Sauvik Biswas

Comics enthusiast, Musician, Programmer and Traveller

  • About
  • Travelogue
  • On Comics
  • Now
Comics enthusiast, Musician, Programmer and Traveller

Youwamushi Pedal Volume 1: How Onoda joined Sohoku Bicycle Racing Club

Print This Post August 18, 2016 by Sauvik Biswas Leave a Comment

IMG

A few days ago, I received my copies of Yowamushi Pedal Volumes 1 and 2 in English. I have already seen the anime and have read scanlations of the manga. It was one of the bicycling mangas that I wanted to see translated in English. I was happy to see Yen Press doing the translations. I really loved how they had handled Yotsuba&!

These books are essentially two Japanese volumes translated into one English volume. The manga is thick. The trim size is bigger than usual – almost like the Viz Signature editions.

Double the size, double the fun!

Double the size, double the fun! Onoda on the cover.

The cover for Japanese volume 2 is printed on the first page.

The cover for Japanese volume 2 (included in this English volume) is printed on the first page. This is Imaizumi.

Storywise, it’s a nice, lighthearted read

We are introduced to our protagonist, Onoda, who is a geek (otaku) and is generally a shy kid. He rides his mommy bike (European City Bike) to Akiba every week so that he can save some money and buy some figurine or DVD instead. He wants to join the anime and manga club but is disheartened to find that there are no members. The entire volume focuses on how his quest for fellow geeks inadvertently introduces him to the bicycling club.

We meet three colourful characters, who would later become his teammates in Sohoku Bicycle Racing Club – Miki, the girl who would eventually become the club manager, Imaizumi, the wannabe ace climber and Naruko, the sprinter. The volume sets the tone of these characters pretty well. Through their actions we get to know that Imaizumi is a calculative guy, albeit a bit naive, Naruko is a hot head and prefers to show off, Miki is kind, yet very manipulative as a person.

Towards the end, we also get a glimpse of the seniors of Sohoku Bicycle Racing Club but not much is revealed about them in this volume.

In the end, Onoda realises that the reason why he wanted to join the manga club was because he wanted to make new friends. By this time he also realises that he has already befriended people from the bicycle racing club. As far as his cycling goes, he has a gift that even he doesn’t realise. He is adept at high cadence climbing. This doesn’t go unnoticed by others.

Regarding the artwork

The art style is very sketchy and may not be to everyone’s liking. The anime smoothens it out a lot. In spite of its sketchiness, I really liked the art style. I think it lends very well to the tone of the manga. (This is drastically different from Attack on Titan, whose art style was also sketchy and had to be polished a lot for the anime. I did not like the art style of AoT at all.)

IMG_0002The speed lines and the jagged pen and brushwork dramatises and exaggerates the action. Somehow, the outcome is quite pleasing to the eye.

Wataru Watanabe uses a lot of wide angle, highly distorted perspectives. This exaggerates the action and brings a sense of urgency. Some of his best panels are spread over two pages. I can’t wait to see how he depicts scenes from inter-high.

Look at the close up of the handlebar and how it renders the front wheel smaller in perspective, or how Imaizumi appears to be so farther away from Onoda. The best panels are spread across two pages. Sadly, my scanner darkens the area near the binding.

Look at the close up of the handlebar and how it renders the front wheel smaller in perspective, or how Imaizumi appears to be so farther away from Onoda. The best panels are spread across two pages. Sadly, my scanner darkens the area near the binding.

There is a lack of concreteness in the character designs, especially in the early chapters. It happens often with serialisations. Even veteran mangakas zero in on all aspects of their character designs only after a few chapters.

On a side note

In this volume, there are interviews of two Japanese professional road cyclists – Daisuke Imanaka and Fumiyuki Beppu.

I have not mentioned this earlier, but the reason why I have ventured into road cycling is because of Yowamushi Pedal. I am not a racer like the guys depicted in the manga. My rides mostly focus on endurance. However, I cannot stress enough how much this manga / anime has influenced me.

A new saddle and a new posture
A weekend on Hampi Island
Posted in: Comics Tagged: Manga, Wataru Watanabe, Yowamushi Pedal, Yowapeda

Search the Site

Subscribe to my blog

Or use these links for your reader: RSS / Atom

Recent Posts

  • A tryst with B+Trees: Part I March 14, 2024
  • Tintin chases a plot for the first time in The Broken Ear March 5, 2024
  • A naive implementation of file-based storage February 26, 2024
  • YetiDB: an academic exercise February 22, 2024
  • That one time we actually trekked to Goecha-La July 9, 2023
  • Tour de Self: From Udupi to Bangalore January 3, 2023
  • Twenty Twenty-One February 23, 2022
  • Day 16: Back to Guwahati December 20, 2020
  • Day 14-15: Bomdila December 19, 2020
  • Day 12-13: Villages around Dirang December 17, 2020
  • Day 11: Dirang Monastery and Mandala Top December 15, 2020
  • Day 10: Through Sela Pass to Dirang December 14, 2020

Tags

Anime Artwork Bande Dessinée Bangalore Batman Berlin Casterman cycling Dark Project Dehradun Delhi Dharamshala Europe Trip '19 Food Graphic novel Guwahati Hergé Himachal trip '15 Himachal trip '19 Hybrid mod '17 Juda ka Talab Kasol Kerala trip '15 Kodaikanal-Ooty Trip '16 Manali Mandi Manga Munich Music NaNoWriMo North-East trip '14 North-East trip '20 Ooty Poetry Prague python Reckong Peo Rishikesh Tabo Tawang Tintin Tour of Nilgiris '16 Trekking Uttarakhand trip '17 Vietnam trip '15

Copyright © 2025 Sauvik Biswas.

Lifestyle Hack WordPress Theme by Sauvik Biswas modding themehit.com