10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 35

Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 35

Sohoku gets some good news and Kinjou takes up the chase. Midousuji has some more cards to play while Shinkai unchains his demon.

Heh.

I would not want to be on the receiving end of Kinjou's stare down. I guess he figures he does people a favor by covering up his intense eyes most of the time. He wears glasses at school, so maybe they're not even prescription? Just something to keep the girls from swooning and the dudes from cringing? Also, with how many times Kinjou said what kind of otoko (man) he was, I finally heard Elfman from Fairy Tail in his voice. Yup, same voice actor, and he did Chad from Bleach too.

With Kinjou showing Imaizumi the compassion that only a teammate and leader could have with asking him just to ride, not work, I'm reminded of the scene when Onoda was chosen to be on the team, and he had a crisis of confidence on the climb on their first training ride together. It was Kinjou who acted fast and carried Onoda the rest of the way up the hill. Kinjou really believes that they all work best when they're all together, even if some of them are not at their best. That faith that they'll come around is reassuring, and even if they don't, they're all still together. That's the important thing for the Sohoku team.

Naruko is really fast and free with the nicknames. "Gorilla," he said! Hah!

Hakone has that same flavor of faith in their teammates too. Just that simple response to Kyoto's team knowing about Shinkai's handicap. "So? He'll get it together when it counts."

Shinkai may have unleashed his demon, but Midousuji is still a monster in his own right. He wasn't acting scared that second time around though, when he saw Shinkai looking at him like a nice, juicy steak.

The little omake at the end just keeps reinforcing that this club is slowly turning into Onoda's Anime and Cycling Club. No wonder everyone knows the lyrics to the opening song of Love Hime!

Meh.

Okay, we knew Midousuji was going to lay down a demoralizing card he got through his research of the other teams' members, but laying down that other one with the bands around his thighs? Come on. He did that already with his fingers to shift into his big chain ring, but it's starting to look like he's got cock rings all over his body. Oh please, let him not be wearing an actual cock ring... And then they had to draw out the sprint line to another episode, just like putting on a...

Speaking of meh.

No CGI work on this scene, obviously. And Arakita's Bianchi is supposed to be celeste, not black. At least Toudou's bike actually spells out Redkey this time.

Hmm.

I liked that Shinkai's mental recovery from the traumatic experience of running over a rabbit wasn't completely done yet. Having a mental block of passing someone on the same side as where something bad happened in the past is quite understandable. His teammates having a little meeting and giving him reassuring gestures was a nice touch too. Especially Arakita's stink eye. That's consistency! But it still wasn't enough to have a breakthrough in a race situation. Like Imaizumi reaching back to his old way of winning races, Shinkai had to do that too by unleashing the old demon who hadn't been seen in a year.

It was interesting to see Onoda and Tadokoro making their way through the main pack, and that the guys just in front of them seemed awfully worried about them. Were they singing their way through the scrum? That just might be the power of Love Hime.

Cycling Porn.

We've got some good paceline skills, some interesting camera angles, and a good look at Midousuji's position on his bike.

This Kumadai team is riding Cervelo, and we get some nice looks at Naruko's Pinarello, Kinjou's Trek, and Imaizumi's Scott. We also see Shinkai and Miduousuji right up against the barriers with Midousuji closing the gate on Shinkai's right hand passing lane. Good tactics for when the left is all blocked up, in Shinkai's case, a mental one.

And then we get a long look at Midousuji's position on the bike compared to Shinkai. I have never seen a stem that long. His hands are almost totally in front of his tire. However, Midousuji's head is right over the front wheel hub where it's supposed to be. Crazy modified De Rosa.