10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 2

Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 2

Challenge! If you beat me up the hill, I'll join the anime club. Hey, I didn't ask for all these spectators!

Sports club anime means competition, right? Imaizumi, the serious cyclist, wants to race against Onoda, the otaku, up that same hill he saw him singing on. Onoda is more concerned that Imaizumi saw him singing. How embarrassing! To spice things up, he'll spot Onoda a 15 minute head start, and if Onoda wins, he'll join the anime club with him. Onoda doesn't know if he's serious or not, so he asks him what Imaizumi's favorite anime is. Bad idea. Just saying the Pokémon equivalent won't get you out of a serious discussion on literary themes with otaku, you know.

Kanzaki, the cycling club manager, is also Imaizumi's childhood friend, and her family owns the local bike shop. When Imaizumi drops the anime club flyer, Kanzaki presses him for details on his contest with Onoda. That leads to having a bunch of freshman girls as spectators on the big day. Even with a 15 minute head start, on 3 km flat course, followed by that 2 km steep climb, Imaizumi easily passes Onoda somewhere in the middle. Kanzaki, who appears to be irrepressible, drags her older brother to follow the race in the bike shop van, and finds Onoda just standing where Imaizumi passed him. She doesn't like that at all. I don't either. I got sick of seeing these kids in Over Drive just stop in the middle of a race, when you could easily have despondent thoughts while going slower on the bike. I hope that doesn't continue in this new show. So, Kanzaki marches up to Onoda, tells him to get off his bike, and adjusts his seatpost to the proper height for his frame. Um, a little help, I can't touch the ground anymore. Exactly. She tells him the race isn't over yet, he pushes off, and whoosh! Maybe this race isn't over yet?

And now for this week's cycling porn:

Not only does Kanzaki bring spectators, she brings chalk. Gotta have chalk to cheer on the riders! Imaizumi thinks she's a bigger cycling nerd than he is. Onoda sees a cycle computer for the first time. He had no idea how fast he's been going on that bike. Incidentally, he's had that bike since the 4th grade, and been riding it to Akibahara weekly since then too, but he's never adjusted his seat. Someone's climbing power is going to get a major power-up. As I thought, that sparking gear change is going to be a thing for this show. The sound effect sounds like a totally ungreased chain at full tension plunking on an aluminum frame. That chain should have broken already.

Finally, check out who the producers like in the pro circuit:

We've got Tony Martin, John Degenkolb, Mark Cavendish, and Thor Hushovd. Nice.