Have you seen this man? ➡
Seriously, have you seen him? Do you know who he is? Because according to the cast, he’s been a major source of support for the Sohoku team, fixing up bikes and offering advice.
And now, he’s…gunning for the position of captain?!
It is possible that Koga, a third-year, has been in the story, and I just don’t remember it. I don’t usually do this, but I went poking around some anime reviews to see if I am just totally blanking on this character. While of course things change in an anime adaptation, from what I’ve seen, it does appear like Koga is practically a retcon. He’s been mentioned in a throwaway line and perhaps been seen in the background, but otherwise, he is practically new.
Anyway, turns out, Koga rode at Inter-high in his first year, but an injury caused him to mainly focus on mechanical stuff for the club. Now that he’s fully healed, he’s decided to challenge Teshima at training camp and take his slot at Inter-high. Why he didn’t try to go the Sugimoto route and join the first-year race, it’s not really clear (although Koga mentioned it). Anyway, both Koga and Teshima know that Teshima’s the weakest of the lineup since he has no special abilities, and it’s a challenge between Koga’s innate talent with his stamina and Teshima’s effort to overcome his averageness that makes up a large part of the volume as the others concentrate on tackling the required 1000 kilometers at camp.
Koga’s story and frustration is actually pretty good, but the suddenness of his appearance and level of skill greatly hampers this whole storyline. Also, it takes away from what I wanted to see: growth from Kaburagi. He’s forced to ride without Danchiku’s support, and the thought terrifies him. Even after overcoming that hurdle, others comment he still doesn’t understand his role in the race, so I’m sure that’s going to come into play at Inter-high.
Which is just about to kick off! At the end of the volume, Sohoku (with it’s confirmed six-man team) arrives at the starting location, so the race will kick off early in volume 18. Sohoku knows they have to prove their championship wasn’t just an accident, and the other teams are out for revenge. A couple of members of Kyoto-Fushimi showed up to spy on Sohoku, including a scene where their new member “catches” (read: sees an opportunity to grope) a falling Onoda and nearly cries out at, and I’m quoting, “Such supple muscles. With a springiness against my fingertips.”
Uh, yeah…moving on.
Anyway, I don’t think the existence of Koga was needed, as I’m sure we could have seen Teshima grow in another way, and we could have spent more time seeing how even the Inter-high-experienced second years are improving themselves. Naruko gets some attention here since he’s switching focuses, but we don’t get to see evidence of Imaizumi or Onoda leveling up. Still, I can’t hate Koga or his rivalry with Teshima, but I hate how he suddenly commandeers control of the training camp arc.