Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road

Sohoku, the team that never gives up.

This season of Yowamushi Pedal started off with a bang, finally quelling the much awaited cliffhanger in the season prior. The story is a fresh burst of excitement that further develops the characters and evidently concludes this exciting race.

Story: 6/10
Each episode begins with a quick recap of the episode that came before, helping the viewer understand where the bikers are in the race. The story encompasses the entire middle - second half of the Inter-High. It is no question that the first season of this anime needs to be seen beforehand, but it is definitely worth the ... watch. Though each episode was filled with exciting plot twists and moments that keep you on the edge of your seat, the show lagged in a few areas. Most episodes spent half of the time reflecting on events that had happened in previous episodes. The vast amount of flashbacks made the story drag and frustrated me because the race could have been finished much sooner. Thankfully, there was enough character development and intense scenes to keep the viewer thoroughly entertained. You would think that an anime about bicycle racing would grow boring after a few episodes; however, I can personally say that this show had me excited for a new episode every week.

Art: 7/10
The art style was relatively average, but stayed clean and consistent throughout both the first and second seasons of Yowamushi Pedal. The scenery presented in the show was well drawn, as were the fast-paced racing scenes. Nothing obscure was drawn and nothing seemed out of place, but nothing spectacular was shown either.

Sound: 8/10
The music definitely was a perfect fit for this anime. It was an exciting blast that would get you excited to watch the show, even if you weren't excited at the start. The opening was very suitable for a sports anime, since the aim is to get you pumped for the chase. The voice acting was also very satisfying. All of the voice actors adapted to their respective characters and there were thankfully no unnecessary exaggerations in tone. At times the characters would shout in excitement, power, or dismay, but it adds to the overall pathos of the show.

Character: 9/10
One thing that Yowamushi Pedal has excelled at the most is its character development. Of course there was a much broader look into the lives of the characters in the first season, but each new character that was introduced was never forgotten. The supporting cast on the sidelines as well as the opposing bicycle teams were thoroughly developed and well introduced. There was one set of character that was introduced that seemed to play more of a menacing filler role, however, the arc tied into the story very well and enhanced some of the main characters' own personalities. The beautiful character development has you rooting for every single character that is competing in the Inter-High and has you resonating a connection with them all.

Enjoyment: 10/10
If I were only grading this anime on enjoyment, it would have a definite perfect score. I would definitely recommend this show to sports anime fans as well as standard anime lovers. It is no question that the first season needs to be watched first in order to comprehend the story, but it is worth the watch. I absolutely loved this anime and I can't wait to read the manga.

Overall: 8/10

The Anime started well with the first season giving a glimpse into cycling. It baffles how uninteressting and simply bad this season was.
Not only was there basicly no character development, no plot twists that seemed in any way interesting nor did the anime feature anything I would like to see in a story.
The Animation and Sound were almost the same as the first season so thats fine,
but this season felt like a Dragonball Z copy on bicycles.

Maybe 50% or even more of an episode are two or more characters screaming each others name, supported by cut ins of them pedaling or leaning over ... their bikes.
Any other interaction between the characters were surface level deep, meaning it had no impact on the story or the relationships.
Even worse is the aspect of expertise. When you look at the first Season you sometimes get some information about cycling and sports in general.
These information are sometimes even relevant to the story (see training camp in season one and other scenarios). But in this season there are almost no such infos.

All in all this anime was something i looked forward to but which dissapointed me in the end.

If I had to find one positive aspect about it the solid animation and sound design would come to mind.

My verdict: If you want uninteressting screaming and very simple entertainment without deep story or knowledge about cycling give it a go but don't expect much from it.

Since animes about cycling tend to be rare this is a very nice treat.
This anime is more accurate about cycling than Overdrive. That is nice but still there is a gigantic portion focused on telling the personal life of all of characters, which can get quite boring.
The artwork is good but has a lot of still frames which i wish could be more animated. One issue that I have taken with all cycling animes thus far (this one included) is why do they not focus on the crashes in cycling? Cycling has some of the best wipeouts in all of sports and ... they could make it quite cinematic.

They could make this anime more action packed I feel, but overall its a HUGE improvement over overdrive, with actual recognizable brands making many appearances, so it is well worth watching.

Tirelessly peddling, constantly looking forward, and triumphing over great mental and emotional fatigue to reach one’s dreams is what Onoda Sakamichi accomplished, and all while having the greatest time of his life. Yowamushi Pedal in its entirety is not about attaining selfish desires, instead it portrays the struggle to reach what seems unattainable, a dream, and using a road racer (aka a fancy bicycle) as a metaphor of always looking ahead in life masterfully ties it all together.

Blindly going into a sports anime with no prior knowledge about the sport and coming out with a strong passion and excitement towards it is something that ... makes this genre of anime fascinating and valuable. Yowamushi Pedal has completely changed my perception towards road racing, as now I perceive it to be a very exhilarating and respectable sport. It is the portrayal of road racing and the blood, sweat, and tears that each rider experiences throughout their journey that captivated and immersed me in the story line. However, the sport alone is not the anime’s only selling point, but it is the determination and courage that the athletes relentlessly endure in order to accomplish their dreams, and to help their teammates accomplish the same, that motivates me to enthusiastically pursue my own dreams without looking back.

The story in season two begins in the middle of the final three day long road racing inter-high tournament and continues right where season one ended. The story is fairly simple, to win this major race in order to fulfill the dreams of each team member, which is to become stronger and become completely enthralled in what they love the most—road racing. But this simple premise really is something that I love about this anime. The straightforwardness of the overall story line allows the audience to focus on the race and the adversity that each character faces, not only for the athletes on the main team (Sohuku) but also for several rival teams. What each character maintains throughout the anime is their charisma as each individual is memorable and has unique traits, which is a common method used in action and sport orientated anime. The story is very thrilling, inclusive, inspiring and the balance between humour and seriousness allowed me to enjoy both the anime and the sport of road racing.

The characters are not particularly developed but this does not detract from the overall attraction towards these characters. The development of one character is not important in Yowamushi Pedal compared to the development of the team, as road racing is portrayed to be mainly a team sport, therefore the growth of certain characters only add to strengthening the team as a whole. The main character, Onoda, is a very inspiring individual as he is first introduced in season one as one of us, an anime loving high otaku, but becomes quickly fascinated by the road racing team at his high school. The fact that this athlete is a typical otaku who has no interest in sports prior to discovering road racing is quite shocking because most sports anime revolves around a strong and masculine protagonist. On the other side of the spectrum we have the main antagonist of the anime, Midousuji, who is literally portrayed to be a snake riding a road racer…I honestly don’t understand how the producers came up with such a vile character, but to be honest it was pretty hilarious watching him frustrate the other riders and probably the entire audience.

Who doesn't love bright and bold animation to go along an inspirational and amusing sports anime! The bright colours used to individualize each character and team with the constant vivid scenery really brought the fresh and comforting feel of summer. The use of intense colour beautifully reflected the characters attributes and aura throughout the second half of the tournament and the style of animation was very straightforward and direct like the plot. It was obvious that some parts of the animation did not entirely allow the audience to completely enjoy certain scenes due to a lack of detail, however as the producers were limited with a strict budget I couldn't ask for more. I was never once disappointed by the atheistic of this anime as it allowed me to feel the excitement and joy that Onoda felt while pushing forward towards his dream.

The soundtrack was very uplifting and exciting which complimented the intensity of the sport and the emotions of the characters. In addition, the main OST of the anime really was well constructed to build the sense of determination and hope in the emotions of the characters, and allows the audience to develop a strong connection to this particular soundtrack.

Yowamushi Pedal for the most part follows the typical story line of any sports anime, but what makes this anime promising is its ability to inspire any individual to keep looking forward and pedal harder, because a dream can become reality for anyone.

The thing that makes is anime the characters especially with sports anime you need well developed characters so that the viewers actually care for them. Yowapedal does such a great job at this by giving so many characters back stories throughout the series showing why they act a certain way. It'll even have you feeling sympathy for characters you hate.
There's nothing special about the animation or music it's just what you'd expect from any regular good sports series. The only problem with the music would probably be that the same tracks were repeated a lot. The animation did have a lot of still frames but ... not to where it's annoying. The only thing I found annoying were the flashbacks at dramatic parts. The CGI wasn't annoying at all even though I personally can't stand to watch CGI.
This anime leaves you feeling compete just make sure you watch both seasons lol season 1 didn't really end at all. I lost count of how many times I was off the edge of my seat watching this roller coaster. I found myself smiling, crying, and screaming at my tv. This is a series where you'll be constantly clicking the next episode wanting to know what happens next. I highly recommend this if you love sports anime you'll definitely enjoy yowapedal. Even if you hate sports anime I'd recommend this to get you into the genre.

Yowamushi Pedal really takes the cake when it comes to anime taking something that everyone thinks is boring, in this case, cycling, and making it exciting. How does it do this you ask? It does it with good "action" scences, and I said "action" because it's not really action but it still makes you as excited as when you are watching a crazy fight like from any anime like Fate/Stay UBW or something. It also has the most likeable characters ever. Really, at certain times I wasn't sure if I wanted the crazy Midousuji Akira to win or the main character Hinata. One other ... that really drives to watch this anime is how at the end of each episode you want to know what is gonna happen next, which can lead to you marathoning the whole thing. The art is really average but with the story you will forget all about it. An other thing you will forget about is the main character, Hinata. That's because all the other characters are so intersting you have trouble focusing on one, and unlike every cliche anime Hinata, the protaginist, isn't the best at the end of the anime. I would really recommend this anime to anyone who wants something and has them at the edge of their seat.

I wanted to like this anime more but unfortunately its to much a show about cycling and more an ANIME about cycling. It does the jojo thing where it slows down the world so much and gives us 10 minutes of inner monolouge in what are supposed to be 10 real world seconds, also overdramatizes certain aspects of racing, during the race in the show, there were a few characters that needed to be left behind and every time it was treated in a similar manner to when a shonen protag's friends all make noble sacrifices so that he doesn't have to fight the goons ... and can save his energy for the main antagonist.

In the context of fighting this makes sense, but in races people can only go as fast and as long as their bodies will allow, if the fastest person on the team is ahead of the pack the second fastest being faster than some dude on the other team ain't gonna have a bearing on whether or not the dude is gonna be able to catch up lol.

ALso the show kinda acted like people not being able to keep up near the end had any significance at all when it doesn't. In a real world race without all the anime fuckery if they're near the head of the pack they can probably rest for 10 minutes and pedal on minimum speed to complete the race before the cutoff lol. Since they aren't judged as teams either its like..... dude who tf cares? Your ace came in 1st or second, you aren't scored as a team, you aren't injured, you can just rest for a couple of minutes and even if everyone passes you you'll still complete the race before the cutoff just to say you did lol.

Its also kinda annoying how it does the thing where everyone needs to have an anime superpower. One guy has a high vo2 max, one guy is really aerodynamic, one guy eats enough his glycogen is never deplete, one has abs.

Its true that there are different types of atheletes within the sport whose different physical attributes give them different advantages, but the reality is everyone competing at a high level in cycling has a high vo2 max, almost all of them are going to do at least a modest amount of resistance training, they're all going to make efforts to be more aerodynamic, the vast majority of riders are going to slam back those nasty gels or sugarbars, but not all of these advantages are equal and the show kinda acts like they're similar in power level, you pick a "style" and depending on how hard you work on it you have equal potential as someone else to be the best.


I already know people are going to say things like "stop whining its an ANIME, its NOT SUPPOSED TO BE REALISTIC" but *shurg* art imitates life and since this show isn't meant to be wildly unrealsitic in the same manner as a show about yokai or a shonen anime with crazy power levels like hunter x hunter i think it makes sense not to enjoy those aspects of it and to criticise the show for it, i'm not saying the show is bad, just that some of its anime tropes are overplayed and i think perhaps not appropriate for its specific genre, its okay to criticise aspects of a show you enjoy or even not to like things that other people like.

yes it is very good I watched every existing Episode and Movie plus specials I can SAY IT IS A MASTERPIECE the Manga is great ti I collect all english mangas from it 18 double volumes
the Manga is still puplishing scince 2008
after watching it I bouhgt a Real Roadbike and ride a lot
so get prepared before watching it it was my first original Anime on Japanese

Im learning how to make good Reviews, pls be nice. This Show has a very special place in my heart, it changes my life. I bought actually a real Roadbike after this and ride very often! But in real Cycling ... is really hard, if you whant to be a pro, than you should make early races to make fast procress. Put as a hobby I liked it really!
The Music is very nice to!! And every charcter is nice to shater there feelings whit you. Its like a big treshure under the see if you find it, you whil be happy I swear.

Aaaannnd the lovely second season with Onoda-chan and co.

This finishes the Inter-high arc. We continue exactly where we left off in season 1 (not much cliffhanger issue for me because by the time I re-started watching Yowamushi Pedal season 1, season 2 was already out and completed) and finishes the Inter-high match completely.

This season was a real pleasure for me. As I said in my review of the first season, I enjoy the racing scenes the most so meeting more rivals and seeing them go head to head was a real pleasure for me.

Some things with Onoda gets too repetitive but(!) as this season spells ... out how the rest of the Inter-high competition goes, I was pretty wrapped up in the entire season.

What is fun is learning about Midousuji. Not gonna lie, that guy is kimoi. But learning about his back story too is interesting.

Onoda's growth and the relationships he has between his other members is what really shines here. You really do become invested in them. And I was actually holding my breath watching each episode with excitement (as I hadn't read the manga yet so I had no idea of the outcome). And Minami is a total bishie so it makes this season even better (as this season focused a bunch on Minami and Onoda together.

Heh.

Anyways, musically and stylistically the same as last season. Great music which suits every mood perfectly.

Honestly by the end of this season, I immediately ran to find more anime or manga.

I'll definitely be following up with this series in whatever way I can.

This is a very outstanding anime, this show really teaches people how not to give up and unlike other anime that focus on love and drama, the show is really about the cycling sport. The soundtrack of the show is also considered to be legendary too except they use the same track quite too often. However, as the show goes on in season 3 and 4 and if you read the manga that spoils for season 5, the show seems to repeat itself and doesn't seem to be doing good as this season 2 (grande road). But overall it is a great anime and if ... you were to review only this season it is the peak of yowamushi pedal that I can watch over and over again without getting bored.