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Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road
Episode 8

by Lauren Orsini,

The first season of Yowamushi Pedal could always be counted on to earnestly portray lasting friendships. Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road, however, is more about documenting how new friendships between characters begin. The beauty of this episode came from the germination of one of the most unlikely character alliances possible. For an episode titled “Arakita,” it didn't truly belong to him. Rather, it was a joint narration between Arakita and Onoda, the oddest of odd couples. The Hakone third year and the Sohoku first year had to overcome their differences to defeat Machimiya.

You wouldn't expect crass, ex-delinquent Arakita and earnest, skittish Onoda hang out together voluntarily, but this episode thrusts them together in pursuit of a common goal, where they must collaborate in order to achieve it. Onoda says that Arakita is “so scary I'm afraid you'll eat me!” According to Arakita, Onoda is “honest to a fault and awkward.” The only thing they have in common is an affinity for road racing, so that's what they have to work with in order to get through to one another.

Oh, and they're both extremely upset with our villain Machimiya. For Arakita, it's a matter of principle. Letting somebody, anybody, get between him and the goal is unforgivable. Onoda frames the case against Machimiya on moral grounds, claiming that “he's willing to betray people to get ahead.” This, the diminutive climber decides, is inexcusable.

Then Onoda says a line that I'm still not over: “Even Midousuji… he may not be very talkative… but I don't think the way he rides is wrong.” Given that I just devoted a paragraph in my review of episode 7 to how Machimiya is basically Midousuji 2.0, I'd say there's certainly a lot “wrong” with Midousuji's tactics. Not to mention that Midousuji hasn't exactly been Onoda's biggest fan. I think he'd be even more surprised to find Onoda defending his underhanded butt.

Anyway, the true strength of this episode came from Arakita and Onoda's blundering attempts to connect to one another. It's one of Yowapeda's greatest strengths that each character has an extremely developed personality, so viewers definitely know just how much Onoda's and Arakita's dispositions clash. Onoda is hopelessly earnest, and he can't help but say what's on his mind. Meanwhile, Arakita opts for curses instead of his true feelings, and is more likely to spit out an insult even if he is thinking about giving Onoda a compliment.

Manami's here too as sort of a third wheel (pardon the pun) or more like an echo of how Onoda feels about cycling. Manami and Onoda's groupthink makes it even more difficult for predatory Arakita, so focused on devouring his enemies, to think about a bike ride being “fun.” As usual, Onoda's charm is a match for even the toughest customer. The real journey of this episode isn't in the kilometers ridden, but Arakita's gradual and adorable nickname shift from “four-eyes” to “Onoda-chan.”

Finally, a note on the omake—the ending scene after the credits—since everyone is talking about it: Machimiya seriously needs to learn some boundaries. If you're not into the “humiliation porn” aspect of moe, you're in for a disappointing final 15 seconds.

Rating: B+

Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about anime and journalism at Otaku Journalist.


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