One thing you can say for sure about Yowapeda – whenever it hits a rough patch, a little Onoda goes a long way towards getting it back on track.
Well now, that was more like it – though that’s hardly a surprise. The stretches of relevance for Onoda Sakamichi have been few and far between in this Inter-high, and pretty much without exception Yowamushi Pedal is a better and more engaging show when he’s the focus. It’s really a combination of repetitiveness and a spotlight on the wrong characters that have caused “Glory Line” to struggle on those occasions where it has, but I think we may have turned the corner on that (at least for the most part).
What’s more, it’s clear that Onoda’s influence on the Sohoku squad runs so deep that even when he’s not physically present, he’s changed the way they approach their business. It seems that Aoyagi’s “Koi no Hime Hime Pettanko” gambit wasn’t to pass it off as the blessings of Beena-sama (though that may have been a side benefit with halfwit Kaburagi) but Aoyagi following the advice of his beloved sempai Tadokoro. It seems it wasn’t a matter of Aoyagi paying attention during last year’s race as I surmised last week, but Tadokoro being moved by the power of a certain song to work miracles on tarmac.
I know Shimono Hiro can sing better than this (he did the OP for Kabukibu! for crying out loud) – as for Matsuoka Yoshitsugu I have no idea. But they were sure terrible here singing this “fancy” song (there’s a star between the “Love and the “Hime” – that’s important). It’s the thought that counts, I suppose, and apparently this one has enough power to inspire even if Onoda isn’t around to help it along. This was no Onoda-Tadokoro duet (which may still be, for me, the best single scene of Yowamushi Pedal’s four seasons) but it was effective in its own way.
That was preamble, however – the main event was the brewing challenge between the Yama Ou and the challenger, Shinkai Yuto. Shinkai – as Teshima notes – didn’t do much on the first day. When things go as smoothly as they did for Hakone, you have the luxury of saving a rider for later skirmishes – and Shinkai Minor approaches this battle with Onoda with fresh legs. Izumida unleashes him as soon as HakoGaku gets within a few hundred meters of Onoda and Teshima, and the captain wisely tells his ace to flee on his own (though at this stage I’m not sure how much strategic difference it would make if one Hakone rider got to the front before Sohoku’s pair did). Teshima proves as bad at blocking as he is at- well, at leading and riding and generally everything – and Shinkai-kun catches up to Onoda in the blink of an eye.
Shinkai the younger is clearly an annoying pest of a rider, like a hornet at a picnic – that whole “He’s close!” thing borders on bad sportsmanship. But he’s obviously very good (he wouldn’t be on HakoGaku’s Inter-high squad if he wasn’t) and for him, this is personal. He’s a cocky first-year and he wants to test himself against the best. And in the world of high school cycling in Japan, that has to be Onoda – he’s the kid who won the Inter-high. He’s the boy with the #1 tag on his back.
I found Onoda’s approach to this challenge very interesting. For him – despite his rivalry with Manami-kun – the idea of a personal challenge is anathema to why he races. He even says he “doesn’t particularly like to race”, win or lose. I think for Onoda, what he loves is to ride with people, not against them – and that includes his opponents (especially Manami). His competitive drive kicks in when his team is threatened – for Onoda, it’s always about the comaraderie. He seeks to win not for himself, but for his brothers. I’ve said this before, but I think to be a truly great cyclist Onoda really needs to become a little more selfish – on some level, at some point, the great ones have to make it about them. But if that’s the price for being great, I think Onoda would probably be happier never being great.
Koi no Hime Hime Pettankomake:
End Card (for the first time, a GIF):
Videomax
March 13, 2018 at 3:34 amThanks
Abs
March 13, 2018 at 8:34 pmInteresting take on the series. I personally like the focus being on Onoda… I mean how many times can you root for the gold hearted underdog with supreme untapped potential and talent. Do like him but have liked the change up on characters who are different. I like that Teshima is epitome of hard work but just generally doesn’t have the talent and enjoyed watching a character like that take the spotlight.
Often there are just players on a team who for all intensive purposes the team would be better off if they could replace…but that doesn’t mean their story is any less interesting or captivating, at least in my eyes.
Guardian Enzo
March 13, 2018 at 8:42 pmI agree. I just think it is in Teshima’s specific case. Kaburagi, too. They feel like “second-tier” characters – like most of Watanabe’s inspiration went into the first batch (the Sohoku Six. the HakoGaku guys. Midousuji). Characters like TeshimAoyagi and Kaburagi, to me, are like the second steeping of a loose leaf tea – it can still be good, but it just isn’t the same.
Goh
March 14, 2018 at 12:04 pmI know I’m in the minority on this but I think the current Sohoku is more interesting than the old team. Teshima, Kaburagi and Naruko are the best characters of the show at this point and to be honest I think Enzo has coldy overlooked the first two for reasons that don’t really make sense to me.
Lately I see people getting bogged down in misguided thought processes, the most common being : confusing power levels with a character being interesting. Ex. Koga is stronger than Teshima/Kaburagi ergo he is more interesting/should have been on the team. Well, no.
Enzo I think you are also responsible for this in regards to Teshima. You rightly think he is a mostly incompetent leader that makes bad decisions but that’s exactly why he is an incredible character. Teshima is a true romantic willing to throw everything away for a 1v1 challenge with a climbing beast in order to prove to himself that he can ride with the best and win. He’s also quite smart and calculating but not in the practical way we should expect of a leader. He basically does whatever feels cool to him. And that’s awesome. The pathos of the character is that he’s willing to sacrifice the efforts of a team that’s counting on him, chasing a personal pipe dream. He’s a far more interesting leader than Kinjou.
Same with Kaburagi. It’s incredible how emotionally invested I am in this little guy. There’s a real desperation there of a guy that refuses to admit weakness that is far more interesting to me than the unearned and inexplicable strength of a guy like Onoda.
So no, I definitely disagree with you there. To me the ”second tier” characters have already proven themselves to be more interesting than the first batch (Naruko is still great).
Leffe
March 15, 2018 at 5:11 amOkay, the idea of Kinjou is a better character than Kinjou himself. But Aoyagi is very boring character that used to had of schtick of not talking ever, but now he talks a lot , which means that this guys background is either non-existent or contradictory. I don’t get the guy, I hate the pufferfish thing and I’m glad it never actually makes a difference. Teshima suffers from being closely connected to him and that his bad leader role decisions actually should hurt the team more than it does. The anime sold these characters in season one as non-interesting, and they haven’t recovered.
Oh wait, you’re saying that the second tier characters are more interesting than Onoda, Naruko and Hotshot? Jesus christ. here I was going to defend the retired sempais, and you just murdered the holy cows. I’ll just stop here
Goh
March 15, 2018 at 7:58 amNotice that I include Naruko among the greats and that I didn’t mention Aoyagi once in my post. Of course I agree that Ayoagi is not a successful character. But Teshima is by now a dominating presence. He not only recovered from his unassuming first appearance but he has become a protagonist of sorts.
A much better one than Onoda.
I also like Imaizumi quite a bit but it’s been too long since the series truly focused on him. His last great scene was his encouragement of Sugimoto and that was a while ago.
Look what I’m saying is that I prefer the new dynamic that Teshima/Kaburagi offer the team compared to the trio of Sohoku sempais where I could never get truly excited about them or their rivalries (only Makishima was a decent character and that with reservations).
Leffe
March 15, 2018 at 5:02 am*intents and purposes
Abs
March 13, 2018 at 8:35 pmpersonally liked the focus being off Onoda*
Michael
March 14, 2018 at 10:53 amThe end of the episode was a breath of fresh air! I feel like the series will finally pick up again, which is good because much of the episodes of late have been a cut below the first and second seasons.
Stöt
March 15, 2018 at 2:54 pmOmg, Enzo. Chihayafuru is getting a third season and you haven’t posted about it!? I almost freaking missed the news. omgomgogmgmgmg. Five years wait is over!
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-02-25/chihayafuru-tv-anime-gets-3rd-season-in-2019/.128239
Guardian Enzo
March 15, 2018 at 8:51 pmI commented on it in one of the other threads. Like an old lover you know is bad for you telling you she’ll take you back.