10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - New Generation - Episode 19

Kaburagi and Aoyagi match up against Doubashi for the first sprint result.

Ride.19 - "Road Monster Doubashi"

Heh.

This episode was one of those usual time fillers before a finish line where we get a bunch of flashbacks for character building before we come back to whatever they're doing right before the dramatic scene's climax to give the audience some emotional investment. Hey, this is sports anime. You knew what you were signing up for when you came to the third season of this show.

I knew we would get a flashback for Kaburagi, which ended up being more humorous than creating depth for him, but I was surprised at how much time we spent with Doubashi. He was definitely a wild child in the same mold as Arakita. It's interesting to see how Izumida builds a darker tone to how his team handles motivation and competition. He encouraged Doubashi to use his strong emotions as part of his sprinting technique.

The only ones who don't seem to have a dark streak cultivated by Izumida's calculated machinations are Kuroda and Manami. It might be something to pay attention to when the race comes around to putting Ashikiba together with Midousuji.

Back to the episode, the spectators used as narrators proclaimed that Sohoku always cuts it close. No kidding!

Aoyagi noticed the other cyclists flinching from Doubashi's intimidating presence. Would Kaburagi feel it too? Duh. Of course not! That guy is oblivious and a stubborn idiot.

Ha! Kaburagi thought Doubashi wore Number 15 because of how low in the rankings he was for Hakone! Doubashi didn't even bother arguing while Aoyagi wondered if Kaburagi even considered his own number was in the single digits.

I can't wait to see the kind of idiots' argument Kaburagi and Ashikiba would have!

Well, Kaburagi may be slow in the head, but his legs are fast. He knew his "all-rounder" type could easily catch Doubashi's massive attack out of the pack.

Oh dear. Kaburagi thinks he has a "sealed move." Aoyagi can't believe how stupid he is! His sealed move is grabbing the handlebar drops, but he's already held them going around turns. Yes, Kaburagi is a total happy idiot!

Ah. Kaburagi got his flashback and it turned out Aoyagi was instrumental in tweaking his form during his secret individual training.

Of course, Orange Head has a favorite drink in Orangina and thinks about percentage in power by orange slices. And yes, the God of Orangina totally left him all those detailed notes! Oh my God, he's so endearingly airheaded!

Anyway, the point of the flashback was that Kaburagi never felt like he was encouraged as a rider during his time with Team SS with Danchiku. But Sohoku was different. They were all comrades who pushed him forward. Except for Aoyagi. Kaburagi never felt pushed by Aoyagi... Just wait until he finds out that Aoyagi is the God of Orangina!

Doubashi got his flashback too. Big surprise that he has a temper which held him back in the large team structure that Hakone has to employ.

I liked his low animal cunning of rejoining the club as many as times as he's been forced to quit.

I also like that scene where he broke a broom, but he still fixed it up to do the sweeping like a first-year club member should.

Izumida recognized his talent and encouraged him to use his temper in his racing, not outside of it.

That guy was still talking about "polishing his spear." Nice callback to last year's battle of Izumida against Tadokoro and Naruko. Also, calm down fujoshi with all that spear polishing talk...

Izumida's talk with Doubashi reminded me of Shinkai telling Ashikiba to use his love of piano as a mental image for his personal technique. Becoming a cycling monster means letting your personality shine on the bike. At least for this show.

For Doubashi his key phrase is that "Emotion is his strength." We'll see how that goes against Aoyagi and Kaburagi.

After all the flashbacks, I guess we have to care about Doubashi and Kaburagi as they fight for the line.

Gah! Why are you launching your sprint at a thousand meters out, Aoyagi?

The cliffhanger is that Doubashi says the hunt doesn't start until his prey is in front of the hunter. Well, that's also just regular sprint tactics, but it sounds cooler how he said it.

Hee! The omake had Doubashi and Izumida working out. Izumida says Abu!, which we knew, and Doubashi says Bu-a!, the backwards spelling in Japanese. These guys complement each other!

Cycling Porn.

With the episode's focus on two characters, there actually wasn't much cycling stuff to look at, but we did get a couple of nice shots of Kaburagi's Felt, Aoyagi's Corratec, Izumida's BH, and Doubashi's Specialized S-Works. I get a kick out of how big they make Doubashi look riding next to other riders, where even his bike and wheels are bigger. Obviously, they're not, as you can see above, but it's still funny to see how perception can trump reality in story-telling.