Yowamushi Pedal : Naruko Shoukichi

Ride 4

The race is over, has Onoda found a passion in racing? He has the respect of Imaizumi that is for sure!

***SPOILERS***

So the pointy teethed guy is out shopping with Onoda, he thinks he's Otaku purely because he's wearing glasses and a back pack. Poor nerds.

Ohhh his new friend is real spunky! He got talking to a rich bloke in a nice car but when he flicked his cigarette butt at Onoda's bike he got real angry. Naruko is so funny!

After chasing after the car Naruko doesn't feel like going shopping anymore so Onoda asks if he can bike home with him. On their way they see the yellow car once more and it turns out Naruko has the cigarette butt to "give back" to the guy. Naruko seems to take Onoda onto the road for the first time which both terrifies him and gives him a bit of a power boost.

Without realizing it Miki has added another gear to his bike for him, Naruko notices it but it seems that Miki hasn't bothered to tell Onoda. In his second gear he goes even faster then before!

We learn about the natural enemy of cyclists, the wind and then learn about grouping... Or what we in the F1 fandom call Slip Stream. Without the dirty air.

So Naruko wants to get him on a road racer and make him even more interesting... I like the idea of that!

I am now madly in love with Naruko he makes me laugh so much! He's so over the top with everything! But I foresee him being a good friend to Onoda.

I also love how Imaizumi was talking to Miki about Onoda and his bike showing that he really does care about him to, it might be an interest in his general skill but it still is nice that he bothers to care anyway.

So now Onoda has made three friends in the grand scheme of things, and he's learning to love his bike a little more each time he gets on it. I feel a roadster is on its way to him quite quickly.

Again the episode gave us a load of interesting information on racing terminology but it also had quite a cute and fun story behind it, and it was nice to see Naruko fighting for Onoda as well as having enough respect for him that he wouldn't leave him behind. It was nice to see and hopefully that friendship just blossoms because they are great together.

I thought the episode held up really well and even though the story is going at 100 mph it doesn't feel that way, each episode is wonderfully written and takes you on a new journey. I feel like it needs to step it up a little in the coming episodes and get away from explaining racing and making Onoda fall in love with it, he already has, it needs to work on building the team now. We know Onoda is bound to go to the racing team so we need him to get his wish as well, he needs to bond with them and have friends.

I adore the pacing of the series though and it is a lot of fun to watch, I still love all the characters and can't wait to see these three mixing with the three third years from episode one!

It would be nice if these guys actually talked to Onoda about things he liked as well.... But that is too much to ask this is probably all about Onoda falling in love with racing, I just don't want too much of his personality being lost in the mix!