10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - New Generation - Episode 17

The Inter High Race is about to start. Old friends become rivals, new faces appear, and pre-race jitters turn to resolve.

Ride.17 - "Start!!!"

Heh.

Oh, no. One exclamation point won't do. We need a couple more. This is the start!!! of the Inter High Race!!!

Oh ho. Midousuji still has to be Machiavellian. He threw that kid off the team and substituted Komari right before the start. I thought there had to be some pretense, because Midousuji only uses cruelty as a tactic. He's never cruel for its own sake.

Ah. He kept Komari off the roster so that he wouldn't be scouted and he could be a secret weapon. That loser kid thought he had a hidden power that would be released at the race? Wow. Good thing Midousuji excluded him.

Midousuji likes to keep things to himself and this Komari guy appears to be cut the same way. Still, the other Kyoto kids should have noticed that their masseuse always wore their team kit and had a nice Italian bike. That's being pretty dense not to consider that Komari was a rider too.

Komari started his warmup around the start track and he waved. Was he being nice to people he passed? That's different than Midousuji.

Komari has good form  and is very smooth. Is he going to be an all-rounder to assist Midousuji? He could definitely use the help since the only one who could keep up with him for short stints already graduated.

Aw. Sugimoto thinks Imaizumi asked him to ride the warmup track for a special moment. Imaizumi has to be Imaizumi, though. "I asked you because you seemed to be the least busy." Ha. Ha ha.

Well, they did share a moment. Sugimoto hoped that all his work to try to get on the team roster somehow had a positive effect on Imaizumi and the others. It's all good. Imaizumi confirmed he felt Sugimoto's own Sohoku spirit.

Waha. I thought Komari was looking for Onoda again, but he was actually trying to get a feel on Imaizumi. What a feel... Reaching under a dude's shorts is definitely crossing a personal boundary line. Also, calm down fujoshi.

I was totally Sugimoto in that instance. Seeing some stranger reaching into a pant leg. Outrageous!

The show laid down a narrative marker with Komari feeling some kind of injury or sore spot in Imaizumi's leg. Nice way to add some foreboding to ratchet up the tension. This show really knows how to plan ahead.

Aya's tennis team got bounced out of national contention and so did Teshima's old buddy the volleyball player. What a nice time to bring Ashikiba into the scene.

Ashikiba quickly reminded us of his quirk of getting a some person's name wrong and then not giving up on his mistake.

He's wearing 11, Hakone's designated leader.

Well that's not a very good Pocari Sweat ad placement. Throw it on the ground!

Ashikiba is trying to keep Teshima his enemy, which was where Manami was regarding Onoda for a while. I can see an upcoming scene where he finally takes a bottle of that ion water.

Is there no one drinking a "Bepsi" this year? I miss Arakita already.

At least someone is eating Calorie Mate blocks! Yuto Shinkai, the younger brother of Hayato!

Why did they need to cover his face for so long? Just for that joke: "I kinda want to be a little girl." Calm down fujoshi.

That was kind of telling: Yuto doesn't have firsthand knowledge of Shinkai's reputation because they didn't ride much together. Shinkai was a sprinter and Yuto is a climber. Another first year climbing wonder boy like Manami. I wonder if he has a dark streak like his brother for attacking in the hills. At least he rides Cervelo like his brother.

Okay, now we're getting to crunch time. How do we know? Onoda is freaking out!

Kimitaka pulled Aoyagi aside to tell him of his concerns about Onoda's pressure for a repeat performance. Aoyagi knows better.

Imaizumi and Naruko know better too. They had a good time messing with a nervous Onoda. I'm sure they figured he would be fine as soon as he started pedaling. Standing around in front of a crowd is totally not his bag.

Aya is totally rooting for Onoda now. She wants to go out there and slap him to calm him down.

Oh geez. Man tears. Aoyagi sure can talk a lot for being "Quiet Guy" senpai.

Aoyagi's two points for Onoda is that first, he can't repeat last year's performance because he's going to do better this year. He's stronger now, not just on his own, but also because he's carrying the feelings of the graduated seniors.

Aoyagi's second point is that Sohoku rides for each other. That's their team spirit. So, like the seniors did to make Onoda stronger, he needs to do the same for Kaburagi. Onoda's job is to show the new guy how he rides to pass on that Sohoku spirit through him to the next generation.

Now, this is all true for Sohoku, but Aoyagi is crafty. He knows how Onoda works. He has to give him one job and then Onoda will do that job. That's how he rides. So, Onoda's job is to show Kaburagi how he rides.

This is great too, because this will solve Kaburagi's crisis of confidence in Onoda's abilities. Like I wrote last week: he just doesn't KNOW what the NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN can do on a bike. Last year, Teshima ordered Onoda to pass one hundred riders up a hill. How Onoda did that is how a NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN should ride. Humming Love Hime and rolling on the lip of a gutter... I mean, doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

Well, Onoda got ready and he took on the role of spiritual leader for the team. I am so ready for this race to start!

I noticed they took the anime mask off Yuto in the end credits.

The omake made the point that Kimitaka was always around last year. I think we knew that.

Cycling Porn.

We got lots of good looks at Komari's Carrera, Midousuji's De Rosa, Campagnolo shifters on those Italian bikes, some more of that sparking gear change (I guess Komari will be an all-rounder or sprinter for sure now), warming up on a cycle trainer and a safety track, and Imaizumi's Trek and Sugimoto's Colnago. Yuto showed us the proper form for the bike lean and cross tube sit on his Cervelo. And finally, the neutral start with the returning champion's team.