10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Glory Line - Episode 3

Kyoto Fushimi catches the lead group, letting Midousuji and Naruko escape up the road to have a rematch of their off-season sprint contest.

Line.03 - "The Appointed Time"

Heh.

Midousuji has a game plan and he sticks to it. Just like last year, he ignored the other contests within the race so he could target the only one that matters - the finish line. He brought along a teammate this time, but only to use him as a spoiling tactic. It's only the first day of racing; I'm sure we'll see how he uses his other pawns on different terrain.

Komari is indeed obsessed with "meat." I think the reason he was multiplying numbers by two up to nine was because of the homophone pun on "niku" (肉, にく, meat). "Ni" is two and "ku" is nine, so two times nine is 18. What a freak.

The opening credits are spoiler rich for this season, so it looks like we're seeing Naruko and Midousuji match up as Midousuji unseals his limiters. Always with the seals with this guy. At last year's race, he took tape off his fingers so he could shift into the big ring for the finale on the first day and he ripped the tape off his thighs to beat Shinkai on an intermediate sprint. He's doing the thigh tape thing with Naruko this year.

Midousuji is still chopping his teeth, still blowing raspberries. Never change, Midousuji, never change.

Oh no! Don't go under a guy's bike shorts to feel his muscles, Komari! Man, the fujoshi are loving this guy.

Well, Komari did prove to be quite the distraction for Kuroda and for Imaizumi remembering his "touch" at the beginning of the race. No mention yet on what muscle thing Imaizumi is keeping secret.

Naruko paid attention to Midousuji. They have unfinished business. Naruko had to give up his Zipp wheelset. That's not just pride, but at least a thousand dollars just sitting around not going fast.

Naruko's Armstrong Climb came in handy against Midousuji.

Ha! Midousuji is the type of guy to observe things first to understand them. He's very meticulous, but I think he mainly uses his observational skills so he can trash-talk and conserve his strength. That trash-talking stuff doesn't work on brash Naruko who gives as good as he gets.

Sweet-talking doesn't work on Naruko either. As if calling him by his name instead of the pejorative nickname Midousuji gave him, chicken-headed bean, was going to fool Naruko. Sprinting is all about feints until the final commitment to the sprint.

I keep forgetting these kids are in high school. The pros form alliances on the road all the time, but in a two-man breakaway, working together past the 3 km mark hardly ever lasts beyond the final kilometer. They get impatient and start doing stalling tactics to get the other guy in front before the line and all this slowing down business allows the peloton to catch up. If it's two experienced guys in the breakaway, as in experienced breakaway artists, the peloton can usually give up catching them and race for placings.

Oho! The Sohoku graduated seniors have their own race to the finish line. Kinjou isn't a fan of Tadokoro's driving...

Oh, now Kuroda wants to form an alliance with Imaizumi to catch Midousuji. The smart tactic here is to just suck on Ashikiba's wheel because he has a teammate up the road with a 50-50 chance for the win. If everyone comes back together, Naruko and Imaizumi will only have a 1 in 5 chance. But, these are high school kids...

Kuroda flipped his switch! And there was blood? Oh. The flashback says he scratches off his scar from an incident when he used to be an impetuous striver. That flashback with the details of the incident will have to wait for another stage.

Aw. Ashikiba was horrified that Kuroda was intentionally cutting his face. Ashikiba is a good kid. A dumb kid, but a good kid.

Ah. Here's Midousuji bragging on himself. I liked how he included that he thinks his desire to win is the "purest" of the favorites. That hasn't changed about him.

Nice. This flat drag to the finish gives Naruko an opportunity for straight-up revenge in a rematch against Midousuji. I figure we'll see his locust stance for the final sprint.

Oh man, this omake. Komari is obsessed with meat. Even his shirt says 29, another pun for niku ("meat," 2-9, にく)

Cycling Porn.

This week, we saw a lot of the bike brands from Naruko's Pinarello, Midousuji's De Rosa, Kuroda's Kuota, and Ashikiba's Wilier. Surprisingly, hardly anything of Imaizumi, but he didn't even unleash his own pressure, so we'll have to wait for the real sprint finale. Midousuji had the honors for the shift-spark scene.

Midousuji got to do his insane sprint position. It was up a hill, so he gets less of a complaint from me compared to the flat ground he did it on at last year's race. I still think it's ridonkulous to be that far over the front wheel, but he's also riding a kid's frame with a super long stem and a super tall seat post. He's made that freakish geometry work. Somehow.

My real complaint with Midousuji this week was how he managed to stand and pedal out of the saddle with only one hand. That is not a trivial skill. Pedaling while standing, or "dansingu ダンシング" as they call it in this anime, requires a rocking motion with the handlebars. Doing that one-handed requires some extra practice and some good forearm strength. But hey, Midousuji has to blow his raspberries from whatever position he is on the bike.