This episode was a tale of two halves if ever there was one.  Yowamushi Pedal – like many sports series good and bad – loves itself a flashback.  Judiciously applied they do a job, but timing is everything.  I’m not nuts about them popping up in the middle of the biggest moments in the race.  Who’s flashing back matters too – the ones featuring the main cast are always better than the ones on the fringe.  I have nothing against Kuroda-kun per se – I’m kind of neutral on him.  But he’s not a part of the climax, he was never going to be, and that was ten minutes of screen time I’m never going to get back.

Of course, there is a relevance to this flashback.  But fittingly it’s more about Manami than Kuroda.  Kuroda for his part is kind of a slightly elevated Teshima – a pretty good rider who got the captaincy (well, vice in his case) based on seniority and not being unacceptable to anyone on the team.  But by telling Manami-kun this story here, he’s trying to instill a sense of what “team” means in a kid who’s more than content to race for himself.  You can debate whether Manami or Onoda has an advantage with their contrasting views on the subject – Onoda-kun is carrying the added burden of that sense of responsibility, but also an extra layer of motivation.

For Hakone, it’s having lost the year before that’s both the added motivation and weight.  And it was Manami who lost at the line (to Sakamichi of course), so he should be feeling it either way.  Truthfully though, once it gets down to brass tacks I don’t think any of that stuff matters a whole lot.  These two are in their own little world when they get together – as different as they are, they resonate.  Each brings out the fire in the other, and not a trace of animosity.  One can argue that animosity is a requirement for a great sports rivalry (and many do) but for me it’s fun to watch these two good-hearted lads take such joy simply from competing with each other at what they do best.

The B-part is all about that, and unsurprisingly it’s vastly more compelling that the first half of the episode.  It’s Sakamichi with a nose in front where we left things last week, but he does get a bet mired in  the “swamp” Sangaku refers to.  Instead of thinking about the fun duel he’s having he starts thinking about the finish line, and his legs tighten up.  But he’s self-aware enough as a rider to attack the problem, which he does by grabbing the bars tightly and doing something he rarely does – dancing.  It’s hardly Makishima’s angry ostrich gesticulations, but by Onoda standards it’s pretty wild stuff.

Eventually Manami does Sky Prince things – he waits for the wind to be at his back, and spreads his wings.  But of course being in the lead shifts most of the pressure to him – Sangaku is pretty immune to that, but now he presents a target for Sakamichi to hone in on.  And the tireless terrier being who he is, Sakamichi takes great inspiration from watching his beloved soulmate do his thing.  He can’t fly, so Onoda does what he does – he sings, and drives himself forward with cadence.  “Hime, Hime” is his wings, and they’re not to be underestimated.  When the Hime makes an appearance, you know the game is well and truly on.

It’s not only Princess Pettanko who pops up here, a couple of other cute girls do too.  There’s Manami’s classmate and osananajimi Miyahara, who dons the “Best Boy” cap he gave her with a certain disdain.  And another old friend of hers is there too – Saka-Mama, who of course immediately recognizes the headgear (she should – she gave it to Sangaku in the first place).  I don’t see Manami being affected a whole lot by anybody watching but Onoda is going to have an awful lot of important people waiting on that last kilometer stretch, and it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts if he sees his mom in the heat of the moment.