Drama kicks off even before the last day of Inter-high begins. Midousuji shocks his team when he announces that he’s quitting! If you’ve read my previous reviews of Yowamushi Pedal, you know that I can’t stand him. However, he’s important to the rest of Kyoto-Fushimi, but even their cries fall on deaf ears. The person who ends up reaching Midousuji’s heart may be a surprise…or maybe not so much if you look at the cover. Now maybe I need to go back and check Midousuji’s speech patterns, but in English, Onoda’s question to Midousuji feels like quite the leap in logic. I don’t know how else it could have been handled though.
Moving on. Since a new main rival is needed, meet Machimiya, a self-proclaimed lucky guy. Onoda and Kinjou sense something about him, but for many of the cyclists, Machimiya emerges as something of a savior.
So there’s the real conflict of the manga: individual vs the team, solo vs group. For Sohoku — particularly Naruko and Onoda — it’s almost unfathomable to think of the team being separated. But considering a team wins as long as one player crosses the finish line, is it really that important for everyone to stick together?
As Onoda faces this crossroads, I found myself quite addicted. This volume isn’t just about various members of Sohoku dropping out for the greater good. First, the mystery of Machimiya’s magic shakes up the race. Fukutomi and Kinjou, who are at the front of the pack, suddenly face a whole lot of unexpected pressure. Sohoku ends up separated, Machimiya’s magic is revealed, and temporary alliances are forged. This is quite the volume despite the race far from being in full-swing.
While the introduction of Machimiya felt a bit forced, an antagonist rotating in just to replace Midousuji, I actually think he’s better suited to the role. Machimiya is a tactician; Midousuji was a braggart. Plus, I think the theme of one vs all is better shown with Machimiya, although it’s also expressed with how Kyoto-Fushimi deals with Midousuji’s announcement that he’s abandoning the team. Even the concept of “team” is challenged here, as we see people working together who are not from the same school. So much going on, but it’s never overwhelming.
The only issue is that the art and character designs are the same as always — i.e. not great. Machimiya’s eyes are about the thinnest you could have without having a character with eyes constantly closed. This far into the series, you’d think I’d be used to it, but I haven’t seen Watanabe show as much improvement as, say, The Prince of Tennis did at this point, which also started off artistically rough.
Still, I’ve accepted that Watanabe is never going to have artbook-like quality. Instead, Yowamushi Pedal volume 10 shows that he has sharpened his storytelling skills. The third day of Inter-high is already full of twists and turns, and this should be an interesting race.