10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Grande Road - Episode 20

Yowamushi Pedal - Grande Road - Episode 20



Midousuji and Imaizumi challenge each other for the lead of the race. "Break!" vs. "Move Over!"

Meh.

Great. Midousuji had to have one more "seal" removed to release his final form. Didn't need to see hot pants Grr-oss-uji from behind.

 

 

Heh.

Aw. Dead Kenobi version Naruko pushed Imaizumi along.

 

Hey, don't brag about Onoda when he's right there. He might get so embarrassed he'll stop pedaling.

 

Midousuji didn't like being reminded how Onoda broke through his bottlenecked peloton on the first day. This non-standard model is number 3 on the road.

 

We're getting a real close look at the racing styles of Midousuji and Imaizumi in their purest forms. Everything Midousuji does, all the underhanded stuff and the mind games, is to break his opponents so they get left behind, either physically or psychologically. Imaizumi's style is to lead the race so he can enjoy the silence. Everything he does, from finding impossible gaps to passing on the blind side, is to get in front or move his opponent over. It's "Break!" versus "Get out of the way!"

 

Bringing back the touring couple from Episode 7 in the first season was brilliant! There's only so many ways you can have flashbacks in this show, and experiencing them from the riders' perspective makes each one of them serious. But having the funny couple with the guy who's still trying too hard to impress the little lady recall the Sohoku guys on their first race was a great way to break the tension and have flashbacks showing how much they've grown without worrying we're looking at a death montage.

The couple was also used in a fun way to introduce the downhill section where all sorts of Midousuji shenanigans were about to occur. Random fans in the crowd has been alright, but when a longer explanation was needed about how dangerous a steep downhill section is during race conditions, it was a neat way to foreshadow events plus knock Hiro-kun down a peg.

 

Hiro-kun should stop trying so hard. The cute girl with the fold-out bike came with him all the way to Hakone to watch a high school race. Relax already.

Too bad they didn't show them reacting to Onoda passing by. Maybe next episode.

 

Final form Midousuji has a spine like a cat's.

Midousuji slipped on that grating like Imaizumi did against Onoda in his first uphill race. We're going back to the beginning in all sorts of ways!

Eh?!

What is this? I don't even...

These two guys have been head-butting each other all day, but this is ridiculous. What's worse, is Imaizumi looked like he enjoyed it! He told Midousuji to bring it on! Fujoshi swoon!

I'll be charitable and interpret Imaizumi's smile as 1) he saw the butt-heading as Midousuji finally showing desperation and 2) the dynamics of head to head (or butt) competition is unpredictable and exciting. Um, fujoshi can swoon at that second one too...

 

 

Hmm.

Midousuji seems to think Fukutomi is down for the count, but even Imaizumi knows that's not true. Imaizumi and Fukutomi had stalemated before the catch by the three climbers, which meant Fukutomi was waiting for Manami. I suspect Midousuji is going to meet a bad end next episode, leaving room in the narrative for Manami and Onoda to vie for the line.

 

It feels like the anime is just chomping through manga chapters, which is why they're throwing in all the flashbacks and recaps. We've still got four episodes to go!

 

 

Cycling Porn.

We've got some good shots of Onoda and Imaizumi avoiding a crash, a good look at Imaizumi's Scott and much better drawn chain coming off the cassette, a comparison of Midousuji's freakish sprint position and his freakier final form position, and how Midousuji almost came to grief as his back tire washed out.

 

This time around, Midousuji used counter steer to recover from that very low position instead of his crazy low turn earlier this season. He kicked the opposite pedal to move the back tire back on the ground, turned his front wheel to the left into the ground to move the bike laterally upward, and then he was right side up ready to pedal and recover his speed. He only had a fraction of a second to pull that all together, so that was good reflexes mixed with good bike handling.