That was Yowapeda at its best, plain and simple. Maybe there’s been a little bit of inconsistency with Yowamushi Pedal this season, it’s true. But two of the five episodes have been absolutely first-rate, and I chalk that unevenness up to the fact that Onoda has been only intermittently involved. […] Read more
The foreshadowing in this episode was thicker than boba tea. I think boba tea is disgusting, by the way. Fortunately, I don’t feel that way about this episode of “Grande Road”. While it didn’t have the sheer emotional firepower of last week’s blockbuster, it admirably served its purpose as the […] Read more
There’s a little refresher course on what sets Yowapeda apart from the pack of sports anime. I’ve been sort of rooting for Midousuji since this race for the second-day finish line began, but this episode really made it a lot easier to do so. Midsousuji has a lot of flaws […] Read more
Whatever you might have thought of the episode, I think it was worth it just to get to the pun. I love Yowamushi Pedal, but one of the very few elements I don’t especially care for is the way it can stretch a few seconds of competition into an entire […] Read more
NOnoda? No problem. OP: “Determination” by LASTGASP It’s always great to welcome back an old friend like Yowamushi Pedal, which returns to the airwaves after a brief one-season absence (many thanks to Majimoji Rurumo for keeping the Watanabe Wataru slot ably filled). Yowapeda was one of the surprise (to most) […] Read more
If you were pissed the moment the ED started, just remember – it could have been a whole lot worse. Yowamushi Pedal finishes off an excellent three-cour season with an excellent finale, but it certainly raises some interesting questions: did the production committee know along that a second season would […] Read more
I sort of feel as if I’ve written this post before. Normally it would be a real broadside to say that an omake was the best part of the episode, but the omakes in Yowamushi Pedal are so consistently good that it’s not necessarily so in this case. This one […] Read more
You say you don’t like Onoda-kun? And how long have you been a terrorist? I’m not going to go so far as to say “a sports series is only as good as the main character”, because of course it’s not so simple. Great sports manga and anime have a lot […] Read more
Yes, believe it or not, he actually got freakier. Two eps in a row without Onoda, apart from a cameo and the omake this week? It’s a stretch, especially given that we’ve only got three more episodes left until the hiatus, but this whole inter-high arc is taking on a […] Read more
Your move, Freak. Unless you’re Hunter X Hunter, following up a blockbuster crowd-pleaser like last week’s episode of Yowamushi Pedal is going to be a tall order. And for me least this follow-up was considerably less compelling, both in terms of weightiness and entertainment value. The focus was on an […] Read more