10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 38

Yowamushi Pedal - Episode 38

At 5 kms to go, the 3 major teams are all together. Part flashback episode, we leave Yowapeda on a cliffhanger as it takes the Summer off.

Heh.

Oh, you know Arakita was feeling better when his mouth started working again.

Izumida shouldn't have worried about Shinkai so much. He's a sprinter. They only remember the wins, and almost totally forget the losses.

Kinjou's wildcard is really giving Midousuji fits. "He's not a standard model!" You got that right. He's got the power of nakama and Love Hime!

Calm down fujoshi. Everybody got their chance to hug Onoda, but he was kind of out of it at the time.

The double catch gave us some great reaction faces.



If I were Arakita, and Fukutomi just turned to me and said, "Oh, you're here," as if it were nothing, I would have blown a gasket too. Manami's not even tired it looks like, and he's got time to tell on Arakita too. "He called you stone-faced, Fukutomi." Hah!

The pressure of the champions may not be getting to Midousuji, but it's starting to crack the rest of his team. He's already burned two, and another one almost lost all his discipline. But Midousuji was keeping it together because he thought he had Hakone figured out, but the moment when Fukutomi said, "It's not just us up here," his plans started falling apart.

And then, they were all together. As it should be.



Fukutomi said it best about Kinjou. He built a team all like him, the Snake of Stony Path. They just won't give up, and when they have their teeth in you, they won't let go. The sequence above captures the teams' personalities really well, especially how Midousuji dominates the entire presence of his team. Plus, it tells us exactly what's happening at the end of this season as we head into the Summer hiatus for this show.

Cycling Porn.

We've got some mad pedaling action, a sparking attacking shift, and supportive cycling.



We finally got to see the Human Bullet Train again! Hakone's got a beautiful train too. We get quick looks at all their nice bikes as well. Usually when we have two trains at the front side by side, it's at the sharp end of the peloton in a bunch sprint, and neither leadout is letting the other guy have the front. This is a mountain finish, so to see Tadokoro and Naruko help Makishima out is something only Sohoku could do. Men who never give up. I'm trying very hard not to say Otoko like Elfman does in Fairy Tail, but with Kinjou sharing the same voice actor, that's getting more difficult. As long as Toudou doesn't say he's getting all fired up, I'll be able to keep my anime straight.

I've talked before about how touching and intimate its is to have another cyclist support your weight and pedal for you. Balancing on a bicycle by yourself is hard enough, but there's a level of trust and compensating for each other's balance, that's hard to put into words. Like talking with your shoulders or waltzing. It's a pretty good metaphor for teamwork and friendship, the focus of this sports anime. And Otaku Power, can't forget that!

Hiatus Thoughts.

It's only 3 months. It's only 3 months. It's only 3 months.

Oh, I guess I have some other thoughts. Did they have to end the season even before the end of the second stage? I can see the argument for finishing it off on the first show of the next season, giving us a little more than one episode to decompress before we start the final day. If they had 39 episodes for this first season, they could have planned the finish of the 2nd stage for the end, and give us a soft goodbye with a framed flashback for the 1st episode next season. Oh well. I'll go back to the top of this section.

It's only 3 months. It's only 3 months. It's only 3 months.

Actually, that's fine for me too. I barely kept it together watching this show, plus the Giro and all the other stage races in May and June. With the Tour de France starting this week, I'll have much more concentration for actual cycling. I'm sure I'll still hum the Love Hime theme a couple of times on the mountain finishes...