ALONE!

    Nonsense. Did you forget about Aya last episode calling her onee-sama?

    Damn that insolent brat Rena. Time for Team Subaru (AKA Team Lolicon) to tear her a new one (via basketball, in case anyone was thinking anything dirty).

    echykr
    1. Takenaka didn’t faint (this time, dunno about other times), he got knocked out when one of the twins opened the door in his face. Too bad either way, as he missed out on quite a feast (although we did too mostly, due to the stupid censorship).

      Lord of Fire
  2. I will now attempt to define “heart-warming”, as Mr. Stilts puts it:

    Heart – located in the chest between the lungs.
    Warm – a level of heat? Rubbing things makes it warm. Burning things =/= making things warm.

    So what is said to be heart-warming should be this right? Chest, rubbing… I see no other.

    TheMoondoggie
  3. this is what frustrates me; its like creators have no respect or dignity for little kids in anime anymore. look at cardcaptor sakura do you think clamp was thinking when they thought of the concept “hmm? lets make a show with little kids in suggestive situations because that’s what our audience wants to see” no why because clamp treated their kid characters with respect and dignity which gave their characters a much more sophisticated atmosphere. what do you think Mr. stilts

    1. Seems like you’re overthinking things. For one thing it’s not really THAT suggestive; even the bath scene was done cleanly. Second, Card Captor Sakura has just as much “sophisticated atmosphere” as Ro-Kyu-Bu; While Sakura deals with her life balancing between being a magical girl and a normal one, Ro-Kyu-Bu deals with the girls who likes basketball and the lives they live. Both shows really isn’t that hard to understand, and Ro-Kyu-Bu just happens to have just a bit more fanservice than CCS has.

      TheMoondoggie
  4. I understand your opinion however what I meant by respect and dignity is acting in their age range. look Mero furuya Sankarea for example what made her and her friends seem more like kids to me is because they did things kids would do at that age like solve a mystery or look for a ghost.

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