10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Grande Road - Episode 21

Yowamushi Pedal - Grande Road - Episode 21



Imaizumi holds off Midousuji, even with a minor setback. Fukutomi and Manami make their move in final kilometers.

Hmm.

First, read this post on Episode 3. I'll wait... Okay, now that you've seen that, dealing with how Midousuji views victory as this yellow ball of light that reminds him of the feeling he always had after visiting his mother in the hospital was done much better. Now it's poetic. At the time, there was no reference or explanation to this thing that Midousuji wanted most to grasp in his hand. No reference that, after breaking everyone else, and even himself, all that would remain right before the finish line would be this yellow feeling of nostalgia and accomplishment that he wanted to offer to his mother's memory. Because we had that reference, this imagery of his feelings worked. But the feeling of victory didn't work out this time for Midousuji.

 

Ishigaki's words of experience should serve Midousuji in the future. His will for victory on his own terms was too pure, which hollowed him out before he realized his goal. Racing means dealing with adversity, when things don't go exactly as planned. Midousuji treated every minor goal in his strategy with the same priority as the final victory. He pure will ate him up on each of those points and he ended up with nothing left to finish the race. His injury from the day before reasserted itself like what happened to Kinjou. Then he grayed out from trying to climb the rest of the way on one leg. Perhaps he'll learn not to be so obsessive about his plans and prioritize his tactics to serve the overall strategy.

 

Contrast Midousuji burning himself up for each point in his plan to Fukutomi, biding his time, maintaining his pace, using his teammate for support. Not exactly the way he wanted to do it, but his goal is to win, not look strong on every part of the course. That's experience.

 

Meh.

I get that something needed to happen to Imaizumi to get him out of the way and push the Onoda and Manami matchup, but a cracked frame from fatigue instead of hitting a huge pothole, or something, felt like a copout. Imaizumi's spirit had been broken twice during the race, but he filled that up with nakama power and monster growth, so that wasn't going to happen again. He's too much of a good bike handler, so some mishap at the front of the race wasn't going to happen either. But just *crack* from pedaling? Meh.

 

Also meh, is how they showed Midousuji chopping off his hair (there was even a joke in one of the after episode omake that he shaved too... everything...), but they still didn't show what happened to his cracked tooth. Was that just some throwaway image like the sparks the bikes make when they shift gears? Meh.

 

 

Heh.

Okay, so now we know why the opening credits have Onoda's mom and Miyahara cheering together at the finish line.

She is still a force of nature! And she totally called Miyahara on all her embarrassing feelings for Manami. Oh man, I was rolling.

I wonder if Manami and Fukutomi passed Onoda on that downhill section. That's one thing that Onoda is no good at. Small people in general are terrible descenders because their weight adds up to a slower terminal velocity. As a small person myself, I find I have to work pretty hard pedaling down a steep descent to catch up to my heavier road companions.

 

Ha! Mrs. Onoda totally admitted she made the bike shop put a smaller chain ring on Onoda's bike to stop him from going very far. Didn't really work, but look at his cadence now!

 

Usually after a big race, the organizers have fun little contests for the children at the finish line. But how, or why, would Imaizumi and Onoda want to participate? With Kinjou glasses?! Naruko can't even...

Makishima will join in singing anime songs, but does he draw the line at wearing Kinjou megane?

 

Next time, the wonderboys of Manami and Onoda reunite. The plot already cracked Imaizumi's frame to remove him from the overall victory, but what will they do to Fukutomi to slot Manami in his place? Anything can happen in the last 2 km of an uphill finish.

 

 

Cycling Porn.



This episode really wasn't the best commercial for a Scott frame. We got a good final look at Midousuji's De Lose, er, De Rosa frame. For some reason road bikes were chained up at the finish line in ultra low crime rate Japan. That's a good bike chain, though. All the metal is covered up so it doesn't scrape the nice paint job on that BH frame.

 

I assume Imaizumi's Scott is all carbon, so that seems to be a weird place for a stress fracture to show up. Usually you see cracks where things are clamped on or near joints. Midousuji was right to suspect the bottom bracket first. But right in the middle of the down tube? Odd.

 

After that crack showed up, Imaizumi's race was going to be tough. The frame acts like a huge stiff spring to push against, equal and opposite forces for all you physics geeks, but if that spring is soft anywhere, it won't be able to push back as efficiently. That's bad news for a sprinter and for a climber on a steep slope.