(39 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Bike racing !
Characters
Sakamichi, our protagonist, is a complete nerd. He hoped to finally find some soulmates in high school, but it turns out the anime club has already been dissolved, and it’s going to be an uphill struggle to reopen it. His other notable quality : he enjoys riding his bike to school (including the 20+ % slope leading to it), and making casual trips to Akihabara. That’s 45km. On a bicycle.
Imaizumi, his “rival” of sorts. Well, not exactly. For him, biking is Serious Business : he has an intense daily training routine, a top-class bike, and is a major contender in nationwide competitions (he lost last year’s major race to That Guy). He hasn’t even bothered joining his new high school’s biking club yet, but that’s just a formality. Anyway, he’s baffled by this reckless kid who’s cheerfully climbing dangerous slopes without any care for his own safety (Sakamichi falls over A LOT during this first episode).
Kanzaki, a girl from the next class over. She’s obsessed with biking (which might be related to her family owning a bike parts shop, and her brother being the former biking club president), and imposes herself as the biking club’s new “manager” (you know, the traditional “girl” position in sports clubs that involves no managing whatsoever). Sakamichi has caught her eye ; cue misunderstandings about her interest in his biking trips to Akihabara. (She comes in tow with a sarcastic best friend who’s dismissive of the geek.)
We see a few of the senior members of the biking club, who all have their own quirks. Do note that our hero has yet to set foot anywhere near their clubhouse, let alone join them.
Production Values
As you’d expect, most of the budget is spent on lovingly animating the bikes. Actually, it does look quite good, and there’s some nice attention to body language.
Overall Impression
Well, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, but it is quite fun. There’s some good comic timing, and I kinda like all the characters. Also, the bizarrely limited planned length makes me hope it’ll be paced to tell a proper story within it (which is always a hazard with shounen sports series).
I’d be an hypocrite to give a second chance to a –ing baseball series, and not to this. Gods know I enjoyed watching it more.
