10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Glory Line - Episode 18

Onoda faces disappointment when team goals change on the climb. Naruko hangs on tenaciously to Midousuji's leading group.

Line.18 - "Naruko's Determination"

Hmm.

I've talked about this before, but I'll say it again - the introduction of race newbie Kaburagi for Sohoku was the perfect exposition device to explain racing conditions. You can't have spectators everywhere on course to talk to each other about what the audience is seeing, and veteran riders wouldn't need to explain stuff to each other. But Special K is, uh, special in that he needs lots of things explained to him. Just having the God of Orangina by his side is not enough to put his mind at ease when he doesn't understand why everyone appears to be acting under conditions he doesn't see.

We needed Special K in the race to explain why the combined group of Kyoto and Hakone didn't seem to be racing that hard if they were at the front of the race. People were missing! Having Aya in the team van is also a good device for Miki to explain stuff, like how the short distance between the mountain sprint line and the finish line makes the top of the mountain the decisive point of the race for the General Classification guys. But having a dumb dude on screen with a bunch of bikes and churning legs is way better for the sports club, shounen battle story aesthetic. I much prefer looking at Aya and Miki, but I also like looking at bikes, so I guess I'm... happy?

Heh.

Uh oh. Sohoku caught the front after seeing the confusing scene of Kumamoto's team in disarray. Manami doesn't look fired up either. It doesn't look like Onoda is going to have fun climbing against Manami today. Well, duh. Got to save that rivalry for the last day when THE NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN defends his title. That's how these things go in sports club, battle tournament, super ki power up stories, right?

Har. Special K says God is on his side as Aoyagi looks at him, from his side. He's still calling Doubashi "pig" from their bathroom fight on the first day.

Onoda is ready to fight, but Manami says he can't. That's when the other Sohoku guys realize, that the people who matter aren't there.

Looks like Ashikiba and Yuuto went ahead to follow Midousuji's move with Mizuta and their other climber. The other Kumamoto guys are up ahead too, and best of all, nobody is talking about Naruko.

Change of plans in a hurry! You know it's serious when things go black and white in this show.

Aw. Cheap. They just took the chroma out of the video. I much prefer the washed out white effect from the previous seasons.

So sad. Onoda needs to take a moment to swallow his disappointment. Two back pats from Teshima means it's a big deal.

This is good stuff. We haven't had a good friendship moment between Imaizumi and Onoda in a while. They're each other's first and oldest friends in this show, and Imaizumi still has more experience racing than THE NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN, so this is a touching scene of comfort.

Well, my question now is who's going to mention the missing Naruko first?

Look! Girls! Aya is kind of scared of Miki's srs bsns face.

Midousuji is beating his horses to death. This is actually sound pro racing strategy. I'll talk about this in the next section.

Wow. I like the sound of this Ashikiba. He really sounds like the ace of the team as he talks to Yuuto. Maybe he defers to Kuroda and Izumida too much when they're around, but it looks like Fukutomi's judgment of his character was right on. Good for him.

Hee. Mizuta doesn't want to look at Kiriya as he's slowly dying. Do your best... until you can't.

Okay, here we go. The flashback to how everything fell apart when Midousuji sneak attacked. It's all basically Kumamoto's fault for clogging up the road and not letting Hakone's rouleurs and Manami stick together with Ashikiba and Yuuto. Those two basically made the same choice as Naruko did in following Midousuji on the first climb of the day as Onoda and Imaizumi waited for Teshima.

So, Ise and his climber are somewhere in between the two front groups and the three main teams. They're the ones to say, hey, that Naruko kid tagged along with Kyoto.

This Ise guy doesn't seem to have it as the captain of Kumamoto. He keeps questioning why the aces attacked so early on the climb. You don't see the other guys questioning. They know it's a legitimate strategy to gamble on hitting the mountain line first and coasting to the relatively close finish line.

Naruko is employing a pro racing strategy too. I'll also mention this in the next section.

Ha! Naruko has enough sense to snap back at the spectators. Don't say you can't see him because he's small; say you can't see him because he's fast!

Naruko is another guy Midousuji respects. He's been put into the "NOT gross" category, because his tenacity shows his need for victory is pure.

Purple seaweed. Naruko's new nickname for Midousuji. That's new to me.

Midousuji decides to try a mind trick on Naruko, focusing on his tired legs. It won't work, though.

Ah. Using the Sprint Climb as a spoiling tactic. Midousuji can't seem to get out of his box that this is allowing Hakone to catch up. Naruko can't even get it out of his own mouth that he's waiting for Imaizumi to catch up. Well, there's also THE NATIONAL CHAMPION OF JAPAN dragging him up to the front.

And that's our cliffhanger. Naruko holding on as long as he can until his teammates join him.

Hoho. The omake shows Manami recruiting members for his napping club. He knows what works on Kuroda. This was Arakita's favorite spot!

We got Doubashi taking his turn for the end card. I'm hoping there are 13 episodes for this latest season so we can get Midousuji into one of these cards, because if it holds at 12, then we'll just have the Hakone and Sohoku guys.

Cycling Porn.

We got some good looks at the bikes from the main teams, Look, BMC, Pinarello, Cannondale, De Rosa, Corratec, but also at a Cervelo from Kumamoto and the Anchor bikes that the "zaku" from Kyoto ride.

Let's talk team climbing tactics. Midousuji beating his horses to death is exactly the strategy strong pro teams use in Grand Tours. I call it popcorn tempo. Guys who are not climbers, but have strong engines dictate a high pace as long as they can before they blow up and free wheel it to the finish. The more strong guys you have, the longer your team can do this, heating up the select group until they pop off the back like popcorn. The Postal-Discovery guys did this to perfection under Lance Armstrong and Team Sky has been doing this recently under Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome. The guys who peel off don't take a break on the side of the road like Kiriya did, but they do almost stand still when their job is done.

The other climbing team tactic is getting a guy in the breakaway and have him just sit at the back not contributing to the pace. This is demoralizing to the rest of the group and the guy sucking wheels also has to be mentally tough to take the abuse and not succumb to peer pressure to take a turn pulling. This is where this show got Naruko's spoiling tactic a little bit wrong, because a cyclist can actually slow down a climbing group from the back. He doesn't have to get in front and block any moves. Just sitting on back wheels and covering any attacks tires out the other guys because they'll start panicking and burning matches to try and shake that wheel sucker. A relatively well-rested Naruko can then lead one long, strong attack when his team leader joins him at the front, breaking the other riders' strength and spirit. So, having Naruko at the front was tactically sound for Sohoku, until he started trying to spoil their speed from in front, tiring himself out faster.