| Subaru Hasegawa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name in Japanese | 長谷川 昴 |
| Romaji Translation | Hasegawa Subaru |
| Nickname/s | Subarun Onii-chan |
| Voice Actor (Japanese) | Yūki Kaji |
| Personal Info | |
| Gender | Male |
| Birthday | October 11th (Libra) |
| Class | 1st grade, 3rd group |
| Position | Head Coach |
| Height | 172 cm (5'8") |
| Blood Type | A |
| Media Appearances | |
| Anime Debut | Here Comes an Elementary School Student! Yay! Yay! Yay! |
Subaru Hasegawa (長谷川 昴 Hasegawa Subaru) is the main protagonist and a freshman from Nashiba High School who is tasked by his aunt Mihoshi (the sister of his mother Nayu) to coach an all female sixth grade school basketball team.
His school's basketball club had its activities suspended after the captain got himself involved in a scandal. He reluctantly accepts Mihoshi's offer for him to train the Keishin girls basketball team for only three days initially, until he learns that the club is at the brink of being disbanded without his help and he realizes how important it is to Tomoka.
He has been given several nicknames by his girls, including Subarun[1] and Onii-chan.
Character Overview
Appearance
Subaru has brown hair, brown irises, and is relatively white-skinned, all inherited from his mother, Nayu. He doesn't look very alike to his father Ginga.
His physique is moderately muscular, well-toned, but not tall by standard of a basketball player.
Personality
Like most male protagonists in "harem" stories, Subaru is a gentle and caring person, however being passive and reluctant during initial stage of his involvement with the girls, but if the mind is made up, Subaru can be very determined and active. He also doesn't know how to be with his girls as lovers, for he prefers to be brother-like and friend-like in most of times.
Being devastated since his basketball club/team is deactivated for one year, Subaru once thinks about quitting his basketball career, if not regains courage and confidence by coaching Keishin Girls Basketball Team.
Still Subaru can be indecisive and weak-minded sometimes, as seen in Episode 8 of first season, he doesn't stand up to defend his coaching with steadfastness when Aoi threatens him (eventually girls bail Subaru out and avert this crisis via confronting Aoi in a basketball match).
Despite all girls in the team have feelings to Subaru to different extents, in light novel, anime and comic, he seemly only view Tomoka in a romantic way (which is dubbed as "Tomoka's Route" by some fans, comparing with a visual novel).
Abilities
He once made 10 free throws in a row in the arcade, and he is capable to make much more than that.
He is able to do at least 46 one-arm push-ups, if not disrupted by a certain Andrias Japonicus girl.
As a player, he led his historically winless middle school team to the runner-up of prefectural championship. This fact alone speaks volumes of his basketball skills and abilities, making him suitable for the coaching job at Keishin.
Trivia
- His last name (長谷川) roughly means "the Long Valley's River", and his first name (昴 - Subaru) is named after a star - Pleiades, a star in the Twenty-Eight Mansions (二十八宿).
- Interestingly, it is the name of the star which Tomoka wished to see in Winter. It is highly likely that her feelings for Subaru played a factor for her affiliation to Pleiades star.
- Height-wise, Subaru is actually not suitable for playing basketball, but he makes up this crucial disadvantage by devotion and skills.
- Although being the leading protagonist, Subaru never has an illustration (character setting/design) in light novel like his girls do. And he appears to be slightly "girlish" for a highschool boy, in both anime and comic, this is a common phenomenon shared by many male protagonists in "harem" stories.
- Subaru's involvement with girls is frequently parodied by fans as a reflection of Hikaru Genji (光源氏), a high aristocrat recorded in The Tale of Genji (源氏物語), who is known for adopting young girls and train them into ideal women then marry them later. Coincidentally, such parody is also seen in Episode 6 of Ru-Kyu-Bu! SS, as Subaru and his girls portray Hikaru Genji's story.
- Subaru's personality and character development match a typical male protagonist's specifications in a "harem" story: Refuses getting involved with girls at first place, but gradually finds inner strength and sense of responsibility during the progress of interacting with them, then he finds himself actually enjoys being with his "harem".
- Subaru doesn't do a good job on his academic endeavors.
- Subaru is not a life-enthusiast, proved by he doesn't have widely diversified hobbies apart from basketball, and he handles his basketball club's suspension badly.