What They Say:
With the welcoming race over and Sakamichi’s potential as a climber discovered, he is told to train with Makishima…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
In a large number of anime, there usually comes a point where the cast of characters is expanded. This is either by introducing rivals, more friendly characters, or to signify a change in the core cast that the audience will be seeing in future episodes. We’ve been briefly introduced to the upperclassmen of the bicycle club, but they haven’t really had screen time as anything other than spectators to the Welcoming Race. That changes in this episode when the 1st years train with 2nd and 3rd years, with Onoda paired off with the clubs senior climber, Makashima.
The plot of this episode is pretty basic – the 1st years are pitted against upperclassman to learn just how weak they are by comparison to their seniors, and to serve as a motivator for them to train harder. We’re also briefly introduced to one of the rival high school teams near the end of the episode.
But that’s not what makes this episode good, or why it’s a great example of doing things the right way.
Onoda and Makashima spend only a part of the episode on the screen together during their welcoming race, but it does two major things in a really great way: it develops Makashima’s character, and it builds a relationship between Makashima and Onoda, where previously we haven’t really seen them interact much. And that’s what makes this episode so good – it’s able to give us more background on a new primary character that’s being introduced to the series, and tying that to the main character that the audience is already invested in. The reasons for it are simple enough and provide for good dialog, but in general, the races don’t matter too much. So much so that we assume Onoda loses (mostly because he isn’t over the moon about winning) but he doesn’t even seem phased by it, energized by his conversation and excited to have made a new friend.
In Summary:
We’ve all had those moments when we were younger, in school or maybe in college, where we were around older, cooler kids than us. We wanted to be cool too, to get to know them, and hopefully if we were cool enough (or at the very least, not totally un-cool) then we might make a friend who could teach us a thing or two. And that’s precisely what this episode shows so well. the 1st years all feel a bit awkward with the senior students, and the senior students are equal parts pushing them, while also getting to know them better, either through their biking or conversation. Makashima and Onoda are a great pair, because in many ways Makashima is just as strange and abnormal in the high school scene as Onoda is, though for different reasons. He also teaches Onoda a good lesson about not trying to copy what works for other people, but instead focusing on what works for him. He can’t copy Makashima’s ‘Spider Climb’, but he has his own style of climbing, a style that works for him. Even if it’s rough, there’s potential there that Makashima sees, and he wants to help Onoda bring it out. Onoda’s reactions to all this mirror that younger/older student relationship, as he mentions several times how cool he thinks Makashima’s style, and Makashima himself are.
It’s rare to see such a good presentation of what, for most of us, were awkward high school relationships with other students, especially ones we looked up to. It’s also rare that we get background on a character that’s new to the series, and it manages to be both relevant to the main character, and not spend an entire episode all on how they grew up or why they are the way they are. This episode succeeds are showing great characters interacting with each other in a very natural way, and also gives us a good insight into Makashima and his past while also making it important and interesting for Onoda at the same time.
This show continues to be excellent and do all the right things in the best ways, and if you’re not already watching, you certainly should be.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Intel Alienware laptop, Windows 7, 25” HP2509m screen at 1920×1080 resolution
