What They Say:
It is the day after training with Makishima. Sakamichi, Imaizumi, and Naruko thought they had the day off, but the third years were actually participating in a race!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This is where the real meat and power of the story of Yowamushi Pedal starts to pickup. Onoda, Imaizumi, and Naruko learn that there’s a race going on that the 3rd years did not tell them about, and race out of class to spectate. The 3rd years take the race clean, and we learn that this was the placement race for which high school would represent the prefecture of Chiba. And even though they were 50 seconds behind 2nd place, the ‘Human Bullet Train’ that is 3rd year Tadokoro powers from behind, and Sohoku High takes the race.
Onoda and the others learn the main reason why they were not told to attend the race as participants – the other prefectures had scouts at the race, ascertaining the strength of the various schools. Kinjo specifically only wanted the 3rd years to participate because it would not reveal much about their school or the full power of their bicycle team, and give them an edge against the other schools in the Inner High race that looms on the horizon.
We’re also given a bit more look at the Hakone school bicycle team, with a bit of a focus on 1st year Manami whom I believe we’ll be seeing more of in the future, and the mysterious (and creepy) Midousuji, who feels that it’s “disgusting” that Sohoku wants to win with only three members, and aims to crush them.
In Summary:
Great heroes are made by their villains. And Yowapeda has now begun introducing us to the villains who will oppose Sohoku high. We’re teased by a few other teams in the credits, including Hakone’s team as well as the school which the eerie smiling Midousuji is the captain of, but we haven’t really seen them much up until this point. But they’re all distinct, unique looking characters that really help to cut them out from the rest of the background cast and show the audience “these are the other schools, these are the students who will be racing against Onoda and the others”. Sometimes, antagonists are distinctive, but in a show that has several characters like Yowapeda is shaping up to be, it can be difficult for them all to be distinct, memorable, and unique. But the quality of this show continues to be at a high level, and I’m really excited to see more of the other high school teams. I’m getting anxious for us to get some of the big races that are coming up, and to see Onoda and the rest of his 1st year team mates grow to face these other schools.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Intel Alienware laptop, Windows 7, 25” HP2509m screen at 1920×1080 resolution