A box of energy bars, a pair of rabbits, and an anime song walk into a bike race…
No, this isn’t the start of a joke, but it is Yowamushi Pedal Volume 8.
This volume continues the Inter-high, and much of the story centers around Kyoto-Fushimi’s Midousuji. Onoda and the Sohoku team play relatively small parts in the story this time around. This volume is mostly Midousuji vs the World.
Yes, Midousuji continues to be a one-man antagonist in this sports series, targeting his opponent’s weaknesses, praising his own abilities, and insulting everyone who cannot match his bike-riding prowess. Unless you find a lot of charm in a character who looks like L from Death Note crossed with a lizard man, he’s likely to draw readers’ ire as much as the other characters in the story. Him joining Kyoto-Fushimi is finally shown, providing a little insight as to why he hasn’t been punched in the face or overthrown by his “foot soldiers”. Most sports manga try to give you reasons to root for the main team.
Yowamushi Pedal, however, is more ABM: Anybody But Midousuji.
This is especially true since the first half introduces Shinkai, Hakone’s sprinter. An eccentric in the style of Makishima, Shinkai is going to be easy to recognize going forward: he’s always snacking on energy bars. But he stood out to me for another reason: his history with rabbits. It’s revealed that after running over and killing a rabbit during a race, his guilt made him take in the baby rabbit and prevented him from racing for a year. It puts a spin on the usual backstories involving a promise: it’s not a promise between rivals, but it’s also not a promise involving an ill or deceased loved one. Of course, you can imagine how Midousuji would use this piece of information, and it’s a fierce one-on-one competition between him and Shinkai.
As I mentioned, Sohoku mostly takes a back seat to their main rivals. Considering they’re quite a ways behind the leaders Kyoto-Fushimi and Hakone, you would expect the manga to show much of their struggle to play catch up. I guess that will be saved for the next outing of Yowamushi Pedal, even though the manga ends with the continuing struggle of Hakone vs Kyoto-Fushimi. Sohoku’s pagetime is basically just everyone fawning over the hope Onoda represents. And, of course, you can’t have Onoda without his beloved anime songs. I want to see some depth added to his personality. Liking cycling and happy to have friends only go so far in characterization. Again, this goes into the ABM syndrome I mentioned earlier, as the manga feels more like about Midousuji’s (eventual) takedown rather than Onoda’s — or Sohoku’s — rise to a championship.
Going back to Midousuji, his appearance and expressions would fit perfectly in a Halloween party. His expressions are certainly devilish enough, and he gets a surprising competition for his snake-like tongue. Otherwise, I’m still surprised the manga hasn’t experienced any real art shifts this far into the series.
The Inter-high continues to show Midousuji’s dominance, so readers who just want to follow an arrogant cyclist, Yowamushi Pedal Volume 8 is here to please. For a series supposedly starring a miracle rookie, he is being vastly overshadowed by his teammate’s rival, one who keeps gathering opponents that are more interesting like Shinkai.