THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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First and foremost, I just realized; what the hell have I been watching this past few years when I just saw this! >_< There's only one single-episode anime that had me in a roller coaster of emotions the entire time I was viewing it, and that was Pale Cocoon. This one just made that into a list. Indulge me for a bit here, the comedy and humor at the beginning, the cheesy, lousy drama and the tension of the racing action in the middle, and the f**kin tragedy that still haunts near the end while I'm posting this. Maybe it's the recency effect and the placebo of my awe with this one will fade in time...
The comedy between our main protagonist and Ai, they didn't even confess to one another so it's just implied high school romance, it's cheesy but I totally dig the humor between them. It also applies to the rough bromance humor between him and Hideyoshi. Hiro and Miyuki also had their moments.
Satoru's abduction of Miyuki was just immature, he brought his own goons! What the hell is he, a high school level punk? Then his weird confession and well...lame excuse of letting Gun and Hiro's rescue effort distract him from having his way with Miyuki, I had this gut feeling then he might actually be a good guy. The heat of the moment must have gotten into him when all the years of lusting after Miyuki fueled his sudden passion. Ah my morality compass is being screwed so I will digress. XP
The Suzuka race was quite tense for me, the scorching summer heat on the asphalt coupled with literal blazing speed Gun was riding had me on fever to cheer for their team. One of the spectators in the audience said, he/she was on the edge of his/her seat, I realized I was the doing the same! ^_^ Two things that I've seen (I wish someone knowledgeable could confirm); that they have to run to their motorcycles in the beginning of the race and the racer must bring the motorcycle by themselves to the pit stop (like what the clearly injured Hideyoshi did).
The tragedy at the end, several things have clued me to it and each time they pile it up, the dread and terror in me increased that I feel like I should stop watching already. The first was when he had difficulty finding his motorcycle keys, his sister said it must be that he's not suppose to ride his bike today but he dismissed it as superstition. As he left, his sister thought she didn't like the color of the sky. Then there's the handshake, Gun thought that ruined their rapport, I guess that would be a mojo-kinda thing. Finally as they were racing, a saw a bouquet of flowers by the side of the road that they passed by, (the flowers as offering/remembrance to someone who might have died there, for the clueless), that was the last nail and I almost cried out of helpless and despair to what was about to transpire. TT_TT
Though burning Hideyoshi's Katana seems to be a waste, I strongly agree with Gun's sentimentality. I couldn't bear to see someone else ride it or let it gather dust in some storage as well. >_<
Oh crap I have poured my emotions in some wall of text again. Ah heck, my objectivity is flawed when it comes to this, and I'm not even a racing fan of any sort. I admit that this is not perfect but my own enjoyment of this compels me to give it 10/10 in my book.
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