What would you do for a Klondike bar? to win a race? Aoyagi attempts to get Kaburagi to agree to singing an anime theme as the answer, but he’s understandably skeptical and embarrassed by the request. Meanwhile, up ahead, Imaizumi begins to question his leadership qualities when Naruko becomes anxious about the position Sohoku’s in compared to their competitors. Are the champs destined to not only lose the race but their team spirit as well?
Yowamushi Pedal volume 22 keeps piling on the difficulties for Team Sohoku. Even when they get an emotional victory, as when Onoda manages to reunite with his teammates, the odds end up tilting even more to Hakone’s favor, or even Kyoto-Fushimi’s.
But Sohoku is in such dire straights that they’re basically not even a factor in the second half of the volume. There, the captain of Hakone, Izumida (the abs guy), is challenged by Kyoto-Fushimi’s Kishigami. Well, he’s only challenged in the sense that Kishigami really, really, really wants to view and touch Izumida’s muscles some more, and he can only do that if he pushes Izumida and then beats him. Izumida has his pride as a member of team Hakone and as the captain of the self-proclaimed kings, so he was already determined to take the day’s tags. But Kishigami, despite being a first year, is keeping pace.
As usually happens in these face-offs, the manga features flashbacks showing what they’re fighting for and/or how they got here. In a general sense, being true to yourself is a good message, and Midousuji helped Kishigami let his true self out instead of trying to be a model son and student. But when your nature eventually leads to groping competitors mid-race…maybe learn to keep some of yourself inside the box, m’kay?
Anyway, Sohoku fans are going to have to settle for the first half of the volume, and their theme of keeping the team together is falling apart. It’s easy to empathize with Imaizumi’s predicament, torn between the instinct to chase after the leaders versus following the Sohoku mantra. He wants to live up to Teshima’s faith in him, but it’s also a fact Imaizumi is an objectively better biker than the captain. Imaizumi becomes agitated after making his decision, and I’m interested in seeing his character arc develop. But I also hope to see Teshima make another stand, especially after he’s utterly destroyed here.
Anyway, for me, Yowamushi Pedal volume 22 is one of those releases that benefits from being a 2-in-1 omnibus. Sohoku isn’t essentially skipped for an entire volume, and fans aren’t left with just “it’s okay to be a creep for sports purposes” as the inspiring message of the book. Sohoku’s motto is being tested, and with them struggling, it’s a 50-50 split on whether Hakone or Kyoto-Fushimi are going to come out ahead of the other. It’s not often in a sports manga there’s such tension without the protagonist’s team being involved, and the author is doing well to get readers to let down their “Sohoku has plot armor for the auto-win” guard.