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Yowamushi Pedal Spare Bike Spinoff Manga Enters New Arc

This year's December issue of Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion is announcing on Thursday that Wataru Watanabe's Yowamushi Pedal: Spare Bike spinoff manga will enter a new arc in the next issue on December 12. The magazine has not yet revealed which character the story will focus on.

The Yowamushi Pedal: Spare Bike spinoff series follows the early years of the third-year students. The manga already profiled Hakone Academy's Jinpachi Tōdō, Yasutomo Arakita, and, most recently, Shingo Kinjō. Watanabe publishes the manga irregularly in various Champion magazines and as extras bundled with the anime DVDs. Kinjō's arc began in Monthly Shōnen Champion in May.

The story of the original manga centers around Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku at Sōhoku High School. He loves anime and games so much, that he would ride his commuter bicycle to and from Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district in a 90-kilometer (about 60-mile) round trip over steep slopes after school. Onoda's life changes when he encounters his school's cycling team, and he ends up joining the competitive sport of bicycle racing.

Wataru Watanabe launched the original manga in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2008, and the story inspired stage plays and two television anime adaptations. The first season of the anime premiered in 2013, and Crunchyroll streamed the anime outside of Japan as it aired. The second season premiered in Japan in 2014, and ended in March. Crunchyroll also streamed the second season outside of Japan as it aired.

The first anime season inspired a compilation film that opened in Japan in September. A feature film opened on August 28.

Yen Press has licensed the original manga for a release in North America.