It’s surely no coincidence that Yowamushi Pedal has gotten exciting again just as Sohoku has miraculously found their way back into the story. They’re the protagonists for a reason, and especially the three second-years are the spine of the series. HakoGaku and KyoFushi really work better as foils that central POV characters – their eccentricities aren’t so off-putting that way. It’s really only Midousuji out of that bunch that can carry an episode, and he’s a foil even when he’s the central character.
As I feared, though, Sohoku did catch up the lead pack all too easily to be really believable. And I say that even in the knowledge that there’s a new lead pack that broke away from the one Sohoku caught – a select group of six riders. That was all caused by Kyoto’s breakaway of course, a rather brilliant piece of strategy – but even so, the other riders from those two schools should have too far ahead to catch up on the second day. So it seems to me, anyway.
The new lead pack is the three from KyoFushi who broke away – chimera, “captain” and zaku – and two from HakoGaku, It’s interesting that in addition to Yuuto, it was Ashikiba they sent – their ace. That means Manami was left behind, given the responsibility to track his tired sprinters up the mountain. That leaves Onoda-kunn rather bereft when he arrives with his four teammates, his grand plan to duke it out with Manami-kun on the mountaintop foiled by events on the ground. That’s road racing, as Manami says – once the mountains kick in and start to wreak havoc, things almost never go according to plan.
So who’s the sixth rider with the new lead group? You guessed it, it’s Red Bean. The only one who saw through Midousuji’s gambit and reacted in time to avoid being dropped, Naruko is once again proving himself to be a bulldog of the highest order. He’s even earned Midousuji’s respect – “Not gross!” may be the kindest thing he’s capable of calling someone. But it’s hard to argue with Midousuji’s claim that Naruko-kun must be spent, and thus not represent much of a threat. That is, until he decided to actually try and take the lead and in the process, slow down the leaders enough to let chasers (hopefully including someone from his own side) catch up.
I get that wish the finish just after the summit, trying a little harder to win the climb makes sense. But I’m still curious about the strategic decision to go all-out to win the second day, as opposed to saving some strength for the real finish line. Midousuji totally burns out his climber, Kiriya. Hakone sends their ace. Tehsima sends his theoretical ace and his true ace to chase. Why bleed yourself dry to try so hard to win an intermediate stage? And does this mean that HakoGaku truly believes that Ashikiba is their ace, and not Manami?
Omake:
