10 Second Anime - Yowamushi Pedal - Glory Line - Episode 22

As the three aces sprint the last few meters of the 2nd day of racing, Midousuji and Yuuto reflect on their pasts, giving them extra motivation to win.

Line.22 - "Three Powerhouses"

Meh.

Two extended flashbacks to get us to a finish line cliffhanger? In the same episode? Back to back? Come on, man! Allowing for Midousuji and Yuuto to go through their self-reflections at the same time, each took about 10 minutes of inner storytelling. Allowing for just speech in the present moment instead of in their memories, we're still talking about 2 minutes. Do you think they took 2 minutes to go 100 meters? At about 50 kph? Nah.

I go through this once a season, so it's become a tradition for Yowamushi Pedal, where I complain that a whole episode covered the inner thoughts of several riders as they went 100 meters. 20 minutes to fully flesh out 7 seconds of real time. Man, Imaizumi better have 3 seconds to pull out his own power-up during the next episode so the actual finish happens right at the middle commercial break.

Hmm.

Three years later, we finally find out what Midousuji's ball of light signifying victory means. It's a firefly he meant to bring to his mom, but he never got the chance because she died before the next Summer. Young Akira had it rough, we know. The importance of telling this detail now, instead of at last year's race was how he remembered his mother's advice on catching a firefly - cupping it gently. Midousuji finally learned that he lost last year because he held on too tightly to his plan for victory and the ball of victory got squashed and slipped through his fingers. He needs to grasp victory gently, with lots of give and flexibility. Imaizumi just learned this lesson this day of racing too.

The more interesting flashback, which I would have appreciated more if it wasn't the second flashback to delay the finish line, was how Yuuto dealt with being under the very large shadow of his brother Hayato. He became a climber to escape the comparisons, even though he had talent to be a sprinter too. Sprinting in the finale awakened the Shinkai demon. I wonder if Ashikiba and the others knew this about Yuuto, that he was always a sprinter who became a climber, making him an excellent prospect for the designated ace. Could be!

Heh.

Uh oh. Midousuji is seeing his fluffy ball of light. Victory is getting close.

Ugh. Grossuji's Flying Locust Ride is going to get even grosser. Hen for hentai!

No, Yuuto. Don't look at that lump on his back. It's not real anyway.

Look! Girls! Who hate gross things!

And now Midousuji looks like he has a cat's spine.

Gah. That is not the angle for pulled up bike shorts I want to see. Midousuji's position on the bike is really breaking the CG model.

Imaizumi is going to be left out if he doesn't get an "evolved" power-up too. He just cracked his sludge-like limiter, but I need to see some blue-glowing action. Next episode, I hope.

And of course we get a flashback with 100 meters to go. Got to drag this out so the season finale starts on the third day of racing.

So, that ball of light is a firefly! Which Akira wanted to show his mom. Aw. And that got tied together with his bike racing trophies he showed her too. Now we know why everything is about bugs with this guy too.

Ha! His little cousin is mad he won't show her the firefly he caught. Akira used to be so normal, even if he was odd looking, in a general sort of way.

Okay, I'm in a better space to appreciate young Akira and his awesomely gentle mom. Sniff. Gone too soon.

His mom gives us the most charitable read on Midousuji - he's awkward, but he's honest (at least about his intentions). Onoda says the same thing about him.

And now we get a Yuuto flashback, because he's feeling that sprinter's buzz. Drag, drag, drag...

I guess this is important to see how Yuuto developed this complex about being the legendary Hayato's little brother.

Terrible. He's three years younger, so he'll never be on the same school cycling team as Hayato.

Yuuto is so young he hasn't learned the word "talent" yet.

Also bad. He wins his first race and all the questions are about his brother. Solution - become a climber. No comparisons that way.

But Yuuto is still a Shinkai. Sprinting is in his blood. And so is that demon glare!

So, Yuuto is going to get a legendary Weeping Win Face, or something.

And now we have a 3 up sprint with 50 meters to go for a cliffhanger. Imaizumi better have a half episode flashback leading up to a power-up next episode.

Haha! Hayato came up with that demon face to win staring contests with Yuuto. That's a good sibling relationship right there.

Manami takes his turn for the end card.

Cycling Porn.

We've been seeing the same three bikes for a while now, but we had more looks at Yuuto's Cervelo because of all the pedaling he did in his flashback compared to the little bit that Midousuji did on his De Rosa. Imaizumi's Scott barely registered.

I find it funny that the little kid versions of the high schoolers are still riding their same frames. Obviously, we've seen how ridonkulous Midousuji has outfitted his frame just to keep using it because of his obsessions, but the Shinkai's wouldn't act the same way. Little kids would be running on smaller frames with 650 tires instead of the adult 700s. That means smaller forks and seat stays to fit those tires too. I suppose the Shinkai's just love their respective paint jobs.