A slice of life with a heap of generic brand whipped cream.
What They Say:
Having just moved from Nagasaki to Kamakura, Maiharu Hiromi leaves her house on a bike to attend the Minami Kamakura High School entrance ceremony, but she realizes that she’s forgotten how to ride a bike for some reason. When she runs into Akizuki Tomoe, she begins practicing how to ride a bike, but…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Another season, another normal high school student moving to a new school. This season, we are peering into the life of Maiharu Hiromi and her life in the new series Minami Kamakura High School Girls’ Cycling Club. Hiromi is a young girl, freshly moved to serene Kamakura from Nagasaki, and is ready to attend her very first day of high school! Being in a beach town, she decides that there would be no other way to attend her first day than a scenic bike ride along Kamakura’s illustrious coasts. Sounds great, right? Well, it would be, if you remembered how to ride a bike.
That right there is the unique factor through episode one of this show. Hiromi actually meets her first friend, Akizuki Tomoe, because of this. Somebody has to teach Hiromi (who forgot that pedals make a bike move) all over again right, so it may as well be the soft spoken and intelligent Tomoe (who also actively balances Hiromi chaotic body language and ditzyness). Their first few minutes show few fruits for the labor, but we eventually see Hiromi grasp the basic concept of bicycling under Tomoe’s teachings, though not nearly enough to actually ride anywhere at all. Defeated, but hopeful, the duo proceed to stroll (with a view of special guest Mt. Fuji) to the high school where Hiromi catches her first glimpse of a real cyclist, wicked spandex and all.
Eventually, we make it to the Entrance Ceremony of Minami Kamakura High School, where the girls learn that they are both in the same class as well as having a teacher whom they’ve already met while on the way to school. The teacher, an avid cyclist based on her gear, will probably be the lead of the club and the driving force behind Hiromi’s membership and relationships within the club. It’s a shame that the writing in this episode is so subpar as the art and animation (especially with the bicycling segments) is surprisingly well done. This leads me to believe that this series will be used more as promotional material for cycling and less as a story (akin to Gundam Build Fighters and Gunpla), not that that is necessarily negative. So far, Minami Kamakura High School Girls’ Cycling Club has achieved a relatively neutral response, nothing offensive or groundbreaking to speak of.
In Summary:
Achieving a watchable 23 minutes through good art and animation, Minami Kamakura High School Girls’ Cycling Club feels at this point like a show destined for the middle of the pack this season. Being a fan (and former competitor) of cycling, I will stay tuned to see how Hiromi evolves from completely clueless to jersey donned racer in the span of one season.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
