10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Glory Line - Episode 4

Naruko and Midousuji continue their showdown in the final kilometer as Ashikiba and Kuroda close the gap to the finish line.

Line.04 - "5 Men's Resolve"

Heh.

That traffic jam subplot is paying all sorts of dividends. Because the team car can't get to where it's supposed to be, we've already had Kouga and Sugimoto do their own Inter-High Race and now the first years who are just spectating are going to have to do the post-race recovery stuff. I'm sure some Sohoku alumni will be happy to lend a hand and brag on some other guys who were only first years last year.

It's 1 km to go for Naruko and Midousuji. In sports anime time, there's no way they finish this episode.

It's nice to see the same four actual sponsors are still going strong for this anime. Pocari Sweat for ion water, Subaru for cars, Kameda Seika for rice crackers and other snacks, and Megane Ichiba for selling eye wear. They never did land that lucrative CalorieMate contract...

Man, what is going on with this traffic jam? Did the diversion route have a terrible accident that blocked both lanes or what? Sohoku has a small support team, we know that, but the other teams' follow cars should be facing the same issues. Nobody else will be getting spare bikes from their team cars, but the bigger schools will already have staff camped out at the feed zone and the finish line.

This is a good way to bring the first years back into the story. Sadatoki's big voice is going to impress Tadokoro, I'm sure.

Sadotoki still wears all the Colnago stuff his brother wears.

The Tadokoro bakery's delivery car has "PanBox" as a logo. Is that a reference to another car brand, or is that just a sneaky way of call the vehicle a bread box?

What the hell is that crazy S-Turn doing so close to the finish line? I smell big drama.

Kinjou is anticipating Imaizumi coming to the line first, but Tadokoro senses Naruko pulling a surprise. Of course, they're just rooting for their proteges.

These kids are messing up their sprint. Naruko shouldn't be gunning it side-by-side with Midiousuji so far from the line. The winner should be trying to force the loser out front so he can jump out from behind and aim for the start of that crazy double turn as the finish line.

Good. Imaizumi can see Naruko duking it out with Midousuji and realizes he needs to stop working with Hakone. He should have done this earlier before he wasted his legs on that climb, but he's still young and inexperienced.

Ashikiba made a good decision to burn a match to catch the leading pair. He should have one more for the final last meters.

This set of flashbacks for Ashikiba and Naruko is just a way for people new to this season to know what the stakes are. Ashikiba's is a double flashback because we got this flashback during his hill climb race with Onoda.

That Metronome Dancing is supposed to be for climbing. There's no way Ashikiba can get any sprinting speed with that crap on the flats. Or he just needs to learn how to do that while he's in the drops. Come to think of it, none of the three in the back are in the drops. What kind of sprinting form is this?

Ha! Naruko catches Midousuji staring. Fujoshi swoon... or not, for Grossuji.

Yeah, Naruko shouldn't be bragging about dudes "falling for him." As far as we know, his fans are only dudes who like flashy guys.

Midousuji is still trying to do this smooth talking thing. He should stop. It's not going to work on Naruko because they know each other now. Those mind games only worked last year because Imaizumi was still rattled from a previous race, while Onoda and Naruko had never raced Midousuji before. They know what's coming. Besides, Naruko's banter with Midousuji is just so satisfying because they both trash talk with such relish. It's just another fun part of racing to them. I love it!

Good. Good! Imaizumi figured out who clipped Naruko's deep dish wheels last year. It's why Naruko was paying attention to who mattered instead of touchy-feely Komari. It was Naruko's time for revenge!

So, last year, Midousuji's trump card for the first day finale was taking off the tape on his fingers so he could shift into his big ring. He saved the tape release on his thighs for his intermediate sprint with Shinkai. This year, it's straight to the thighs, but Naruko already saw his Locust Stance, or whatever he's going to call it, and he's expecting that release for the finale.

Dude. You do not pull a final form transformation in the middle of an S-Bend. Even Naruko knows that. Well, this is Midousuji, who loves taking these tight turns goofy-footed. He'll do whatever he wants in the grossest way possible.

Ha! I love how the word for Metamorphosis in Japanese is pronounced "hentai" like the world for deviant pornography.

Ohohoho. Kinjou pulls his glasses routine with a tan line.

And new end card! Arakita just stole his college classmate Kinjou's glasses.

Cycling Porn.

This week we got our usual looks at the five guys' resolve, er, bike brands, Scott, Kuota, Pinarello, De Rosa, and Wilier. I was especially impressed with the angle they gave Ashikiba so we could see the Triestina in Wilier Triestina. No shift gear sparking this week except in the recap. Thank God.

I do want to mention Imaizumi's intention to push Naruko forward for the win. The kids love doing this in the anime, but they need to stop that. It's actually a foul in pro racing to impart your forward momentum to someone else, and you can be fined money and penalized time. The trick, if you want to fool the judges, is to make it look like you're patting your buddy's back as if you're giving him a go signal. Just a quick tap on the back with a half pedal rotation will be good enough.