10 Second Anime - Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu - Episode 13 [OVA]

The girls of the Cycling Club go to Taiwan and find their tour guide resembles Natsumi.

Episode 13 - "We're in Taiwan!!"

Meh.

I won't rehash all the problems I found with the show in the second half of the season, because they're all still here. The cheap scans and pans and the slideshow travelogue techniques instead of animation were there, but thankfully the musical soundtrack is so soothing and familiar that it reminds you that the characters are still great.

The lazy writing was still in effect too. The plot revolves around Natsumi having a crisis of confidence in her future because the cycling club's Taiwanese tour guide looks just like a future version of her. Natsumi wants to do the same thing Su does, learn foreign languages and travel the world, but they don't even mention that her parents are doing that exact thing right now, which might somehow be related. Whatever. Cute girls do cute cycling things in Taiwan.

Hmm.

I'm actually grateful this OVA gave us a dramatic hook in making Natsumi the key figure. Meeting a future self who seems so polished that you wonder how you'll ever measure up is a pretty good reason to get down on yourself. Matching the outside but not the inside is a good theme too. Leave it to Hiromi to solve Natsumi's melancholy and self-doubt - put you some knowledge!

Su Jinwan was more of a doppelganger than Natsumi thought. And the best way to find that out was just to simply ask her how she got that way. Hiromi's genki girl ways always prove to be the best way in this show. Good life lesson too, which added something else to concentrate on besides the tourism infomercial and the bike rental advocacy.

Heh.

Apparently, Taipei is hot and humid just like Japan.

Okay, the Cycling Club is given the task of scouting Taiwan for the school trip next year, but why them? I'm sensing nepotism because of Fuyune. So what if Taiwan makes a lot of bikes, the rest of the school isn't going to go there for bikes, and not all of the students will want to ride a bike with that bike rental system. Such a lazy pretense. Anyway, they go to Taiwan.

Uh oh. Hiromi and Sandy on their own in the airport. Big trouble!

Wow. This lady really does look like Natsumi.

Su Jinwan is their tour guide. What a coincidence. Also, nice statement on how crazy the traffic is in Taipei.

Ha! The girls notice the same chain stores and restaurants in Japan. Americans do that too.

I'm not a big fan of this bike rental crap, but at least Taiwan does it right by letting you return the bikes at different stations. It's treating rental bikes like real public transportation.

Oh dear. Fuyune is scared of heights. Understandable, at the top of Taipei 101, which is about 1500 feet tall and 1700 feet tall at the top of its spire.

The girls aren't so sure about that boba bubble tea.

That fermented tofu must not be so different than natto.

Confirmed. Americans think Natsumi is the cutest of the Cycling Club.

Bad English accents all the way around...

Oh ho! Mori-sensei has a secret! A massage secret. A foot massage secret! Hmm. This is sounding like less and less of a secret.

This "largest" lake in Taiwan is only 39 km around. You can do it, Fuyune! And yes, roads around rivers and lakes are usually lumpy.

Aw. Su got a jersey and is now an honorary member.

Tomoe always has to write the reports. Make sure you write that you had fun riding those stupid YouBikes, Tomoe!

Oh, really? They brought back those A-O-P girls for one last bike tutorial? How to rent a bike in Kamakura. Looks like they got tired of riding those Pinarello's and want some comfortable mountain bikes. Boo!

Cycling Porn.

This episode, we saw Su riding a Liv Avail, the other girls unpacking their bikes from their bags which made it safely through the plane ride, Natsumi's Cannondale, Hiromi's Anchor, Mori's Neil Pryde tucked away in the corner, and a last shot of those A-O-P girls riding Pinarello.

I liked how Su explained the front and rear brakes for the YouBikes were opposite to Japan. I don't know how the convention started, but if you ride on the right side of the road, the rear brake is on your right side. But if travel direction is on the left side, then the rear brake is on the left side. Apparently, Taiwan drives on the right side of the road.

Man, I'd miss this show more if they just gave me Hiromi talking to Sandy all the time, with Tomoe and Fuyune complaining about it. Oh well. See you Hiromi! I doubt I'll see you again.