A scenic trip makes for some quality team bonding, with some racing thrown in to ruin it.
What They Say:
Episode 10: Using her prize from the Night Criterium, Korone builds Hiromi a road racer. Hiromi expresses her gratitude to Korone and the rest of the cycling club. As the conversation shifts towards the cycling club, the girls decide to take their bikes on a trip to Miura Peninsula, but…
Episode 11: The cycling club has come to Miura Peninsula to ride along the national highway when they are passed by a group of three women riding road racers. Inflamed by the competition, Sandy invites Hiromi to join her, and the two of them leave Natsumi and Fuyune behind to try to catch up to the trio of women…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the cycling team finally complete (though still unofficial), it’s time for a little bonding time; and what better way than kicking off a day trip! With the whole of Japan at their fingertips, the girls can choose to visit any of the beautiful mountains, peninsulas, and countrysides their home has to offer. Young captain Tomoe decides a shorter day-trip would be a great first outing, and the beautiful Miura Peninsula is the perfect distance away. Beautiful scenery, relaxing pace (mostly), and the guidance of Shiki-sensei (mostly) make for an educational bonding experience that leaves me longing for the road under my tires as well. If only the Pennsylvania Spring wasn’t just an extended Winter…
This trip sounds all nice and comfy, but what will Hiromi and Sandy do without proper bicycles? Need we be reminded that all Hiromi owns is a frame she won at the Criterium? Luckily, small business is here to save the day once again (message!), and Korone crowd-builds a speedy looking machine with spare parts provided by the small army of riders Kamakura has roaming its highways and bi-ways. That only leaves Sandy without a bike, which is also properly remedied by a few purchases with some school funding that they have FINALLY acquired. Still not official somehow despite winning a race and acquiring a sufficient number of members, perhaps this trip will connect that last crucial dot to legitimacy the girls desire.
Bright and early the next morning, our bright-eyed and bushy-tailed team is ready to board the train to Miura. Using a brief lesson from Shiki-sensei, getting their bikes disassembled and bagged up for travel is a breeze, a necessity when trying to reduce room in a crowded train. Before heading off they are given one last lesson, to use the toilet and drink whenever possible, and it’s time to enjoy the scenery. Miura, like most of Japan, is absolutely gorgeous and the art here takes advantage of every bit of it. Those looking for a plot here past some friendship building need to look somewhere else, as absolutely nothing happens. For those looking to relax and enjoy some decent art, this is the ticket right here; as most of episode 10 is dedicated to it.
Episode 11 presents us with a slight modicum of action in the discovery of another team of women cyclists, though these moments are starting to feel like a weakness to the series. Some of the strongest moments this series has had are when it’s not trying to manufacture drama through the racing scenes sprinkled throughout the so far 11 episodes. The scenery coupled with the relaxing music and leisurely pace have a charm that is completely erased when a competitive moment takes the mound. This alone is not an issue, the problem is the drama and action created by JC Staff doesn’t make up for what’s lost in the transition. The action feels increasingly flat and uninspiring, with the inability to depict speed dragging it down. Hiromi traveling at 16 MPH looks exactly like Hiromi traveling at 20 MPH, so any excitement in gaining speed is lost on the viewer.
This is illustrated most effectively here in episode 11, where the girls meet and get schooled by a trio of riders from a business team. Pushing themselves to the absolute limit to simply keep pace with the riders ahead, Sandy and Hiromi don’t appear to be moving any faster contrary to their body language and speedometer readings. Witnessing their struggle, the women fall back to teach the young girls some pointers about uphill climbing and sitting posture, desperately needed as Hiromi looks like she has one foot in the grave already at this point. This little racing bit also abandoned the rest of the team who promptly got lost before finding a ferry to transport them conveniently to the exact location of their two defectors. Thus the team is finally reunited sans Shiki-sensei (who abandoned them), and the trip is seemingly complete.
I’m beginning to find that I really enjoy these “slow-life” style shows such as Minami or Non Non Biyori, something about them makes me feel very relaxed…though a little wistful for my childhood. When Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club takes this route for their episodes, it feels like JC Staff are in their wheelhouse; which makes sense given their previous success with Flying Witch (one of my all-time favorites). It’s just a pity that the more action intense racing scenes don’t feel very motivating or inspired; you could easily remove them and the show would be no worse for wear. Hell, this show would be markedly better if it was just the girls touring different parts of Japan together, making me all jealous that I can’t just up and fly there.
In Summary:
Episodes 10 and 11 see the girls taking their first long trip together to the Miura Peninsula, another attractive Japanese locale. Overall a very relaxing experience marred by a pseudo-race when the over competitive Sandy gets in a bit of a fit when passed by a team of older cyclists. The girls get to bond with each other a little bit and learn a few valuable lessons on this first trip, and honestly, I wouldn’t be disappointed if touring is all they did.
Grade: C+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
