10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 21

Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 21

The rivalry between the captains of Sohoku and Hakone comes from circumstances terrible and honorable. One seeks redemption while the other wants his second chance.

From the previews for this episode last week, we were given a hint that Fukutomi, the current captain of Hakone Academy's strong cycling team, was responsible for a crash that took out both himself and Kinjou. After the buildup of Kinjou demonstrating how he got his nickname, The Snake of the Stone Path, meaning that once he got his fangs on your back wheel, he never let go, the pressure gets to Fukutomi. I thought it was going to be an overreaction to dropping his chain after all his gear shift mixups, and accidentally taking down Kinjou. But I gasped when Fukutomi succumbs to the pressure Kinjou put on him, and his family pride in being successful cyclists, and he actually grabs Kinjou's jersey from behind. This is just about the dirtiest thing a cyclist can do to another racer.

Kinjou, even in the instant he feels his jersey grabbed, looks at Fukutomi and forgives him. He sees his desperate eyes, and the regret he has. The first words out of Fukutomi's mouth after the horrific crash, is "I'm sorry!" And he means it. This is only a high school race, so there are no cameras around, no race radio, just those two know what happened. Kinjou comes in, bloody and broken, after the main pack, and even Makishima and Tadokoro do not know what happened. When pressed by Tadokoro, Kinjou tells him he fell by himself, because he wasn't strong enough.

Pounding a wall in his anger and disappointment, Tadokoro yells that he can't believe Kinjou fell by himself. At that moment, Fukutomi approaches to apologize, and tells him and Makishima that he grabbed Kinjou's jersey in a moment of weakness. It was his fault. Tadokoro smacks him, grabbing his collar, asking him if this is how Hakone fights. Cheating when no one's looking? Hakone has a strong team with many cards to play, while they only have one ace. Fukutomi can only weep in his shame.

Kinjou consoles both of them, telling them what happened can't be changed, and that they can only prepare for the next day. Fukutomi, who is going to withdraw, can't believe Kinjou would go another day with those injuries. Kinjou gives him a lesson in stage racing: you don't know who is going to win until you cross the finish line.

And this is the story Tadokoro and Makishima tell the Big Three 2.0. Naruko exclaims that Fukutomi guy is the worst. Tadokoro says he thought so too, until he came to formally visit and apologize. Toudou calls his best buddy Makishima that Fukutomi is on the way, and they need to make sure Kinjou doesn't see him. Ah, but it's too late. Toudou only hears what happens from the other end of the line.

It sounds like a real beat down, but all that happened is Tadokoro knocked some wheel sets over in his panic that Kinjou would turn around and see Fukutomi. Fukutomi brings some pastries, so you know a baker's son is going to forgive someone quickly after that. Kinjou invites Fukutomi to do a leisurely spin as they talk. Fukutomi asks, "cycling?" instead of "road racing," and Kinjou says, "Sure, it's nice once in a while." Manly men doing manly things so they can share their feelings. Fujoshi swoon... Both these guys have such deep voices, I thought they were going to cause an earthquake, or a pod of whales would jump in from somewhere.

Fukutomi wants to ask a favor of Kinjou, to help him in his redemption. If they find themselves in the same situation, let him fight fair and square, but he would understand if Kinjou tells him to stay behind. Kinjou has his own pride, of course, and only seeks a second shot at winning. If he feels he has to ask someone else to stand down so that he can win, then he doesn't deserve his second chance, and will know he's not strong enough to win. Way to bro out, guys!

This week's cycling porn features a couple of name brands and the aftermath of a crash.

We've got Kinjou's Trek and Fukutomi's Giant. We've also got some nervous shifting mistakes. Unlike Campagnolo shifters, both upshifting and downshifting levers are integrated with the brake lever on a Shimano shifter. The brake lever itself pushes in to shift into an easier spinning gear, while the up-shifter is a little lever behind it. If you're not paying attention to your fingers, you could easily downshift and end up going slower instead of shifting into a heavier gear to go faster. This was what happened to Fukutomi twice in trying to get rid of Kinjou, and Kinjou waited for his tentative shifting to attack.

We also see Kinjou coming in scraped up, with only one hand on the handlebars as he holds his broken ribs close to chest so it doesn't hurt so much to breathe. Riding a bike with one hand while you're bleeding and you know something is wrong with a bone is no fun at all. I crashed once coming down a mountain road, broke my helmet in two places and separated my shoulder. I still rode 30 miles home, using one hand to steer, and only using my right hand to shift and brake. Good times, good times. The bike was only a little scraped up, but I needed a new bike seat and handlebar tape. I've still got the deep scrape scars on my left knuckles too, and it's been about 8 years.