And now, I shall present my one-woman show of Yowamushi Pedal volume 13:
“Breeeeakk!”
“Grossss!”
“Only [blank] meters to go!”
“My body’s aching, but I’m gonna keep pedaling!”
“Mt. Fuji!”
“PRINCESS!”
“Everyone’s with me!”
“WINGS!”
Ta-da!
*crickets*
Okay, maybe that wasn’t an Oscar-worthy performance, but my script was dead-on. I think that covers about 90% of the dialogue.
For anybody wondering, no, no one has crossed the finish line yet. So if you just care about who is going to win, you’re going to have to wait for the next omnibus. I know I’ve said that before, but I really mean it this time. Yen Press even includes a preview that seems to confirm that so the very last <1km doesn’t turn into some sort of Baywatch slow-mo presentation.
Well, this last 5 kilometers isn’t exactly going fast though…
If you are looking for passion and sweat, then Yowamushi Pedal delivers — and from characters you don’t always associate with being emotional. Imaizumi and Midousuji face off, and the latter looks like he transforms into the grotesque monsters of Attack on Titan in order to shake Imaizumi’s belief in friendship. While there have been several rival pairs in the story, this one has been one of (the?) longest, and the most dramatic because of Midousuji’s attitude. So it is rewarding when Imaizumi mentally and physically stands up to his opponent.
Unfortunately, the problem is you can literally set your watch by what’s going to happen next. With two members of Hakone’s team still riding along, you know that the battle between Imaizumi and Midousuji won’t really matter when it comes to the ultimate winner of Inter-high, which is what I’ve been wanting to see for what feels like forever. And if you haven’t figured out that Onoda is once again going to be Sohoku’s savior, you haven’t been paying attention to this series.
Of course, since the race isn’t over yet, Yowamushi Pedal could end with Hakone’s victory and Onoda gaining the will to win for next year. If he manages to cross the finish line first, it’s going to be more like Manami loses than Onoda wins. I doubt his teammates would be upset considering at least one of them encouraged Manami to do what he wanted, but honestly, I’d be ticked if I learned we were so close to victory and my teammate decided his personal fun was worth jeopardizing the championship.
That, and I also didn’t understand that Onoda’s mom has evidently no idea that he’s been in the cycling club. How does that never come up in conversation? He never mentioned he was sore after practice or anything? Instead, Mama Onoda happens to wander into the spectacle accidentally while looking for the bus for Mt. Fuji. Definitely an odd — and forced — coincidence instead of a mother just checking on her son’s newfound hobby. Just…why? It’s not like they are emotionally uptight people or anything.
Well, at least I wasn’t expecting Mom to drop by. I guess that’s better than the how the rest of the volume is predictable…? But I’d rather have a typical mom-son interaction and surprising race than the vice-versa we got — and throw in some less-repetitive lines!