Somehow, this nerdy otaku…IS A BEAST ON HIS BICYCLE.
What They Say:
Onoda Sakamichi, student of Chiba Sohoku Public High School, rides the 90 kilometers back and forth to Akiba on his mommy bike to buy the anime goods he loves. Sakamichi planned to join the anime club in high school and make lots of friends, but without sufficient membership, the anime club had been disbanded. Imaizumi Shunsuke appears before a disappointed Sakamichi with his road racer, and…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So I’m just going to put this out there right now – did you like Initial D? Did you enjoy the technical speak of what made the cars go so fast, the skill of the races, and the awesome team names they had? Did you like that our unassuming hero was, without realizing it, one of the best racers around? Did you enjoy the intense battles?
If you answered yes, that’s good. Now for my last question…would you enjoy that…if they were racing bicycles?
Yes. I said bicycles.
Yowamushi Pedal, or Yowapeda as it is shortened to, seems like it is going to be exactly this same kind of setup. Which I don’t feel like is a bad thing. Unassuming and socially awkward otaku Onoda Sakamichi just wants to be a member of the anime and manga club at his new high school, but sadly it lacks the membership needed to still be a club. His first day is even made worse by being run off the road by a car, making a fool of himself in front of girls, and a run in with Imaizumi Shunsuke, who catches him singing his anime tunes. The part that seems to escape Onoda’s mind is that he is singing, happily while peddling up an incredibly steep and complex hill, which is giving veteran bicycle racer Shunsuke a pretty significant challenge.
Shunsuke initially thinks nothing of the silly otaku who is clearly going to hurt himself, especially when Onoda points out that by biking the 45 kilometers to and from Akihabara, that he’ll be able to buy more capsule toys. Shunsuke, and bike enthusiast Kanzaki Miki, both seem rather skeptical of Onoda actually biking all the way to and from Akihabara, but are shocked to learn the following day that he has.
And of course, Onoda is completely oblivious to the fact that on a “mommy bike”, he is able to ride quickly and easily up and down complex and and dangerous hills that challenge senior bikers, making him somewhat of mystery to Shunsuke, who challenges Onoda to a race at the end of this first episode. While not jealous of Onoda, Shunsuke is looking to push himself and become the best bicycle racer in Japan, and the fact that Onoda is able to present such an interesting and unique challenge to him is something that bugs Shunsuke. What will happen when the two race? We’ll just have to find out next time.
In Summary:
Like I said, this has all the trappings of Initial D meets bicycles, except that our main character has more actual character to him. In fact, they even manage to make other members of the high schools bike club, the Sohoku High School Bicycle Racing Club, unique characters with specialties that have earned them nicknames. It’s silly and pretty over the top, but at the same time, it’s exactly the kind of shonen style action I enjoy. The main character, while an otaku, is at least amusing and charming in his obsessions with anime and manga, which is a step over several other main characters who fall flat and serve as avatars for the audience in the world.
It’s also somewhat endearing for the same reason I enjoyed Takumi’s character in Initial D so much – both of them are very skilled at what they’re doing because it directly pertains to their livelihood in someway. Takumi had to deliver tofu quickly, early in the morning, and the only way to deliver it before it went bad was to go fast, and that meant leraning how to navigate the dangerous and imposing switchbacks of Mt. Akina. Onoda, as the the first episode (called ‘Rides’) points out, “I can go to Akiba for free” as the reason he rides his bike. I get the impression that it’s a simple way of life for him to save money and enjoy his otakudom more often, and so the idea that this hill has a 20 degree incline, or that it’s 2 hours to bike to a certain part of the city, doesn’t really phase him. And there’s just something charming about that to me.
If you hated things like Initial D, then it goes without saying that this isn’t for you. But with a kickass opening song and entertaining characters, Yowapeda might be a really good show for the season for you, but remains to be seen if it’ll push the plot and characters past this initial introduction. And of course, you’ll love it if you like bicycles.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Intel Alienware laptop, Windows 7, 17’ Screen at 1600×900 resolution
