Dan JD:Hey, windbag! Listen up! I'm Dan JD! The one and only original Basquasher!
Iceman Hotty:'What art thou?' I'm Iceman! Iceman Hotty!
Dan:I am... ME!
In a distant galaxy lies the planet Earth Dash. Above the planet's surface lies the lunar city, Mooneyes. It serves as both a symbol of hope and a dream for the people of Earth Dash, and holograms are regularly projected from the city's lights. The story begins in one city on Earth Dash, Rollingtown.Dan JD is a hotblooded young man who goes around vandalizing the city as Dunk Mask, swearing revenge against the sport of Bigfoot Basketball, the latest craze. Bigfoots, which have replaced cars on Earth Dash, are giant, lumbering mecha that are used for everything from ambulances to police cars to the basketball game Dan hates, because one of them crippled his sister Coco years ago.One day, Dan meets a mechanic who recently returned to Rollingtown, and knows all about the Bigfoots. Her name is Miyuki Ayukawa, and, to Dan's surprise, she's his childhood friend. Miyuki teaches Dan how to pilot one of the Bigfoots, and Dan, as Dunk Mask, goes to show Rollingtown how real basketball is played. In doing so, he causes massive property damage and is thrown in jail for a year. When he's finally free, he discovers that Bigfoot Street Basketball has become the new trend sport and Dunk Mask has become a legend.Recent developments strongly suggest that there's more to the Moon, the sport of Basquash, and Dan's signature playstyle than you'd think...
Adventure Towns — Once Dan and crew leave Rollingtown, these become a regular occurrence.
All Girls Want Bad Boys — Sela, a pretty skilled Bigfoot user in her own right, wants to get the "genes" of Iceman when she realizes that he is the one who could beat her at her own game. Right, "genes".
All Myths Are True — Though in the world of this show, "all myths" includes "the world was created in a basketball game between the gods".
And the one about the legendary, miraculous power to throw "Lightning Balls". Or as Dan prefers calling it, "BASQUAAAAAAAAAASH!"
Awesome McCoolname— While it's not known if these are their real names or stage names, Iceman Hotty and Falcon Lightwing certainly are awesome names to have.
Badass Normal — Dan and Iceman have special ball techniques, so anyone else competent counts.
Batman Gambit (Yang set up the entire thing with Eclipse's final concert, counting on Dan to crash the party, restore Rouge's memories, and inadvertently use his Legendary status to cause the moon to fall into EarthDash, giving Yang an excuse to destroy it)
Base on Wheels — Miyuki's trailer, later employed by all of the main cast to go seeking Basquash wherever the wind takes them.
Battle in the Rain — The second half of the finals match against King of Kings. The team does start slipping up because of the rain, facilitating a new pair of Nikes.
The Berserker — Iceman. Out of a Bigfoot, he's totally cool and polite. Even inside one for a while he remains that way... Then, when he has to throw a ball... (DESTROY! DESTROY!)
Caped Mecha — When Dunk Mask makes his dramatic entrance, his mecha sports a stylish cape.
Chekhov's Skill — Dan, the one who can catch Iceman's Destroy shots, uses the same technique to take away Naviga's ball in Underground. The entire Basquash!/Lightning Ball phenomenon is shaping up to this, somehow.
The Chosen One — Certain people on the moon have been cultivating a project for years to find the person of Legend who will stop the moon from crashing into the Earth. Dan JD appears to be one, but he was certainly not the first; hell, his sister was in the running, until her "accident".
Concert Climax — Not quite the finale of the series, but a dramatic peak is reached at Eclipse's final concert.
Crash into Hello — Dan runs into Rouge, leading to a Fake-Out Make-Out to hide her from her fans. Except for the loony one with a camera who turns the thing into a scandal.
Does Not Know His Own Strength — Iceman, especially in episode 8, when Dan constantly chews him out for his "DESTROY!!!" fever, but he simply cannot grasp that being a complete barbarian during games is bad. In the end, it is revealed that his infamous "destroy balls" are nothing but mere passes. Iceman is simply incapable of NOT throwing them.
Does This Remind You of Anything? — During the aftermath of Dunk Mask's premiere basketball game, Sela is knocked down on the ground, the food she was selling (including ice drinks, which spill all over her pants) littered around her. Yet she has a far-off look to her face, is blushing heavily, and says to herself how "good it feels". Make of that what you will.
Not to mention what happens after she gets slammed by Iceman Hottie's... balls.
Of course, when she says she wants Iceman's genes, well....
Thousand getting ready to "dissect" Dan in episode 23, with stripping, interesting music, and a violent reaction from Rouge... although it reminds Spanky of something else.
Don't You Dare Pity Me! — Dan passes on a cheque that would erase his national-level debt and leave him set for life because he refuses to accept handouts he didn't earn.
Dude Looks Like a Lady — Slash. By what magic they happen to know that he is... well, a he, one can only guess, as there is absolutely no confusion, by anyone in the show, that Slash is male. Ever.
Evolving Credits — The scene arrangement of the opening credits changes subtly during the course of the series. Most obvious are the changes from episode 3 to 4 (the first "Eclipse" intro) and the oddball intros of the episodes 7, 9, 12 and 13, but there are also smaller, less notable changes introduced to the default opening credits in some episodes.
Executive Meddling Director Itagaki Shin, chief animator Hirata Katsuzo and other staff were fired after episode 9 because of low Blu-ray sales of Vol. 1, and it seems the majority of fans ultimately didn't like the turn the series took with the new staff.
Extreme Omnivore — Spanky will eat nearly anything. In the first episode, after finding out that Coco doesn't want the cat-thing Dan bought for her, he immediately eats it.
Fangirl — Flora is a huge Eclipse fan, which allows her to not only exploit a loophole early on in the series, but allows Dan to reach their final concert. Note that this is after her royal status failed to get him in.
Fan Nickname — Boobsquash. For why see below, especially Miyuki and Haruka
It goes beyond mere fetishism: Haruka can "read" feet and learn all sorts of things about their owners by examining them closely. In practice, this usually involves her talking to people's feet, often ignoring the person in question, and getting answers back from them.
Feet never lie, you know.
And apparently James Mr. Perfect can do it too.
Gag Boobs — Haruka Gracia sports a "Lunar Bust" that's ... well, this is a show about basketballs, after all.
Miyuki is fairly well endowed as well, though Haruka (almost literally) overshadows all.
Gainaxing — Everything bounces in this show, especially Miyuki and Haruka.
Hero Insurance — Averted, as Dan is thrown in jail for massive property damage to the stadium.
And then has a 5.3 billion credit fine!
He's Back — Dan, right before... getting kicked out of Rolling Town by James. Iceman pulls it on the city of Underground.
Iceman: My name is Iceman Hotty. Call out my name. Let them know that Iceman Hotty has returned to Underground!
Oh crap. Episode 24. Both at once. Epically.
Hot Blooded — Dan. Others also have their moments.
Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action — Heavily implied late on in the show, Sela's apparent crush on Navi would require some rather... extreme maneuvers (and perhaps some significant surgical alteration or technological aid) to consummate. This assumes that giants and normal humans are biologically compatible, in any case.
I Coulda Been A Contender — Coco loved basketball, until the accident that left her wheelchair-bound.
Switches to sibling version of I Want My Beloved to Be Happy, as Coco enjoys watching her brother as the Ultimate Bystander.
Slash: I promised, didn't I? If you became a great player, I'd take you to the moon. This [the blog] is Basquash for you, isn't it? You're playing exquisitely. Coco: Basquaash!
Idol Singer — Eclipse, the trio of singers from the Moon Broadcast System. In a nice little nod, that abbreviates to "MBS", which is the channel Basquash! airs on. They, too, play Basquash.
Improbable Weapon User — Dan's and Iceman's Lightning/Destroy shots are one thing. Mistah Perfect storms a military base armed only with a regular basketball. Rouge tops him by wielding Spanky.
Indy Ploy — Dan has his own word for it, basukaru.
Innocent Innuendo — Miyuki teaching Dan how to pilot his Bigfoot sounds more like she's teaching him something else entirely. When they both leave on the Bigfoot with Miyuki calling out "I'm going on a date!", her grandpa comments that she's "doing it in the wrong order".
Innocent nothing, it's clear from the start that Miyuki wants to jump his bones. Sadly (for her), she doesn't.
Instant Expert — Dan does not only know how to use a Bigfoot from the start but also how to play basketball with one better than anyone did before.
This was later Lampshaded as Coco wonders how and why he got so good so quickly.
Interspecies Romance — A romance seems to be budding between : Sela and Naviga. Something tells me the process of "getting his genes" won't work that well.
Laser-Guided Amnesia (Rouge's memories of Dan were erased as part of her treatment.)
Leaning on the Fourth Wall — The Eclipse concert that starts off episode nine begins with "nO limiT", which Citron tells the audience to sing along with. The concert audience, that is, even though her comment leads directly into the opening credits.
Loophole Abuse — Eclipse's Basquash game runs the length of "Running On", which the team abides by. When Rouge is "unable" to continue singing, Flora intervenes and says that Eclipse does not necessarily have to be the ones singing. She and the crowd finish off the song, letting the match continue.
Malaproper — Dan rarely ever calls something or someone by the correct name the first time around.
Meaningful Name — The Princess's cover identity is Alan Naismith. James Naismith was the inventor of basketball itself.
Mid-Season Upgrade — Team Basquash receives an upgrade to their mecha in the middle of battle, but the series being what it is, it has nothing to do with the Bigfoot mecha themselves. It's their shoes that get the upgrade.
Miyuki upgrades all the Bigfoots' innards in episode 20. Once again, no outward change, but we are told that they perform much better. This is, of course, lampshaded.
Ms. Fanservice — Miyuki, for about two episodes before being overshadowed by Haruka Gracia.
Mundane Utility — The Bigfoots have many uses, but their most popular is playing basketball.
My Breasts are Down Here — Haruka Gracia. Not only she sports a rather generous cleavage window, but you can see some "hand-shaped" dark marks placed on the lower side of her boobs.
My Name Is Not Durwood — Dan keeps twisting Sela's nickname "Platinum Hurricane". He can't seem to remember Rouge's name either, continually calling her "Idol Red".
He remembers just fine, but only when the occasion calls for it.
He nicknames Naviga pre-emptively.
Dan: Naviga? From now on, you're Navi! Naviga: Why must you be so imposing on others? Spanky: Dan just sucks at remembering long names. Dan: Shut up...
Non-Human Sidekick — All the players on Team Basquash (except Naviga) have a Pet Accessory. Dan has Spanky (also his headgear), Sela has Crawly (her gloves), Flora has her butterfly butler (her ribbon) and Iceman's Cool Shades are alive — they're a pair of lizards named Lefty and Righty.
Paper-Thin Disguise — Everyone knows "Mr. Perfect" is James. Hell, he doesn't even bother to put away the bubble pipe.
Parody Commercial — The show's twelfth episode is very experimental compared to your normal episode in that it suddenly ends the episode at the halfway point and plays commercials for things that only exist in the world of the show, such as the Moon Resort.
Portmanteau Series Nickname — A peculiar example of this being the actual name; "Basquash" seems to be a mixture of "Basketball" and "Sasquash" (ie "Bigfoot.")
Given Dan's penchant for ricocheting, wouldn't it more likely just be a portmaneau of "Basketball" and "Squash?"
Powered Armor — The "Bigfoot" that Dan engages in a basketball match with underground.
The Power of Rock — Not only can Eclipse sing, not only can they play basketball in mecha, they can do both at the same time.
Product Placement — Basquash! would like to remind you that it is sponsored by Nike. The Bigfoots sport gigantic air jordans!
Hell, there's even an actual "Nike-san" that Haruka keeps ordering shoes from.
Navi makes a Big Damn Heroes moment carrying a giant Nike shoebox.
Promotion to Opening Titles — Inverted. You'd think the three singers in the opening sequence were just there to pretty it up and cameo in the actual show, but...
Punny Name — Jan Harris, who prefers to be called "Germana". Say that three times fast.
Rebellious Princess — Flora, who escapes and makes her way into Dan's inner circle.
Red Light District — The Underground, an area where Dan is instantly thrown into a death match, Iceman is cornered by thugs, and Sela and Flora gather information in a (mostly) tasteful strip club.
Room Disservice — Iceman uses this tactic to sneak into Falcon's hotel room.
Rule Of Cool — The plot involves Humongous Mecha playing street basketball, if this isn't cool then I don't know what is!
Say My Name — 26 is full of it. "Dan!" "Iceman!" "Sela!" "Navi!" "Rouge!" "BASQUAAAASH!"
Scars Are Forever — Iceman's Destroy balls leave giant basketball-shaped bruises on someone who gets a direct hit. Yeowch.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money! — James Lone abuses his position and wealth to both steal and restrict streetball, something Dan calls him out on.
Serious Business — Slash's response to impending apocalypse is to form a new Basquash league. It's telling about the Basquash! universe that he knows what he's doing.
The series itself shakes off the "crazy shounen" feel, and turns into Serious Business around one third.
Ship Tease — A lot of possible relations are hinted, like Dan/Miyuki, Sela/Iceman or Dan/Flora, but when you think about the Rule of Drama only Dan/Rouge has a realistic chance to become the Official Couple.
Surprise! The only fulfilled 'ship at the end is Sela/Navi.
Dan: Well? How's the Basquash, Idol Red? Rouge: It's Rouge, not Idol Red. Memorize it already. Dan: Haven't heard that for a while. Rouge: Yeah... I'm back.
Sweet Polly Oliver — Flora disguises herself as "Alan Naismith" by hiding her hair in a baseball cap and wearing boyish clothes. In fairness, she goes for a cute little boy look, which is easy for her age (and the animation style helps).
Super Sentai Stance — After Team Basquash upgrades their shoes, they pull off one of these for mostly no reason, but it does look cool.
Mr. Perfect, may need another trope for this guy to fit in.
The Chosen One — The series spends most of its time setting up Dan to be the successor to a legendary figure who saved the world. Subverted in the last episode: Dan isn't the guy. He's closer than anybody else, but he's not enough. Who will be the one to save Moon Eyes from crashing into Earth Dash? Nobody. Or perhaps I should say, everybody. Everybody is The Legend.
Theme Music Power-Up — The opening and title card are deliberately held back in episode seven, saved for a truly awesome comeback by Dan. This repeats in episode 22 when the second opening theme plays over Rouge reawakening her memories.
Hell, the last several episodes abuse the BGM version of Boku ga Boku no Mama, including one where it plays over nothing but the team psyching themselves up to to play against Slash.
The Nth Doctor — Slash, on his second version for most of the series and his third by the end
Totally Radical — Naming your gang of delinquents "The Worst" doesn't really strike fear into the hearts of the people.
Don't forget they live in "The Bad Zone"
Dan seems to make more plays on this by calling them "The Toast."
Minor correction. Calling your gang The Worst might be acceptable. Calling your Basquash team The Worst is not!
Transforming Mecha — In as plausible a way as possible, Bigfoots can also fold into a more compact form with the car body as an actual car and the rest as a trailer.
Trickster Mentor — James is initially painted to be an antagonist, but all he really wants to do is to cultivate Dan into "the man of legend".
Unsettling Gender Reveal — Everyone except Dan caught onto the fact that "Alan" was actually a girl. And even when confronted with undeniable proof, he still thought it was "Alan" crossdressing. He didn't catch on because he spends so much time around Miyuki and Haruka, and their figures aren't that different...
Urban Segregation — The distance is relatively large, but the difference between Mooneyes and Rollingtown is clear. Dan wants to get to the moon to heal Coco because their technology is worlds ahead of Earth Dash's.
Waif-Fu — Sela's not really that muscular, yet she can beat up a group of delinquents all at once.
Weak, but Skilled — The Old Timers team, who, despite their age and junk Bigfoots, nearly take out Team Basquash through a combination of mind games and, according to Flora, a "scarily high skill level". Sela overcomes her issues just in time to pull off an epic dunk and save the day.
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